WRITERS TEACHERS PUBLISHERS... WE NEED YOUR VOICE FOR A GOOD CAUSE

As many of you already knows, we have started collecting books for building a library in Jericho Primary School in Nairobi, our aim is to reach a good amount of books within December, in order to gift the school. Thank's to Amy Bodden Bowllan and some other friends around the world, we have already received books and educational tapes. Thank you all.

TO WRITERS -PUBLSIHERS - TEACHERS

I would like to ask to write a max 30 lines script dedicated to the students of Jericho Primary School where you expose the importance of reading, of having a library where to get lost through thepages of extraordinary adventures and also, if you wish, telling a significative episode of your childhood or teeneagerhood when you discovered the beauty of reading books. We'd like to donate the library together with a special "book" of letters from writers and publishers to stimulate the students and offer them a chance to share other's experiences.
Please who is willing to partecipate in this project can e-mail to vmmaka@yahoo.com the script.

The deadline is the the 15th of November.

Street Children in Kenya... Artistical Projects

Africa News has interviewed author Valentina Acava Mmaka and artist Peter Kuria Asamba on their last projects: a performance " HABARI! A Tragi-comic journey from the slums of Nairobi to the slef occupied Italy", which puts into confrontation the contraddicitions of Italy in this 2009 and reverse all the negative aspects for which Africa and Kenya are usually represented in the western world, into a positive and true vision, and the artistical and social projects in Kenya with street children in Nairobi for who Soggetto Nomade /Kabiliana is working at the creation of a Socio Artistical Training Centre.

JERICHO PRIMARY SCHOOL NAIROBI

The Ofafa Jericho Primary School in Nairobi doesn't have a library. I met some of the students of the school, here you can see them, and they would really love to have books to read. We had a splendid time with Lavine, Mercy, Juliet, Lucy, Redenpter, Macline... they told me their dreams and their ambitions, how they would love to contribute to the growth of their ocuntry. They'd love to become doctors, teachers and journalist... very ambitious and very brillant, I've seen their excercise books, they have lovely marks even though their life in the slum is full of hardship. When they go home they help their mums, they wash their own clothes and help cooking and taking care of little brothers and sisters. They are lovely and they deserve to have access to books because they all believe that books will help them to open their mind and know what is around the world.

We have to thank Amy Bowllan, her generosity os gourgeous. Thank you Amy for what you do for our causes through your site SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL.

OneAreWe

As many of you knows I'm in Kenya where I'm collaborating with some organization for street children and also helping a group of artists in building a socio educational project to promote arts among the children and youth of the slums. I also started collaborating with a Kenyan non profit Association called ONEAREWE.
Last week I was brought by brother Ras Moray Mwariama, founder of the Association OneAreWe, to Karioua A and Karioua B, two slums of Nairobi whith a high concentration of street children. Here I met and her father and and her mother. They are two lovely girls that needs urgent surgery operation to get recovered from two bad accidents and to start a new life please read the letter below.

