Nice-looking South African children's books....

Courtesy of the International Reading Association blog, an entry from last year:

Masifunde Sonke: Let Us Read Together

South Africa Partners, a nonprofit organization based in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Eastern Cape, South Africa, has launched a book project called Masifunde Sonke (Let Us Read Together), which features 25 South African children’s books. For each book sold in the United States, one is donated to an under–resourced school in South Africa. For more information, visit the South Africa Partners or Masifunde Sonke websites.

Talking on a misty morning provokes profound reflections

Got up early this morning to give a talk about FAVL at the Sunnyvale-Sunrise Rotary Club. I like breakfast, so not problem! A warm and gracious audience, asking good questions about our efforts to produce local books and the summer reading program. After, as I was driving out of the parking lot of the Sunken Gardens golf club, where the Rotary meets, I saw through the mist a group of six Japanese women golfing (well, I presumed, given the location, time of day, etc.) Just the previous night I finally finished a wonderful novel, The Sound of the Mountain,by Yasunari Kawabata. It is a delightfully slow meditation on aging and family, and the the main character, the elderly (for the time) Shingo, notices the natural world in a way that I only aspire to. There is nothing "particularly" Japanese about the novel; it is a universal story, though there is plenty of Japanese culture in it. So the profound reflection? I love getting older (I'm in my forties). I know I'm going to regret saying that in thirty years. But the ability to make ever more connections in my head, with my past life as a person, is a really nice feeling. "Sweet," as the kids say.

Can someone help me with my hands?

Hey, this is a shout-out to Susan Stonecypher and her former colleagues and friends in the Volusia County school system... Susan gave a founding donation for the Gowrie-Kunkua Community Library in Ghana, FAVl's third in Ghana. It opened earlier this year, and in July I visited, and had a chance to chat with the library committee members. I gave my video camera to Darius Asanga, Sumbrungu librarian. His first time with a video camera. So get your Dramamine out. Kathryn Ranney, an SCU student, did a fantastic volunteer job editing the video, with her usual skill. Anyway, you get a little glimpse of the library. After my visit, though, we did some more work on the building (I wasn't that happy!). Everything seems to be going very well.

The sound on the video is not great, so turn it up a little loud. And you see my hand gestures? I'm not Vice-Presidential material yet. I need the clenched fist with the thumb thing that Clinton would do, I think.

How to network all the friends of community libraries of Africa?!

At FAVL we're working on creating a Google Earth database that will be linked to wikiable pages where library friends can upload information, photos and comments about libraries that they support and visit. But why re-invent the wheel? Some library supporters have already started using the TakingITglobal portal for just such a purpose. It is a great example of what we have in mind. So now the hard question... follow Sara Switzer's lead or carry on with our own possibly clunky efforts?

FAVL summer readings camps featured in Sidwaya, official newspaper of Burkina Faso

An extract:

FAVL s’intéresse particulièrement aux élèves du CM1, en initiant des camps de lecture pendant les vacances. C’est ainsi que cette année encore, au sein des cinq bibliothèques villageoises, la coutume à été respectée. L’objectif de ce camp est d’encourager ces élèves et améliorer leurs capacités de lecture et d’écriture. FAVL n’a donc pas lésiné sur les ressources humaines compétentes pour atteindre ses objectifs. Ce sont des promoteurs de l’éducation par l’écriture et la lecture comme M. Jean Flavien Maré, Ismaël Ouédraogo, chargés de la psychologie de l’enfant et Rodrigue Sougué, chargé de l’éducation par le théâtre, appuyés par les animateurs locaux qui ont été promis à la tâche. Séances de lecture intensive, discussions en petits groupes sur des thèmes éducatifs, jeux d’animation, théâtre, chants, rédaction de contes, réalisation de bandes dessinées, pantomimes, mines, entre autres, ont occupé utilement ces élèves pendant le camp.
A la clôture, tous les animateurs se disent satisfaits des résultats réalisés.
C’est extraordinaire, nous a confié le coordonnateur : «Les plus cancres au départ, arrivent maintenant à lire couramment sinon de façon expressive. Les parents, même les plus réticents au départ, souhaitent que l’activité soit reconduite chaque année».

The full article is here.

