Worldreader And FC Barcelona To Donate 1 Million E-Books To African Students

Worldreader, a USA-Europe based non-profit literacy organization that seeks to change how people digest information teamed up with FC Barcelona on Thursday in a move to help place one million digital books in the hands of roughly 10,000 students in Africa who have limited access to books.

“Worldreader is committed to putting a digital library in the hands of all children throughout the world’s developing countries, and we’re thrilled with the support of FC Barcelona to send one million e-books to students in Africa,” Worldreader CEO David Risher told CNN.

Worldreader is seeking to raise $5,000,000 from 1,000,000 donors which translates into a $5 contribution from each donor. Since these learning gadgets are shared among family and friends, the campaign is in the end targeted to avail the e-books in the hands of approximately 50,000 people. The e-books will be inclusive of African textbooks, a combination of African and other fiction for kids, world newspapers and other forms of classic literature from around the world.

Their partnership with FC Barcelona that includes football stars like Lionel Messi, Xavi, Eric Abidal and Seydou Keita is set to deliver messages of hope via the e-books to the targeted students to encourage them achieve their goals and dreams.

“We’re trying to get them to do something radically different,” Risher told social media news blog Mashable. “When a student sees the image of a player he idolizes, it brings a whole new culture and habit, associating reading with a hero. Using these tricks, we can get kids to read more, making it more fun and a bigger part of their lives.”

“Unlike traditional books — which had to be physically imported, one title at a time — a single e-Reader could provide a child with a vast array of current, relevant titles at a low distribution cost,” reports CNN.

“Worldreader has not only given us unparalleled access to books, the program has motivated my students and instilled a joy for reading that never existed before,” said Jacqueline Abiso Dzifa, a teacher at Presbyterian Primary in Kade, Ghana, whose students participated in the pilot.

Worldreader has already donated 100,000 e-books to 1,000 students in Kenya, Uganda and Ghana. It hopes to expand into Rwanda and the rest of the sub-Saharan Africa in the months to come.

E-readers have numerous advantages like giving one the option of changing the font size and giving access to a greater variety of titles than traditional books. It’s no secret that the world is going digital and these books will prove to be a student’s best friend in the years to come.