Book donation drive shows Emirati humaneness

Sheikh Sultan Bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Chairman of Sharjah Media Council (SMC), has launched the fifth edition of Kan Yama Kan (KYK) Book Donation Campaign.

An affiliate of the UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY), the book donation drive – designed to bring the community together to practise the act of charitable giving in celebration of the spirit of the Holy Month – aims to offer young refugees worldwide better access to reading and learning materials.

This edition is in conjunction with Sharjah World Book Capital 2019 celebrations. Book donation boxes have been placed in the Kan Yama Kan tent at Al Majaz Amphitheatre’s Ramadan Majlis. Books collected by KYK Donation campaign will be distributed in refugee camps on World Refugee Day, on June 20.

Sheikh Sultan said: “Sharjah’s cultural project epitomises the vision of His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, based in utilising the power of books and knowledge to bring sustainable positive change. Through their book donation campaign, Kan Yama Kan has taken a great step forward in materialising this vision, and also given the Emirati community an opportunity to come together and showcase their humanitarian spirit once again. Providing books to refugees is a long-term investment in their future – knowledge is an essential tool they can use to secure their future and realise their ambitions.”

“As World Book Capital 2019, Sharjah has pledged to strongly continue on its path of promoting books and reading, and this ambition is not restricted to certain communities. We are committed to taking knowledge and the joy of reading to people, especially children and youth, wherever they are and in whatever circumstances they might be in – a goal we are furthering through our role as World Book Capital 2019. Books are the foundation that brings together countries, nations and cultures worldwide, enabling them to share their experiences and expertise,” he added.

For her part, Marwa Al Aqroubi, President of the UAEBBY, said: “The UAEBBY has an innovative experience in providing humanitarian aid through knowledge. The KYK book donation campaign is one of the most important parts of this overall experience. We urge everyone in the UAE – organisations and individuals alike – to contribute to the success of this campaign. Every book donated is a tile on the path that will pave the way on which children will find a better future. These books will go a long way in removing the difficulties children face in gaining access to books and knowledge amid wars and conflict,” she added.

Since its inception, the ‘Kan Yama Kan’ initiative has broadened the intellectual horizons of children and youth with the distribution of more than 12,000 books in the UAE, Jordan, Morocco, India and other countries. It also inaugurated a 2,500-book library at the Naushera Mewat School near New Delhi last year, which has given about 1,000 Indian students access to valuable knowledge. The initiative also successfully trained the first-ever group of 14 Emirati professional bibliotherapists who are bringing comfort to disturbed children through specialised reading practices.

The initiative enriched The Big Heart library with 500 new titles in the Emirati–Jordanian camp established for Syrian refugees in 2014. This raised the number of books in the library to 3,500, and supports the educational needs of more than 3,000 children.

Last month the UAEBBY’s literary initiative, the ‘Read Dream Create’ Book Club gave young readers in the UAE an exciting new opportunity to get together, read, discuss their ideas, and exchange notes about the latest book they’ve read.

The ‘Read, Dream, Create’ Book Club was launched at the ongoing Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF 2019), whose first seven permanent members are young adults from the Sharjah Youth Centre.

These key members will lead the clubs in their respective centre’s libraries, getting the other members of the centres together to read a book that the club will choose and announce on their social media platform. A new book will be selected for the club’s members to read each month, which will be read, discussed and critiqued over group reading sessions.