Standard reading in U.S., never heard of it in Burkina Faso

Interesting chat with French Prof. Catherine Montfort the other day. She uses in class a play by Guillaume Oyono Mbia, Trois Pretendants... Un Mari, about village parents wanting to marry off their daughter to the highest bidder, so to speak. Weird thing is, I've never seen this on sale in the two Ouagadougou bookstores! A nice analysis of the book is here by Iheanachor Egonou from the online journal Ethiopiques... an extract:

La famille pauvre qui a une fille à marier peut espérer une amélioration de ses conditions matérielles grâce au mariage de la fille. La paix du ménage et la réussite éventuelle du mariage dépendent, entre autres, de la capacité du gendre à pourvoir aux besoins de la famille de son épouse. C’est bien le sens de la question que la cousine de l’héroïne pose à celle-ci : « Tu crois pouvoir être heureuse avec un mari pauvre ? Qu’est-ce qu’il donnera à ta famille ? » (p. 21). Pour protéger son intérêt, la famille se croit justifiée de donner la fille au plus offrant des prétendants, sans tenir compte de l’opinion ou des préférences de celle-ci. Oyono-Mbia a prêté à un des personnages de Trois préten­dants... un mari une attitude fort cynique, qui est aussi l’aboutissement logique de la poursuite des intérêts égoïstes de la famille. Mbarga, l’oncle de l’héroïne, propose qu’on emmène celle-ci à Yaoundé pour la donner en mariage à quiconque pourrait verser la somme requise : « ...il faut que tu emmènes Juliette à Yaoundé cet après-midi même. Une fille de sa valeur se trouvera aisément d’autres prétendants en ville. Passe tous les grands ministères en revue, et propose la fille. Si quelqu’un accepte de te verser trois cent mille francs comptant, tu lui donnes Juliette sur-le-champ ! » (p. 101) Trois prétendants... un mari montre ainsi à quelle sorte de vente aux enchères peut aboutir la pratique actuelle de la dot en Afrique noire. C’est un procès bien articulé de la pratique courante de la vieille coutume de notre régime dotal.

Are you traveling Accra to Ouaga? Here's some travel advice

From Sam and Austin, who are now on their way back to Accra!

Visas for Burkina can be obtained at Burkina Embassy in Accra (same day if you go in early morning). Alternatively pickup the day after. Payment is $100 US cash. All bills must be dated after the year 2002. Speak French with the bureaucrats and they'll love you. STC Bus leaves from STC station in Accra ~8am almost every day to Bolga, takes about 14 hours and costs ~24 cedis. The bus makes many restroom and food stops.

To get from Sumbrungu to Ouaga we took the following route: Sumbrungu>Paga>Po>Ouaga

-Waited outside library for 45 min on main road to flag down a shared taxi ride. Cost is 1.5 person for a shared taxi with 5 people plus the driver or about 15 for private. The ride to Paga is 30 min and you do NOT need to pay the taxis a "luggage fee".
-At Paga you must get out of the car and walk across the border. You will be swarmed with offers for taxis and money exchange.
-Walk left at the border crossing and head into Ghana customs office. Ask one of the Ghana border agents to help you find a trusty person to exchange a little money for taxi etc before you can use ATM in Ouaga (about 423 F per US $ in 10/08)
-Physically walk across the border to Burkina passport control and then Burkina customs (which is to the right just after crossing the border).
-Take a taxi to Po. Should cost no more than 1,000 per person in a shared taxi. The ride is 30 min.
-In Po you will most likely be dropped at the bus station.
-Take the "Rakati" bus line buses up to Ouaga. The published schedule has a bus leaving every two hours or so starting at 10am. However, times may very and departure will most likely be at least 30 min late so be sure to ask at the official ticket counter to confirm the times. Tickets to Ouaga per
person should be about 3,000 F. The bus ride lasts about 4 hrs.

This may be too much info but we found this out the hard way.... General advice about taxis in Ghana and Burkina: Taxi driver will most likely quote you New York city cab prices if you look like you're from NewYork. Prices are quoted almost always at 2-3 times more than average. If you're comfortable bargaining ask a local friend what the right price should be and when approaching tax drivers name the place and price you're willing to pay. If they are unwilling to meet you're price then walking away will often get the desired results. Sometimes you may want to clarify if the taxi
is shared because the driver may sit and wait for other passengers or they'll pick to 5 others along the way. If taking TraTra bus with many other passengers you may want to ask them what they're paying before making your offer to the driver.

Bande dessinée in Central African Republic

Africultures continues to provide us with the info we need! A wonderful interview with Didier Kassaï on his art and story. An extract:

En 1990, je me suis fait découvrir lors d'un atelier de BD organisé par le Centre Culturel Français de Bangui. Dès lors, ma notoriété naissante a dépassé le cadre scolaire, obligeant du coup mes parents à changer d'attitude à mon égard. D'autant plus que j'ai été engagé deux ans plus tard, à temps partiel, comme illustrateur de presse biblique à l'imprimerie de la Mission protestante baptiste de Sibut où j'ai travaillé jusqu'en 1996. Ce fut un hasard salutaire, car à la même époque, mon père ne travaillait plus et n'avait plus la possibilité de s'occuper de ses sept enfants dont j'étais le second. Grâce à mes modestes revenus dans le dessin, toute la famille a pu survivre et mes frères aller à l'école.

