Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi attends workshop at Sharjah Children’s Book Festival

SHARJAH: Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, Founder and Chairman of KF, the Kalimat Foundation (KF), which works to nurture children’s creativity and love of reading, participated in an art workshop at Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF) 2023 .

Organized by the Foundation and led by its first ambassador, Emirati artist Mohammed Al Mansoori, the workshop offered children an opportunity to create a Unleash their creativity by drawing on a small bookshelf at home, and learn about Pledge a Library’s core mission initiative to provide books to underserved and forcibly displaced Arab children around the world, ensuring their fundamental right to read and access books.

Sheikha Bodour interacted with the children who attended the workshop and joined their activities, expressing their joy in sharing drawing, creativity and a love of art and reading.

As part of the SCRF 2023 programme, Khyentse Foundation also organized a series of inclusive workshops, bringing visually impaired children together with their peers to experience the joy of storytelling and broaden their horizons through inspiring stories and meaningful narratives. their knowledge. The workshops were held under the “Ara” initiative launched in 2017 to improve literacy among visually impaired children.

The main reading workshop was held in partnership with Wisdom House and the UAE Schools Institute and featured a story titled ‘The Paper Traveler’ published by Kalimat Group. The storytelling session, led by Haitham Shoukry, founder of the ‘Al Hakawati’ initiative, focused on instilling the values ​​of grit, determination and willpower in the children, aiming to draw attention to respecting the environment, teaching them about recycling and sustainability value approach. The children then took part in a workshop where they had the opportunity to build their own candy machine inspired by the story.

Amna Al Mazmi, Director of the Kalimat Foundation, said: “The Foundation is steadfast in its vision and purpose of empowering children through reading and upholding children’s right to access sources of knowledge that broaden their horizons and fulfill their potential, while nurturing a new generation that values ​​knowledge and meaningful connections.”

The inclusive workshop was organized by Khyentse Foundation to activate MoUs signed with local entities, including a partnership with Wisdom House, to reflect the Marrakesh Treaty mandate.

During its participation in SCRF 2023, the Kalimat Foundation also launched a new product line featuring designs by Emirati artist Mohammed Al Mansoori. The partnership aims to support the Library Promise initiative, which empowers resource-poor and refugee children by ensuring their rights to read and access quality books and sources of knowledge.