In the corner of Woedoa village, Maria Henrika Rombas, known as Marsi, spends her days with her cheerful son, Stefanus Krisan Geka. Krisan, a grade 1 student at SDI Sorowea, has a strong enthusiasm for exploring the world around him.

Before the presence of a child-friendly library at his school, Krisan and his friends would often spend their time playing football every day after school. They would run around the field till dawn. However, everything changed when the child-friendly library at their school was established in November 2023.

This library is equipped with a variety of interesting picture storybooks, which captivated Krisan with their illustrations. He began to feel curious and wanted to learn about the letters and words in the books. Every day after school, Marsi would ask him about his activities at school, especially his visits to the library. As a caring mother, Marsi also often accompanied Krisan in reading the storybooks he borrowed from the school library at home.

Marsi is reading together with her son, Krisan, in the library

By February 2024, a significant change was evident. Krisan had begun to be able to read words and sentences. This was an extraordinary achievement for him as few months earlier he could only identify letters. The support and guidance from Marsi were very meaningful for his reading development.

The routine of visiting the library and reading together with Marsi at home had major impacts on Krisan. He became increasingly interested in engaging with children’s storybooks, and his reading skills developed rapidly.

Krisan is visiting the library and checking out a book

“With the picture storybooks that Krisan always borrows, he is very active in learning to read because he wants to know the content of the stories,” Marsi remarked. Now, they explore not only pictures but also the vast world of knowledge together. Through Krisan’s perseverance and Marsi’s support, they have discovered that each page of a book brings a new story, each word carries meaning, and each change opens doors to progress.

Keep reading, Krisan!
Thank you, Marsi!