In Zambia, limited access to reading materials, especially in local languages, has inhibited children’s ability to master foundational literacy skills. With so few mother-tongue books and materials at home, parents and community members rarely find ways to support children in reading outside of school. As a result, children do not have adequate opportunities to practice reading.

Creative is piloting Makhalidwe Athu in cooperation with Read to Succeed, a USAID-funded program already working with Zambia’s government to improve early grade reading through more effective teaching and school-community partnerships.

Makhalidwe Athu is a mobile reading project bringing reading to Zambian children who often have no access to books at home. Through SMS, children will receive more than 50 local tales, crowdsourced from the community. More than 4,000 community members will be involved in the project, which is funded through All Children Reading.

The cost-effective model for Makhalidwe Athu could eventually put reading materials into the hands of more than 8 million native Chinyanja speakers— and eventually every rural and urban schoolchild’s home in Africa.