AdVenture Capitalists

Santa Clara University grads Austin Woody and Sam Baker have been traveling the world looking at development projects and issues. They recently spent time in Ghana and are currently in Burkina Faso, visiting and volunteering in the FAVL libraries there. They've been keeping a blog, and raised some interesting questions about "development tourism" that are pertinent (and have been discussed in Chris Blattman's excellent development blog). Here's an extract from Sam and Woody's blog, read the full blog here...

Walking in the breathtaking landscape in the remote Nepali village of Lamatar we proudly returned warm smiles of welcome with our newly learned greeting “Namaste.” Upon which, and without fail, the local children would gladly respond to our traditional gesture, with not-so-traditional demand in English “Chocolate, Please!”
Fast forward thousands of miles to Paga Northern Ghana and as we stand frozen with cash in hand to pay a taxi driver for a trip to the Burkina border he looks at us longingly, wondering why we would cheat him out of the “bag fee”

Thomas Sankara speaks

I'm writing a book review on a new edition of Thomas Sankara Speaks, from Pathfinder Press, which publishes revolutionary texts and is run by Mary-Alice Waters, a Trotsky-ist kind of person if you know what I mean...

Now, I was more Buenaventura Durruti than Andrés Nin, but who wants to talk about "old washed up terrorists" from 70 years ago? Anyway, reviewing a book of speeches involves basically making political critique, so I felt like I should be up-font about my background. Since I am an economist, albeit of the anthropological do-gooder variety (have you been reading this blog?) I get fairly impatient with meandering three hour speeches in the hot sun from the maximum leader. You can anticipate where I am going here in reviewing Sankara's speeches.

In the middle of what was a two year long struggle to the death for power within the Voltaic army (pitting Colonel Somé Yoryan against Sankara), on March 26, 1983, Sankara gave a speech whose title sends shivers down the spine, "Who Are the Enemies of the People?" Imperialism was trembling, Sankara affirmed, before the revolution that was unfolding in Upper Volta. (Sankara would rename the country Burkina Faso later that year.) But who exactly were the enemies of the people? A good speech, as is this, shouldn't be too clear, otherwise it becomes a list, like this:

1. Corrupt people who use public office for private gain
2. Politicians (he does not really explain why)
3. Forces of obscurantism
4. Unpatriotic people
5. Imperialism and neocolonialism... generally unnamed but presumably meaning France and the United States and the powers behind all oppression everywhere in the world that Sankara does not want to excuse (he does want to excuse Libya, the Soviet Union and Cuba) who are powerful enough to stop the revolution in Burkina.
6. And towards the end in what seems to be a throwaway line, people with diplomas (who are lumped together with "owls with the shady look in their eyes", "fence-sitting chameleons", and "lepers who know only how to knock things over" (unkind!))

Are these really the enemies of the people in the sense of requiring analysis and elucidation? Corrupt politicians? Who is in favor of them? Burkina at the time had been ruled for about 15 years by the military ruler Sangoulé Lamizana, and to judge by Lamizana's simply-written if troubling memoirs published a few years ago, Lamizana was not a diploma-holder, not a politician, not a force of obscurantism, not a corrupt person (to any large degree), and not a "shady owl"... so what was he: a supporter of French "status quo" in West Africa, basically.

Are there other enemies of the people? Now, I want to give Sankara the benefit of the doubt: he remains a charismatic and much-loved figure in Burkina Faso. He was murdered in a tragic and poignant way by his comrade in arms Blaise Compaoré in a coup in 1987. But still, I find his analysis insufficient. I can think, in hindsight, of four "enemies of the people" who were obvious to anyone in 1983:

1. Dogmatic leftists who insist on the primacy of ideological debates that bear little relationship to the realities and pragmatic governance needed in a country like Burkina Faso.
2. Urban elites who use their power to strike in Ouagadougou to ensure more comfortable living standards for themselves (better roads, schools, hospitals, parks) than the 80% rural population.
3. Traditional chiefs and rulers who brandish authority solely by virtue of their inherited status; surely such persons need to be immediately demoted and delegitimized, regardless of the cost. What egalitarian society can allow such privilege by birth, completely decoupled from any pretense of merit, to persist?
4. Men. It took Sankara four years before he gave his famous speech on the status of women, but gender issues had been the subject of political discourse for decades in colonial Upper Volta.

