Like a sun and moon in orbit, Ahumuza and his little brother Asobora do everything together. And at Bisozi Primary School in Western Uganda, they just graduated our Roots to Rise foundational literacy program together, too!

The dynamic duo, which can now add reading to their list of never-ending shared activities, wasn’t always able to do so. Just five weeks ago, Ahumuza who is in the fifth grade and Asobora who is in the third grade couldn’t even identify the sounds that letters make. But now, thanks to a series of fun, interactive games and lessons, the boys’ abilities are soaring to greater heights than the mountains that surround their busy government school.

“I really like class and studying now,” says Asobora. whose favorite Roots to Rise game is alphabet Bingo. “The game makes it so I have to read really fast in my head and put the right letters down,” he says. “And I always win!”

Thanks to the lessons, Asobora has had a whole new world opened up to him and even has a new favorite book series called I Can Read and Write. “I like reading stories about people and learners like me at school,” he says with a smile and one of the books under his arm. And with foundational skills like reading locked down, he knows he has a better future, too.

At just 12 years old, Asobora is a dreamer with his head in the clouds—He wants to be a pilot. “I want to bring in people, books, cars, and everything Uganda needs!” says Asobora with bright eyes.

Ahumuza, his older brother, loves seeing Asobora excited to learn like this. “I am so proud and happy for my little brother,” he says. Like Asobora, he loves the Roots to Rise games, especially one called Sound Ball, where students toss around a ball with different letters written on it and have to sound out the one facing them when it is caught.

As for John Kawhwa, the community education volunteer who taught the two to read, he’s glad to see the pair succeeding together. “If you saw these two before, they were really struggling even with syllables, and now they can read and understand full stories. We really need to thank Roots to Rise.”

Ahumuza and Asobora are two of more than 11,000 students reached through our Roots to Rise initiative so far this year. We want to open up the world of reading to even more children. Will you become a part of our story this back-to-school season? Click here to donate.