Two new books and other news

There have happened many things since last time we posted on this blog. First of all two books are now printed. The first one is Ampanirio, the environment book, which is our first book printed on recycled paper. We are very satisfied with the quality of the print on this paper and will be happy to be able to distribute the first copies to the participating schools already next week.

The second book is the geography book with the new title “Fantaro ny Nosintsika”, which means “Get to know our island”. Also this book is now laying out for sale and distribution in Madagascar in this very moment.

On Saturday the 2nd of July we met the pupils in the village Ambohimanambola who received the book Dadanaivo Tefy printed with the means of the company Henzmann. Some of them had also brought their parents, and they all were very positive towards the book.

Some of their comments were:

“I found it very funny when Uncle Tefy stole the food from the herdsmen and burned his mouth.”
Pupil

“We like the story and especially the pictures inside the book.”
Pupil

“I see how fast the children who have received this book develop their reading skills in school. Their advantage compared to children not owning a book is incredibly!”
Teacher

“Sometimes in the evening our children read aloud to those not going to school and explain the story of Uncle Tefy. They are having a good time. Also we grownups like to take a look into the book.”
Father

Sophie and Mparany have now come to Germany where we will stay about one year due to studies in Norway. Our temporary replacement for Vakoka Vakiteny in Madagascar, Mrs Hanta, has already been working with enthusiasm for some weeks. We will soon introduce her officially on this blog.

Our web page www.vakiteny.org has been down and under construction for some time now. However, we hope to have it repaired soon and apologize for the trouble this may have caused.

Pictures for the book about Todisoa

Our illustrator for the youth novel about the street girl Todisoa, Nassar, is a young man from Sakaraha, a small town east of Toliara. He has already finished several drafts, and will now begin to make the about 40 small black and with pictures for the book.

We are very glad that we have found this talented illustrator, and we believe that the pictures will give the book an attractive appearance. However, the pictures shown here are some first drafts, and will not necessarily be the pictures which we are going to use.

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.

Distribution of Uncle Tefy

The 385 books for the schools in Ambohimanambola and the surrounding were distributed in January and February. We have now got the report and the pictures from the distribution, and they are very encouraging. All the children in the 5^th grade at seven schools received their book, and they also brought their parents to listen to the training about literature and reading.

Teachers and pupils carrying the books to their school

Pupils in Ambohimanambola

Pupils in Ambalavao (Ambohimanambola)

Parents gathered in the classroom