A Special Message from Our Friends in India

Dear LitWorld Friends,

Today started quite typically for me - with a call from two inspiring LitWorld coordinators (Meera and Prasad) at Centre for Development (CfD) in Ahmedabad, India. Our conversation quickly turned to an expected topic: the ongoing pandemic.

Like so many of the grassroots organizations that LitWorld partners with, CfD works within communities that lack access to basic resources like education, housing, and healthcare. For these already underserved families, the spread of COVID-19 and worldwide shutdowns have had dire consequences.

“Families rely on daily labor to put food on the table,” Meera and Prasad shared. “And for many kids in our LitClubs, schools often provided their only meal for the day." 

Yet despite these challenges, their message was not one of despair. It was one of hope, strength, and determination. 

Since the pandemic, LitWorld’s partners like CfD have been quick to respond to their community's needs. Our mentors and coordinators are delivering educational LitClub materials alongside necessities including soap, jugs of water, masks, sanitary pads, and emergency food like rice and beans. Meera calls older LitClub members and helps them advocate for government assistance. As of this week, some have even resumed LitClub meetings at half-capacity, keeping six feet apart and wearing masks, so that children can feel educationally and emotionally supported and understood amidst this crisis.

“Our families and our children are resilient,” Meera and Prasad continued. “We can get through anything, no matter how difficult.” And thanks to supporters like you, LitWorld is with them every step of the way. With your help, we can continue providing our kids around the world with the support they need now more than ever.

Thank you for helping LitWorld's global community through this crisis. Like Meera and Prasad told me, I know that when we work together, we can get through anything.

With hope,

Mariya Ohulchanska
LitWorld Programming Coordinator

Supporting Our Children through COVID-19

We are all feeling the impact of COVID-19, and this is especially true for our children - particularly children living in poverty or in communities of color.

Without school or their regular support systems, children around the world are struggling with fear, anxiety, and isolation unlike anything they have ever known - and experts agree that the emotional and psychological consequences of this will last far beyond the pandemic itself. As lifelong advocates for the social-emotional well-being of children, we at LitWorld are working harder than ever to make sure that our youngest and most vulnerable are not left behind during this crisis. However, we cannot do this alone. 

A LitClub mentor from Rift Valley Reading Association in Kenya making face masks.

Today, we are launching a campaign to raise $100,000 by the end of June to support millions of children who are missing critical school time due to COVID-19. 

With your help, we can provide kids and families with programs like LitCamp at Home and Virtual LitClub, and give them the safe and joyful learning they desperately need - through summer and beyond.

Check below to see some of the ways your donation will help us reach children and communities around the world, and please consider donating to help us provide children and communities everywhere with the social and academic tools they need to thrive during these uncertain times.

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Virtual LitClubs

Thanks to our Virtual LitClubs, kids everywhere are staying safe and engaged with weekly art projects, prompts, poems, and more. These two LitKids from Art of a Child in Uganda are having fun creating their own ‘Kindness Journals’ while practicing safe social distancing guidelines.

The Global Heart Map Project

Kids and adults alike are connecting online by taking part in our #GlobalHeartMap project, sharing some of what they're going through with others from around the world. Check out the submission gallery to see some of the amazing Heart Maps people have sent in thus far!

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Live Videos

We are live-streaming videos on Facebook and Instagram each week to help our families and mentors find fun and safe ways to stay connected throughout quarantine. From arts and crafts to read-alouds, these videos offer exciting and engaging content to help keep our kids emotionally engaged and entertained!

Stay tuned for more info about upcoming programs like “LitCamp at Home”, and help support our children today!

To the Women Who Inspire Us: A Mother’s Day Celebration

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, all of us at LitWorld are thinking about the women in our lives who have inspired us.

This includes celebrating all of the moms, caretakers, and female role models who have strengthened us and shaped us into the people we are today. Their love and support is what keeps us going, and in the days of COVID-19, is more important than ever.

LitWorld Superhero Charlotte (center) with mom & sister in Rwanda

To show our appreciation, the LitWorld team is excited to share these truly amazing stories featuring some of the moms and women leaders from around the world! We are so proud to have them as part of our LitWorld family, and hope they help inspire you for this upcoming Mother’s Day.

