When Chef Hilda Baci isn’t cooking or going about her daily restaurant business, and social media influencer Enioluwa isn’t serving looks or doing Lagos today, S.A tomorrow, they’re moving as a unit to impact communities through a book reading initiative.
In case you’re now wondering, “What book reading initiative?” This is all we know about their #WhenWeRead campaign.
What’s this campaign really about?
Hilda and Enioluwa launched their “When We Read” campaign to improve literacy. Books deserve some facetime too because you become the baddest baddie when you read.
How it began
The #WhenWeRead campaign officially kicked off on August 1st, 2023, but the signs have been there since May, when Enioluwa tweeted that learning never stops, inside or outside the classroom.
In July, he announced with the #WhenWeRead hashtag that he was in the Buj to give out free copies of Chimamanda Adichie’s “Americanah”.
The campaign grabbed attention, and some organisations have asked for donations.
Who’s #WhenWeRead for?
Young people. Hilda hopes the initiative will help cultivate a healthy reading habit among them and reduce the time spent on phones.
How many books will they give out?
On July 31st, Hilda Baci tweeted about a 5000 book donation project she’s launching with her close friend, Enioluwa.
The books will go to individuals, students, libraries and organisations.
How to get your copy
If you’re interested in getting some of these books, all you have to do is DM @friendsofeni on IG. Simple as balablu.
There’s a monthly package
As part of the campaign, a fiction and a non-fiction book will be sent to people to read every month. They didn’t say what qualifies interested readers for the monthly book package, or for how long the package will last, but we hope their system never dies.
The reading community jumps in
A week ago, Enioluwa was at Rovingheights (Nigeria’s biggest bookstore line) to share August’s titles: “The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives” (fiction) by Lola Shoneyin and Opray Winfrey’s “I Know For Sure” (non-fiction).
On August 5th, fashion and lifestyle magazine, Reen, recommended six books to honour the #WhenWeRead campaign. Other readers and stores have joined in to push the campaign.
Well done to Hilda and Enioluwa as interests grow in their literacy initiative. As Malala Yousafzai said, “One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.”
