News

Marie-Anne Kohl, Ibrahim Mahamat zene, Nadine Siegert and Katharina Fink from Iwalewahaus have initiated a crowdfuning project to support
a publication for children in Tingel/Chad. We'd be happy if some of you could support this project.

Please find below a brief description, and here's a link to the crowdfunding: https://www.startnext.com/the-okra-thief-ein-kinderbuch

Maryam and Adnan are shocked: there is an “Okra Thief” in Tingel! Brave and adventurous, the 11 year old twins start looking for the villain to save the harvest of their village …
“The Okra Thief” is a book about the adventures of the twins Maryam and Adnan from Tingel, Chad. But it is more than a mere beautiful children’s book. It is the manifestation of an exchange of creativity and joy, between children in Germany and children in Chad. It is a book made by kids for kids. The book is a result of workshops in Bayreuth, Germany, with children of all ages who imagined stories together, formed clay animals to give their ideas shape, drew and invented stories to share with the children of the primary school in Tingel, which has recently been opened by help of takatuf e.V.
The Bayreuth-based non-profit organisation takatuf e.V., which in Chadian Arabic means “we walk shoulder by shoulder”, was founded by Ibrahim Mahamat zene, himself from Chad. takatuf enables intercultural exchange, and promotes educational and infrastructural projects in Chad. The school founded in Tingel in 2019 is the first and only one in the entire region. It is located 300 kilometers from the capital N'djamena. As a publicly accessible school, it offers a place where children of all ages can learn how to read and write. Languages of instruction are Arabic and French. The school’s facilities are very basic, there is neither a library nor are there any books available apart from copied educational materials.
This book is just a beginning. But we all know how fun reading great stories is; and how much kids love to delve into pictures and words. And we are convinced that the access to literature and everything that sparks the imagination is a basic human right. Therefore, the kids in Tingel should have their own fun book, which speaks to their surroundings. The best partner for this adventure in sharing creativity is iwalewabooks, a publishing house for art and discourse, located in Johannesburg in South Africa and Bayreuth in Germany. Iwalewabooks publishes works that stimulate discussion, pay homage to unique artistic positions, and inspire the imagination: www.iwalewabooks.com.
On the basis of the stories, Ibrahim Mahamat zene and Anne Kohl of takatuf, Katharina Fink and Nadine Siegert of iwalewabooks, and Chad’s first female cartoonist, caricaturist and graphic artist Salma Khalil Alio , are currently creating the children's book “The Okra Thief” which will be produced in Arabic, French, English and German. The book will be available world wide. And what is more important: It will be sent to Tingel, so that every school kid will get their own copy of the book. This is meant as the beginning of an intercultural exchange of stories and books: If this crowdfunding is successful and “The Okra Thief” can be produced, we will present the follow-up to the story, written by the children of Tingel. And then read by children all over the world. In stories we trust!
Come and support Maryam and Adnan to put an end to the okra thief’s racketeering by making “The Okra Thief” happen!