Sankara is unable to engage in clear dialogue on these points in this most important speech. What does that say about his revolutionary heart? It tells me he preferred oration to illumination. A politician, in other words.

A book I want to read... ‘ Madame le Président de la République’

From the U.S. embassy website in Ouagadougou:

On Tuesday June 24th 2008, the American Cultural Center in collaboration with Antoine Sanon, organized a book signing ceremony in honor of his new book entitled ‘Madame le Président de la République’. The American Cultural Center was proud to host this activity because it supported our mutual goals of supporting freedom of speech, women's rights, and democracy. Professor Loada kicked off the event with a brief comparative analysis of democracy in Burkina Faso and the United States. The Center's own Binta Mayaki welcomed attendees by addressing the need for more local civil society initiatives to explore issues such as democracy and women's participation. Over 90 participants listened intently to the description of the book and supported a lively Q&A session.

« Madame le Président de la République » is a literary novel, which addresses the question of political succession and change in Burkina Faso. Antoine Sanon is currently Program Manager at Catholic Relief Services in Burkina Faso and President of the Permanent Council of Citizens of the World (CIVIPAX).

Whimsy from the New York Times, the Burro-bookmobile

So it is a really cute story about Luis Soriano, who is evidently a great person and someone to admire very much, but since it is in the New York Times, we shouldn't just extract the story and let you read it and feel warm and fuzzy, but should give ourselves the opportunity to be, as they say in the blogosphere, snarky (Definition: Irritable or short-tempered; irascible... hey sounds like me all the time!). That way, someone might be snarky in return about FAVL, and then we'd get more attention, because all attention (even negative of the snarky variety) is good, isn't it?

Here's the first extract:

“This began as a necessity; then it became an obligation; and after that a custom,” he explained, squinting at the hills undulating into the horizon. “Now,” he said, “it is an institution.”

Wow, this guy is an amazing wordsmith. Few could have come up with a more succinct pitch line! I'm super-jealous.

The article goes on:

Unlike Mr. García Márquez, who lives in Mexico City, Mr. Soriano has never traveled outside Colombia — but he remains dedicated to bringing its people a touch of the outside world. His project has won acclaim from the nation’s literacy specialists and is the subject of a new documentary by a Colombian filmmaker, Carlos Rendón Zipaguata.... After Mr. Gossaín broadcast details of Mr. Soriano’s project on his radio program, book donations poured in from throughout Colombia. A local financial institution, Cajamag, provided some financing for the construction of a small library next to his home, but the project remains only half-finished for lack of funds.

So.... what are we to conclude now? This philosopher-social entrepreneur is actually... not very successful at creating an institution? Does he keep accounts for all the donations received? Where is the investigative journalism? Oh right, it is whimsical... He's riding a donkey with books, why hold him to any normal standard of accountability. (I told you it would get snarky.)

The story continues:

They stole one item from his book pouch: “Brida,” the story of an Irish girl and her search for knowledge, by the Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho. For some reason, Paulo Coelho is at the top of everyone’s list of favorites,” said Mr. Soriano...

Having picked up a Coehlo self-help book at an airport once, thinking it was serious reading because foreign, and discovering it was Jonathan Livingston Seagull redux (a book I thrilled to as a twelve year old, BTW...) I'm surprised at the lack of irony here all around.

The article ends:

In the village of El Brasil, Ingrid Ospina, 18, leafed through a copy of “Margarita,” the classic book of poetry by Rubén Darío of Nicaragua...

Well, OK, now I have a tear coming down my cheek... who can complain about Ruben Dario, or be snarky? I read him all through high school in Puerto Rico...

Read the full story here...

And by the way... Blattman made me do it ;-)

Kitengesa Community Library is the proud possessor of an eGranary

Kate Parry writes:

As you know, the Kitengesa Community Library [in Uganda} is the proud possessor of an eGranary – that is, a hard disk with literally millions of texts on it, mostly taken from the Internet, and with software so that you can search them. We installed it early this year, but in the first few months it wasn’t being used very much – only by the librarians and a couple of the library scholars. Now, however, we have a Canadian volunteer working at the library, and her particular task (and research project) is to teach people how to use the eGranary and record its use. The result,to quote her: "E-granary has created mild chaos in the library. Order in the court! Big crowds have started to cause a lot of disturbance...". All this strengthens the case for getting our new computer centre up and running...

