Finding Our First Schools

Our first school visits made it clear the need for books is real, and the infrastructure for our first libraries is already there.

Our search for Read to Dream’s first partner schools took us 20km north of Kampala.

What should have been a 45 minute journey took us two hours - a classic ‘upcountry’ drive in Uganda! There were wrong turns, potholes, lots of dust, and narrow murrum roads that we weren’t really sure were roads.

Thankfully there were also helpful strangers and kind boda boda drivers pointing us in the right direction.

Eventually, we arrived at Kibedi Primary in Matugga. Headmaster Abdul welcomed us through the school’s bright red gates with warmth and curiosity. As we talked about Read to Dream’s mission - to provide fiction books that help children fall in love with reading - he spoke passionately about adding a Reading Hour to the timetable and appointing a librarian to protect and organise the library.

Meeting with Headteacher Abdul at Kibedi Primary.

“Imagine if we inspire someone to become an author,” he said. ‘Imagine’, I repeated, as my heart swelled and my eyes glistened.

His simple sentence encapsulated what we’d been dreaming about. We weren’t just talking about shelves and storybooks, we were talking about giving children new possibilities.

After a 10 minute drive, we reached Noble Care Nursery and Primary. The reception was more cautious. However Noble Care’s Headteacher Reverend Stanley listened to our project plans attentively, and explained that the school desperately needed a library. ‘The children are struggling after covid. It is hard’, he told us.

We were shown around the school, including the room that was ready to become a library. We thanked him for his time and, though he remained skeptical (seemingly jaded by well-intentioned visitors who had failed to deliver on their promises), I told him we looked forward to bringing books to Noble Care.

It felt like an important opportunity to honour our word and set a different example. We were determined to do whatever was necessary to ensure his students had access to new books and new stories.

Get Involved

With your support, we will turn this room at Noble Care into a library!

We’d love if you could donate or spread the word: forward this blog to a friend, subscribe for free on substack, or follow us on LinkedIn.

Hopefully, like us you believe that every child deserves access to a library. We hope you do.

Because when a child opens a book for the first time, it doesn’t just teach them to read. It tells them anything is possible. #readitpossible