OneAreWe
Streets Families Rehabilitation Trust Fund

One Are We Association is an association of artists legally recognized by the Kenyan Government (Reg.gk-Soc.Rule 1968 – Rule 4 – Coz 95587/26612). It was founded 15 years ago by Ras Moray Mwariama and today can count on his wife's, Marzia Sordoni, precious collaboration.
One Are We main goals are to enrich the youth, children awareness, education exchange, vocational training and initiating sustainable development projects to the benefit of all in society, this is based on Government strategic plans like poverty reduction.
Street youth empowerment is another thing we focus on, this is a main point of our association, where members resolve to utilize every resource they have to bring back the hope of a decent life to the whole street youth located in various African cities. This according to the members can only be achieved when there is oneness hence the name One Are We that simply means we are one.
One Are We is a strong Association and positive, spiritually strong which is here to bring the oneness through life understanding and ready to work with everyone as long is positive, trying to finish poverty through our own ways because we know that only the work of our hands shall free us giving work free for those who need it and bringing people together and being non political.
During the past years our projects have been many and various all focused on the streets. Through many events we have fundraised for children and sponsoring many of them by giving them an education and starting small businesses for entire families in order to help them live a more decent and better life.
This is an Organization founded by Ras Moray that during the past years has been a volunteer doing much with various organizations both private and Governmental. He has been visiting Government Rehabilitation Centres, Children’s Remands, Children Homes, teaching students that attend Universities Nairobi and Catholic Universities as well giving medical treatments through clinics to the streets.
The main project of One Are We now is to tackle the problems of the “Street Families” located in the centre of Nairobi in the Globe Cinema Roundabout otherwise known as Grogon Area. The children of this area are now displaced and scattered in different places of Nairobi. We have been with the Roundabout children for years and having many activities with them since many are acrobats, footballers, actors, poets and singers.
One of the main projects in this moment is to bring two girls aged 4 to be operated in Italy through an organization which we know and works all through the world in helping children to be cured. One case is the case of a girl that was burnt in her own home while her father was attending the burial of his wife and mother of this girl. Once he arrived it was too late because his daughter was trapped in the home.
The second case is the one of another 4 year old girl that was travelling with her mother on a public bus and was involved in a car accident.
These girls are both known to One Are We since they are street girls born on the streets and lived in the Grogon-Globe Cinema roundabout area and have now moved to Karioua A and Karioua B.
These girls are in need of birth certificates and of passports and so do the people that will accompany them. Please any help accorded will be of great use.
Blessed Love to all.



______________________________________________________________________

ONEAREWE
Streets Families Rehabilitation Trust Fund
LE STRADE SI UNISCONO NELL’ANNO 2009

E’ One Are We Associazione che vi invita gentilmente tutti alla nostra camminata in questo giorno di sole. Terremo una camminata in Nairobi nel mese di Maggio che radunerà ancora una volta i bambini di strada di Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret, Nanyuki, Meru e Nyeri per i quali io lavoro ed ho sempre fatto soprattutto ora dopo le crisi delle elezioni.
Questo evento si terrà in una data ancora da stabilire comunque nel mese di Maggio, ma state attenti che presto sarà comunicato. L’anno scorso questo evento si è tenuto in una piccola cittadina chiamata Nanuyki a circa 300km dalla capitale, questa scelta a causa delle guerre post elettive. Questa volta abbiamo deciso di farlo nelle capitale dove vogliamo che sia di dominio pubblico ed uno degli eventi più grandi per i bambini di strada. Partirà dalla sede di One Are We in Cianda House in Nairobi - dove siamo gentilmente ospitati dall’organizzazione governativa Street Family Rehabilitation Trust Fund.
Durante questa giornata vogliamo anche fare una proposta di raccogliere delle cose per i bambini di strada di Nairobi centro e più specificatamente: Grogron Roundabout ed Ngara. I bambini di quest’area sono stati mandati in diversi luoghi della città ed sparsi un po’ ovunque. Siamo stati con questi bambini per tanti anni ed ancora adesso stiamo aiutandoli il più possibile tramite i loro talenti: acrobati, calciatori, attori, poeti ed cantanti.
Sono stato per molti anni sulla strada ed abbiamo cercato in vano un terreno che forse finalmente abbiamo trovato una persona che ci donerà 3 ettari di terra dove abbiamo in mente di stabilire una comunità Africana - Europea dove possiamo organizzare varie cose anche sostenere le popolazioni circostanti. Quindi il nostro obiettivo era ed è di collaborare con tutti gli artisti e con tutte le persone che lavorano e vogliono aiutare tutti i bambini di strada iniziando dalle organizzazioni governative con le quali abbiamo collaborato per i passati anni.
Proveniamo tutti dallo stesso luogo cioè dalla strada dove infatti molti artisti famosi provengono almeno il 99%. Quindi crediamo che per aiutare questi bambini che gli eventi il più delle volte li costringono a lasciare le loro case e recarsi a vivere per la strada è di dare a loro quello che abbiamo avuto noi lasciando la strada (anche un ladro non va mai a rubar a casa dei ladri).
Collaborando con S.F.R.T.F. ci permetterà di prelevare alcuni bambini dalla strada e metterli in un posto più pulito e sicuro per poi trasferirli nella nostra casa di accoglienza sulla nostra terra nella quale abbiamo intenzione di costruire una scuola per le materie artistiche.
Crediamo sia ora che gli artisti usino il loro talento per aiutare questi bambini, scendere dal palco e toccare con mano le persone, mostrando loro la retta via per condurre una vita migliore.
Inoltre durante la giornata dell’iniziativa includeremo anche l’Europa - Africa campeggio che quest’anno avrà la durata di soli 7 giorni a differenza di quello precedente che ha avuto la durata di 21 giorni con i suoi problemi ma alla fine lo scopo è stato raggiunto. I problemi sono sorti dovuti alle guerre post-elettive, dove sono visibili ancora oggi le devastanti ripercussioni con più di 2000 persone senza tetto.
Durante questi sette giorni prepareremo le basi per quello dell’anno 2010 che durerà 21 giorni per poi concludersi in Sud Africa dove organizzeremo un concerto.
Dobbiamo renderci conto che il mondo della musica e quello degli artisti ha una platea enorme quindi attraverso la musica possiamo raggiungere i nostri obiettivi in modo positivo.
One Are We si rivolge a chiunque abbia la voglia di appoggiare questo progetto, che ha avuto inizio nel 2004 con molte tribolazioni dalla società circostante e dal governo che ci ha anche arrestato per il solo fatto di avere degli incontri. La vita però ci ha tenuti uniti e siamo andati avanti nonostante tutto fino al raggiungimento della nostra registrazione da parte del governo.
E’ un movimento libero di unità, un movimento senza scopo di lucro basato sulla collaborazione e sul lavoro. Sappiamo tutti che nelle strade non è vita e le cose sono diverse da una vita normale. La vita comunque giù nelle strade la vita va avanti, i bambini vedono le persone che li circondano pulite, con lo stomaco pieno loro che devono aspettare di mangiare i loro avanzi. Non riescono a trovare un lavoro e si ritrovano a vivere una vita loro malgrado la loro volontà.
Un progetto urgente in questo momento è portare due bambine in Italia per essere operate. La prima è una bambina di 4 anni che ha il viso totalmente bruciato. Questa è una storia molto triste, il padre stavo seppellendo la moglie nonché madre della bambina, dico seppellendo perché non avendo i soldi per un degno funerale ha dovuto provvedere da solo. Mentre facevo questo è stato avvertito che delle case stavano bruciando, purtroppo una era la sua. La figlia è rimasta intrappolata dentro ed è viva per miracolo.
L’altro caso è sempre di una bambina di 4 anni che è stata coinvolta in un incidente stradale mentre era su un autobus pubblico ed è rimasta sfigurata in viso.
Stiamo in contatto con un’organizzazione chiamata Armadilla Cooperativa ed un primario di un reparto Ospedaliero di grande ustionati dell’Ospedale Sant’Eugenio a Roma.



