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Every child has the right to obtain all forms of education, including literature. Books are extremely significant in a student's life. Reading can help children learn about the world around them, increase their linguistic and writing skills, develop their thinking, boost their memory, broaden their focus levels, and lead them to discover the limitless universe of their imaginations. Literature is a fundamental part of a child's education and those with limited access to it are forced to suffer a handicap when it comes to reaching their full learning potentials.

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In the summer of 2021, Marit Asrat's book collection grew too large for a twelve-year-old to manage. With books stacking up faster than she could read them, Marit soon realized that she had more than she could ever fully enjoy. As the daughter of an African immigrant, Marit was raised in a home where she was taught the importance of I was taught the value of resilience, hard work, and the power of knowledge. Knowing how fortunate she was to have access to books that broadened her world, Marit felt a responsibility to give her books a new life. 

 

That summer she organized a book drive with friends, neighbors, schools, and local libraries. That book drive eventually led to the creation of Africa Reads, an organization that collects books every year to ship to children living in communities in need, fostering a love for reading everywhere.

 

Africa Reads is a non profit mission created to address a growing societal need by donating books to the children in Sub-Saharan Africa. We hold biannual book drives in our hometown of Los Angeles and welcome out-of-state donations in hopes of collecting a total of 1,500 books per year. Any excess books that we collect are distributed to underprivileged communities in our local area of Los Angeles.

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