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Edited by Sergei Shubin Illustrated by Stefan Gibson
A talking book in English, Welsh, Sylheti and Cholitho Bhasha (the villagers’ spoken language)
Project contributors: The Children of Assasuni village, Bangladesh Sergei Shubin Tanjil Sowgat Will Andrews Nilufar Ahmed StĂŠphanie BarillĂŠ Tasmia Tashin for the translation and narration in Cholitho Bhasha Shaz Abedean for the translation and narration in Sylheti Elidir Jones for the translation in Welsh Tomas Morris for the narration in Welsh This is a PENpal book to listen in English, Welsh, Sylheti or Cholitho Bhasha. This title is also published as an ebook with audio in the same languages. Visit uk.mantralingua.com/pacondaa for more information.
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Edited by Sergei Shubin Illustrated by Stefan Gibson
Need new title
Masum
Jameela
Rajib
Hameed
Mouna
In a little village lived a young boy called Masum with his sister Jameela, his brother Hameed and their parents Rajib and Mouna. They were very happy.
They had a pla h e t e c r h e i l d h ren c ygrou w ould nd pla yc ri
ck et
, and play with their goats and chickens.
o dap a h ve n , T h e y e ll o f fi s h fu
The family grew plenty of food and could support others in the village if they wanted to. But they didn’t help anyone.
nd
so they always had food to eat.
They also forgot to worship God. Their prayer mats were rolled up unused, even though they drank water from the jugs everyday.
The family had more than enough food, but they didn’t share any food with their neighbours. Their full bellies made them lazy, too lazy to thank God. There was no end to their greed.
One day, there came a cyclone storm which turned their lives upside down. The family lost everything and had to take shelter in the Cyclone Centre
When the cyclone had passed, the family returned home. They found their house, pond and crops had been swept away. The family were really upset as they had nothing
They tried to rebuild their lives and soon they realised what they must do.
The family began praying to God and started to do good deeds. They visited the Mosque and shared their rice with poor people. They supported their neighbours and anyone who needed their help.
Time passed and gradually the family were able to make a new home and enjoy a better life
The children even had a new playground to play in. There were new pets, new crops and more fish in the pond. The family found joy and happiness through prayer and sharing with their neighbours in the village.
The whole village celebrated with a fair. They decorated their homes and children wore masks and flew kites.
People shared stories and food and now, everyone was happy!
Family with no friends
Bilal
Jusna
Daadi
Akash
Bahar
Moyna
Moyna is 6 years old. She lives with her two brothers, Bilal who is 9 and Bahar who is 5 and their mum Jusna, dad Akash and their Daadi, who is her dad’s mum.
They are a very close and loving family and have everything they could ever need to be happy. They have a large home so their grandparents could live with them, pets, a beautiful garden, a pond and cows grazing in their fields.
d loving family and y close an h r e v a need to be ha ave everyt r re e v e a d l u y o c e h in g ppy Th they s o e g r m a o n h d e p g a r rents a la t i h w t h e e v i l m d , l pets, cou a g r l d u e f i n t , u a beapets, a beautifulpgarden, ond fish swam in Theyahad n i g z a i r n g t eir fields cowscows grazedhin andpond, . their their fields, and a large home so their grandparents could live with them. TheyThey wereare soso happy that they didn’t need their happy that they didn’t need their friends and friends or relatives, or so they thought. relatives, or so they thought. So they stopped visiting them. Then one day, their village is devastated by a deadly cyclone that shatters the family’s world. The cyclone swept over the land like a monster.
With all their possessions washed away, the family takes shelter in the Cyclone Centre.
Everything is gone, their home and animals all lost.
During this awful time, they have nowhere to turn for help
Jusna and Akash feel too afraid to ask their neighbours for help . All the other children are playing together, but‌
‌ Moyna and Bilal feel too embarrassed to join in.
So much is broken and gone that the family wonders how things could ever be whole again. Everywhere else, the community is helping each other to rebuild houses, fences and roads. But the family is all alone. They realise that life is very difficult without the love and support of friends and relatives.
So much was broken and gone that the family wondered how things would ever be whole again. Everywhere else the community were working together to rebuild each other’s homes and help each other. But they were alone.
It is time to change their ways.
Th e
ves y re i t a ac rel who h out to their friends and … ng they h ad ignored for so lo
…and are surprised to be met with open arms. They know they need to join in with the community again. Moyna’s parents help in the rebuilding and Daadi looks after lots of children while the adults all work to help each other out.
Akash and Jusna bring presents, and share rice, spices and food with everyone.