Questo è un elenco delle organizzazioni che sostengono il nostro progetto:
- Warriors Band che porta avanti un messaggio di sensibilizzazione tramite la loro musica e tramite vari tour come il Ghetto al Ghetto Tour
- Globe Cinema Roundabout Association(Kenya)
- Zingaro Percussions(Kenya)
- Africa Unite(Kenya)
- In and Out Association(Italy)
- Aholy Herbs Creations(Kenya)
- Selassie I Foundation (Kenya)
- Big Dread Sound System(Italy)
- Amref (Kenya&Italy)
- Italy Youth Studio Foundation
- Red Stripes Band(Italy)
- Officina Culturale Diversamente(Italy)
- Tafari Graundation (Ghana)
- Empire Sports Club (abbigliamento sportive) (Italy)
- Membri del Dopo Lavoro Circolo Nautico INPS (Italy) abbigliamento sportivo
- Donatori privati: Michela, Paola, Anna Maria, Manuel, Moira, Elvio, Giuliano.
- Streets Families Trust Fund che lavora in collaborazione con il Governo locale-che rappresentano il Governo Keniano.


If anyone of you wishes to contribute to the cause of the two girls to get their passports , due to the short time, please use Western Union addressing to:

Coloro che fossero ineteressati a contribuire in qualche modo possono donare utilizzando, a causa del breve tempo, Western Union indirizzando a :


MARZIA SORDONI
VIA SILVESTRI, 226
00164 – ROMA – ITALY
Use the password ONEAREWE
and please forward the Western Union number and money amount and your name at
empressfire@gmail.com
OBJECT: onearewegirls

Thank you also for whoever will be able to diffuse the news through blogs, sites and friends.

