Arequipa is a beautiful city, marred with cycles of injustice, poor decision-making, and hopelessness. Poverty is complex. We work with the working poor, searching together for signs of hope. We network resources and carry out programs that empower sustainable improvement in individual, family, and community quality of life.
Remember that special teacher who taught you to love reading?
We want to give that—and the opportunities that go with it—to kids in Peru.
Remember that special teacher who taught you to love reading?
We want to give that—and the opportunities that go with it—to kids in Peru.
is layered and cyclical
is layered and cyclical
Peruvian public schools do not have libraries. Students who do not have access to books at home do not even have access to books at school, besides the textbook the state provides. It is impossible for students to practice reading with enjoyable, age-appropriate books.
Few Peruvians read for pleasure, and reading comprehension is much lower than the country’s technical literacy rate. In the 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment, Peru ranked 63rd of 70 countries in reading comprehension.
Peruvian public school teachers are often under-equipped to teach reading comprehension effectively and do not have professional development opportunities.
is creative and multi-faceted
is creative and multi-faceted
Donations to CUDA provide books and materials to implement a library in a public school. The school provides the space and volunteers work with our team to paint walls, tables, chairs, and bookshelves. In schools that don’t have space for a school library, we implement mini-libraries in each classroom so that the teachers and kids have access to books.
Over the course of two years, CUDA’s Living Libraries team partners with Peruvian teachers to develop a reading program for the school. We work with kids, teachers, principals, and parents to teach new reading strategies.
While our goal is to give kids better opportunities through education, the avenue for doing that long-term and sustainably is to work directly with teachers as well as the kids. Living Libraries gives teachers continuing education in reading strategies to equip them to bless kids for the future. We maintain an ongoing professional development community to share ideas and continue improving reading comprensión and performance long-term.
Our vision of justice, wellbeing, and joy in the city is fleshed out when kids start to connect the dots from reading, to understanding what they are reading, to the rest of their education. Words on a page become living reality when a kid picks up a book and starts to read.