And since Shimmer Chinodya is from Zimbabwe, how about

Some music from Oliver Mtukudzi, to listen while you are reading...

Shimmer Chinodya

My fiction seeks to explore and extend the borders of reality, to question and tease matters of identity, class and culture, the past and the present; to explore the human condition in the most interesting and sensitive way possible. Every time I put pen to paper I ask myself, ‘What can my writing do for me and for the world? How can I refine my voice? How can I shock my reader into reflecting on the subject of existence? What is existence anyway, and what is the truth, perceived and otherwise? Can I grab my reader by the collar and make him or her gasp: ‘Gosh, I didn’t know it was possible to do this in a story, to write like this.’ As a black writer I obviously and primarily seek to portray an African world view but I want my literature to speak to the world as a whole. My works are experiments on the effects of time and change and socio-economic pressures on humans, and human relationships tangled in the eternal quest for happiness and fulfilment. I perpetually seek a harmonious fusion of theme and style. I’d hate to write a single boring paragraph. I believe a good book should exalt the heart and mind of the reader and NOT punish him/her and that lazy, boring writers should be dragged out to the market place and flogged in public!

Read more here...

Library friends as heroes!

FAVL friend Theresa Jolly Holt sent in the following story... Go Yohannes!

ETHIOPIA READS FOUNDER NAMED TOP 10 HERO OF THE YEAR BY CNN

Yohannes Gebregeorgis, a native of Ethiopia and children's literacy advocate, has been named a Top 10 Hero of the Year by CNN. Mr. Gebregeorgis was selected from more than 3,000 individuals nominated by viewers throughout the year. Finalists were selected by a Blue Ribbon panel of judges that includes Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jane Goodall and Deepak Chopra. The Top 10 Heroes will be recognized in CNN's "All-Star Tribute" to air on Thanksgiving.

Yohannes was first recognized as a "hero" by CNN in May for his work championing children in Ethiopia. A former political refugee who worked as a librarian at San Francisco Public Library, Yohannes is the co-founder of Ethiopia Reads, a non-profit organization that works to create a reading culture in Ethiopia by connecting children with books. In a country where 99% of schools have no libraries, Yohannes and Ethiopia Reads are improving lives, one book at a time.

Read more at the CNN website.

[French] Burkinabè women writers

From L'Observateur Paalga:

Soumaïla Sawadogo, dans le cadre de son mémoire de maîtrise en lettres modernes, option Critique littéraire, s’est intéressé à la présence des femmes sur l’échiquier littéraire burkinabè. "Les femmes sur la scène littéraire burkinabè : les pionnières, les œuvres, les thèmes".

C’est sous ce thème que l’étudiant a analysé la situation des écrivaines de notre pays. C’est au cours des années 1980 que les femmes ont marqué leur entrée dans le monde littéraire avec comme pionnière, Pierrette Sandra Kanzié, Bernadette Dao et Adama Rosalie Tall.

Mais l’acte de naissance officiel de la littérature féminine burkinabè revient à la première citée avec la publication de son recueil de poèmes "Les tombes qui pleurent" en 1987. Aux côtés de ces trois femmes, on note la présence d’autres telles Monique Ilboudo, Angèle Bassolé, Marie Bernadette Tiendrébéogo, Sophie Heidi Kam, Hadiza Sanoussi, Suzzy Nikièma, Henriette Nikièma et bien d’autres encore.

Read more...

What Goes on in Strangers’ Minds: Effects of Reading Stories About Outgroups on Outgroup Perception

Frank J. Hakemulder
Utrecht University

Literature has often been considered as a valuable source of information about the human psyche. Palmer (1992), for instance, argues that reading literary texts acquaints us with the experience of being someone else. Rorty (1989) suggested that reading novels enriches our moral awareness, because during the reading experience we find ourselves in shoes of a wide diversity of people. Thus, we get better and better at understanding moral situations from different points of view.

In a series of experiments it was examined whether reading a story colour readers’ perception of unfamiliar outgroup members. Participants, Dutch students, either read a story describing the experiences of an Algerian woman or a control text. Afterwards they responded to statements assessing their beliefs about Algerian women in general. Results indicated that readers’ perception was indeed biased by the story. Follow-up studies suggested that such effects may be significantly stronger for stories than for a non-narrative representation of similar information.

Full paper is here.

