The Rohingya Community
Project Update: My Picture Dictionary
Overview
We believe that education is an immediate need in the midst of a crisis. Children all over the world should have access to learning, regardless of their age, gender, or situation.
Education – even in the form of a simple picture book – can serve as a coping mechanism to aid in the trauma-healing process and build critical thinking skills.
Our Picture Dictionary is an attempt to bridge the learning gap in vulnerable communities that are in crisis. We've spent the past several months developing a new and improved picture dictionary that is currently being implemented in the world’s largest refugee camp: Kutupalong, Bangladesh.
Our Picture Dictionary Project was created as a tool for the following:
Vocabulary Development
Did you know that the Rohingya
language is an unwritten language? We've created the first-ever picture dictionary in the Rohingya language! Your support helped us connect with linguists and translators to develop a written form of the language. We are using our Picture Dictionary as a way to test this new written form among the Rohingya community. This aids in language & culture preservation.
Conversation Building
We want our materials to bring people together by sparking conversation and building community. Our picture-based resource provides a tool for students to discuss important topics and build conversation, whether in a new language they are learning or in their mother tongue. Our activities in the Teacher Guide are designed to encourage group participation and reinforce creativity through drawing, partner, and group games.
Critical Thinking Skills
Our picture dictionary illustrates
relevant issues that are prevalent in the Rohingya community. We want to encourage students to initiate more conversation about problems and solutions in their community. Combined with our Teacher Guide, we incorporate activities to reinforce critical thinking skills, a teaching method that is quite unfamiliar in many developing countries.
UPDATE: September, 2021
Thanks to the generous support of these private donors, we are able to print 400 Picture Dictionaries and provide Teacher Training & Teacher Guides for 60 teachers.
After completing a Teacher Training for 16 teachers, we printed 400 Picture Dictionaries and distributed 150 books this week. We will be distributing more next week.
We are so excited to watch the kids learn some new activities with our updated Picture Dictionary!
We are recruiting more teachers for our Teacher Trainings. In total, we expect to train around 60 teachers with our Teacher Guide and 75 hour training program.
Since schools are still closed due to the lockdown, we found lots of teachers in the refugee camps who are teaching out of their private homes. We are equipping these teachers with training and important resources.
Your support is making this all happen.
Any questions? We might have the answer right here:
How will you scale this project?
We start all of our projects in the
Rohingya community. This is where
we have a strong team of educators
and researchers who can test the
materials. Our Picture Dictionary
project can be scaled to any
community in the world. All we do
is change the focus language and
change the cartoons to fit the focus
community. With this scaling model,
the possibilities are endless.
Do you work with corporate sponsors?
Yes, we work directly with companies
that are interested in "adopting a community" and supporting us at a larger scale. All donations are tax-deductible.
We are looking for long-term sponsors
who would like to support expansion
of our Picture Dictionary in other
communities. The sponsorship plans are
detailed here.
Can I buy a copy of your books?
Yes! We are currently selling copies of our Westernized Picture Dictionary at our online shop. This Picture Dictionary is contextualized to life in the US, making it relatable for incoming refugees & immigrants. You can purchase directly at our online store. Proceeds from your purchase will go directly to support our Picture Dictionary project.
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What our teachers say
