Worldreader.org, a non-profit organization that aims to put a library of books in the hands of each family around the globe, using e-reader technology is currently in Ghana for a two week trial project at the OrphanAid Africa community centre in the rural community of Ayenyah. Grade 6 pupils of the community center are amongst some of the first in the world to benefit from a new technology, using Amazon.com’s Kindle e-reader.
The e-readers are portable, lightweight devices capable of holding up to 1500 books, and use very little electricity. Students and teachers are taking part in a trial to help identify how this new technology can best benefit them and others in the future.
Emerging e-book technology is sharply reducing the cost and complexity of delivering reading material everywhere. Worldreader.org is developing the systems and the partnerships to get e-readers, and the life-changing, power-creating ideas contained in e-books, into the hands and minds of people in the developing world, where profit-seeking entities are not focused. With funding from partners, worldreader.org will be able to develop and digitize locally generated content in practically any language, as well as manage logistics and support in the developing world, in partnership with local governments, school systems, and related businesses. The trial in Ghana will help provide answers as to how the module needs to work so it could be replicated in other African countries.
Increasing support for basic education in Ghana and the ease of organizing the trial with OrphanAid Africa convinced Worldreader.org to choose Ghana as a launch market. David Risher, co-Founder of Worldreader.org stated: “Worldreader.org is thrilled to be in Ghana. Ghana has made a clear commitment to education for all. E-readers can dramatically improve people´s access to books, and we’re proud of our ability to work swiftly to bring this new technology to the Ghanaian people.”
The importance of this area of education was underlined by Mike Sundermeyer, Director of Trials for Worldreader.org: “Education, and especially literacy, is a key driver to economic stability and growth. Reading engages thinking, inspires young minds, and ignites a passion for learning. We need to embrace and develop those tools that help to improve access to books. Wider society will ultimately benefit.”
Colin McElwee, co-Founder of Worldreader.org summed up. “We believe that this technology will offer schools and families the opportunity to access reading material that until now they have not been able to get hold of. In the future, through enabling wireless 3G (mobile phone) connections, e-readers will offer the possibility of practically immediate access to hundreds of thousands of books, magazines and daily newspapers delivered to a compact device that weighs less than a single pad of paper.”
Worldreader.org looks forward to bringing e-books to other communities throughout Ghana and the rest of the world, and making access to books a reality for all.
