October 29, 2010

Report of FAVL’s 2010 Summer Reading Camps With funding from the Lisle Foundation

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Introduction During the months of August and September 2010, Friends of African Village Libraries (FAVL) hosted seven reading camps in small villages in Burkina Faso: Béréba, Dohoun, Sara, Karaba, Koumbia, Boni and Dimikuy; in which 180 students at the CM1 and CM2 levels (5th and 6th grade) participated. The summer camps took place at FAVL libraries in the Southwest region of Burkina, and were led by FAVL’s activities coordinator SANOU Dounko, FAVL librarians, and assistant librarians. Each camp lasted one week, starting at 7:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. A locally hired food preparer, from each village, prepared breakfast and lunch for the students every day. All children are given a camp t-shirt. These are highly prized, as the design on the front of the shirt shows children reading and has a slogan about the importance of reading. FAVL’s summer reading camps address a serious issue facing Burkina Faso: extremely low levels of literacy, especially in rural areas. With one of the lowest literacy levels in the world and a school system that is overcrowded and understaffed, Burkina struggles to teach its children how to read. FAVL’s 2010 reading camps enabled 180 school students to spend a week of their summer break practicing the reading skills that are not sufficiently nurtured at school. While educating the students was of primary importance, making sure the kids had fun was another important goal, in order to show them that reading and writing are not just chores to be done at school but valuable skills that they will be able to enjoy for life. Camp activities Each camp was similarly run and consisted of numerous activities revolved around reading, writing, educational formations, verbal discussions, song, dance, arts and crafts, and games. Improving the reading and comprehension levels of students is one of the camps’ main goals; therefore, reading activities took up a large percentage of camp time. Each child learns in a different way, so camp facilitators used different techniques when working with students. These techniques included guided reading with the facilitators, group reading, free reading and reading with tutors or peers.

For example, reading with a peer was the best technique for Abzeta, a shy and quiet girl in Boni village with a below average reading level. She felt much more comfortable reading with her friend Salimata, who had a high reading level and helped her decipher difficult words. Numerous books were read over the course of the week, the unanimous

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favorite being Daniel et Valerie, a book of stories on Africa, Europe and India. The children loved the short story about a young boy who is learning to hunt, but finds it difficult because he is too sensitive toward the lives of the animals. He becomes sad and emotional after injuring a hare and vows never to hunt animals again. This book was very moving for the children, who sympathized with the young boy. One camper promised never to kill another bird. Creativity and imagination are not reinforced by teachers in Burkina’s schools, so camp facilitators used arts and crafts to help develop these concepts. At the beginning, students would all draw the same things as their peers. However, as the camps progressed more and more of the students became comfortable and confident to draw other things. Tamini Kadjiatou, for example, drew a beautiful picture of a fish in water. Her picture was proudly posted up on the library wall in Béréba. In addition to reading activities, numerous educational formations and discussions were held, focusing on proper hygiene, malaria prevention, properly caring for the library and its books, keeping latrines clean, succeeding in school and respecting others. The children actively participated and exchanged their thoughts and ideas with their peers. During one discussion regarding malaria prevention, one student named Roger said he could use poison to keep mosquitoes away. The other students quickly responded by naming the dangers of poison, especially for children, and that the best way to keep mosquitoes away was to sleep under a mosquito net. Other camp sessions focused on writing, offering students a chance to better express themselves through the written language. Time was set aside for students to compose personal or make-believe stories, and to describe cultural traditions and ceremonies in their villages. During more easy-going periods of the camp, students tested their skills with puzzles and games like cards, charades, riddles and crosswords. A favorite riddle was “There are 13 birds perched on a tree, the hunter shoots and kills one. How many birds are left on the tree?” The children would always answer 12 whereas the answer is one…all the others flew away! Intercultural exchanges A number of helpers and volunteers crossed cultural boundaries and brought a lot of new knowledge and experiences to the camps. KONFE Hamidou and ZEBRET Moumini, the librarians of FAVL’s two newest libraries, came down from northern Burkina to assist with the camps and get a feel for how to run next year’s camps in their libraries. Two American Peace Corps volunteers participated in several of the camps. Nine American university students, participating in the Reading West Africa study abroad program of Santa Clara University, helped lead activities in Dimikuy summer camp. Cultural exchanges were made and new techniques and activities introduced, The participation of new librarians and Americans not only helped to improve the reading levels of the students, but it incr eased their confidence and taught them new skills. The American

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volunteers said that the cultural exchange went both ways, with the volunteers learning a lot about the successes and challenges of village life.