KENYA

To all the readers and followers I must apologize for the long time since I'm away from the blog. This is due to the fact that now I' m in Kenya working on an Educational Project. Soon you'll read about it here, so please check in a short while.

Diversity makes us more curious.

My children are my greatest muses .What a lovely celebration of motherhood! This week author Suzanne Kamata introduces us to her writing career and her motherhood which is not just a living status, a category in which to feel enclosed, but more, a deep in progress experience that allows to see things from a wider perspective. Motherhood for Suzanne, gains value if her identity of woman can be respected and filled with creativity, "...I need to have some sort of identity in addition to Mother. I owe it to my children, as well as to myself." And we definetly believe in this vision of a woman free from fixed roles.

Born and raised in Grand Haven (Michigan- USA), Suzanne now lives in Japan (Tokushima Prefecture) with her husband and twins. Here she arrived in 1988 to participate in the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program, which places native speakers into English classrooms in Japanese public schools.

Her bibliography is remarkable with over 100 publications appeard in New York Stories, Calyx, Crab Orchard Review, Pleiades, Kyoto Journal, The Utne Reader, The Japan Times, Brain, Child, Skirt!, Ladybug and Cicada. Among her recent works we 'd like to remember her first novel Losing Kei (Leapfrogpress 2008), The Broken Bridge: Fiction from Expatriates in Literary Japan (Stone Bridge Press, 1997); Love You to Pieces: Creative Writers on Raising Children with Special Needs, (Beacon Press) and the new coming Call me Okaasan available from May. Five times nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and two time winner of the All Nippon Airways/Wingspan Fiction Contest, Suzanne is also a very active blogger. Through her Gaijin Mama, she shares her writing and human world giving the reader the feeling of being in touch with a sensitive woman who loves her work and consider motherhood as a source of inspiration. I'm sure you'll love, as I did, her resolution in achieving her beloved goals in writing, struggling against prejudices and misunderstandings. She is also a strong comforting voice for all those women-mothers who find difficult to conciliate creative work and family and who feel scared and unprepared about rising children with special needs.

KABILIANA - Suzanne, can you tell us something about your childhood and your relationship with books? Were you a good reader?
SUZANNE - As a child, I loved reading. I read all the time. I remember reading at family gatherings, which was probably considered rude and antisocial, but no one stopped me. I lived in a small, conservative town in Michigan, yet because of books, my world was large.

KABILIANA - There were somebody in your family who was telling you tales?
SUZANNE - No one in my family told tales much, but my mother took my brother and me to the library from a very young age. Also, my mother always read to me before I went to bed. I believe that I owe my love of books to her.

KABILIANA - You are a very eclectic author, you write novels, short stories, children's and essays. What is the literary expression among these which better represents you?
SUZANNE - I like to think of myself as a novelist. I'm most passionate about writing fiction for young adults and adults, but I do enjoy other forms. I think that writing for children is very difficult.

KABILIANA - Suzanne you are an American living in Japan with your multicultural family. What did you find difficult in living in Japan and what you enjoy most?
SUZANNE - In Japan, conformity is valued. I've heard over and over that Japan is a homogenous country, and it seems to me that the needs of minorities are often ignored. This can make things difficult for us, because our family is quite diverse. My son, especially, sometimes feels that he doesn't fit in, although he was born and is being raised in Japan, and has never lived anywhere else. I don't fit in either, but for me, my outsider status gives me a certain amount of freedom, which I like. No one expects me to fit in, so why bother trying?

KABILIANA - Playing for papa published in a bilingual edition (English-Spanish) by Topka Books and illustrated by Yuka Hamano, is your first illustrated book featuring a bicultural family in Japan. What inspired this story?
SUZANNE -Like the father in the story, my husband is a very busy high school baseball coach. My son asked me to write a story about playing baseball with his father, and Playing for Papa was the result. He wasn't overly thrilled with it at first, because it's mostly about a boy wanting to play baseball with his absent father, not about actually playing. Also, I was driven to write about a bicultural family much like my own so that my kids could find themselves in a book. There are very few books in Japanese about non-Japanese people in Japan. The United States is very diverse, but most picture books published in Japan seem to presuppose that everyone is the same, everyone has the same experiences and abilities. I can't think of a single Japanese picture book that features a child with a disability, or a child from another culture. And yet I know many children in Japan who have disabilties, and I know many children who have at least one foreign parent. At first, I thought a family like mine was too marginal, or too unusual to appeal to readers from different kinds of families, but then I started to read Allen Say's books. His family was also quite multicultural, and quite unusual, and yet his stories touch many people.Finally, the Japanese have a reputation for being xenophobic, yet imagine if they were exposed to diversity from a young age - if only in picture books.

