Learning

After Kenya closed schools in response to the pandemic, the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development requested that eKitabu support students who are deaf by developing sign language videos that support early grade literacy for deaf children.

Kenya implemented the Tusome Early Grade Reading Activity in 2014. It introduced interventions at the grade 1 level beginning in 2015. Taking its name from the Kiswahili word for “let’s read,” the Tusome program was a five-year, nationwide effort.

In 2010, less than ten percent of Kenya’s primary school-aged children were reading at the national level benchmarks. Ten years later, largely due to the success of the Tusome program, nearly 66 percent of grade two students now read at grade level.

SafePlan Uganda and KCEO have adopted many promising approaches as youth-led organizations that focus on robust relationship building with partners, youth networks, and involving influential community leaders.

Kibera is the largest slum in Africa and KCEO’s Young Mothers Incubation Program has served over 200 women with disabilities, empowering them to be active in their communities through entrepreneurship and advocacy.

While some youth report struggling in leadership roles due to a perceived lack of experience, SafePlan Uganda and KCEO are showing that programs led by youth are successful not in spite of their leadership but because of it.

USAID visited two Young Women Transform Prize grant recipients to gain insight into what methods produced the best outcomes and collect lessons learned about how other organizations might incorporate youth-led approaches in their program design.

Deaf children represent a majority of all children with disabilities in Kenya. These children are not only an underserved group of students, but also a distinct language minority that uses Kenyan Sign Language as their native language.