A Dip Into The Life Of

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Inspiring a nation to read

By Rebecca Saxton-Fox

Photos courtesy of WLR

Imagine a generation of Arab children that love, enjoy and respect books. Well, Dr Rana Dajani is behind a movement sweeping the region that aims to establish a library in every neighbourhood across the Arab world. Mother. Educator. Social entrepreneur. Scientist. These are the words that Rana uses to describe herself. This Jordanian mother of four began university at the age of 16, received the prestigious Fulbright scholarship from the United States at age 30 (she gave birth to her fourth child the day after her interview!) and finished her PhD in molecular biology in the United States. These are just a few

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of her many accomplishments and she shows no signs of stopping any time soon. Currently an assistant professor at the Hashemite University, Rana’s most recent project, We Love Reading, is the nearest to her heart.

libraries and read-aloud programmes in their neighbourhoods. Rana and her family were inspired to start WLR after spending their free time in libraries in the United States and realising that libraries are difficult to find in Jordan.

An idea is born We Love Reading (WLR) is a Jordanian initiative that fosters a love of reading in children by training women to start

Despite Jordan’s highly literate and educated population (over 90 per cent of the population can read), Jordanian children on average read only half

of one page per year for pleasure, according to WLR. In the United States, children on average read 11 books per year for pleasure. “The first steps are literacy and education and Jordan has achieved these two steps,” says Rana. “The final step is reading for pleasure and we have only just begun in Jordan.”

Did you know? The Archangel Gabriel came to the Prophet Mohammad and commanded him to read: “Read in the name of thy lord and cherisher who created: created man [or woman] out of a clot of congealed blood. Read! And thy lord is most bountiful, He who taught the use of pen, taught man See [or woman] that which he knew not” (Al-Alaq 96:1-3).

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Inspiring a movement Rana works with her team to spread libraries across Jordan, the Arab world and beyond. Their vision is to have a library in every neighbourhood. They are achieving that by training women to start their own “libraries” of around 20 books or so, along with read-aloud sessions for children to make reading more fun and to foster a love of reading. After the read-aloud sessions, children can borrow the books and return them during the next reading session. So far, WLR has helped to start close to 560 of these libraries, with a goal to reach 1,000 by 2015. Family support Rana credits her success in part to her husband and their mutual desire to involve their children in all aspects of their lives. For her PhD thesis, she would bounce ideas off of her daughter! When she received a Fulbright scholarship to study in the United States, her husband Mohammad resigned from his position as a lieutenant colonel in the Jordanian Air Force. “I could never have done any of this without him and his support,” states Rana. Looking ahead What’s next for Rana? “We are working with a professor to develop a study about the effect of reading on behaviour and are hoping to expand the study to include empathy and morality.” Ever the scientist, reader and educator, Rana’s determination to get Jordan reading continues.

Rana adds costumes and puppets to her read aloud sessions to make reading even more fun!

• Promote a reading session in your local community in any way that you feel is appropriate and efficient • Select age-appropriate stories (for WLR’s definition of a library is not a children ages four to 10) physical library but rather a place • Raise funds to purchase your first set where children enjoy being read to of stories (20 books are enough) and can have access to stories that • Choose a public space to read aloud are age-appropriate, exciting and fun. • Start reading to kids! Libraries and reading sessions can • Post your library’s activities on-line be in community centres, religious using social media so that everyone centres or even nearby parks – can share ideas and stay connected anywhere that is accessible, clean • Share your activities and links on the and safe. We Love Reading Facebook page • Conduct reading sessions on If you’re passionate about reading and a regular, consistent basis want to be a changemaker in your • Encourage others to start libraries in community and part of a movement their area that started small and is now Learn more at spreading all over the world, all you www.welovereading.org have to do is: Take on We Love Reading’s challenge: establish a library in your neighbourhood!

NOVEMBER 2013 FAMILY FLAVOURS

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Librarians in action At one nursery, the room is quiet and all eyes are fixated on Majd Awawdeh (22) and Mais Shareef (22). They take turns reading stories aloud to the two and a half to four-year-old youngsters with animated voices and contagious smiles. “I found out about WLR on-line and attended a training session,” says Majd. “After starting my library, I trained Mais and another friend and now we read aloud to children one to two times per week.” Why do they volunteer their time? “We love kids!” they exclaim with a smile. Also attending the reading were Eman and Zain from WLR to give Mais and Majd feedback and encouragement. “This is our model,” Eman explains. “We train one woman and she trains two more. With time, there will be a library in every neighborhood, God willing.” As the pair packed up their books to leave, a little boy ran up to them and asked, “When are you coming back?” Everyone smiles, knowing another child has learned to love reading.

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Mais and Majd reading stories aloud

The benefits of reading It comes as no surprise that reading is important for children on a number of levels. “Children learn emotional intelligence: how to express their emotions, how to communicate,” Rana explains, adding that, “It increases their vocabulary and ability to excel in school.” Reading also has some unexpected benefits. “There is a magical transformation that happens inside you when you read,” proclaims Rana. She emphasises that reading gives children the ability to understand people, places and cultures outside of their own communities, fostering empathy and crosscultural understanding. Here are Rana’s tips for incorporating reading into your child’s life: • Set a routine: read to your child every night for 10 minutes • Alternate reading aloud between you and your spouse • When your child is old enough, have her read aloud to you • Pregnant? Read to your unborn child so she will learn the sound of your voice

• Choose books that both you and your child will enjoy Here are Rana’s reading recommendations: • Adult Fiction, English: Animal Farm by George Orwell • Adult Fiction, Arabic: The Boy from the Island by Daoud Suleiman Obeidi   • Children’s Book, English: Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr Seuss • Children’s Book, Arabic: Nobody Loves Me by Abeer Taher