In 2017 the team in South East Asia began running mini-libraries for economically and socially disadvantaged children in two provinces. We call them ‘Reading Gardens’.

In one province the focus is on assisting children living in large cities, on or next to garbage dumps where their families scavenge for recyclables or anything else they can sell. In the other province the focus is on helping children living in remote rural locations. For both communities the children live in rudimentary housing in impoverished communities.

South East Asia ranks as one of the lowest scoring countries in the world for literacy. Around 25% of children dropout of school and discontinue study after primary school. In the communities where we have set up Reading Gardens, the schools are poorly equipped and under resourced both in terms of teachers and funds.

The schools do not have libraries, and the children do not have access to books at home because their families don’t have the means.

Seeing this need, and with the support of the local government departments and community, our team established mini-libraries that give children access to books! We fill the spaces with colourful and fun books, and children from the community can then visit the Reading Garden after school. Our team members or local colleagues manage the spaces and read stories, play games and help with reading lessons.

But it doesn’t end there…

We have seen that the benefits don’t end with reading. In this context, this is what happens when children have access to books:

1. They stay in school longer

When children can’t read they are more likely to drop out of school early. The Reading Gardens help children grow in confidence in reading which provides them with greater confidence and motivation to keep attending school. This gives them greater knowledge and skills, and opens future opportunities, enabling them to break out of cycles of poverty.

In one particularly poor community where we have been for several years the children previously would not progress past grade six. In the past year they have seen the first children graduate from high school as a result of the input and encouragement of some local colleagues.

When we first started one Reading Garden, there were 20-30 children joining in. Year four students came who were not fluent in reading and writing. So, we motivated and helped the children learn to read from the story books that we had in our library in their language. Slowly by slowly, they became more fluent!

At the end of the year, one local teacher came and shared, “My students who regularly come to the Reading Garden have grown so much in their lessons at school. This is such a blessing to our community.”

2. The risk of teen pregnancy and childhood marriage is reduced

In many impoverished communities where children drop out of school at the end of primary school, girls often become pregnant as young as 13 or 14 years and in this culture, they are then forced to marry.

Numerous international studies have demonstrated that promoting literacy and education and keeping children, especially girls, in school for more years reduces the incidence of teenage pregnancy and childhood marriage, and contributes to communities breaking out of cycles of poverty.

3. Training in other areas can be provided

We have seen that as trust in the community grows, opportunities open to offer training in other areas. The residents of these communities typically live hand to mouth and are preyed on by people who offer loans at exorbitant interest rates.

Our team and local colleagues are able to provide training in budgeting and avoiding debt traps. We are also able to assist families with negotiating government paperwork that then provides them with access to health benefits and other kinds of assistance for which they qualify.

In one example, we are able to provide training through the Reading Garden on how to make hand sanitiser and manage organic waste at home, how to make eco-bricks, and educate the community on what we can do to better care for our environment. The training was practical and deeply appreciated. Running training like this also help to maintain connections and build relationships with the wider communities.

4. Trust is built with the whole family

The Reading Gardens are situated in highly communal societies. This means that our team and local colleagues quickly get to know parents, grandparents and other members of the extended family. We are able to develop relationships of trust with them over time as we seek to become alongsiders in their world.

They appreciate what we are doing for their children and they open up more and more about their lives and the struggles they are facing.

This gives us opportunities to pray with them and show that we are people of faith who are seeking to live by the values of God’s Kingdom, pointing them to Jesus, the one who offers new life.

5. Trust is built with the government and wider community

In South East Asia, many community development organisations either do not receive government registration or their registration is rescinded after a short period of time. Our community development and creation care organisation is committed to operating professionally and with integrity. As a result, the government is pleased with the programs we are running in these communities.

Government officials are now requesting that we not only provide programs for children, but for adults as well. Other communities are approaching us and asking if we could open Reading Gardens in their community. Recently some high-level workers in the social welfare department began to open up to our team members about other community needs such as addressing the high divorce rate, domestic violence and sexual abuse. We are being invited to provide assistance in these areas as well. What a wonderful opportunity to join with God in His mending work!

Making Jesus meetable

As we humbly endeavour to become alongsiders in communities, we are seeking to make Jesus meetable for our friends and neighbours. The people in these communities have grown up in an Islamic context and know little about who Jesus is and why He came to Earth.

Being present in the community allows us to build relationships with people and to show them we care. It gives us a context for living out the values of God’s Kingdom in ways that people hear, see and experience as we connect together.