Reading campaign stepped up

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sports and Culture, Eduard Kalisa, yesterday, launched the Reading Week with a call to adopt a reading culture.He lamented that the reading and writing culture in Rwanda was still low despite the existence of various materials.“It is not easy to assess the status of reading, but what I can say is that we (Rwandans) haven’t developed a reading culture because of the oral tradition, where our parents used to tell stories rather than writing,” says Kalisa.The campaign will be characterised by book exhibitions, children reading competitions and training about reading and writing.“We are sensitising Rwandans to embrace the culture of reading and writing as it leads to the individual and country’s development. If a person reads, he or she gets to know and he or she does better” he added.Books of various kinds, including sciences, languages, history and geography, among others, were on display during the launch at Rwandan Library Services in Kacyiru, Kigali. John Baptist Rufatabahizi, an author of an English novel entitled Claudine Rebero and George Mugohe, also decried the poor reading culture in the country.“We are still stuck in the oral tradition where communication was by word of mouth, yet books are available. Even though the books are not enough, even those available are not read,” he said.The Kigali library project was initiated by Lottery International Rwanda chapter in conjunction with the Ministry of Sports and Culture at a tune of over Rwf3bn as part of efforts to promote a reading culture. Jenifer Turatsinze, the library director, says the library has over 35,000 various books and e- resources and has capacity to seat over 300 people at the same time. The library will officially be opened to the public on Friday.

National

Reading campaign stepped up