Rwanda’s publisher of children’s books in Nabu in Partnership with HP technologies have launched a creative lab aimed at equipping children with skills to be able to read and tell their stories in a digital way.
The new lab is equipped with latest Hp hardware and creative software that will empower young aspiring Rwandan artists with technological know how to develop their community through sharing their own stories to the rest of the world using technology.
L_R: HP’s Education Lead in Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe Mayank Dingra, CEO NABU Tanyella Evans, Director Kigali Public Library Tessy Rusera and Nabu Global User Director Amos Furah
According to Nabu CEO, the new project targets children from 0-10 years old where they will be learning through one on one sessions to build a third generation of creative artists.
“Our mission is to solve the global literacy crisis by providing children with access to mother tongue books and this mission matters deeply to every single one of us. We know that 250 million children globally are not learning the basics of how to read and one of the core reasons is that they don’t have access to books to read at the early levels in the language they speak and understand,” Nabu CEO Tanyella Evans.
The project will mainly focus on teaching early great levels of children from 0-10 years old because these are ages when children brains a forming.
According to Tanyella, the number of minutes that children spend reading before going to school predicts their educational performance attainment at grade three.
Kigali Public Library gave Nabu and Hp an open space where children will be learning from as they sharpen their skills of being creative in arts to be able to tell their stories.
The government of Rwanda is heavily investing in traditional infrastructures for citizens to easily access technology.
The country’s plan for every Rwandan to own a smartphone reached 30 percent in 2 years, an achievement that will allow access to information in this era of technology.
Such government strategies towards technology speeds up projects like virtual creative lab to be easily accessed by Rwandan.
Nabu is the major publisher of children’s books in Rwanda. It has 160 books in Kinyarwanda written by Rwandan illustrators and authors on its Nabu app which can be accessed freely online.
Ambassador of Israel to Rwanda Ron Adam(L) and NABU’s creative director Michael Ross
The newly launched creative lab will increase the number of books, authors, artists and illustrators which boosts reading culture and creative abilities.
“Nabu, Hp creative lab in Kigali can be a powerful force to expand professional opportunities for young talent in Africa while advancing Nabu’s mission to solve global illiteracy,” said HP’s Education Lead in Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe Mayank Dingra.
