Sharjah-based children’s publishing house Kalimat and du have announced the renewal of their year-long partnership to promote Arabic literacy among children.

The announcement was made at a press conference held at the Maraya Art Centre and attended by HE Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Founder and CEO of Kalimat and Hala Badri, Executive Vice President, Brand and Communications, du.

Subsequent to the press conference, there a lively reading of the book “Ahlam An Akoun” (“I Dream to Be”) followed by an illustration workshop based on the book led by artist Nasir Nasrallah for a group of schoolchildren who attended the events. In the workshop, children were encouraged to draw dreams with the finished sketches being tied to balloons and launched into the sky over the Al Qasba canal. This was meant to symbolize that the partnership between du and Kalimat encourages children to dream and give wings to their dreams by widening their imagination and vocabulary through reading.

The renewal of the contract for a second year reaffirms both companies’ commitment to fostering a love of the Arabic language and literature amongst children in the UAE.

Speaking of the decision to renew the agreement, Kalimat Founder and CEO Sheikha Bodour Bint Sultan Al Qasimi said, “Our partnership with du has proved extremely beneficial to our shared goal of promoting Arabic literacy and a love of reading amongst children throughout the UAE. Their support has enabled us to achieve numerous milestones, and also reach far more people than we might otherwise have been able to in the short time we have been working together.”

She added, “We have also conducted workshops and coffee mornings aimed at parents and teachers to boost awareness of the importance of getting children started on reading right from an early age, and we have stepped up our campaign on social media platforms such as Facebook and twitter through regular posts, tweets and retweets, which resulted in doubling our followers on both platforms in less than a year.”

“In the past year we have brought to the forefront over nine talented Emirati authors, illustrators and photographers, such as Maitha Al Khayat and Noura Al Noman, thus contributing to the development of a community that fosters a love for literature, art and the culture of the UAE. We have also partnered with several organizations, such as Kan Yama Kan (a boutique bookstore that sells only Arabic books at the Ettihad Mall), Maraya Art Centre, UAEBBY, and Knowledge Without Borders with the aim of building this sense of community and hope it will eventually lead to a widespread movement that will have more children reading and loving Arabic,” Sheikha Bodour concluded.

Speaking on behalf of du, Hala Badri, Executive Vice President, Brand and Communications, du, said, “Our aim is to make a tangible difference in the society through our active efforts in CSR, the cornerstones of which are education, and reviving culture and heritage. This has dovetailed neatly with the enthusiastic team at Kalimatwho have worked tirelessly on providing the materials, environment and skills for children so that they can discover the joy of books, thus promoting the Arabic culture and literacy. Working together to achieve our common aim has enabled us to sustain a series of initiatives throughout the UAE that provide platforms for young readers to develop reading habits to help them grow into capable, purposeful and inspired young individuals”.

“Its a pleasure to continue our relationship with Kalimat for the second consecutive year. We hope there will be more activities this year that will contribute to providing better Arabic reading and cultural opportunities for the younger generation”, she added.

The original partnership agreement was signed in July 2010, and in the intervening months the results have been tangible. With du’s support, Kalimat conducted over 36 events to cultivate a love for reading in children including the first ever cookery demonstration for children at the Sharjah International Book Fair 2011 based on Kalimat’s new cookbook “Lathith Jiddan”. Kalimat books have set a benchmark for quality in terms of content, illustrations and production standards, a fact confirmed by the awards it has received such as the best book award at the Beirut Book Fair in 2009 and 2010 and by the Riyadh based International Forum for Children’s Education and Development in 2011. Kalimat has been successful in raising general awareness about the joy and importance of reading, particularly to those children belonging to the 3 to 6 and the 6 to 9 years age group.

Kalimat is currently in the process of working on development of a new, improved website with an e-commerce option that it hopes will have a significant impact on creating an awareness of the importance of reading in Arabic and revive interest in the Arabic language and culture.

We accept Guest Posts

Download the Dubai City Guide iPhone mobile app

DubaiCityGuide.com is owned and managed by Cyber Gear