The christian urban development association
We're a non-profit empowering sustainable holistic development in Arequipa, Peru.
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.
our approach
Living Libraries
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.
Living Libraries
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.
5 SCHOOLS - 40 TEACHERS - 1200 KIDS
Living Libraries is a 2-year project aimed at breaking cycles of injustice in the education system in Arequipa. We work with under-resourced public schools to implement a library, train teachers in reading comprehension strategies, and work with kids and their families to make reading a part of everyday life. In 2024 we’re working with five elementary schools, 40 teachers and school principals, and 1200+ kids and their families. We implemented 17 new libraries this year, 2 bigger libraries for the entire school, and 15 mini-libraries inside of classrooms.
To provide continuing education opportunities for Living Libraries teachers, we operate a professional educators’ community to learn together and share ideas about implementing reading programs in Peru.
“There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.”
The Living Libraries team: Lucia Marquez (director of Living Libraries), Carlos Rodriguez (education development assistant), and Nancy Lira (education development assistant).
The Problem
is layered and cyclical
The Problem
is layered and cyclical
The needs are clear and urgent. It’s all about understanding literacy.
NO BOOKS
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.
POOR COMPREHENSION
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.
UNDER-RESOURCED
Peruvian public school teachers are often under-equipped to teach reading comprehension effectively and do not have professional development opportunities.
CUDA provides practical, effective, long-term solutions to these problems in schools throughout Arequipa with Living Libraries.
The Solution
is creative and multi-faceted
The Solution
is creative and multi-faceted
CUDA puts a library in a public school. Our team works with teachers, kids, and parents to create a love for reading and the tools to understand what they read. The result: communities are transformed—one story at a time.
The Library
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.
The process
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.
The teachers
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.
The kids
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.
Stories of impact
Making a big impact starts with small stories of gradual development and eventual transformation. These are the stories that keep us motivated and give us hope for the future.
