Phnom Penh – Fourteen (14) former students of the Filipino Language Class at the Sentro Rizal Phnom Penh (SRPP) teamed up in a book translation project and produced three (3) original bilingual (English and Filipino) children’s books entitled “We Are Amazing/Kami ay Magaling”, “We Are Beautiful/Kami ay Maganda”, and “We Are Blessed/Kami ay Mapalad.”
Written in English by Jean Alingod-Guittap and illustrated by her daughter Sophia or “Willow”, the books aimed at stirring children’s vision of themselves as endowed with wit, charm, ability and resources. Willow was a student of the first batch of the Filipino Language Class organized by SRPP in 2015. She also participated in the illustrators’ workshop organized by SRPP in 2016, in partnership with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
With funding support from the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, the three books were recently published and ready to be donated to public schools in Cambodia and Sentro Rizals around the world. The books are also now available for reading pleasure in SRPP.
The participating children, aged 8 to 15 years old, had a fun time translating the book into Filipino, as it was an opportunity also to bond with their parents. Twelve year old Thomas Uy, who took part in translating “We Are Amazing”, gave away copies of the book to his Pinoy friends in Cambodia to encourage them to learn the Filipino language. Amera Gardose, whose sons Jabez (14) and EJ (12) took part in translating “We are Amazing” thanked Jean and the Philippine Embassy “for giving our children this wonderful opportunity. Thank you for giving them copies of the book, they are excited to bring it back to the Philippines and give to their cousins.” Ten year old Gabriel Serif Tijamo Perida, who took park in translating “We are Beautiful”, was seen reading the book to his baby cousin.
“We set out to help our children better appreciate their identity and culture with this project, but what it taught me personally is just how rich our culture is and how our children, despite being far from our country, carry it with them. For instance, grit. Though admittedly our children translators had a hard time pronouncing and remembering some words, they persisted. When their families did the translation with them, one word kept coming up as they described the experience: fun. As a people, that is what we are known for. Love for reading is another. But the most touching for me is our children’s heart to share and give back. They shared their books to family and friends, and one even did so to encourage them to learn Filipino like him. Two others were inspired to illustrate. So really, our children are the very essence of the books they translated. They are indeed amazing, beautiful, and blessed!” said Jean.
