Helping Children Learn to Read

At your local elementary school, how many books are in each classroom? In around 21 Solos schools in Papua New Guinea, there are no textbook readers at all. The children only have what their teachers write by hand on notebooks or on a blackboard to help them learn to read.

In fact, in missionary Larry Doyle’s language study/survey in 2021 (pictured above), he found a pretty low and even declining literacy rate among the Solos people. This is a challenge that needs to be addressed as the Solos Bible translation team translates more and more of the Bible into their own language. 

To address this need, Larry wants to print readers in the Solos language and provide them to the youngest students in the public schools as early as next January, if possible.

Larry has kept Solos stories that their people have written in translation workshops and courses, and he has also kept ones recorded in language lessons. His goal is to print these Solos stories with pictures in short booklets, about 4-10 pages. Initial start-up funds for this project would be $2000-$3000 to get a starter pack of books in each Solos elementary school.

Additional books to print in the future could include more readers, an alphabet book, a picture dictionary, and even a trial version of the Book of Joshua, once it is completely translated into the Solos language. The entire project may cost as much as $12,000. Once an established writing system is officially in place, the local education system may fund the printing of new books each year.

Please consider donating to the Solos Literacy Project. Larry writes, “We’re trying to work with the Department of Education, the elementary teachers, and the communities/families to enable them to teach their children to read their own language.”