Ένας καταπληκτικός άνθρωπος, ο αιθίοπας Γιοάνες Γκεμπρεγκεόργκις, δημιούργησε δίκτυο βιβλίων στη χώρα του (άρθρο στο σημερινό ΒΗΜΑ), σε μια προσπάθεια να δώσει πνοή στο βιβλίο και να μειώσει τον αναλφαβητισμό στη χώρα του...
In a bamboo and matting shelter on the edge of the town of Awassa, rows of tiny children are struggling with Ethiopia's fiendishly complicated Amharic alphabet.
"Huh - HUH! Hoo - HOO! Hee - HEE! Ha - HA!" they chant in unision after their teacher.
Their teacher is a small boy, scarcely older than they are, but he moves his pointer confidently along the chart showing the 256 different characters, and the children shout back.
"Ma - MA! Meh - MEH! Mi -MI! Mo - MO!"
...................................
Reading is a real challenge for children here, and not just because of the script.
When they have mastered the basics, what can they practice on?
The range of children's books published in Amharic is limited, and for many of the children Amharic is not even their first language.
There are seldom any books at home, and often very few at school either.
But these children in Awassa are lucky.
Silly Mammo
If you leave them practising their letters and walk out through the garden gate, you will find another group of children, clustered under a shady tree, absorbed in their books.
Parked alongside them is a brightly painted wooden cart, with sides which fold down to display the shelves of books.
The two donkeys which pull it are resting in another patch of shade.
This is Ethiopia's first Donkey Mobile Library - the brainchild of an expatriate Ethiopian now living in the United States.
The children are able to read books in their own languages
His Ethiopian Books for Children and Educational Foundation (EBCEF) is also a publishing house and has produced many of the books on the shelves of the cart.
Some children are enjoying the lovely illustrations in the foreign picture books, which the library also carries, but their English is limited or non-existent.
Mostly they prefer the locally published, Amharic language stories.
It turns out that everybody's favourite is the story of Silly Mammo, familiar to generations of Ethiopian children.
MAMMO
Mammo is a well-meaning young man, but very silly. When his mother finally finds him a job, he drops the coins he earns and loses them.
"Next time, put your pay carefully in your pocket," says his mother.
The following day the farmer, instead of money, pays him with milk, with predictable consequences.
"No, no, no," says his mother, when she sees his dripping clothes.
"When he gives you something like that, you should carry it on your head," she says.
But Mammo's next wages come in the form of fresh butter wrapped in green leaves.
The children giggle delightedly at the drawing of the blazing sun, and the melting butter running down Mammo's face....
In a bamboo and matting shelter on the edge of the town of Awassa, rows of tiny children are struggling with Ethiopia's fiendishly complicated Amharic alphabet.
"Huh - HUH! Hoo - HOO! Hee - HEE! Ha - HA!" they chant in unision after their teacher.
Their teacher is a small boy, scarcely older than they are, but he moves his pointer confidently along the chart showing the 256 different characters, and the children shout back.
"Ma - MA! Meh - MEH! Mi -MI! Mo - MO!"
...................................
Reading is a real challenge for children here, and not just because of the script.
When they have mastered the basics, what can they practice on?
The range of children's books published in Amharic is limited, and for many of the children Amharic is not even their first language.
There are seldom any books at home, and often very few at school either.
But these children in Awassa are lucky.
Silly Mammo
If you leave them practising their letters and walk out through the garden gate, you will find another group of children, clustered under a shady tree, absorbed in their books.
Parked alongside them is a brightly painted wooden cart, with sides which fold down to display the shelves of books.
The two donkeys which pull it are resting in another patch of shade.
This is Ethiopia's first Donkey Mobile Library - the brainchild of an expatriate Ethiopian now living in the United States.
The children are able to read books in their own languages
His Ethiopian Books for Children and Educational Foundation (EBCEF) is also a publishing house and has produced many of the books on the shelves of the cart.
Some children are enjoying the lovely illustrations in the foreign picture books, which the library also carries, but their English is limited or non-existent.
Mostly they prefer the locally published, Amharic language stories.
It turns out that everybody's favourite is the story of Silly Mammo, familiar to generations of Ethiopian children.
MAMMO
Mammo is a well-meaning young man, but very silly. When his mother finally finds him a job, he drops the coins he earns and loses them.
"Next time, put your pay carefully in your pocket," says his mother.
The following day the farmer, instead of money, pays him with milk, with predictable consequences.
"No, no, no," says his mother, when she sees his dripping clothes.
"When he gives you something like that, you should carry it on your head," she says.
But Mammo's next wages come in the form of fresh butter wrapped in green leaves.
The children giggle delightedly at the drawing of the blazing sun, and the melting butter running down Mammo's face....
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