Winners of the KALULU Story Writing Competition

You are cordially invited to the Award Ceremony of
the KALULU Story Writing Competition
at Kaunda Square Basic School, Lusaka
on Wednesday 19 October 2011 at 10 hrs.

Kalulu, the rabbit, is a celebrated trickster in African folk tales. Kalulu was also the name of a Story Writing Competition arranged by the GraphoREAD Project from Finland in cooperation with Zambian partners.

The Competition was designed to generate a collection of new exciting stories in Zambian languages for young children to read as they begin to acquire the founding elements of literacy. A selection of the best stories submitted to the competition will be published in mobile phones, in print and on the Internet.

More than 700 stories were submitted to the competition in Bemba, Kaonde, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja and Tonga. The writers of the selected best creative stories in all 7 languages and the 6 best poems will be awarded on Wednesday 19 October 2011, at the event held at Kaunda Square Basic School, Lusaka.

The programme includes dance and music performances by local artists. The event is specially designed for children and is hosted by Mr Gankhanani Moyo, a versatile artist and writer himself.

Mr Geoffrey Tambulukani, University of Zambia, will represent the distinguished panel of judges. The invited guests include the representatives from the Ministry of Education, University of Zambia, the Embassy of Finland, the GraphoREAD Project, Niilo Mäki Institute, Finland and several local non-governmental organisations.

The event will be video recorded. We also welcome local media representatives to attend the event.

Warmly welcome,

The GraphoREAD Project is part of The Grapho Learning Initiative, run by University of Jyväskylä and Niilo Mäki Institute from Finland. It is funded by Tekes – The Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation.

The KALULU Story Writing Competition is organised by GraphoREAD in cooperation with University of Zambia (UNZA), the Centre for the Promotion of Literacy in Sub-Saharan Africa (CAPOLSA), Ministry of Education, Republic of Zambia, Forum for African Women Educationalists of Zambia (FAWEZA) and National Arts Council of Zambia.

The competition is sponsored by Airtel Zambia.

Our aim is to create a solid and sustainable ground for our work  to help millions of African children learn to read, learn and enjoy the wonders of literacy.  When children learn to read in their own, spoken language, it is easier for them to learn other languages as well. These are the essential steps toward developing literacy and self-expression through language.