Blog Layout

The importance of having books with local stories, in your own language

It is our passion at The Steve Sinnott Foundation to share stories.


We listen and learn from them. We amplify peoples voices through storytelling. It feels right and important at this time, especially for young peoples’ voices to be heard.


On World Book day our CEO, Ann, looks at the importance of storytelling and having books that speak your language from a cultural and linguistic point of view.



Ann: I confess I am a bookworm. As a young girl I always had my head in a book, it is way of escaping and creating dreams. I loved reading stories to my daughter and then my grandchildren.


Most of all they loved hearing stories about real life, about our relatives. If I told my stories about when I was a little girl, they would always ask me to repeat them, and my grandchildren loved hearing stories about their mum. It makes connections and gives you a sense of belonging to your family. I wish I knew more about my family’s stories but I left it a little too late to gather them. It feels so important to me that we share our stories and learn from each other.


The other thing I love doing with children and adults is making up stories. It is a lovely adventure as you never know where you will go or end up.



I have had many conversations with educators across the world and the same themes keep coming up. I thought I would share why we believe sharing stories and writing them down is so important.



The importance of books with local stories


  • Local stories raise the socio-cultural awareness of the readers
  • They promote the values of love, unity and social cohesion
  • They enhance the preservation of the socio-cultural history of the local people
  • They aid readers to relate the stories with their local realities
  • Readers easily understand the setting, themes and plot development of the stories
  • Local stories teach moral lessons to readers within their own cultural context
  • Local stories promote an understanding of the people and their perspectives on a variety of issues
  • Local stories educate and entertain readers by celebrating their own culture
  • Stories encourage listening and learning about one another, to develop understanding and empathy

 

We are proud to be supporting teachers in The Gambia to write and publish their own story books which will be shared in schools later this year.




The importance of books in your own language


We are excited to have a copy of Goute Sel, the Haitian Creole workbook which the Alpha Creole literacy project is using in Limonad, Haiti. Many adults had to learn to read and write in French, which is not their mother tongue. It is extremely important for people to learn to read and write in their own language. Haitian Creole is the most widely spoken language in Haiti. This teaching resource it gives everyone who learns to read and write in Haitian Creole a sense of themselves, and a sense of their place in the world.


You can support our mother tongue literacy projects here.




Do something a little different this World Book Day


So this World Book day I encourage you to buy a mother tongue book and spread a little joy and adventure in the world.


Support our mother tongue literacy projects
Steve Sinnott • March 2, 2022
By Ann Beatty April 4, 2025
Sparks Bristol is a collaborative community project initially envisioned by The Global Goals Centre, (GGC) more of which below. A few years ago, GGC took over an empty Marks and Spencer store and that’s how Sparks was born. Sparks is a department store with a difference, co-created by Global Goals Centre and Artspace Lifespace. On the ground floor is a huge range of shops, installations, events and more. Upstairs is a hub for local artists, it offers affordable studios as well as rehearsal and performance space. The Global Goals Centre is a Bristol-based educational charity inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals. (SDGs). GGC believe the SDG’s or Global Goals as they are sometimes known, can be reached, with imaginative solutions and widespread education and engagement. They work with partners to promote creative solutions and deliver ground breaking projects that work towards these ambitious goals. The Steve Sinnott Foundation supported the Global Goals Centre with seed funding when it first started over 5 years ago. This month we went to visit them to see how they are getting on and we were taken aback by the volume of work they have achieved since they started. It is amazing to see how though working together with other local community groups it has grown into the vibrant centre it is today. All of the creative projects they host are linked to the SDGs. They cover topics that tackle poverty, education, climate change, fashion recycling and upcycling, to name a few.
By Ann Beatty March 28, 2025
Spring is definitely here, daffodils, blossom and crocuses are all basking in the bright sunshine. There is still a chill in the air in the shade but it's happening and all the seeds that were sown over the last few months are coming to fruition. At the Foundation, we have been planning the year ahead and our Positive Periods and Prevention of Gender Based Violence programmes got underway this weekend in Haiti and Ghana. These projects will have a long-lasting effect on the lives of the women and girls who take part: tackling the root causes of gender-based violence and enabling girls to attend school every day when they have their period, to feel safe at school and know how to take action when they are faced with violence. These are the first of many projects planned for the year ahead as we continue to work towards Education for All children everywhere.
By Hannah Frisch March 7, 2025
The outlook for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) on global education is far from rosy. But a gloomy future isn’t inevitable. Disappointing statistics are the result of political choices that can be shifted and there are thousands of youth, grassroots activists and civil society organisations across the UK advocating for global education to make these changes. We need more people involved to build the momentum, we need to make a difference in challenging circumstances. You can help! Here’s how; Making global education a UK priority The UK is an important donor and champion for global education. However, education has been gradually deprioritised on the development agenda. Global education spending has plummeted from 13.5% of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2013 to just 3.5% in 2023, and education was one of the sectors hit hardest by the abandonment of the 0.7% gross national income (GNI) target for ODA. With Labour’s annual budget confirming another reduction in the aid budget, funding for global education is under threat of being cut even further unless we stand together to say this can’t happen. While education is a domestic priority for the new Government, it has yet to emerge as a strong theme in their development agenda. As the Labour Party continues to develop their approach there is a unique opportunity for advocates to connect these dots and make the case for why education must be a key part of the Government’s international plans. For the Government to take action it needs to hear demand for change. There are many issues MPs recognise are important, but if they do not hear about these issues from constituents it can be hard for MPs to be vocal about them in Parliament. Following an election where many parliamentary seats were won with tight margins, MPs need to hear from the people they represent that global education must be on their agenda. With over half of MPs elected for the first time this year, many are actively looking for a steer on what issues to work on. We can give them one! How to Get Involved Write to your MP about why global education needs to be a bigger priority for the UK Government and encourage members of groups you are a part of, such as your union branch or a local community group, to do the same. This can have a real impact on your MP’s interest and ability to act for global education. You can also connect with other grassroots activists and get resources for taking action from international development advocacy organisations like Results UK. You can learn more about Results UK’s grassroots network on our website. If you are a teacher, get your school involved in the Send My Friend to School Campaign (SMF). Send My Friend is a UK civil society coalition advocating for SDG4 which supports a mass UK schools campaign to amplify student voices calling for universal quality education in solidarity with their peers around the world. Free campaign packs are available on the SMF website for primary and secondary levels with everything teachers need to run the campaign in their school. Parliamentarians can learn more about education issues and how to act by joining the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Global Education, a cross-party group that brings together Parliamentarians interested in the right to education and provides them with knowledge and resources to be champions of the issue. By joining our voices through collective action, we can make a real difference in moving the needle on this issue. Together we have a chance to rechart the course for the realisation of quality education for all. BIOGRAPHY Hannah Frisch is the Senior Policy and Parliamentary Advocacy Officer for Education at Results UK and a Co-Chair of the Send My Friend to School Policy and Parliamentary Working Group. She is a policy advisor for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Global Education in the UK Parliament.
Share by: