Fwd - Yoza Excites African Teenagers to Love Reading Using Mobile Phones July 17, 2011
Yoza Excites African Teenagers to Love Reading Using Mobile Phones
We've all heard the hype about eReaders bringing digital books to the masses. But often those "masses" are high-end consumers in the developed world who are reading for leisure and pleasure. So what about the developing world? And specifically teenagers, who have yet to find pleasure or leisure in reading? Books will not be the answer.
There is a growing awareness around the impact that a lack of books has on literacy levels in South Africa. Books are scarce and prohibitively expensive for most South Africans. Stats show that 51% of households in South Africa do not own a single leisure book, while an elite 6% of households own 40 books or more. Only 7% of schools have functioning libraries.
What South Africa’s teens do have access to are cellphones, with stats indicating that 90% of urban youth have their own cellphone. Steve Vosloo, founder of Yoza and fellow for 21st century learning at the Shuttleworth Foundation, says: