Literacy Snapshots
SIL on the Field
Books from Blank Pages
Country: Cameroon, AFRICA
Languages: 279
SIL language projects in progress: 27
Books. They are everywhere in the developed world. Bookstores and publishers abound. With the introduction of coffee shop/bookstores, the search for a good book has even become a social event. But for people in developing countries books are hard to come by. Especially in the mother-tongue languages of the people.
Recently in Cameroon, SIL literacy coordinator and consultants, Gordon Martin, Mary Annett and Mike Andrus organized a course, "Foundations of Literature Production".
They designed the course specifically to help language projects produce their own literature - without the complicated technology of computers. Twelve participants from four language groups, Makaa, Kako, Nugunu, and Yambetta gathered together to learn the steps to publishing literature in the mother-tongue. The course is based on modules that participants work through at their own pace.
Participants brought a manuscript each and were taught how to edit
and "typeset" the text, choose or draw illustrations for
the text, and cut and paste the camera-ready copy together. They also
took the finished product to a local printer for printing. Four books
were published by the end of the course and eight more await publication.
One 81 year old participant came with a detailed description of
his village's history. It included details on members of each family
group. He worked diligently throughout the course and when he finally
comprehended how the page sequence of his book needed to be laid out
for printing, he said, "Aha, now I know the secret of making
books." Other participants produced books on health issues and
local folk tales.
It was no surprise when after two weeks of hard work spontaneous celebrations
broke out at the arrival of the printed copies of participant's books.
One person exclaimed, "Oh, this is SO sweet!"
To keep participants accountable for the skills they gained, they will be required to produce one more book within the year in order to receive a certificate of completion.
From this one course there is the potential of 24 new, mother-tongue books - a good start for potential libraries and bookstores in the local community (i.e. six new titles for each of the local communities represented).
Submitted by: Kelly Mitchell, Literacy Specialist Cameroon
Other Links
- Writers Workshops article in premier issue of Language Documentation and Conservation