The Magic Land - Story Bag Group book launched

The Base Youth Centre in Ballyfermot launched a new book entitled “The Magic Land” today. This colourful book with a difference has been produced by a group of 12 children 5 to 10 years old after 10 weeks of preparation. The book is aimed at equipping children to whom English is not their first language with language skills and a positive attitude to learning English.

The group of children involved, known as the ‘Story Bag’ group is a mix of many different nationalities and cultures, including Arabic, Somalian, Urdu, Romanian, Polish, Portuguese and Hindi. The children in the group have made several puppets of themselves, in artistic form and using computer technology. They have also been making magical, unusual and mixed up animals as well as the magic land itself where all the characters live. The group has used computers, origami, fabric and fibre and lots and lots of colour as well as lots of story telling using dual language story books; and the focus at all times have been on all the languages in the group.

Amel Yacef, Youth Health Co-ordinator with the Base said: This project has been an amazing experience for the children involved and we are delighted to finally launch the book today, this project is seen as a stepping stone for the children’s integration into mainstream youth activities.

We have also had the full support and assistance of the English Support Teachers from the local schools, overall, it has been a great combined effort and we hope to build on its success.

This project has been funded by the Integration Unit in Dublin City Council. The Base Youth Health Programme is funded by the HSE and has a particular interest in integration issues as they have direct impact on the mental and general well being of the children.