The Asia Foundation’s Let’s Read initiative partners with the HerStory Foundation to create a series of beautifully illustrated short stories featuring amazing and resilient Bengali women to inspire young girls and boys in Bangladesh and across the world. The e-book series is adapted from HerStories: Adventures of Supergirls, a two-volume print book that highlights the lives of women trailblazers from East Bengal and Bangladesh.
In August, every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 6pm, HerStories and Let’s Read Bangladesh is hosting live puppet shows on their Facebook pages in collaboration with the puppet theatre troupe Together We Can, founded by Quazi Nawshaba Ahmed, the puppeteer behind the character Ikri of Sisimpur (Sesame Street).
On Thursday, August 13, Nawshaba performed the story of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, as a part of this ongoing series.
Nawshaba told Dhaka Tribune Showtime: "Our Prime Minister is a prime example of a supergirl. Through puppeteering, I tried to communicate her inspiring story to little children."
These iconic super girls also include Sayeda Khanam The Photojournalist, female summiteer Nishat Mazumdar, advocate Kalpana Chakma and scientist Dr Firdausi Qadri, among others.
“These are incredible stories of women who persevered and have impacted Bangladeshi society.” shared Kazi Faisal Bin, The Asia Foundation’s country representative in Bangladesh. “We’re thrilled to create this series with HerStories Foundation and bring these books to hundreds of thousands of girls and boys in Bangladesh through our Let’s Read initiative. These stories will inspire generations of children.”
“While bringing female role models to the forefront has been one of our core ideals, this initiative, in particular, has allowed us to do so by adapting to the new realities of today,” Zareen Mahmud Hosein, Founder of HerStory Foundation shared. “By taking these stories to a digital platform that is accessible by all, we hope to lead by example, encouraging others to do the same,” she added.
Twelve stories from the book series were adapted for The Asia Foundation’s Let’s Read platform, Asia’s free digital library for children. Each story is now available for beginning readers in both Bangla and English. Utilizing Let’s Read’s regional network of translators, all twelve books will be translated to more than 30 languages to inspire readers of all ages across Asia.
To celebrate the launch of the series and the lives of these spectacular super girls, The Asia Foundation and HerStory Foundation will host live events featuring online drawing workshops and puppet readings on the Let’s Read Bangladesh and HerStories Facebook pages. Every Friday at 6pm throughout the month of August, HerStory will live stream “Drawing HerStories,” workshops for children ages 6 and up, each led by a Supergirls series illustrator.
