Distribution of Uncle Tefy at La Joie

Today 70 Uncle Tefy’s were distributed at the school La Joie in Antsirabe donated by Mrs. Ebba Hauken and the municipality of Stavanger, Norway.

Our coworker, Hanta Nirin’i Joa distributed them together with the Norwegian Peace Corps volunteer Trine Lund. All the students in 6th to 9th grade received one book each and Hanta read the story aloud for them. It was obvious that they liked the book, and they were very active in the discussion afterwards. They all would have liked to continue the reading and discussion because the 30 minutes scheduled went so fast.

Afterwards there was a short meeting with some of the teachers about the use of literature in school. They promised to make a small library so that all the pupils can get the chance to read the books. The school has previously received all Vakoka Vakiteny books, and they also got some books in English today. Those were not from Vakoka Vakiteny.

This was the first official mission for Hanta in the name of Vakoka Vakiteny, and we are very glad to see that she has the talent to fascinate youth. We are sure that today was not the last time Hanta will promote literature.

Both pictures by Trine Lund

Three manuscripts at the printing house

Yesterday we sent the manuscript of the geographic picture book to the printing house in Antanananrivo. It will arrive there tomorrow and the process of test printing can begin. It is always hard to separate from a manuscript which has been worked on for many months, but we are satisfied with the result and eager to see it released as a book.

The manuscripts of Ampanirio, the environment book and the second edition of Dangaligny and Konaky have already been at the printing house for some weeks. We are now waiting for a second, corrected test print of Ampanirio before we can sign the printing contract. However, we hope to be able to do it this week so that the printing can begin as soon as possible.

Vakoka Vakiteny has got ISBN Numbers

Today Vakoka Vakiteny received 10 ISBNs (International Standard Book Number) from the agency in charge of the international francophone literature. All future books we publish will now have this number, which will make it internationally recognizable.

Maps for the geographic picture book

All the maps for the geographic picture book are now finished and we are indeed very satisfied with the result! The illustrator we first intended to use was hindered. Therefore we were very thankful when Dr. Klaus-Christian Küspert offered to make them. We received eight artistic maps from him in a very short time. They are all hand painted with many details and symbols.

The manuscript has now been proofread by teachers and people with higher education in geography. We have begun negotiations with several organizations about this book and we have got positive feedback on the manuscript already. Therefore we hope that some of them will decide to buy a large number of copies of the geographic picture book from us already in advance of the printing.