Early this year, The Reading Partnership reached a huge milestone: we launched our Reading Partnership for Parents program in Accra, Ghana! This expansion has been a dream of mine since I first started making annual visits to Ghana in 2021. During my visits, I noticed that families were facing similar challenges as the communities we serve back home. Caregivers were struggling to find ways to support their children’s reading development, and community institutions were working with limited resources and training.
After years of building our program and seeing its impact across Toronto communities, I felt a growing pull to explore how our approach to early literacy might help families in Ghana. Here’s how we achieved our first international pilot program.
Getting Started
The first step was finding the right partner. After years of delivering programs and services to children and families in Canada, I’ve learned that strong partnerships are crucial to successful programming. The Ghana Library Authority, with their national reach, deep community roots, and commitment to literacy development, was the perfect partner. Their existing infrastructure gave us both legitimacy and access that would have taken years to build on our own.
At the same time, our years of experience hosting this program in Toronto made us an ideal partner for them—we brought an evidence-informed program with a play-based approach that engages children and caregivers alike.
Inside and outside the National Children and Mobile Library
Through our partnership, I was introduced to the Ghana Library Authority’s National Children and Mobile Library. I fell in love the moment I walked into the building. It was vibrant, colourful, and inviting. What struck me the most was its location, sitting right between two vastly different communities: Airport Residential – an affluent neighbourhood with tons of high rises, houses, and private schools, and Nima – a zongo: an urban, low-income neighbourhood, historically known for its large Muslim population, poor infrastructure, and being under-resourced.
These neighbourhoods reminded me so much of the divisions I see at home—the stark contrast between areas like Kingston-Galloway/Orton Park and Guildwood in Scarborough, separated by only a single train track.
These wealth gaps aren’t just lines on a map; they have profound impacts on children’s education. UNICEF reported that children from the richest fifth of Ghanaian communities have reading skills that are 10x higher than those from the poorest fifth. Having seen the impact of wealth and education disparities on my own community in Scarborough, I saw this as an opportunity to prioritize families in Nima and ensure they got the chance to set their children up for success.
I was excited about the possibility of expanding our program beyond the borders of Canada. At the same time, I was anxious about how well it would translate to Accra—a city with different customs and cultural norms. Would caregivers respond positively? Would the program be as impactful as it had been in Toronto or Ottawa? Through our six-week pilot, I found the answer to many of my questions – and the answer was a resounding yes.
A child and his father engage in a reading activity using cards from our Lit Kit
The Challenges
Three weeks before our registration deadline, reality hit hard: only one family had signed up for the program. On top of that, we had different views from our program partner on how to run the pilot. The library staff had never run an afterschool program and believed that weekend sessions would draw more families in. From my years of experience delivering this program, I knew that weekdays would work if we provided families with the essentials, like childminding and meals. Still, I was committed to finding common ground with the library staff. We were also struggling to get our supplies, which had been stuck at customs for weeks. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to train our facilitators or deliver the program.
As these challenges started to add up, I knew we had to take action. Our team collaborated with the National Children’s Library team to design a rapid outreach strategy that included WhatsApp campaigns, Facebook advertising, social media content, and direct school and community visits. Once we reached the registration deadline, we had over 70 applications with only 15 spaces to fill.
Two members of the program delivery team preparing learning materials for the program
I felt passionately about showing the library staff that afterschool programs could be successful. As we continued to plan for the program, the library staff and I came to a compromise. We called the 70 families who applied and asked them whether they would commit to a weekday program. This approach helped us narrow down our selection and gave the library staff confidence that an afterschool program would work.
When it came to our supplies, we were finally able to get our hands on them by paying an extra fee. In the process, we were given a contact to reach out to and a pathway to make any future shipments much smoother.
The Team
From facilitators to local community members and businesses, our pilot was successful because of our team.
Some members of the program delivery team
Yaa Agyemang Opare Adu, Head of Partnerships and Programmes at the Ghana Library Authority, was a huge supporter of our work. Her enthusiasm for the program garnered the support of Ghana Library Authority leadership and staff members alike, which made our partnership possible. Staff from the Authority’s National Children and Mobile Library were also trained as facilitators to co-deliver the program and offer wrap-around support.
Johanna Niles, our lead facilitator with a background in disability studies, was crucial for running this program. She led our program sessions, ensuring children and families were engaged and receiving the help they needed. She also implemented change in real time to meet the needs of our families. This included adapting our program and training volunteers to support several children with exceptionalities.
Emmanuel Sam-Bossman, a local educator and consultant, acted as our cultural translator. He supported training and curriculum adaptations to meet the needs of the community.
Library staff working with a parent and child using a letter sound card from our Lit Kit
Dr. Evelyn F. Kissi, a Canadian professor at the University of Ghana, connected us with six recent education grads eager for hands-on experience. They supported childcare, prepared materials, and translated for families. In return, they gained practical skills in literacy education – and some even used our Lit Kits to tutor kids in their own communities. It was impact in action—our work inspiring others to carry literacy forward.
We were also supported by local businesses. Telecel donated Wi-Fi access, a neighbourhood caterer ensured families had nutritious meals each week, and a local bakery provided cupcakes that made our graduation celebration extra special. These collaborations didn’t just reduce our expenses—they demonstrated the transformative power of community investment in our work.
Families enjoying cupcakes provided by a local business for our graduation ceremony
Stepping into the Field
For the first time in years, I stepped back into the role of program facilitator myself. This shift gave me an incredible opportunity to engage directly with families and experience firsthand the unique challenges of doing international work.
Founder and Executive Director Camesha Cox engaging with a participant using the materials from our Lit Kit
Weekly assessments revealed that some children from the Nima community needed extra support. Emmanuel took the initiative to visit the area first, and quickly identified key challenges—families had difficulty accessing online recaps and applying play-based strategies at home.
Emmanuel with one of the families at a community compound in Nima
Many families lived in the same compound or nearby, so we worked with them as a group, showing how they could engage their children in shared activities and support one another. These visits helped us understand how to better support families—not just with tools and guidance, but by helping them transform their everyday living spaces into meaningful learning environments.
Camesha Cox and families from the Nima community enjoying at-home literacy practice
Moving Forward
What began as a dream during my travels has grown into a promising international expansion. The dedication of our team, the commitment of participating families, and the support of our partners have shown that our approach to early literacy can transcend borders.
We ran a successful pilot, but the most immediate need now is securing the funding to continue this work. Until now, our focus has been on securing local and national support in Canada. As we look ahead, we’re exploring the international development space to understand who funds this kind of work and what partnerships will help sustain and grow what we’ve started.
We’re committed to continuing our partnership with the Ghana Library Authority and addressing the ongoing need for stronger literacy outcomes across the country. But what works in Accra—a capital city with more infrastructure and access—may not translate directly to rural or suburban communities. Each setting will require a tailored approach rooted in local realities and community strengths.
A group shot participants and the program delivery team
Our goal is to build a sustainable, scalable model that responds to those differences. We’re moving forward with ambition, humility, and a clear call: to secure the support needed to keep this important work going.
This work brings us closer to our vision that every child, in every community, has the literacy skills and self-determination to positively impact their world—from Scarborough to Accra and beyond!
Awesome post!