BY Zahida Wahab
I am Zahida Wahab and I am proud to call myself a resident of the Bayview community, which is a vibrant, melting pot of diversity. It is also rich in the spirit of Ubuntu.
This was my first foray into writing Children’s stories. I have always written for adults, so it was both challenging and enriching. I was inspired to write for children after joining Nalibali as a Funda Leader and reading the amazing stories to my learners. My learners also inspired me by demonstrating their love for these stories. It is an honour for me to publish my stories with Nalibali knowing that the publication reaches hundreds of learners across our 9 provinces, promoting literacy and inculcating a love for stories. The knowledge that my stories, Iike all Nalibali stories are published in 11 official languages is really amazing, affording children who are not so proficient in English to enjoy it in their mother tongue.
Having published my stories with Nalibali has given me the confidence to write more stories for children. It has also inspired me to continue to promote literacy and use these and other stories in Nalibali to stimulate young minds, making our children use their imagination and develop a passion for reading and storytelling as I fervently believe that we all have a story within us- a story that needs to be told. The radio story series is also a brilliant way of promoting the love of stories and the art of storytelling.
My message to others who would like to write stories for Nalibali is ‘ Go for it!’. Write these stories knowing that children from all over our beautiful country will be filled with amazement and wonder and that your stories will be in Nalibali which is transformative in advocating for literacy and the love of reading. I am honoured to be one of the authors for Nalibali and will continue to write and encourage my learners to not only read but tell stories as well which perhaps can feature in Nalibali too.
Image and source: Nalibali
