The creation of more than 250 books in Tumbuka and Malawian Sign Language for free use on the Global Digital Library.
Project Name
Open Books Malawi
Location Implemented
Malawi
Technology Used
Software/Apps
Competition Entered
Begin With Books
Reading Skill Targeted
Foundational, Pre-Reading
Status
Winner
Collaborators/Partners
Juárez & Associates, Malawi National Association of the Deaf (MANAD), Malawi Institute of Education (MIE)
The Challenge
In Malawi, the problem of access to high-quality, accessible books in local languages for pre-primary and primary grades is particularly acute: only 10 “narrative” story books exist in Tumbuka, a language spoken by more than 2 million people in northern Malawi. None of those books are in accessible formats; and no materials in Malawian Sign Language (MSL) exist at all.
The Big Idea
eKitabu will scale work begun in Kenya and Rwanda through ACR GCD’s Book Boost and Sign On For Literacy prizes to implement the Open Books Malawi initiative. The project will deliver a total of 270 books—220 in Tumbuka and 50 in Malawian Sign Language—to the GDL, which already houses more than 120 accessible African EPUBs digitized by eKitabu.
Featured Innovation
Studio KSL
eKitabu's innovation that develops accessible early grade reading materials in Kenyan Sign Language (KSL) to support communication skills as a pathway to literacy for children who are deaf.
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