Jessica
Art of a Child, Uganda

All of our LitMoms at Art of a Child in Uganda are working together to find new ways of supporting their families throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. One amazing example is Jessica, who has begun making her own protective masks and selling them at a low cost to others in the community. By undertaking this initiative, she is able to support her family throughout the crisis, support public health, and act as an inspiration to other women, mothers, and daughters!

Ada Raquel Bonilla Rodrigues
Luceros del Amanecer, Nicaragua

In addition to raising her own son, Mateo, mother and mentor Ada Raquel also works tirelessly as a LitClub mentor at the Laguna Negra LitClub program for pregnant teens. She speaks with and empowers these girls, showing them just how bright their futures can be. Even as she’s expecting her second child, Ada Raquel visits local schools and runs her own weekly radio show, teaching young girls about safe sex and early pregnancy prevention.

Phares Kafula
Go Ye Therefore, Zambia

Using the entrepreneurial skills she learned at Moms LitClub, Phares and the other LitMoms in Zambia have started a community garden outside a local school. They sell what they grow back to the community, earning both financial security for their families and valuable self-confidence for themselves. “We have learnt how to achieve our goals,” says Phares. “They say that an opportunity knocks once. This is that opportunity. We are so grateful and thankful. We are changed persons.”

Madiha Istiak
Seeds of Hope, Pakistan

Madiha attends the Mom’s Sewing LitClub at Seeds of Hope in Pakistan. Her formal education ended at primary school, but she loves sewing and is always eager to contribute during club activities, readily offering help to the other LitMoms.

LitClub has boosted Madiha’s confidence greatly, and she now realizes the importance of education - especially for girls. “I’m happy because I’m useful” she says. “LitClub helped me realize my worth and be productive in society.”

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Seeds of Hope Foundation, Pakistan 

For their 2019 Mother’s Day celebration, moms from the Seeds of Hope Foundation in Pakistan visited the Najina sewing center where they practiced sewing skills, along with various activities focused around self-empowerment and basic literacy activities from the Mom’s Club. The year before, they celebrated Mother’s Day with their children, many of whom are also enrolled in Seeds of Hope, who honored their moms with beautiful letters of appreciation that they wrote and illustrated themselves.

If you want to join us in celebrating these incredible women in our lives, why not make a donation in someone’s honor as your Mother’s Day gift? You’ll be making a difference for women everywhere by helping us provide moms with life-changing access to literacy and entrepreneurship training, making them become leaders of both their families and communities. You will also receive a special virtual postcard that can be printed or shared online, making it the perfect present for anyone you donate in honor of - near or far!

From all of us at LitWorld, we wish women, leaders, and moms everywhere a happy Mother’s Day!

 

LitWorld Cooks: Egg Recipes from Around the World!

“Tell me what you eat, and I'll tell you what you are.”
- Brillat-Savarin

Nargisi Kofta

Food is more than just fuel; it is an important part of our identities. Whether passed down through generations or found through a Google search, the recipes that we make and share tell powerful stories
about our countries, our histories, and ourselves.

Preparing for a banana blossom omelette

A dutch baby pancake

Tortas from Colombia

During this time of year, many of us are celebrating birth and rebirth through holidays or by simply appreciating the new growth of trees and flowers along with longer daylight hours. The ingredient that best symbolizes the power of nature, and that unites us across cuisines? The humble egg! 

Heralded as a symbol of rebirth and vitality, the egg is known for being nutritious, versatile, and oh-so-tasty. It can be boiled or baked, served hot or cold, enjoyed for breakfast or dinner (or even dessert). It can be eaten on its own, or added to stabilize cakes and other baked goods. It is a key ingredient used in thousands of different dishes, from Pakistan's nargisi kofta (a spiced meatball stuffed with egg) to the Filipino favorite of a banana blossom omelette.

Thanks to our wonderful LitWorld partners around the world and our friend Jayne Cohen, cookbook author, we have put together a whole book of global egg recipes just for you!

Every member of our LitWorld community has their own unique (and delicious) egg recipe, and each of these recipes tells a story. Whether it’s a group of friends preparing a nutritious energy drink together or a mother recreating her own favorite childhood breakfast for her daughter, these dishes help unite us all through one of life’s simplest pleasures: the universal joy of food.

