Vickie Remoe is a Sierra Leonean, journalist and activist who recently decided to launch a project to project African words with the English Alphabet.
Inspired by her son, she launched a book this year called ‘Adama Loves Akara’.
Remoe explained recently that she “bought my son’s first reader the same day I bought his first pair of pampers.
It wasn’t until we started to actively focus on developing his phoneme awareness that I noticed the absence of African culture in the early readers.”
She added that “Everything from the characters’ names to the books’ activities focuses on American and British culture. Even as they’re learning English, they must see themselves in the content they read right from the start.”
The aim was first to give her son a reading material that made sense and relates to his African culture.
But Remoe’s book is revolutionizing the English language as she replaces the famous A is for Apple with A is for Akara.
Multiculturalism and Family time
The book encourages early reading, family time, and multiculturalism and was illustrated by Luseni Kallon.
Adama Loves Akara is about a Sierra Leonean daughter and father duo who enjoy reading, playing learning games, and sharing their favorite snack.
The book introduces early readers to short and long ‘a’ vowel sounds.
The 24-pager is an easy, enjoyable read with illustrations that showcase Sierra Leone’s gara tie-dye textiles, food, and the special bond between fathers and daughters.
The book also includes a map of Sierra Leone and a recipe for Akara.
Food loves by many
Akara is a deep-fried banana and rice flour fritter from Sierra Leone. In Ghana, akara is bofrot, and in Nigeria, puff-puff.
Unlike the Sierra Leonean akara both the Nigerian and Ghanaian recipes are without bananas.
The Paperback version of Adama Loves Akara for children aged 0-6 is currently available on Amazon for families and preschools worldwide.
Vickie Remoe was born in Sierra Leone, but left the country in 1994 during the time of a civil war that retarded the growth of the nation.
As a child Remoe had no choice excerpt to leave because her mother, a diplomat, had just been posted to the Sierra Leonean embassy in Ethiopia.
The war ended in 2002 but Remoe was already pursuing her educational dreams in the United States.
When she returned to Africa after completing her studies Remoe settled in Ghana in 2012 and launched her entrepreneurship career.
Sierra Leonean TV host releases kids book ‘Adama Loves Akara’
Source: Africafeeds.com