[French] Some notes from Koura Donkoui on the summer reading camps

Les camps de Dohoun- Sara. Ces deux camps ont debutés le 4 Aout 2008-10-13

Dohoun
Le coordonnateur a assisté a l’ouverture du camp de Dohoun. On notait la présence du directeur de l’école venu pour s’assurer de la présence effective des élèves. Apres le petit dejeuner, les animateurs ont debute avec les chants pour motiver. Durant les dix jours, les activités ont suivi normalement leur cours. Le premier jour, un ressortissant de Dohoun, Mamboue Eric resident a Maputo en Mozambique est venu visiter la bibliothèque. Il a echange avec le président du comite, le gérant, le directeur de l’école et le coordonnateur. Il a ete impresionne par la bibliotheque et surtout le camp de lecture. Il a promis d’appuyer la bibliotheque dans la mesure du possible. A la cloture, le president du comite de gestion de Dohoun a bien apprecie l’initiative et souhaite que ce camp soit organiose chaque annee en tenant compte de tous les élèves.

Sara
Apres Dohoun le premier jour, le coordonnateur est allé a Sara pour voir le demarage effectif du camp. Les animateurs ont signale la faiblesse du niveau des eleves en lecture. Ils ont pris l’engagement de trouver des techniques, des procedes pour relever le niveau. Une semaine après, les élèves de Sara ont commence a déchiffrer les mots sans hésitation. Au cour de la deuxième semaine, l’équipe de FAVL composée de Leslie, Viviane et du coordonnateur ont assisté aux activités de lecture, de dessin. Le constat ce jour etait le suivant : les enfants ont fait d’énormes progrès. La clôture du camp de Sara a ete dirigée par l’animateur Sanou Dounko qui nous a rassuré que les invités étaient très satisfaits du niveau des élèves en lecture. Le directeur de L’ecole a reconnu que les animateurs ont fait un très bon travail. La pérennisation du camp a ete souhaite par tous les eleves.

Niankorodougou, Sept. 2008: 16 new members, 170 books checked out; 891 visits

Burkina Faso.... Unite, Progrès, Justice

Bibliothèque Villageoise de Niankorodougou

Bibliothécaire : Monsieur Ouattara Moussa

Mois de Septembre

RAPPORT MENSUEL DES ACTIVITES

Abonnements : Pendant cet mois de Septembre 2008 j’ai enregistre 16 abonnes repartis dans le tableau ci dessous.

Types d’Abonnes	Nombres	Prix Unitaire	Somme Reçu
Elèves du primaire (Filles)	2	100	200
Elèves du primaire (Garçons)	2	100	200
Elèves du secondaire (Filles)	2	150	300
Elèves du secondaire (Garçons)	4	150	600
Adultes (Femmes)	1	250	250
Adultes (Hommes)	5	250	1250
TOTAUX	16		2800

Stratégie de livres prêtes : Pendant cet mois de Septembre 2008 j’ai enregistre une sortie de 170 livres repartis dans le tableau ci dessous.

Littérature Africaine	117
Littérature Français	05
Littérature Anglais	01
Manuels Scolaires	00
Langues Nationales	02
Arabe	00
Bandes Dessinées	45
TOTAUX	170

Fréquentation de la bibliothèque : Le tableau indiquant le frequentation durant le mois de Septembre 2008 dans le tableau ci dessous.

Septembre	Enfants		Adultes
	Garçons	Filles	Hommes	Femmes
	221	164	344	162
TOTAUX	891

[French] Review of Inassouvies, nos vies by Fatou Diome

From the superb blog of Alain Mabanckou:

Lorsqu’une vieille sans enfant et dont le mari est mort à la guerre remplit ses heures de solitude avec un chat roux tigré – le seul fil qui la retient désormais à la vie – Betty pressent que quelque chose ne tourne pas rond dans de la vie de la veuve. Elle croise la veuve dans une boulangerie – qui, jadis fut celle de son époux –, elles discutent brièvement ; elle l’évite parfois, refuse même une invitation de la vieille pour se rendre compte, bien plus tard, qu’elle est peut-être la bouée de sauvetage de cette « doyenne » envoyée sans voies de recours dans une maison de retraite par des ascendants qui ont disparu du jour au lendemain. Sommes-nous assez conscients du désarroi d’un être fragilisé par l’âge dans un monde où « si l’euthanasie venait à être légalisée, on risquerait de voir des malappris se débarrasser de leurs ascendants à la première fuite urinaire » ?

Betty se rapproche de plus en plus de celle qu’elle a surnommée Félicité à cause de sa gaieté. Elle lui rend visite à la maison de retraite et entre peu à peu dans les abysses du passé de la veuve. C’est le début d’une grande amitié, une amitié qui montre du doigt l’indifférence de l’Occident à l’égard de leurs personnes du troisième âge. Lorsqu’elle ne trouve plus Félicité dans la maison de retraite, Betty sait qu’elle sa propre existence est en train de prendre un tournant.

