In 2014, Francisca Boateng and her colleague went to Ghana to teach public speaking and debate to young people across the country. Through that experience, she expressed to her daughter, Samantha, young people’s desires for books and a library. So, Samantha began to collect books. Within a few months, she had collected over 14,000 books. She then decided to use those books to build a library, thus creating Read 2 Lead.

While around 80% of Ghanaians between the ages of 7 and 14 are literate, less than 25% of them people have foundational reading and numeracy skills. Additionally, less than 12% of young Ghanaians have basic ICT/digital literacy skills. This is where Read 2 Lead steps in.

Since 2016, Read 2 Lead has worked to provide access to resources and literacy and ICT education for students in Ghana from the age of 5. We currently have 2 libraries that reach 10,000 students and their families. We are building our third library that will double our reach. Our activities include: library-building, reading incubators, academic competitions, scholarship opportunities, ICT lab trainings, and fun fairs.