AIDGLOBAL launches 5th bilingual children's book in Mozambique

To celebrate International Literacy Day, celebrated on September 8th, AIDGLOBAL has released its latest bilingual children's book, "Lila, the Giraffe Who Was in a Hurry to Grow Up." A work by Mozambican writer Vânia Óscar, translated into XiChangana by Mabjeca Tingana and illustrated by Ventura Mulalene.

The book is part of the "Books to Start" collection, created in 2022, and now reaches its 5th volume, reinforcing the objective of bringing accessible, culturally relevant stories in their mother tongue to Mozambican children, while simultaneously promoting contact with the Portuguese language.

"Writing this story represented a gift for me that I now give to all children, through this beautiful editorial project that I had the opportunity to be a part of – 'Books to Start'", shared Vânia Óscar, who is now on her third children's book. For the author, this work "is a gift full of light, which will serve as a life instrument for all the children who receive it, also written in their native language. A sign that it is possible to transcend and 'think outside the box.'"

With this edition, AIDGLOBAL continues to encourage a love of reading and develop critical readers from childhood. To date, it has distributed over a thousand copies of this collection free of charge to schools and communities in Gaza province. Through this editorial line, the organization seeks to break cycles of poverty through the publishing and distribution of books.

Susana Damasceno, founder and president of AIDGLOBAL, recognizes and values ​​"the transformative power of reading." "It's so rewarding to see the smiles of Portuguese and Mozambican children when we read the same story in their native languages, allowing each of them to dream to the fullest extent of their creativity," she says.