Ethiopian Books for Children Continues to Grow
Promoting Literacy in Ethiopia is the primary objective of EBCEF.
EBCEF (ee-bee-sef) is a grassroots non profit and non governmental organization geared toward bringing literacy and literacy related resources to Ethiopia. For this small organization, the summer of 2006, has brought a season of growth and change.The American based Board of Directors hosted the visionary founder of EBCEF, Yohannes Gebregeorgis, who visited from Ethiopia. While in the U.S., he met with potential donors and organizations that will be complementary partners to the mission of EBCEF.
Yohannes, a native of Ethiopia, learned to read in his village school, in high school classes taught by Peace Corps volunteers. He fondly remembers the first book he held in his hands outside of schoo, at the age of nineteen years old. Yohannes came to the United States as a political refugee, where he earned a master’s degree in library science and became a children’s librarian at the San Francisco Public Library.
When he was asked to purchase books in various languages for the library, he was surprised to discover that, despite a large Ethiopian population in the area, he was unable to find books printed in any of the Ethiopian languages. Recognizing the importance of reading for children in his native country, he organized a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, the Ethiopian Books for Children and Education Foundation (EBCEF) in 1998.
Since the inception of EBCEF, with the support of the American volunteer staff, Yohannes has made wonderful strides toward promoting literacy in Ethiopia to include opening the only free children’s library in Addis Ababa. The Ethiopian Children's Book Center, renamed the Shola Children's Library in April 2004, was EBCEF’s first project in Ethiopia. The Shola Children's Library is the home of 20,000 books, many of which came from United States donors. Children from all over the neighborhood come to use the facilities to study, do their homework or escape with a good book, totaling in over 60,000 visitors to the facility.
The seed money for EBCEF’s growth in Ethiopia came from the publishing and sales of the book “Silly Mammo” which is the first book of its kind, published in Amharic and English. With additional monies donated by the Canadian Mission in Ethiopia, EBCEF is now able to distribute this book for free within Ethiopia. It is still being sold as a fundraiser in the U.S. A recent reprinting of “Silly Mammo” was done in English, Amharic, and Sidama. EBCEF plans to print books in all of the Provincial languages of Ethiopia.
Yohannes’ passion for education and enlightenment inspired him to start a Donkey Mobile Library that visits rural areas near Awassa, Ethiopia. This innovative library features a mobile cart pulled by donkeys that contains over two thousand books. On a regular schedule and route, much joy is brought to the children who have access to books, for the first time.
Yohannes has been the driving force behind establishing a “Book Week” which now is celebrated annually April 1 – 7 in Ethiopia. During book week events are held throughout Ethiopia to encourage reading among the population. The events included opening tent libraries and traditional story telling.
The first Golden Kuraz was awarded during Book Week of 2005. The main purpose of the Golden Kuraz Award is to acknowledge and award literary excellence, it will be awarded every other year. To encourage writing and publishing of good quality children's books in Ethiopia, EBCEF advertises asking for authors and illustrators to submit their work for consideration for the Golden Kuraz award, and then a panel selects the winner.
The first winner of the Golden Kuraz award was "Mit’I Mit’iti" written in Amharic by Mary Jaafar ."Mit'i Mit'iti", is a delightful story of a young chick that bursts with bravado. The young chick decides to prove herself to the other farm animals by imitating their best qualities. "I can bark as loud as any dog," she proclaims proudly. "Peep, peep, peep." Only slightly less daunted she moves on to the cats. With each failure a lesson is learned. In the end mother hen holds the secret that helps Miti Mititi find a sense of self worth in being who she truly is.
In October 2006 EBCEF will be partnering with other Non-profits within Ethiopia to open additional permanent structure libraries. EBCEF has been granted additional monies to publish more books – including the second book to be published in Amharic and English, “The Lion’s Tale”.
For more information about EBCEF and how you can help or to make secure on-line donations, please visit their website at www.ethiopiareads.org. EBCEF is always looking for volunteers, both in the United States and Ethiopia. You can purchase copies of “Silly Mammo” books at SilverChicks.com.
