As 2012 winds down, here’s a look back at some of Worldreader’s highlights and a peek ahead to what awaits in 2013.
1. We’re now in 5 African countries- adding more e-readers to projects in Kenya and Ghana and launching new programs in Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda.
2. We’ve shipped over 250,000 e-books into sub Saharan Africa. Close your eyes and picture 50 kilometers of books- or 550 soccer fields of books. It’s mind boggling!We added new languages– including Kinyarwanda, Kiswahili, and soon Twi– to our digital library available to kids in our programs.
3. We’re becoming more of a household name: From the New York Times to Amazon.com‘s home page, people are talking about our work.
4. We launched a beta mobile phone app with massive potential: over 25,000,000 pages read per month.
5. Our digital library now has 1,200 e-books, representing books from 20 African publishers and 12 Western publishers. That’s up from fewer than 300 books in 2011.A peek ahead:
Come January, we’ll be expanding to younger readers Ghana, thanks in part to the «All Children Reading: Grand Challenge for Development» Award we won in September. Soon after we’ll expand to over 1,000 more kids in Kenya, and begin programs from Malawi to Nigeria to South Africa to Zimbabwe. Hold on tight!
In less than three years, you’ve helped Worldreader move from idea to reality: we now reach tens of thousands of people every day with digital books, helping them improve their lives. And we have even bigger plans for 2013. Thank you so much for your help and support. We’re changing the world together.