KABILIANA - The story celebrates the love for what really matters for each child:sharing with parents, their time for playing, talking and listening ... How would you describe japaneese childhood in "your" Japan? And which differencies do you recognise from children rising in the US (also how differently spend their free time)?
SUZANNE - Japanese fathers tend to be very busy, which puts a lot of pressure on mothers. My own husband works seven days a week, sometimes twelve hours a day. Sometimes Japanese men live apart from their families, because it's too much of a hassle to move kids from school to school after a job transfer. I spent a lot of time with my father, and I think most American kids spend more time with their fathers than Japanese kids do. I think that a lot of Japanese men become estranged from their children, because they never see them. That's a huge difference. Japanese kids also spend a lot more time studying than American kids do. Academics are very important from a young age. I feel kind of sorry for them. I think it was Rudolf Steiner who said that play is children's work, and I agree. I'm always very happy when my children play imaginatively, or when they are outside in the fresh air using their bodies, but my Japanese husband frets that they aren't studying enough.

KABILIANA - The story is also on losing and I loved it. In modern societies children get easily the message that to be somebody they have to be the first, they have to win. Your story focuses on how losing sometimes can be worthy because it shows you the value of other things even more important. Did you want to convey also this message?
SUZANNE -Yes. In the United States, there is a saying: "It's not whether you win or lose that matters, but how well you play the game." I think that good sportmanship is more important than winning. And I think that the love and support of a family can always make us feel better at the worst of times.

KABILIANA - How are japaneese children related to reading books? Do they like reading? Do they have easy access to books?
SUZANNE - Japan is one of the most literate countries in the world, if not the most literate. Kids love to read here. There are lots of libraries and bookstores. Manga (Japanese comics) are very popular, but kids also read a lot of novels in original Japanese and in translation. Americans are notorious for not publishing and/or reading books in translation, but Japanese adults have access to many books from around the world. So although Japanese books tend not to show diversity, translations often provide a window to other cultures.

KABILIANA - Playing for Papa also feature on disability, children literature seems not very much interested in stories that focuses on this theme. What are the main reasons according to you?
SUZANNE - There seem to be quite a few young adult books featuring disabled characters these days, which is heartening. And there are also some books "explaining" disablities, but there are very few children's books featuring kids with disabilies in more or less normal situations. I think many people don't like to think about disability because it seems depressing, or because they are afraid of disablity. But ignorance breeds contempt.

KABILIANA - Still today diversity, either we are talking about foreigners or disable or disadvanatged people, are seen as class B people. How is it possible to struggle prejudices and share the value of diversity?
SUZANNE- I think that if children - and adults - are regularly exposed to people with disabilties in books, movies, TV shows and real life, they will be more accepting and tolerant of those who are different. But I think they need to be exposed to people with diverse backgrounds engaged in ordinary activities. These days, there are a lot of Middle Eastern terrorists in American movies and on TV. Americans need to see more movies about ordinary Middle Easterners doing ordinary things.


KABILIANA - Suzanne you are mother of two children one with special needs. Special children need special parents, do you think that being creative and in your case, being a writer helped you in rising your children ?
SUZANNE - I think that writing about my feelings and experiences raising a child with special needs has helped me to make sense of them. From reading novels, we can develop empathy for people who are different from us. Writing from the point of view of a disabled character or a bicultural character, also helps me to empathize with my children. I think it's also good for them to see me writing. My daughter is just learning to write, but she often draws picture stories, where she is the heroine in a wheelchair. By example, I think I have taught them a way to express themselves.

KABILIANA - In which terms would you say diversity is a value?

