American Embassy launches annual 'Everybody Reads Rwanda' campaign

According to The Rwanda Focus, the initiative is geared towards encouraging a culture of reading in Rwanda by encouraging as many people as possible to read and discuss the same book, which this year is Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.

Ambassador Erica Barks-Ruggles told The Rwanda Focus that the book was selected because of its timeless and inspirational themes of friendship, courage, fear, that characterized a Danish family during the Nazis occupation in 1943, which she said could be compared to some families in Rwanda in 1994, when the country was plunged into war and genocide.

"We want to improve everybody's access to books through this campaign," Barks-Ruggles explained. "Among the benefits from reading are learning from history and from other people's experience, and challenging us to make good choices when faced with the same problems the book's characters experienced."

More than 500 copies of Number The Stars were distributed in schools, to English teachers, libraries, and other groups. To ensure that the momentum doesn't die, representatives from the American Embassy will be leading book discussions in high schools, American Corners, and institutions across the country.

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