Jordan Drive to Read (DTR)

Program title: Drive to Read (DTR)

Description: Each week, the Drive to Read Program (DTR) brought free educational, cultural and drama activities to about 720 children in Jordan’s East Amman and Zarqa neighborhoods. The three-year project, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by FHI 360, promoted literacy and fostered a culture of reading for enjoyment. DTR provided settings in which children were engaged in fun ways of learning while participating in positive, educational and confidence-building activities. Every week, two bookmobiles carrying 3,000 books in Arabic and English visited parks and community-based organizations in East Amman and Zarqa. Children in these neighborhoods were given free access to educational and cultural sessions. The project, which targeted children ages 6 to 12, also held community-wide events called “Open Days” that featured storytelling, games, face painting, crafts and reading/writing contests, where children won prizes such as bookshelves to start their own home libraries. DTR supplemented and reinforced the school system’s curriculum and offered basic nonformal educational opportunities for children outside the school system.