Freedom to Read 2020 in Ethiopia
By Mezemir Girma
Founder and owner, Ras Abebe Aregay
Library
Ras Abebe Aregay Library envisions
creating a generation of readers in Ethiopia.
We engage with the community in Debre Birhan town, Amhara National
Regional State through our library. Our involvement in making learning
materials and knowledge accessible online to the wider Ethiopian community
indicates that we serve much more Ethiopians.
The lack of easy access
to resources in mother tongue languages for Ethiopian students perpetuates the
vicious circle of illiteracy and poverty. We would love to let you know that in
Ethiopia there is a shortage of not only storybooks, but also textbooks.
Our library took part
in an African Library and Information Associations and Institutions (AfLIA) meeting
in Accra in October 2019. At that event we gave the participants explanation
about the African Storybook Initiative. A representative of Uganda asked if
that was like StoryWeaver. That was our
first time to learn about StoryWeaver. Afterwards we visited the website of StoryWeaver
and followed them on social media. Then, on Twitter we learned about the
Freedom to Read campaign. We applied to translate storybooks to Amharic. After
the selection process, our library was in the list of the six organizations chosen
globally to take part in the translation project.
As we are working on
reading and literacy we understand how storybooks are helpful to children in
our communities. When one gets the opportunity to translate quality picture
storybooks into one’s mother tongue, one should not miss the opportunity. As we
wish to help this generation get better opportunities than ours, we seized this
opportunity and took StoryWeaver‘s online training via Skype.
Local digital
storybooks in Amharic are helpful as there is a shortage of storybooks in the
country. As a lecturer in English Literature at one of the public universities
in Ethiopia, I (Mezemir Girma), was not aware of storybooks until 2014 when an
American Peace Corps Volunteer, Benjamin Rearick introduced me to the African
Storybook Initiative (ASb) and their wonderful translation system. If we,
teacher educators, do not know about storybooks, who knows? By the way, I
really felt happy when I found the storybooks I translated for ASb on the
StoryWeaver website. Therefore, in a country where children have little access
to storybooks, the role that the translation project may have in beyond words.
The translation process
was a bit challenging. At first, our plan was to engage library readers and
volunteers in the activity. However, they found it hard to get time to involve
in the translation project. Therefore, the activity relied on the manager of
the library, Mezemir Girma, alone. The translation was a bit difficult because
I was not familiar with the website. It took me a while to get used to it. The
online training helped me. The number of holidays that Ethiopia celebrated in
the last few weeks kept me away from the university where I could get internet
connection. As much as possible I used the time I had to translate. After I went half way, I learned that I could
use google translate. Earlier I didn’t rely on Google’s Amharic translation system
as I heard people say it was inaccurate. Now I am using it even if their
Amharic translation requires more editing work.
Once the translation is
over, distribution is another challenge. As I know from experience, the
community lacks access to the internet. At our library, we will display the
storybooks to children using our projector and laptop. We will also download
and disseminate to nearby schools. Other areas of the country could be reached
with social media and regional education bureaus.
The logo of our library
was designed by our IT volunteer Mr Tesfamicael Hailu and we would love to
thank him as he filled that gap and helped our library appear at the back of
the storybooks we translate. Thank you everyone at StoryWeaver for the
opportunity you gave us!
We wish everyone a joyful
International Mother Language Day!
Friday, February 21, 2020
Debre Birhan, Ethiopia
ምንም አስተያየቶች የሉም:
አስተያየት ይለጥፉ