The volunteers showed the campers and the facilitators new activities and games, such as engaging reading activities, crossword puzzles, how to make and write a book from scratch, and creating paper necklaces. One study abroad student, Amanda Albertson, captivated the children with her magic tricks. The two Peace Corps volunteers led several activities in the village of Boni in an effort to make reading more fun for students. They showed the camp facilitators engaging reading

activities to get the campers actively involved and participating. Volunteer Charles Casler read the book Djilobe et le serpant dieu to the campers, stopping at every page to ask questions and have the students discuss what was happening in the story. Comprehension of a story was a must in order for students to appreciate books and develop a love of reading. Impact of camps Unfortunately, Burkina’s already low literacy percentage drops even more at the village level. Overcrowded classrooms and a lack of resources make it difficult for teachers to work with students who are struggling to read and they therefore fall behind. This was evident at the camps. The vast majority of the campers read at below average reading levels while others were completely illiterate. With a small camp size of 20 to 25 students, camp facilitators were able to work one on one with the students, working on each of their strengths and weaknesses. The facilitators and volunteers on-site said they witnessed firsthand improvements with the campers. They saw not only improvement in the reading levels of the campers but an increase in confidence and self-esteem, especially among the young girls. “I learned so much in the camp and it will help me pass my CEP exam at the end of the year” said Doyé Loyiwan, from the village of Dimikuy. This year’s presence of both Burkinabe and American camp facilitators has a positive impact on the camps. All parties benefited: the Burkinabe camp leaders learning new activities and techniques and the Americans learning about an entirely different culture and way of life. Of course, the greatest benefit was toward the campers, who were given an educational, fun and diversified learning experience. The participation and discussion that occurred at the end of the camps have given many ideas of improvement for next year. One idea is to bring in a local school or literacy teacher to help reinforce the basic foundations of reading. Ideas such as this would help further maximize the productivity, efficiency and improvement of reading levels of students at the camps.

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Budget Preliminary report on expenses associated with summer reading camp 2010

Type Date Memo Amount8601 · Summer reading programs8602 · Meals for Summer camp FCFA USD

General Journal 8/26/2010 Camp de karaba Dohoun Restauration des eleves 100000 $222.22General Journal 8/21/2010 Camp de bereba Dohoun restauration des eleves 100000 $222.22General Journal 9/4/2010 Camp de Boni Koumbia restauration eleves 100000 $222.22General Journal 9/5/2010 Restauration de volontaires participants au camp 10000 $22.22General Journal 8/31/2010 prise en charge Komfe - Pobe 21000 $46.67General Journal 10/6/2010 did not verify this with Dimikuy accounts need to verify 50000 $111.11

Total 8602 · Meals for Summer camp 381000 $846.67

8603 · Salary supplements General Journal 8/21/2010 Camp bereba dohoun paie des animateurs 30000 $66.67General Journal 8/21/2010 camp bereba dohoun paie des gerants 20000 $44.44General Journal 8/21/2010 Paie des assistants 20000 $44.44General Journal 8/26/2010 Paie des animateurs 30000 $66.67General Journal 8/26/2010 Paie des gerants 20000 $44.44General Journal 8/26/2010 Paie des assistants 20000 $44.44General Journal 8/31/2010 Salaire Aout Koura Donkoui 100000 $222.22General Journal 9/4/2010 Paie des animateurs 30000 $66.67General Journal 9/4/2010 paie des gerants 20000 $44.44General Journal 9/4/2010 Paie des assistants 20000 $44.44General Journal 9/9/2010 Supervision des 4 camps de lecture 20000 $44.44General Journal 9/24/2010 Ivette in Dimikuy 15000 $33.33General Journal 9/24/2010 Salimata a Dimikuy 10000 $22.22General Journal 9/24/2010 asisstante Dimikuy 5000 $11.11General Journal 9/24/2010 asisstante Dimikuy 5000 $11.11

Total 8603 · Salary supplements 365000 $811.11

8604 · Books, t-shirts, materials General Journal 8/21/2010 Payement du relicat du cout des tee shirts 135000 $300.00General Journal 8/21/2010 Avance tee shirt 70000 $155.56General Journal 8/29/2010 Photocopies de guide du camp 1500 $3.33General Journal 8/29/2010 Envoi d'un coli a Hounde 1000 $2.22General Journal 9/3/2010 20000 $44.44General Journal 9/3/2010 3000 $6.67General Journal 8/16/2010 Frais de la rencontre d organisaation de camps de lecture a hounde 15000 $33.33General Journal 8/20/2010 Voyage sur bobo aller et retour pour achat materiel des camps 10000 $22.22General Journal 8/21/2010 Camp bereba dohoun paie du materiel des camps 70000 $155.56General Journal 9/4/2010 Transport de Zebret Moumini aller retour Bougounan 10000 $22.22

Total 8604 · Books, t-shirts, materials 335500 $745.56

8601 · Summer reading programs - Other General Journal 8/22/2010 Voyage sur Dohoun bereba achat carburant huile moteur 6500 $14.44General Journal 8/24/2010 Voyage sur Dohoun Bereba 3000 $6.67General Journal 8/26/2010 Cartes de communications 2000 $4.44General Journal 8/26/2010 Internet 1000 $2.22General Journal 8/30/2010 Frais de prise en charge de zebret Moumini 21000 $46.67General Journal 8/31/2010 Carburant pour Karaba 2000 $4.44General Journal 9/6/2010 Cartes telephoniques 2000 $4.44General Journal 9/7/2010 Carburant pour visite camp de Boni 3000 $6.67

Total 8601 · Summer reading programs - Other 40500 $90.00 TOTAL (preliminary) 1122000 $2,493.33