To foster a love for reading among children and teenagers and to divert them from social media, Mwana, your bilingual French-English magazine with sections in Lingala and Kituba, organized two editions of the « Reading Picnic » in partnership with the Joint Management Committee for Social Works (CPGOS). These two events took place on July 13 and August 31, 2024, at the Trentenaire Space of TotalEnergies Congo.
A total of 219 children, 130 for the first edition and 79 for the second, ranging in age from 5 to 20 years old, participated in these Reading Picnics, which were animated by talented artists like Jeff BIYERI. The program included free reading, loud reading sessions, the « Book Domino » game, reading duos, and lively storytelling. The children, the future of the country, engaged joyfully and freely, under the watchful eyes of a few parents who appreciated their children’s reading levels.
According to data on learning poverty, 87% of children in Africa are unable to read and understand a simple text (UNESCO, 2022). Whatever the reason, the lack of reading, especially among adolescents and young people, has several harmful consequences, such as an incomplete mastery of the mechanics of expression, and writing techniques, and reduced text comprehension performance.
Therefore, one of the main challenges for Mwana Magazine is to make reading for pleasure a habit among children and young people in Congo, as screens and social media are threats to paper-based reading.
In addition to the Reading Picnic, your magazine organizes the « Motangui » reading competition once a year, as well as language and reading workshops every Wednesday at 2 p.m. and Saturday at 10 a.m., to help reverse the trend in the Republic of Congo.
The Editorial Team
