Traditional Literature is a very important and a complex cultural invention. By reflecting changes that are happening in the social order, it has become integral in societies over time. As a strategy to amplify our efforts, Neem Foundation intends to harness the transformative power of literature to promote intellectual development of children to learn independently and think creatively as this is vital in promoting the process of knowledge. We understand the values of creative education books in supporting the cognitive and social development of children as a result; Neem Foundation has developed a series of creative books targeted at children of school age. These values based books are based on Neem Foundation’s values based curriculum and are designed to promote key concepts such as unity, Tolerance, Justice as well as improve literacy, numeracy, reading, creative skills, national unity and identity as part of the educational development of children. We believe that these books will aid in connecting cultures, breaking stereotypes and creating a more integrated Nigeria. One of the challenges we have faced with this project is acquiring funding for the project. As the books are not a part of a project currently implemented by our organization, we have had to rely on donations to get the book to where it is at the moment. These books include:
Amaka’s cousin Ngozi has come to live with her family after losing both her parents. When Ngozi arrives, she is interested and unhappy because she views her situation as temporary. In order to make her feel more at home and better, Amaka proposes a bet “to have faith for a month”. This bet was able to help Ngozi become more settled and happy in her environment driving the importance of having faith.
When Ali’s uncle Kawu comes into town to visit from the visit, he introduces Ali to what the village people call “the strange ones”. When walking to the bus stop on Kawu’s way out of town they come across a villager who has been bitten by a snake and is in need of immediate assistance. In order to save him, Ali’s uncle calls “the strange one”, but the villagers are resistant to his help. Kawu makes a case for him and finally the villagers agree to let him treat the bite. When he is healed, they thank them both and Ali’s uncle leaves town, reiterating the importance of tolerating people for their differences.
Kaltume is meant to spend the day in town with her mother. However, due to her behaviour in the morning her mother decides against it. Upset, she decides to visit one of her best friends, but he was not home. In the process, she sees his rabbit starts to play with it and loses it. He comes home and is upset, so he goes to see her other best friend to ask him for help looking for it but is very rude to his father so she is asked to leave by his father. Following this she goes to see her grandma upset. After narrating the day’s events to her, her grandma points out her faults and pushes the importance of respect regardless of the situation.
Aisha, Modi and Kuma are three children from three different tribes in their village. Due to this, they have been told they were not allowed to socialise with children from other tribes. The main life source in the village is the river and the different tribes use it for their livelihoods in different ways. When rocks block the flow of the river, the villagers are unable to fix the situation individually. The children propose that they all work together, unblocking the river flow showing that when they work together they are able to fix problems better. This book is focused on the value Unity.
During a Nigerian independence day parade, students were gathered in their uniforms to participate in the marching parade. Taiwo and Kehinde decide to get some ice lollies from a nearby stall before its their turn to participate. On getting there they get into a fight with pupils from another over the last ice lolly. A policeman intervenes and breaks up their argument and listens intently to both sides of the story and threatens to lock them in prison if they do not come up with a way to maintain peace amongst themselves. The students manage to reach a resolution to maintain the peace and go back to their Independence Day celebrations.
When Ali finds an old tyre on the side of the road and makes it his new toy, he is not aware of its capabilities. Certain situations arise where Ali is dishonest and he keeps hearing a voice reiterate to him the importance of honesty. After one particular instance of dishonesty, Ali realizes that the voice is coming from his tyre and reminds him of the implications his dishonesty could have had on the people he lied to. Ali vows to apologize and to never practice dishonesty again.
After Emeka is chosen to be headboy of his school he is faced with different scenarios where his fairness is put to the test. Emeka is seen being selective in the way he reprimands students who break the rules based on personal relationships. When this is brought to light, he questions his ability to be just and fair to the people around him. This story highlights how important it is to uphold justice as a value in society.
This story follows Aisha, Modi and Kuma. When Modi has to participate in a traditional Fulani challenge, he enlists the help of his two friends Aisha and Kuma. The task involved them following clues that would lead them to Modi’s father’s herd. However, Modi’s father forgot his map that showed where exactly he would be heading to. After deliberating, the three friends decided to not use the map and go about the challenge the right way leading themselves to the herd, completing the challenge. This story teaches the importance of integrity.