In turn, their friends and relatives help them to put their broken lives together. They often have visitors. Some relatives bring fish curry to show how much they love them. With such kindness, their happy life returns, made even better for being part of a wider community.
The Storm
Prisha
Saleem Lily
Bikash
Nafisa
Hassan
Hassan and his older sister Lily lived in a beautiful village with their parents, Saleem and Prisha, and their grandparents, Bikash and Nafisa. They were very poor and had little money to buy clothes. Nevertheless, they were happy.
The family owned a very small piece of land. On this land they had a paddy field, vegetables in the garden, and a pond with fish. Even though they had little money they didn’t need to worry about food. They lived a simple life. They were happy. I think the text below describes more: rice=paddy, artwork shows a river, not pond. ‘Grew’ talks about self-sufficiency. Money coincides with buy
The family owned a small piece of land. They grew rice in the paddy field, vegetables in the garden and there were fish in the river. Even though they had little money, there was no need to buy food. They grew their own food and lived a simple life. They were happy.
One day their life was turned upside down when a terrible storm came and washed away everything they had.
The roof was blown off their house and floated away before their eyes. The children, parents, and grandparents had to run and swim for shelter. Their crops and vegetables were destroyed, their livestock swept away. They were deeply saddened and felt helpless.
When the storm and flooding passed, the family returned to their land. Their house had to be rebuilt but, being so poor, they couldn’t afford to buy materials for a new house. So Hassan’s father Saleem made the hard decision to leave their little village and travel away for work. He gave Hassan his favourite red scarf to help Hassan feel close to his dad whenever he missed him.
Hassan missed his father terribly and was often very sad. With Saleem away, Hassan’s mother, Prisha took care of the household. But with no money, Hassan and his sister could not go to school.
With the help of Hassan and his grandparents, Prisha planted new trees and vegetables. With the money Saleem sent she bought new chickens and cows and more fish for the pond. All their hard work paid off and little by little they were able to rebuild their home and their lives
Throughout this very difficult time, the family trusted in God. They worked hard and supported each other. It wasn’t easy. Often the family didn’t have enough to eat. But all their hard work paid off and they were able to rebuild their home and their lives.
Think that the Second version reflect the picture better and expresses the joy in re-union. The bit on gardens,etc is already mentioned in next page. Didn’t feel the need to repeat
Saleem no longer worked far away. Hassan and Lily went back to school and had time to play after school. One day, Saleem came back and Hassan ran to greet his father. Saleem no longer needed to work far away. Hassan and Lily went back to school and had plenty of time to play after school.
Their trust and support for each other, and blessings from God, made them happy again. Even though they were still poor, they had everything they needed - a flourishing garden, a playground, trees, a new house, pets. The family was together again. The storm had given everyone new strength to live and be happy.
We would like to thank the following individuals and institutions for their support: Children of Champaful school, Assasuni, Satkhira district, Bangladesh S.M. Abul Khayer, Champaful school S.M. Monirul Ahasan Rajib, ICDDRB Irfan Shakil, Khulna University Dr Shilpi Roy, Khulna University Children of Saint Joseph Cathedral Primary School, Swansea Mrs Cerian Appleby, Saint Joseph Cathedral Primary School, Swansea Robene Dutta, Mantra Lingua Publishers of multi-lingual books
First published in 2020 by Swansea University Press and Mantra Lingua Ltd Singleton Park, Sketty, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK Global House, 303 Ballards Lane, London N12 8NP, UK www.mantralingua.com Text copyright © 2020 Sergei Shubin Illustration © 2020 Stefan Gibson audio and translations copyright © 2020 Swansea University All rights reserved The rights of Sergei Shubin and Stefan Gibson to be identified as author and illustrator respectively of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, designs and Patents Act 1988. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted 0r stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, taping and
A Canvass of Children’s Stories Sergei Shubin/Stefan Gibson
The PACONDAA project aimed to engage local farming communities in Bangladesh to identify their existing best practice, and their experience of poverty and the socioeconomic impact of disease outbreaks. Sergei Shubin and his team at Swansea University developed this illustrated children's book arising out of research into experiences of poverty in Bangladesh. As a part of the engagement activity of this project, we worked with local schoolchildren in Bangladesh to compile a book containing three illustrated stories, as relayed by the children, detailing their experiences and understandings of poverty. Find out more: https://www.swansea.ac.uk/cmpr/pacondaa/
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This book is a talking book. Listen using PENpal in Cholitho Bhasha, Welsh, Sylheti and English.
Published as ebook in Cholitho Bhasha, Sylheti, Welsh, English from the e-booklub library