Room to Read Blog

Happy International Mother Language Day!

Today marks the not-very-well-known holiday called International Mother Language Day, a holiday that was proclaimed by UNESCO in 1999 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.   

The holiday originated in Bangladesh, a country that started commemorating what they called Language Movement Day after the Bengali Language Movement protested in 1952 against the declaration that Urdu would be the only official language for both West and East Pakistan (Bengali-speaking East Pakistan is now current-day Bangladesh).  Bangladesh still celebrates this holiday quite seriously and in fact, today, Room to Read Bangladesh organized activities for 81 of the girls supported through our Girls' Education program in the Siragjanj district.  The girls took part in story writing competitions, grammar exercises, and sang patriotic songs about their love for the Bangla language and their nation.

Each year, International Mother Language Day has a theme and the 2010 theme of "Rapprochement of Cultures" is a great reminder to us all about how language is a powerful tool for preserving and developing ones culture and heritage.  It is a theme that Room to Read addresses frequently through its Local Language Publishing program (LLP).  For many of our original titles, we encourage each Room to Read country to teach cultural identity, understanding, tolerance and dialogue through some of the local language books that they develop and publish each year.

Some examples from past years include Kapil, the Ant from Nepal, which teaches children about conflict resolution and peace, an important lesson for those Nepali children who have lived amidst Nepal’s political conflict.  Or, Nosipho Comes to Stay has tackled the difficult and sensitive subject matters of HIV/AIDS in South Africa.  In Sri Lanka, a country that recently emerged from years of civil war, Baby Fish Goes to School was a title that was printed in both Tamil and Sinhala and taught children that you can make friends with those that are different from you and even help one another (like helping a fish that lives in water go to a school that is on land). 

Room to Read now has printed 433 original local language children's book titles in 22 languages which represents over 4.1 million book that have been distributed throughout our libraries.  What languages you ask?  Count them here (in alphabetical order):

1. Afrikaans (South Africa)
2. English (India, South Africa)
3. Garhwali (India)
   
4. Hindi (India)
5. IsiNdebele (South Africa)
6. IsiXhosa (South Africa)
7. IsiZulu (South Africa)
8. Khmer (Cambodia)
9. Lao (Laos)
10. Nepali (Nepal)
11. Rajasthani (India)
12. Sepedi (South Africa)
13. Sesotho (South Africa)
14. Setswana (South Africa)
15. Sinhala (Sri Lanka)
16. Siswati (South Africa)
17. Tamil (Sri Lanka)
18. Telugu (India)
19. Tharu (Nepal)
20. Tshivenda (South Africa)
21. Vietnamese (Vietnam)
22. Xitsonga (South Africa)

Yes…WOW!  And, in 2010, we'll launch our Local Language Publishing program in Bangladesh and begin publishing in Bangla!  Which bring us back around to today: International Mother Language Day.

Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, stated, "The mother language, in which the first words are uttered and individual thought expressed, is the foundation for the history and culture of each individual. Moreover, it has been proven that children learn best when they are instructed in their mother language during their first years at school."

That's why Room to Read's Local Language Publishing program was created; it's why we pushed ourselves to make sure our Reading Room libraries are stocked with grade-, language-, gender- and culturally- appropriate books and other learning materials for children who access our libraries. And it's why we now have already printed over 400 local language books with another 117 slated for printing this year.

So, when you sit down to read tonight, celebrate the language in which your book is written and cherish reading those words while wishing yourself a Happy International Mother Language Day!

To learn more about our programs in Bangladesh, click here.
To learn more about our Local Language Publishing program, click here.

World Teacher's Day Tribute: Guest Post from Bangladesh

I first saw him when I was a secondary school student. A group of volunteers from “Bishwo Shahitto Kendro” (World Literature Center) came to our school to invite us to join their Book Reading Program. More out of curiosity, I joined the program.

I was handed a list of 16 books that I had to read and at the end of the course, there would be a test.  At the time, I was in a public school and we had no real library facility so I didn’t have a clue that such wonderful books existed in the world!  Those 16 books made me interested in reading even more books, especially because I scored highest in that test and received the books as a prize directly from the founder and CEO of Bishwo Shahitto Kendro, Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed – one of the greatest teachers I’ve ever had in my life. I stayed in the program for three years following that award and continued to be inspired by Professor Sayeed’s motto, “We want enlightened people.”

When I was admitted to Dhaka College, Professor Sayeed became my direct teacher. Every class that he taught excited and encouraged me.  He became not only my idol as a teacher, but my hero as an educational activist and it made me start thinking about devoting myself to the education sector which has now become my career path.

When I became Country Director of Room to Read Bangladesh, I went to Professor Sayeed to invite him to help me launch Room to Read in Bangladesh but he didn’t recognize me -– how could he with thousands of followers and students that he has made during his lifetime?  But I told my beloved teacher, “Professor Sayedd, the reasons I have reached  this leadership position in my life and am now working to promote reading among children is because of you and your Book Reading Program.  You taught me about the importance of reading and I have become positively impacted  because I followed your advice and chose to read more books.” Thankfully, he gladly accepted my invitation to be a part of our Room to Read Bangladesh launch ceremony and it made so proud to share the stage with one of my greatest mentors.

Decades had passed but Professor Sayeed still delivered his speech with the same enthusiasm and excitement about the importance of ensuring reading opportunities for children.  His speech energized me even more and I said to myself, "Yes sir, I have experienced the good side of reading and surely I will work hard to make sure that millions of children of this country can go through similar experience of enlightenment”.

-- Zaki Hasan, Country Director, Room to Read Bangladesh

Learn more about our programs in Bangladesh.