SUZANNE - I didn't realize the importance of diversity quite so much before I came to Japan. Here, where everyone is taught to think and act alike, I can see that lack of diversity leads to narrow mindedness and a lack of imagination. We have learned many things from my daughter Lilia. My son is a kind, sensitive person, perhaps because he has been brought up with a deaf sister who uses a wheelchair. He is interested in other cultures. I think that diversity makes us more curious.

KABILIANA - I liked when you said that motherhood, which supposed to be a very busy role, has increased your creative work and the more you became busy rising two children the more you're committed in writing. How would you explain this to those worried mums aspiring writers who thinks that they cannot make it?
SUZANNE - I think that if a person really wants to write, she will find the time. You can write anywhere. There's a lot of waiting time in motherhood - waiting for kids to finish soccer practice, waiting for dance lessons to be over, waiting for the pot to boil - and you can use those ten or fifteen minutes to dash off a page. The other great thing about motherhood is that it provides a lot of material. My children are my greatest muses.

KABILIANA - Can you tell us three children books you enjoyed in the last 12 months?
SUZANNE - Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham ,Child of Dandelions by Shenaaz Nanji, Ghosts for Breakfast by Todd Terasaki.

KABILIANA - Will you continue writing for children?
SUZANNE - Yes, definitely! I've got some stories cooking.

KABILIANA - Next May your new anthology Call me Okaasan will be issued. It is a collection of stories written by authors on their experience as expat parents. Without anticipating much of the book (I'll interview later on this) can you use 5 adjectives to describe how is rising children between cultures as an expat with a multicultural family?
SUZANNE - Interesting, surprising, challenging, perplexing, fun.

In occasion of the release of Suzanne's Call me Okaasan, we'll be interviewing Suzanne and other expat authors on how is rising children oversease.

Afternoon with Amadi

Before Christamas I ran a two hour workshop with a small group of 11 children at Giunti Bookstore in Lerici. The workshop was dedicated to Katia Novet Saint Lot's book Amadi's Snowman illustrated by Dimitrea Tokunbo (Tilbury House). The workshop started with exploring Amadi's World through a hand made Tree Book (to some of the partecipants I previousely assigned them to find pictures, cut them nd stick them on the orange pages of the tree ) through which pages I introduced the children into Amadi's world: let's turn the pages together.

Shali, Virginia, Florin and Monika introducing to the Tree Book

The cover was lovely welcomed by the children, it shows all small paper handmade books representing children's literature's classics sourrounding AMADI'S SNOWMAN (that is a good wish for you Katia and Dimitrea that your book may become part of the history of children's books).

Amadi's Snowman and the others...

Here the first page, where children where introduced to Amadi's World, there is the Nigerian Map, the African Map, The Nigerian Flag and most popular tribes and languages... they could not believe about the hude nuber of languages spoken in Nigeria!!!!

Where is Amadi?


Here the second page illustrating Foods, Religion and Habits.

Daily Life - Foods

Music and Celebrations

Here children enjoyed talking about their favorite feasts and instruments.

Traditional costumes and artcrafts

They were all amazed by the gorgeous hair creative wrappings and also discussed about the role and meaning of the masks.


WHO? Famous people from Nigeria
Wole Soyinka - Chinua Achebe, Princess Aminatu, Olaudah Equiano and of course Dimitrea Tokunbo and Katia Novet Saint-Lot

Nothing to say... Princess Aminata captured their attention ... but also surprisingly Olaudah Equiano who struggled against slavery

WHY DID YOU ENJOY AMADI'S SNOWMAN?

After introducing the children to Amadi 's World, I started reading the book and they were all very attentive and at the end they all wanted to share their ideas about this story.

I liked Amadi's story because at the end he changes idea about reading and decides he wants to learn how to read. FLORIN MMAKA

I love this story because this afternoon I've met another child from another country and also Mrs Chikodili who cares about him. VIRGINIA BRACCO

I loved Amadi because he is able to change idea and his mom is happy for this. CHIARA BONTEMPI

I liked Amadi because is an Igbo and didn't know about Igbo people before. SHALI MMAKA

I enjoyed Amadi's story beacuse if you don't know how to read you cannot learn and if you cannot learn you cannot travel. MARISA CIURLI

Amadi is not a boy who easily takes decisions, he thinks and then feel that something is missing . LUISA CHIAMPARINO

I enjoyed Amadi because his story shows how you can get passionate of something. MONIKA MARKU

The time to draw and focus their artistical veine came ...

