By Zev Lowe

More good news coming out of Kenya: The Menara Primary School is getting another 204 e-readers, bringing the total number up to 250 so far.

Our partners, Dr. Robert John Ouko Memorial Community Library and GordonFamily ConnectAfrica, are working on getting each of the 500 students at the school in Kenya’s Nyanza Province their own Kindle. This week’s news puts them closer to that goal, and brings Worldreader  another step further down our “Books for all” path.

Menara Primary School Teacher Victor Otieno looking up words in his Kindle dictionary.

By the numbers, this is a big deal. Just a few weeks ago, there was only one e-reader for every eight kids at Menara Primary School, which meant our partners and school administrators had to restrict the e-reader program to certain grades only. Now — with one e-reader for every two students — all kids at the school, from the youngest to the oldest, will benefit and have access to engaging stories that inspire them.

You may remember that Worldreader was on the ground in March for teacher training and the community event; Dani Zacarias, our digital publishing manager, is down there again helping to roll-out the expansion project.

More Partner News

Other Kits partners are also pleased with the value we bring to their schools and are deepening their engagement with us.

A few weeks ago, for instance, we shipped 50 new e-readers to Kilgoris, Kenya, bringing their total device count to 115. They have some other exciting things going on, too, which you can read about here.

And, there a few more exciting opportunities are on the horizon in Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana and Malawi. We’ll update you when details are finalized.

How Can You Become a Kits Partner?

If you know someone who might be interested in bringing Worldreader to a school they sponsor or work with, who would benefit from the books we already have in our content library, and who have access to the requisite funding, please pass along the attached brochure.

A Worldreader Kit is:

• 50 e-readers (with cases and ID labels);
• 100 books each (total of 5,000 books);
• Technical expertise to create accounts, register devices and remotely provision books;
• All the field-tested best practices you need to implement a program, including community outreach plans, training guides, risk management blueprints, etc.;
• Educational tools like a training script, teaching props and incentive systems, and
• Ongoing access to relevant, engaging, African and international books at steeply-discounted prices.

Pricing:

A Worldreader Kit costs $19,000 ($380 per device) for the 3G version, which is recommended in locations where Amazon has Whispernet coverage.

The Wi-Fi version costs $15,000 ($300 per device).Buying everything retail would cost well over $600, and wouldn’t include our expertise, best practices, or tools.

Menara Primary School student excited to hear they will be reading e-books.