LANET CHRONICLES
VOLUME III
A BOOK FOR EVERY CHILD: THE GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT IGNITING A READING REVOLUTION IN ENGASHURA, NAKURU COUNTY
LEARNERS PARTICIPATING IN A READING SESSION UNDER SOMASOMA BOOK CLUB INITIATIVE
By Alex Njagi It begins with an innocuous disappointment—two boys, eager to The realization lingers. It raises a troubling question. If two eager readers cannot find books, how many read, and a promise that can’t be fulfilled. more children face the same challenge? In the quiet expanse of Engashura in Nakuru North, a simple interaction between children and their mother’s friend grows into A quick survey of the area provides the answer. There something much bigger. What starts as a casual request for books are no libraries serving the community. Public primary now evolves into a bold community movement known as Soma schools, which host the largest populations of learners, Soma Community Library. Gladys Muraya, whose voice anchors operate without reading spaces or collections. In one school with nearly 2,000 pupils, there is no library, no the initiative’s story, recalls the moment that sparks it all. “ storybooks, and no structured reading lessons. “We The boys’ mother had told them that they could borrow books needed to do something,” Muraya reflects. from me… sadly, I did not have that suited their age.”