Open Hearts Big Dreams, OneVibe & Pan-Africanism -- One Shared History and Destiny

We attended OneVibe Kijii Night 2020 for the first time this year as a table sponsor, and my daughter Leyla participated in the panel discussion. Joel Walker from University of Washington, who leads the Horn of Africa Project, was kind enough to introduce us to the founder of OneVibe, Simon Okelo. Its been an amazing experience getting to know him and start a number of collaborative efforts. He has an incredible vision about empowering youth using storytelling that is very much inline with ours. He is multi-talented and also a stay at home dad of three beautiful little girls who loved our #ReadySetGoBooks.

The panel topic was supporting Africans Around the World - Pan-Africanism. We are still learning more about this idea and how it connects to the work we do with Open Hearts Big Dreams. Leyla and I did some research and we both liked this summary:

The ideology asserts that the fate of all African people and countries are intertwined. At its core, Pan-Africanism is a belief that “African people, both on the continent and in the African diaspora, share not merely a common history, but a common destiny".

I believe you can take it even one step further and apply the concept of shared history and common destiny to all humans on the planet.

Open Hearts Big Dreams is furthering collaboration (people working together) and innovation (trying new things) to create a bigger positive impact in Ethiopia, with the Diaspora, in Africa, and around the world. 

We are doing five things we think support this shared history and common destiny:

• We tell African stories that are culturally appropriate in Ethiopia and beyond, including the diaspora, as our books are being bought and read as far away as Japan, India, and Brazil.
• We are getting our books in libraries including the Seattle Public library, which carries all our titles, in all available languages. We have limited selections in California, Colorado, Ohio, and Minnesota libraries. Many of our stories are ones you can find across different African cultures, such as We Can Stop the Lion and Fifty Lemons, which promote globally relevant topics like collaboration and cooperation.
• We designed our books to be published in any two languages. We are currently talking to Simon about testing Swahili in a number of our books and are in the process of add Somali. We would welcome the chance to include more languages with other organizations.
• Our books are a collaboration with African creators in Africa and in the diaspora. We have illustrators, authors, translators, proofreaders, and editors that ensure our stories reflect their perspective. On the other side, many of our creators are just learning about Africa and Ethiopia through the work they are doing with us. In 2019, 44 of our titles were submitted for review and all 44 were approved by the Ethiopian Ministry of Education and Head of Curriculum in Ethiopia.
• We piloted a #RSG Africa series last year which is targeted at telling stories of countries around the continent. The first, Yaya, Come Here!, is based in Guinea and tells the story of everyday life for a little boy there. We are excited to publish more stories from other countries around the continent.

We have lots of needs for help in achieving this vision and mission - both big and small. We also never turn down a small or big donation, but there are other ways to help! You can:

1. Buy or borrow our books and promote the African stories they contain in your communities and networks. Each book purchased funds ongoing book project efforts. Books make the best gifts! Find our 80+ titles on Amazon -- more are published most months: #ReadySetGoBooks -- you can also search "Ready Set Go Ethiopia" to find.
2. Help us create a new book. We work with schools: my daughters Leyla’s elementary school is working on a book about inclusion that will be part of the #RSG Africa series. Learn more at out Book Project Page
3. Share your art or photos to inspire our artists, or connect us with artists or illustrators you know.
4. Expand the exposure of these African stories by encouraging your local and school library to carry them.
5. Connect us to organizations that would like to translate our books into more African languages or would like to collaborate to create new books.

We are excited to continue to increase our collaboration with Simon and OneVibe as well as other organizations that promote storytelling and working together for the common good.

A version of this post was previously published in the Open Hearts Big Dreams Newsletter: https://openheartsbigdreams.org/what-we-do/newsletter/ You can sign up to receive here: https://eepurl.com/c8zhuX

I also write for Working Mother, Mom, Mayhem, Missions and More, Adoptive Families Circle, Melting Pot Family, and my personal blogs: Balancing Motherhood and Career and Ethiopian Ties. You can also find me on Twitter: ellenorea, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LEAD-LLC-Lead-Empower-Activate-Dream-Ellenore-Angelidis-121749049220884/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ellenore_angelidis/