Dubai: Sharjah’s Kalimat Foundation for Children’s Empowerment donated 20 libraries comprising of 2,000 books for Syrian children living in the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan. This gesture upholds Sharjah’s literary spirit as the World Book Capital 2019 and remains true to its mission to empower child refugees through books. The donation made will support community centres at the camp run by Blumont, a community-based organisation dedicated to designing and delivering human development programmes. This contribution is part of KF’s ‘Pledge a Library’ initiative launched in 2017 to support Arab refugee and displaced children by improving their access to quality Arabic language books.
During a visit to the camp, KF organised workshops, reading sessions, recreational and educational activities for children of all age groups, in cooperation with Kalimat Group and Blumont.
Amna Al Mazmi, Manager of the Sharjah-based non-profit Kalimat Foundation, said, “Many children are unable to go to school or have limited access to books because of war and conflict. Our role is to be there for them and support them with books to help change their lives for the better, enabling them to become influential members and to give back to their countries through what they have learnt. Books are the only means for children to acquire knowledge, the fundamental pillars for building a better future.”
The Kalimat Foundation launched the ‘Pledge a Library’ initiative during its participation in the Sharjah International Book Fair 2017 to provide mini libraries to children in disadvantaged areas and regions affected by disasters and conflicts across the world, to keep them connected with their culture, language, customs and traditions.
Since its inception in 2016, the Kalimat Foundation has been engaged in an extensive programme of launching and implementing initiatives that facilitate the provision of public libraries and refugee camps with books.
