Developing Children’s Literature that depicts local realities

(Continued from last Sunday)The truth is that the Reading Culture in Rwanda is fragile, while the development of Children’s Literature is still in its infancy. The study of Literature in Rwanda, Children’ Literature inclusive largely depends on foreign produced reading stuff by writers whose experience of Rwanda and Rwandan socio-cultural and historical set up is insufficient. Indeed, school teachers & the other would be capable writers seem unaware & unbothered about the importance of developing children’s literature and the relevance of generating developing our local literature. The fact that Rwanda still faces the challenges of lack of locally developed instructional materials including children’s literature is indicated in the report that was conducted by USAID/Rwanda to assess Education sector in Rwanda. Thus “In one observation, materials available at the TTC were all in French, though English is the medium of instruction from P4 on and should therefore be mastered by all prospective teachers…” (Education sector assessment report & strategy proposal, USAID/RWANDA, November, 2010-Pg 14). This reaffirms the fact Rwanda is still dominated by foreign developed instructional materials. Although foreign literature still dominates Rwanda market and children’s literature is still unknown to many. In recent years there has been significant general awareness about the need and importance of promoting a reading culture and Children’s Literature at large. In the course of developing of this paper I held an informal discussion with (Madam Agnes Gyn- Ukunda) who is among few Rwandans who are involved in promoting and developing Children’s Literature in Rwanda. Agnes is the founder of Bakame Editions which is a pioneer organization in promoting Children’ Literature in Rwanda. Agnes informed me that Bakame Editions has over 50 titles in print! This organization was founded in 1995. Again in 2008, Rwanda Book development Initiative was born with a mission to promote and strengthen the book sector in Rwanda. Through this body we have been able to connect with other organizations in East African region which has similar objectives and cause. For example in June 2009, we were able to celebrate international children’s book day. Again in September, 2010 with help of East Africa Book Development Association, we hosted a regional conference in Kigali, Rwanda with the theme “reading needs in East African Community”. During this time also, we held children’s reading tent. Also the Ministry of Education together with other agencies like UNICEF arehas started Rwanda reads campaign which is aimed at stimulate reading and develop children’s literature in Rwanda. Developing children’s literature today faces a number of challenges. First and foremost there is general lack of information on what children literature is. I was talking with a colleague who teaches literature in one of Universities back home and in the course of our discussion I brought in ideas on children’s literature and he confessed he had no idea on what children literature is all about! So, if the would be authors and teachers can’t differentiate children’s literature from adult literature the biggest challenge starts from there. Publishers also are more interested in publishing course books which fetch more money than publishing children’s readers whose market they are not sure about. Limited resources, because of limited budget the government focuses on procuring course books and never bothers with children’s readers/ literature. Lack of a culture of reading, currently reading is emphasized at school and students do it to pass exams, beyond that reading is no one’s business. Technological fall offs, reading is competing with technological innovations like Video games, play stations which seem more favorable to the young generation. I must emphasize that that book development and reading can only be sustained when children start reading from the books that they can easily connect with. To address the challenges of poor reading habits that have plagued our society, our children have to be trained at the earliest age to read well. This means access to a wide variety of quality books beginning with those books that reflect realities and the environment that a child lives in. However, if we to develop good books and good reading habits there must be a strong collaboration and partnership amongst teachers, parents, governments and members of the civil society, ( I think that’s why we are here and I think we are doing a great job). By doing so we will ensure that our upcoming generation and those after us will be prepared for any challenges that lie ahead. After all, you can’t go wrong with a generation of good readers because they will make great leaders! Ladies and gentlemen, reading is essential but it can only be developed at an earliest age beginning with books that depict a child’s local environment and realities. Books are the key to the world - both the real world and fantasy worlds. So if you are banished to a desert island, take a book - and I hope you will inspire children and young people to do the same. Ends