Lire plus....

And a last, I promise, IRIN feature: SOUTHERN AFRICA: Feature - Save our libraries!

MBABANE, 22 May 2003 (IRIN) - Challenging the technocratic vision of "virtual libraries" linking people to knowledge, librarians in Southern Africa say their "brick and book" buildings will remain the primary information centres for communities for some time to come.

"Information and knowledge are the catalysts that will empower Africa in her quest for development. By pursuing information for all, African library professionals are key actors in the attainment of the African Renaissance: the vision of a prosperous and peaceful continent," said Penny Birangi, co-chairperson for the Standing Conference of Eastern, Central and Southern African Libraries (SCECSAL) at its most recent biennial meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Last week, at an information summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by the UN's Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), southern African libraries made an impressive case amid the high-tech glitter of the Internet, geo-information and other computer-generated data providers. Old-fashioned libraries, they argued, remain the information source for a vast majority of Africans. Libraries are also the most cost-effective means of knowledge dissemination.

I couldn;t agree more. Read the whole article here.

Another IRIN article, this one on libraries in Africa

I'm a little skeptical of the book boxes, and the thrust of the article- that something new is happening, seems a little "cheerleadery"... But read more....

MBABANE, 1 September 2005 (IRIN) - African libraries are discovering new roles in society - no longer stuffy repositories of tattered books, but centres of community relevance where the youth can learn the habits of good citizenship.

"We are rethinking what a library is supposed to be. In Africa it can be much more than a warehouse to keep books," Katherine Parr, a consultant with the International Reading Association (IRA) working in Uganda, told IRIN.

Primary school fees waived in Togo

blog.reading.org links to:

For the first time in recent years, primary school students started a new school year on October 6 in Togo without paying enrollment fees. The government has waived primary school fees as part of a more than US$80 million investment in the education system. While parents celebrated the savings, administrators taken aback by the surprise announcement worry how they will pay for school operations the fees had helped fund. Read the article at IRIN News online.

New old film from Burkina Faso... for those of you in New York

Will it even get out here to San Jose?

I don't normally link to the NY Times... but "that one" suggested it.

In the feminist fable “Delwende” the African filmmaker S. Pierre Yameogo tackles social injustice in present-day Burkina Faso with grace, economy and exquisitely controlled anger. Read more...

Please tell me whether this ever happened... a public library in Kumasi

The full story from April 2007 is here... there seems to be nothing online since then...

He spent restless nights mourning our throwaway culture until he hit upon an idea he was convinced had potential. He wanted to put together a library in Ghana with discarded books from Western.

Seven years later, Agyeman is set to officially open a 50,000-book public library in his hometown of Kumasi in central Ghana next month.

Literacy studies from Nigeria

The summary of the brief report is available here.

The first study, conducted by Isaac Adetunji Olaofe, examined public schools and illiteracy in Zaria, northern Nigeria. This action research was undertaken to get first-hand information about literacy teaching in five primary schools. The researchers set out to study teachers and students of English and aimed at better understanding the constraints each group faces.

To achieve these goals, inventory schedules were designed to record the materials and equipment in each classroom. In addition, an observation schedule through one school year allowed the research team to code activities during lesson presentations and to record classroom actions. In part, the researchers' findings revealed the following information: (a) All of the primary schools were deficient in the basic infrastructural facilities that make learning conducive, such as access roads, buildings, furniture, and toilets. Many classrooms lacked window covers, doors, ceilings, and basic items such as tables and chairs, and children generally sat on the floor. (b) The schools had very little in common in terms of ideas for teaching literacy. Working more in isolation, teachers did not share teaching experiences with one another. (c) Literacy materials were almost nonexistent. Copies of the sole text that was used were in short supply, and children were not allowed to take them home. (d) The schools lacked libraries and other teaching materials. (e) Lead teachers, inspectors, and supervisors saw themselves as administrative heads of a top-down administration and were less concerned about literacy development than with handing down directives. (f) Parental or home support was found to be extremely limited. (g) High absenteeism rates, especially during the planting and harvesting seasons (when student attendance fell below 50%) were credited to parental dissatisfaction with student progress. (h) Corruption was widespread, and most of the resources allocated for education did not reach the classrooms.

Gowrie-Kunkua library rewards top readers

Thanks to a donation of books and book bags from Osu Children's Library Fund, the newly opened Gowrie-Kunkua library in Ghana was able to encourage some of the most avid readers!

