Last Updated on July 23, 2025 by Johann Van Rensburg
WHY IT MATTERS
Check out this short video to learn more about the IWOF Reading Centre and the life-changing impact this innovative program is going to have on the community outside of the Orphanage walls, particularly vulnerable widows and single moms.
IWOF READING CENTRE WILL HELP LIFT WOMEN OUT OF POVERTY
Once construction is completed, the program will empower widows and single moms to learn to read, write, create a business plan and start their own business with a $50 microloan – all in just 9 months. LEARN MORE…
Key Facts
CONSTRUCTION TIMELINE
- Start of Construction: January 2021
- Estimated Completion: July 2021
THE FACILITY
The 2,300 sqft. building is located adjacent to Grace Orphanage in the Uvira area of the DRC. It will include 2 classrooms, a charcoal fire kitchen and picnic tables, a lounge area for networking, and a shaded patio area to escape the African sun.
THE TRAINING PROGRAM
PROGRAM COST
IWOF READING CENTRE WILL HELP LIFT WOMEN OUT OF POVERTY
You can change a life. You can give hope. Your donation to cover basic literacy skills and a nutritious meal will bring human dignity to vulnerable women. It will empower them to start a business or get a job that will provide income for a better life for them and their children.
Because of you, a woman will be able to read stories to her child, read a job posting, apply for a driver’s license, be empowered to vote, read health warning labels on medicine, or start a business. Imagine the impact you will have even on the next generation!
Groundbreaking Ceremony
This exciting project kicked off in late January with a groundbreaking ceremony, attended by local government officials; educators; program administrators; men, women, and children from the surrounding community; and the staff and children of Grace Orphanage. In a country with very little hope, the announcement of this new program was certainly cause for celebration. Here are some of the highlights of the event:
Speech: Government Official
Speech: Program Manager
Speech: Local Woman
Some of the Celebration
The Reading Centre Dream
It has always been the dream of the IWOF Board to impact the greater Uvira community, whereby some of the blessings given to Grace Orphanage would spill over the walls and impact the community around Grace Orphanage. A great need has been identified: women, mostly widows, and single moms in the area, who cannot read or write. They cannot find jobs other than menial physical labor and they do not know how to start their own businesses. They are literally without hope to escape the grip of poverty.
With this in mind, the thought is what if we can establish a literacy centre where women can learn to read and write? To remove the pressure from these women to supply for the family, we would provide a meal and take care of her children, enabling her to focus on learning to read and write, developing basic business skills, and networking with other women in the group. The hope is that after 9 months each woman will be reading at a grade 5 level, sufficient to identify health warnings, read basic news stories, count, get involved in community issues, and understand basic business skills. We can then look at helping fund her first start-up business and provide continued mentoring and support. For most, if not all of these women, this type of program would likely represent their best opportunity to provide for their family and finally escape the grip of poverty!
What was once a dream is now becoming a reality! Thank you so much to our generous donors for all of your support!
