On 21st of February, 2010, the Sentinel English Language Institute (SELI) celebrated the 11th anniversary of UNESCO's International Mother Language Day, which promotes the viability and diversity of languages and culture.
For this second annual celebration, SELI was joined by the local chapter of International PEN, Sierra Leone PEN, which shares SELI's concern for the preservation of all Sierra Leone languages and the development of their literatures. 
UNESCO assesses how endangered a language is by using a set of nine factors. One of these factors is whether an active literature exists in the language. Learn more about this event by opening the report pictured here.
This is awesome! I wish we could have been there. The comments by participants really emphasize the need for such workshops/forums for the various peoples to come and have their differences seen in a positive light. Also, writing in your native language allows you to express in ways that you can't if you are limited to a language you only speak because you are required to (in school). The everyday experiences cannot be accurately translated I think. Even Keenan has come to see that to really explain how well a soccer play 'caded' another, it can only be done in Krio! It's a great skill to have and I wish I knew how to write in Krio myself.
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