Rapanui: seeking support for book writing

[gemma.burford at talk21.com]

Dear Dr Ostler and others,

I am writing in response to your message on the Rapanui language.  Although I am unable to help with the books themselves, I thought you might find the following introduction to our `Song Schools’ project interesting in the context of establishing a written literature for endangered languages.  It might be a model that can be adapted to the needs of the Rapanui and other indigenous peoples.

I am one of the founders of Aang Serian - a registered Tanzanian cultural association aiming to promote sustainable development based on indigenous knowledge and traditional skills in northern Tanzania.  Aang Serian (`House of Peace’ in Maasai language) was founded in March 1999 by a group of indigenous youth in Arusha, Tanzania, and a recent graduate from Oxford University.  Our work focuses on the Maasai tribe, as a majority of our members are themselves Maasai.

We are currently looking for funds to launch a new project, `Song Schools’, in two rural Maasai communities in the Arusha Region of Tanzania.  This has been developed through close consultation with women, youth and community leaders in the target area and with professional Maasai teachers in Arusha town.  In the first stage of the project, a small group of adults will attend workshops at our community education centre (`Peace Village’), facilitated by a professional teacher of Maasai language and culture.  Traditional songs, stories and proverbs will be used as a basis for discussion of contemporary issues such as AIDS prevention, the threats of urbanisation and environmental damage, integration of traditional and Western medicine, and the changing role of women in Maasai society.

In a second stage, these trainees will return to their villages to discuss the same issues with children and youth, using the oral traditions as a medium.  Much of this education will be semi-formal, delivered around the fire in the evenings alongside the normal singing and storytelling.  Thirdly, a further training programme at the Peace Village – for those who have completed Stages 1 and 2 – will aim to develop mother-tongue literacy.  Reading materials will be based on the same familiar themes mentioned in the oral traditions, and discussed in the Stage 1 workshops – medicinal plants, forest and savannah ecology, the pastoralist lifestyle, etc.

In this way, we hope to empower our trainees – over two to three years - to establish Maasai-medium primary schools in their villages, in which children are taught to read and write in their mother tongue before being expected to do so in a foreign language.  The curriculum, and the timing of lessons, will be adapted to the needs of contemporary pastoralist communities rather than to colonial convention.  Such a project could be easily spread to other Maasai communities throughout Kenya and Tanzania by dissemination of CDs and/or audio cassettes – which would also prove to be a valuable teaching resource for mainstream schools in Maa-speaking areas.  The model could potentially be adapted to any indigenous society with a thriving oral tradition and a competent facilitator, who is both literate and well informed of the tradition.

We have prepared a full proposal, which includes an analysis of the educational needs and challenges in Monduli District, the background to the project, detailed methodology and an estimated budget.  This was submitted to UNESCO in 2000 in response to a call for greater collaboration with NGOs working in the field of indigenous knowledge, but unfortunately they lack the resources to fund it.  If any listserve member has a suggestion as to other potential sources of funding, I would be very grateful to hear from you.  Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Yours sincerely,

Gemma Burford
Aang Serian UK Co-ordinator







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Ms Gemma Burford
Administrator and Research Assistant
Global Initiative for Traditional Systems (GIFTS) of Health

55 Southmoor Road, Oxford OX2 6RF
Tel. 07759-889305 or +44-(0)1865-454242


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