By Kris Nystrom
(May 3, 2025) — Estimates for the number of illiterate people in the world range between 740-780 million. Of that number, two-thirds are girls. The primary reason people do not learn to read or write is lack of access to education—they live in school deserts. Reading the World, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in Killingworth, seeks to address that inequity.
Reading the World is an organization that brings literacy services to school deserts, places where kids have limited or no access to education. Since lack of access to education is greatest in Sub-Saharan Africa, Reading the World focuses on African nations.
School deserts exist for a number of reasons, including violent conflict, natural disasters, geographic obstacles, and poverty. Violent conflict and natural disasters are obvious causes: these events can wipe out school infrastructure and displace millions of people—kids no longer have a school to go to. The children become internally displaced or migrant refugees seeking basic living conditions to survive. There are approximately thirty-five violent civil conflicts across Africa today, such as in Sudan where millions are on the brink of starvation. Floods in South Africa and Mozambique and droughts in Somalia and Madagascar have caused widespread destruction and displaced thousands of people from their homes and schools.
Geographic obstacles are an equally prevalent cause for school deserts. Most children walk to school, sometimes as many as six miles in each direction, and there can be significant challenges along the way. Two years ago in Ghana, eight school children perished crossing Volta Lake in a dug-out canoe trying to get to school. Last month, a primary school girl was killed by a lion in Kenya. These are not isolated incidents, and they are not the only obstacles. Many times when the kids get to school, there is no building, only a tree for shade and a rock to sit on.
Poverty is the main cause of school deserts. Although many African governments promise a free primary education to all children, they do not fund schools with enough funds to operate. Therefore, schools charge admission fees and require students to pay for mandatory testing and school supplies. In rural as well as urban areas across the continent, children can be seen fetching water, working, or begging because their families cannot afford to send them to school.
To help children who live in school deserts, Reading the World provides three levels of service:
- training teachers, librarians, and volunteers in evidence-based reading instruction;
- donating instructional materials; and
- funding infrastructure.
Current projects in Kenya include:
- working with schools that enroll students who cannot afford public education through a partnership with Hope for the Child.
- building a school where kids navigate lion, elephant, hyena, and jaguar in partnership with American Friends of Kenya.
Current projects in Ghana include:
- working with the Ministry of Education on eliminating “schools under trees.”
- building a reading clinic in a rural village that is home to seventeen orphans, which will also serve the community as a library.
Reading the World works in Africa because nations there are clawing their way out of colonialism; but we also work in Africa also because their literacy capacity has a significant impact on our lives here in the U.S. From economics to health to global warming, literacy is key to stabilizing global prosperity and well-being. According to the World Literacy Foundation, illiteracy costs the global economy $1.5 trillion annually. In Africa, where the population is expected to double in the next 30 years, combined consumer spending will reach $16.12 trillion by 2050. A vibrant economy driven by an educated population increases civil stability and perpetuates growth. As the world becomes more connected, the ability to address everything from local epidemics to climate crises quickly becomes much more important.
Literacy is a moral imperative. Where one is born cannot be the only reason they have access to education, especially in our increasingly connected world. Reading the World recently sponsored the World Literacy Summit in Oxford, England, where government officials and agencies from around the world gathered to address global literacy challenges. We are a small organization among many seeking to make the world a better place for all of us. One child, one classroom, one school, or one nation at a time, small efforts make a big difference. To find out more about what you can do to support global literacy, contact Reading the World through its website readingtheworldinc.com.
Kris Nystrom is a resident of Killingworth and a retired Connecticut educator, having worked in public schools, higher education, and clinical settings. He is Executive Director of Reading the World, Inc.
Photos by Kris Nystrom
