We support ‘Kusoma ni poa’

In the outskirts of Murang’a county lies Nguthuru mixed primary school. At around 9 a.m. most of the classes are having their English lesson, grade 5 students have a story book reading session. The English teacher has carried a new story book, that was among the books recently donated to the school by Frigoken Limited (FKL) in partnership with Story Moja Publishers, for 2021 literacy day. As far as at the gate, you could hear the eloquence in the pronunciation of words. The students seemed enthusiastic to be part of this session.

‘‘Today we are reading The Amazing Race, Eric from Story Moja Publishers and Elizabeth from Frigoken Limited will be leading the reading session.’’ The English teacher, Ruth Wanyoike, told the students.

6 years ago, the story was very different at Nguthuru primary school. All you could hear were children speaking their local dialect in the school premises. The goal of the teachers during this period was to find a way of improving the literacy level especially for the grade 1 students who had just joined their first year of primary school.

‘‘Murang’a county is among the areas where FKL French beans farmers reside, and when we received information on the challenge Nguthuru primary school was experiencing, we quickly stepped in because supporting the education sector within our project area is key.’’ Says Elizabeth Maina, Communication, and Sustainability officer Frigoken.

Elizabeth further adds that on 11^th May 2016, Frigoken Limited in partnership with Story Moja Publishers launched a library at Nguthuru Primary school, and donated 1000 books to the school.

Fast forward to 2021, FKL team is visiting the school to donate more books due to the newly introduced Competence Based Curriculum. We were welcomed by grade 5 students who were in class one when the library was first launched to take part in their reading session.

‘‘This Library played a major role in nurturing our students and we will be forever grateful. Its impact can be felt by the progress made especially for grade 5 students who were in class 1 when the library was launched. There has been an increase in literacy levels over the years.” Says Lucy Karanja a teacher at Nguthuru primary school.