Amadi holding his book

Mrs Chokodili showing Amadi the Snowman book

Mrs Chikodili and Amadi

Amadi and his friends

Celebrating Amadi

Mrs Chikodili

Here children has been impressed by the role Mrs Chikodili played in the story and I think they are right. She is a very important character.

Dear Amadi...

Children wrote short messages to Amadi suggesting him books to read

(obviousely some don't have an English version)

Dear Amadi, My name is Virginia. Finally you went to school like us. I suggest you to read Gianni Rodari, he is a great author. He wrote so many funny stories , I read them and I enjoyed, I hope you'll like it too. What is your favorite book? I like Hansel & Gretel, Snow White, Geronimo Stilton, Mary Poppins and Gianni Rodari. VIRGINIA BRACCO

Dear Amadi, my name is Monika and I come from Albania. I'm very happy you learned how to read and that you now attend the school. Are you happy to be in school? How many new freinds do you have? I would like to meet you once. Ciao or... better Kodi or if you wish in Albania we say Pacim. MONIKA MARKU

Dear Amadi, I'm Marisa and never been to Africa. I'd like to meet you and also visit your village. I like reading adventourous books and also "Fairy Oak" series. Do you know them? Is your mum reading stories? MARISA CIURLI

Dear Amadi, I come from Morocco. Today we have read the book that talks about you. It has been so emotionally. Today I've also learned things about your country. I will sugegst you a book by Gianni Rodari "Favole al telefono" and "Alice in the wonderlands". Here are my questions: What books do you like to read? How is your school? Thank you for sahring with us your adventures. ILHAM EL ESNAOUI

Dear Amadi, I'm Aisha and comes from Africa too, exactly from Kenya. I'm eight and would like to know: do you like orange juice? What is your favorite animal? What is your favorite color? What's your father's name? I recently read Tom Sawyer and enjoyed it. Kodi - AISHA MMAKA

Dear Amadi, this year I enjoy reading funny stories, sometimes I get bored because the story is slow and I get confused if there are so many characters. I like to read mistery books like the Brividosi. CHIARA BONTEMPI

Here are some of the 11 partecipants at work (I 'could only publish the photos of the children I've been given the permission by their parents... sorry for this).

Shali and Ilham drawing Amadi

Aisha Florin Monika Shali answering "Why reading is important"?

Inside Amadi's book . Virginia turning the pages

Ilham and Aisha writing to Amadi

Then as you can imagine the discussion grew and we tried to focus on why is important reading for them. So we completed the last page of the Tree Book .

Children saying Kodi to Amadi

Virginia Bracco - Reading is important because you learn many things

Shali Mwanalulu Mmaka - Reading is knowledge and also you can meet many different people

Monika Marku - When I read I go inside the book and live the adventure

Aisha Mmaka

Reading means travelling and discovering many things. I like reading many times the books I loved. I don't understand how reading can be boring for someone?

Momi (Mohammed) is the only boy ...lucky Amadi is there!

I want to learn...

Florin Mmaka

When I read I feel good. I suggest all the children to read

Ilham El Esnaoui - Reading is adventure and fun. When I read a sad story that ends up in a nice way I feel happy. Some books end up in a bad way and I feel sad.

Bye Bye Katia and Dimitrea

And thank's to...

Katia Novet Saint-Lot and Dimitrea Tokunbo for their lovely story
Sarah Mc Ginnis at Tilbury for sending the book in time
Signor Giorgio, director of Giunti Bookstore in Lerici who hosted this event and gifted each kid with a lovely colorful blanket
The children who partecipated Virginia Bracco (8), Aisha Mmaka (8), Monika Marku (10), Mohammed El Esnaui (5), Florin Mmaka (9), Ilham El Elsnaoui (8), Shali Mmaka, Chiara Bontempi (8), Luisa Chiamparino (10), Marisa Ciurli (8).
And last but not least Thank you Amadi to have spent a lovely afternoon with us talking about Africa and how lovely is reading books. And also very soon you'll be invited once again to meet other children who will surely become your friends.