Africa Has a Literacy Crisis. America Has an Economic Stake in Solving It.

In Part 2 of my Schoolutions conversation, Dr. Kris Nystrom (founder of Reading the World Inc.) connects the dots among global literacy rates, the world economy, and why what happens in a slum school in Nairobi has a profound economic impact. This discussion highlights the critical role of universal education in addressing poverty and fostering global awareness, underscoring the broader implications for finance and world news.

Kris shares:
🌍 Why student success in Kenya is directly tied to the global economy
📖 Project Ripple: a science of reading initiative in Nairobi slum schools with 100:1 student-teacher ratios
💡 The Good Hope Royalty Center, where "all children are royal" and street kids are given unconditional love and a future
🔁 The Sankofa philosophy: "You can go back and fix your mistakes"
👨‍👩‍👧 How one literate child creates a ripple of empowered educators, healthier families, and stronger communities

💫Make sure to watch Part 1 & donate here if you can.

📚 CHAPTERS:
00:00 Welcome & Sankofa: "You can go back and fix your mistakes"
02:00 Colonial history & why African literacy rates are low
04:30 Inside Nairobi slum schools: 100 students to 1 teacher
07:30 Project Ripple: science of reading training in APBET schools
09:00 Why global literacy matters to every economy
10:30 By 2050, 1/4 of the world will live in Africa
12:00 The ripple effect: one child teaches their parents to read
13:30 Good Hope Royalty Center & Faith Woge's unconditional love
16:30 "All children are royal" candles, soap & sustainable futures
17:30 How to support Reading the World Inc.
18:00 Closing reflection: the ripple is the whole thing

🔗 RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Why Should I Care? Counting Up From Survival
• Reading the World Projects
• APBET schools (Alternative Provision for Basic Education and Training)
• SUNY New Paltz Science of Reading Center 

🎧 New episodes every Monday & Friday with bite-sized Wednesday reel bonus content.
📧 Connect with me if you’d like a thought partner to help you cultivate curious learners who advocate for what they believe in.
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl

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Next Week: We are going somewhere equally unexpected and equally beautiful. Portrait Pals, founded by Tonya Quinn, is redefining what art class can be — pairing children across communities to paint each other's portraits, and in doing so, teaching them that every face tells a story worth seeing. 

When teachers, coaches, administrators, and families grow together, they create schools where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged, supported, and ready to thrive.