At a small community centre in Greece, a young boy has a book in his hand and a smile on his face. With his family, the child has made a dangerous crossing to Europe, landing on the Greek island as a refugee. His world has been turned upside down, but amidst all that, he has found something familiar.
The Arabic children’s book he is holding was provided by the Kalimat Foundation, a Sharjah-based non-profit that is working to ensure every child has the opportunity to access good-quality reading material. The organisation is especially focused on refugees and children who are blind or visually impaired.
“That little boy in Greece said that seeing the Arabic books was like a ‘big hug’,” Amna Al Mazmi, Director of the Kalimat Foundation, recalls. “Of course, it is important for these kids to feel included in their new societies, but they also need to feel that their Arabic heritage hasn’t been abandoned. There is no benefit for them to forget their identity. It’s like their backbone.”
Amna, who has worked with the Kalimat Foundation since its inception in 2016, can clearly remember the roots of her own love of literature. She had been struggling to make friends at elementary school after moving to California from Abu Dhabi with her parents. But there was one class, which paired classmates together to read, that changed everything.
“It was the best hour of my day,” says Amna. “I didn’t speak much English then, but I had a reading partner who would help me, and it was books that provided a connection between us.”
“It gave me that first understanding of the value of books in bringing people together. It’s magical and, in our work, we see it happening in front of our eyes,” she shares.
The Kalimat Foundation was founded nine years ago by Her Excellency Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi. It is the charity arm of her acclaimed publishing house, the Kalimat Group, which recently won a prestigious Bologna Ragazzi Award for its book House of Wisdom, written by Sheikha Bodour and illustrated by Majid Zakeri Younesi.
“What you see is what you get with Sheikha Bodour – how she is on social media is exactly how she is in person,” Amna explains. “She is driven, extremely smart and very empathetic. She is also a global icon when it comes to culture and books, so the opportunities we get, the people we are able to work with, including on our board, are so exciting.”
Sheikha Bodour has made the Kalimat Foundation an empowering place to work because of her strong belief in developing individuals, says Amna. “On a personal level, she is always encouraging me to do more training and investing in me as a person,” she explains. “She is very hands-on and I appreciate it.”
Amna’s journey into philanthropy began with the Big Heart Foundation, another Sharjah non-profit, this one more focused on immediate relief. Then, she moved into the private sector with property developer Meraas.
But when the Kalimat Foundation came calling, the draw of a return to the charity sector proved impossible to resist. “When I worked for Meraas, I found that I’d always want to talk about the work I did at the Big Heart Foundation,” Amna says. “Even back when I was at school, I used to drive charity campaigns – that was the beginning, and it’s an important part of who I am. It’s gratifying work because you create change. Work is work – you’re exhausted all the time in this fast-paced world. But at least in the charity sector, you have this feeling that the return on your investment is priceless.”
Having distributed 17,200 books and 30,000 accessible books across 31 countries, the Kalimat Foundation estimates that it has reached more than 168,000 children worldwide. This has a tangible impact, driven by two main initiatives.
Ara is focused on the production of accessible Arabic books and content for children with visual impairments. It has historically been a significantly underserved literary niche, says Amna.
“We have met teenagers who have never touched an Arabic storybook in their lives, because it just hasn’t been available to them in braille,” she says. “In the Arab world, we are still not at par with the international level when it comes to the quality of accessible books – but we are now working hard to change this.”
The Kalimat Foundation’s other major programme is Pledge A Library, which gives individuals, schools, or businesses the opportunity to fund the installation of a portable library containing the best 100 Arabic books for children, anywhere around the world.
Those who donate are sometimes given the opportunity to visit the libraries they have helped create, while the Kalimat Foundation also takes Arabic authors to meet children in the areas where the organisation works.
Amna has been a part of many such trips, though she admits the way she experiences them has changed over the years. “It’s the nature of being human that you feel a deep pain when you visit these places, because you imagine your own kids or people you know going through this,” she says.
“At first, I would come back feeling demotivated because I didn’t feel I was doing enough to help, but I remember my father told me to treat it more like being a doctor – to try to detach,” she reveals. “This really changed the way I work. Of course, it is still difficult, but now I feel energised rather than overwhelmed on these visits. I am laser-focused on making the best possible decisions to help these children who are struggling.”
From São Paulo to Gaza, the Kalimat Foundation’s impact is already global, but the organisation is always aiming to widen its reach further. To aid fundraising efforts, it sells merchandise, including a range of t-shirts and tote bags designed in collaboration with Emirati artist Mohamed Al Mansoori. But it is books that unquestionably remain at the heart of the Foundation’s work.
“We want to make a big change in accessible literacy in the Arab world,” says Amna. “There is still so much need, and we are now starting to see embassies and other non-profits reach out to us, too, which is exciting. We are very proud, and I feel that much more is yet to come.”
Visit kalimatfoundation.ae
