African Children's Stories

Inspired by a visit to a Zambian primary school in 2012, the Ducere Foundation aims to provide an African alternative in children’s literature. All too often, library shelves and school bags are filled with Western stories that have little or no relevance to the reality of a primary school student in Africa.

Our African Children’s Stories program is a unique and innovative initiative that aims to publish and distribute African Children’s Stories from each and every African nation by 2025. To date, the Ducere Foundation has worked with teachers in primary schools in 24 African countries to engage students in story writing and storytelling. Children write stories from their own imagination and life experiences, share their culture, and capture stories from their elders to preserve oral tradition.

The best stories are then selected and published into country-based African Children’s Stories collections. These collections, together with collections from other African countries, go back into the classrooms and libraries of the participating and adjacent schools to be used as supplementary reading materials.

The collections provide culturally relevant resources which can then be used as a learning tool for the acceleration of literacy skills, as well as giving children pride in their own culture and identity. The program also assists in improving the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom through our teacher training program. This incorporates skills building with the regular school curriculum and student-centred learning, all of which is transformative.