LitKids in Colombia mixing a PonyMalta energy drink

We hope that by sharing these recipes and stories with you, we can connect you more closely to our LitWorld community. So please, crack an egg, test out some of these tasty recipes, and perhaps they’ll become a part of your own special kitchen tradition!

Read the LitWorld cookbook for free now!

Click here for delicious egg recipes from around the world!

P.S. Did you take a crack at one of these recipes? Show off your chef skills with the world by sharing a picture of your creation on social media and tagging LitWorld!

Introducing Virtual LitClubs! A Letter from our Executive Director

Dear Friends,

We are all in this together. I know that I am not alone as I practice breathing exercises to slow my racing mind; as I moderate my intake of the news, which seems to be the same scary story over and over. At the same time, I am so grateful for what I have: access to clean water, food, a secure home filled with books, reliable internet, and the LitWorld community, which remains so powerful in the wake of this pandemic.

I am also relieved to know that, thanks to their LitWorld experiences, LitKids everywhere have the tools they need to stay safe and supported during this global crisis. They can read, understand, and share life-saving information about medical precautions. They can express their feelings and value the perspectives of others. And they can be confident in having a strong network of peers and mentors to rely on.

LitWorld was built to be flexible and address kids' needs in any place, at any time. That is why we are excited to share the launch of our “Virtual LitClub” that is open to all, including our ongoing global partners. We are also working on an "at-home" version of our summer LitCamps, ensuring that no LitKids will be left without these life-changing opportunities for learning and inspiration.

As a global community, we must address both our immediate needs and those of tomorrow. Amplifying the voices of our children is more important than ever. That is why we need your help.

Here are three ways YOU can take action now!

1. Join our

Global Heart Map Project!

Click to learn more and share your story with the world.

2. Start a

Virtual LitClub!

Tune in to our weekly Facebook Live Videos every Wednesday, and sign up now to receive an email every Monday with activities, projects, and more.

3. Donate today!

We have unfortunately had to cancel our 2020 gala, severely impacting our revenue, but our work never pauses.

Many of our LitKids do not have the same resources we do. Clean water is not a given. There is no spare room for isolation if a family member is sick. But they have something powerful: information, literacy tools, and this incredible community. Let’s do what we can to ensure that our LitKids' voices and stories continue to be heard!

With appreciation,
Dorothy Lee
Executive Director

Virtual Read-Alouds, Drawing Sessions, and More to Enjoy at Home!

“Reading gives us someplace to go
when we have to stay where we are.”

- Mason Cooley

Reading aloud and sharing stories is more than just a fun way to pass the time. It’s an invaluable way of building bonds and connecting with others that humans have relied on throughout history, and during these challenging times, that sense of togetherness is more important than ever.

As we learn to adapt to these many new challenges, people everywhere are working hard to ensure that we can all take part in the joy of reading aloud. Check below for a list of online read-alouds and more from educators, actors, celebrities, and artists from all around the world!

For more ways to stay engaged, sign up for our upcoming weekly virtual LitClubs, check out our list of at-home resources, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter as we continue releasing new content!

A Letter & Call to Action from our Executive Director

Dear Friends,

Yesterday morning, I sat down at the kitchen table with my daughter to make maps of the feelings in our hearts. (It was the time of day when she is usually starting school, and I am usually on the subway on my way to work.) 

The first two feelings she shared were “sad” and “happy,” which sums things up pretty well. We are all experiencing so many conflicting emotions right now, and they can shift in an instant. It felt good to write down the feelings of that moment. It feels good to share them with you all now.

Today, I invite you to join in and come together as the kind, resilient, generous LitWorld community we know and love. I invite you to share your hearts with the world! Visit here to learn how you can make your own Heart Map and add to our story.

In these days when we need to stay physically distanced to be safe, it is more critical than ever to build social connections with others so that we can stay emotionally strong. The act of sharing stories keeps us whole, and reminds us that we are part of a global community. LitWorld is doing all we can to keep this work going strong. Let’s be there for one another, today and every day!

Please feel free to be in touch at any time, and thank you, always, for being an important part of the LitWorld family!

With hope,
Dorothy Lee
Executive Director, LitWorld

🧡 From all your friends at LitWorld, we hope you stay safe and stay strong. 🧡