Reading the sign for the hump in Uganda

From a nice study done by two Swedish students Anna Jönsson and Josefin Olsson entitled, "Reading culture and literacy in Uganda: The case of the 'Children’s Reading Tent'", available here is the PDF file.

Apart from perceiving reading and writing as vital to passing tests a majority also gave other reasons to why it is important to read. The children said that reading is important because you can “learn things”, “understand new things” and “get new skills” through reading. Reading also “helps you learn how to behave” and is a way to “communicate”. Moreover, some children said that it is important to read because otherwise you are not able to understand information given in written text. Those children stated that if you can not read you can miss out on information (and secrets) given through letters, signs and sheets. In addition, one child explained why reading is something to take seriously, since your life can depend on it.

A driver who didn’t know how to what? Read. Now like what? Like a sign. There is a hump ahead. That means you have to decrease what? The speed. This man just rushed, when he doesn’t know that it is ahead there, what? A hump. He ended up making an accident. Because he didn’t know how to read. He saw a doctor, there was nothing he could do. It was the ending of his life (Boy 13 years old, Mityana, 2007-02-27).

Some children also express the view that writing can be part of their everyday lives outside school. This view came through when some children stated that they wrote letters to pen-pals, poems and in their diaries at home. One girl stated that she wrote about the war in the North which she had experienced first hand and said that it made her sad to write about the war but that she felt better afterward (Girl 11 years old, Mityana, 2007-02-26).

The Vice Presidential candidates on Darfur

I try in this blog not to comment too much about stuff unrelated to reading/Africa, but Darfur and Sudan are issues that have interested me for a long time (Leslie and I lived in a small village in Kordofan, Sudan in 1989-90). Here's what they said:

Biden (was asked first): I don't have the stomach for genocide when it comes to Darfur. We can now impose a no-fly zone. It's within our capacity. We can lead NATO if we're willing to take a hard stand. We can, I've been in those camps in Chad. I've seen the suffering, thousands and tens of thousands have died and are dying. We should rally the world to act and demonstrate it by our own movement to provide the helicopters to get the 21,000 forces of the African Union in there now to stop this genocide.

Palin: ...[first talked about Biden and Iraq]... But as for as Darfur, we can agree on that also, the supported of the no-fly zone, making sure that all options are on the table there also.

The complete transcript is here. The Sudan-related media picked it up immediately as both candidates agreed to favor a no-fly zone.

Chimananda Ngozi Adiche speaking...

The House at Sugar Beach

Helene Cooper's memoir has been widely promoted; I read about it in Entertainment Weekly (don't ask) and I just saw something saying it was a Starbuck's promoted book. Hey, it's OK. It is written in a breezy informal reporter's style. Much of it is frivolous fluff (a little too much about her clothes, and the globalizing pop culture she grows up in- Michael Jackson and romance novels). Since her childhood is in Liberia, there are truly horrific scenes. Would be a good book for an African politics class; bringing that personal/political mix that is so potent when learning. If you want to read a memoir both searing and literary though, then I recommend Robert Graves' Goodbye to All That.

I'd love for someone to do this in Koumbia...

IRA Outstanding Dissertation Award for 2008
Kindergarten as Nexus of Practice: A Mediated Discourse Analysis of Reading, Writing, Play, and Design in an Early Literacy Apprenticeship
Karen E. Wohlwend, Indiana University,

How does “playing school,” an ordinary childhood pastime, shape children's reading abilities, classroom identities, and relative social positioning? This ethnographic study of kindergarten literacy play situates children's combinations of play, reading, writing, and design within a nexus of practice (Scollon, 2001), the web of seemingly natural combinations of ways of interacting shared by an embodied community of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991). When literacy and play practices combine, they support and strengthen one another, proliferating ways for children to “do school” and increasing access for diverse learners. For example, playing school produces a reading/playing nexus where (a) reading supports play goals—reading to play—as children read books and charts to make play scenarios more credible or to gain the cooperation of other players and (b) playing supports reading development—playing to read—as pretending to be the teacher and teaching pretend students enables children to share and explore reading strategies.

Philip Kwame Apagya from Ghana featured in Snapped

Snapped is a new photography magazine/review... seeing it on the Web probably doesn't do it justice, but looks fascinating... will any kids in Bolgatanga ever get to see these?

"The use of bright coloured backdrops creates an alternative reality in which all the convenience of Western Consumer culture are at the subject's fingertips while simultaneously playing with the viewers ability to read what we see at first glance. Apagya's work turns a flat canvas backdrop into an opulent suburban fantasy remade regularly to reflect current trends, popular fads and the wishes of his clients."