Olga Buckley: An Aruban Children's Author

     This past semester, I took two Linguistics courses.  One was Syntax and the other course was Pidgins and Creole.    In both courses I had to write a paper and I decided to focus on the language of Papiamento and children's literature.  

     Anansesem the E-zine had published an article about children's books and Papiamento.  I contacted the author Anouska Kock for more information about her article.  Thanks to her help, I was able to communicate with Olga Buckley, an Aruban children author.

     Olga Buckley provided me with vital information to complete my research papers.  She shared with me her two books as well as a Papiamento textbook to learn the language.  I learned about her literacy project which has interested me due to the impact it produces not only in the children, but to all the family members.

     Today "The Owl's Bookshelf" has the great honor to interview Olga Buckley who has shared with us her literary projects.

   1. What languages are spoken in Aruba?

In Aruba we speak four  languages; Papiamento, Spanish, English and Dutch.

    2. What is the status of Papiamento in Aruba?

As of 2003, Papiamento is the second official language of Aruba.

    3. Can you tell us more about the language Papiamento?

Papiamento is a creole language, it is a mix of Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch. Papiamento has been the most used language since the 18th century, when it replaced the language of the Indians.

     4. As a teacher what subjects did you teach in Aruba and what language is used to teach these subjects?

I am a special education teacher. In special education Papiamento is the instruction language. This is also the case in pre- elementary schools

     5.  In what language are the textbooks that children use in their classroom? How does this affect the learning process?

In schools for special education the textbooks children use are in Papiamento. In the elementary schools, secondary schools and high schools the textbooks are mostly in Dutch.

     6. Are books written in Papiamento readily available for children in Aruba?

      Yes, they are, but we could use and need more, especially with a variety in themes and genres.

     7.  In addition of being an educator, you are also a writer. What inspired you to become a writer?

     This may sound a little bit as a cliché, but I always liked to write and tell stories. When I was at the beginning of my career as a special education teacher I felt the need for stories to catch the attention of the Aruban child. Stories they could identify themselves with. Characters that would appeal to their culture and language. Especially for boys this is the case. Boys want stories with human characters in them instead of all those  lizards and birds talking and being human.

    8.  What books have you published?  What are they about?

I published two books from the series of Bencho; ‘ Bencho ta dual’  and ‘ Bencho ta gana un bais’. This series is about an average boy Bencho who lives with his grandmother. He does not know his biological mother. In the first book, ‘Bencho ta dual;, Bencho  wanders the woods with his best friend Micho. They find a map, they think is of a treasure. Bencho gets annoyed with his friend Micho, who likes to bully him around and leaves him behind to go and look for the map on his own. On this trip he goes through a big adventure. The moral of the story is that you should not do to others what you would not like to be done to you.  In the second book we meet Bencho in school. We learn more about his grandmother, his dog and friend Nero. We also get a glimpse of his biological mother. His grandmother falls and has to go to the hospital. Bencho stays home to take care of himself with of a family friend. While shopping for groceries in the Supermarket Bencho learns that the supermarket is raffling a bike. Since Bencho is eager to have a bike of his own he would do anything to win this bike. Even take money from his grandmother… Finally he wins the bike, but loses a lot more. He cannot be present when the raffling takes place, because he has to be at his grandmother’s side in the hospital.

The moral of the story is that you can want something badly, but this does not have to be by all means. Some things you do not have  in your hands

9. Why have you decided to write in Papiamento instead of another language?

Because I wanted to share the joy of reading with the Aruban child and I am convinced that to enjoy reading this should be in the child’s native language. I also wanted to contribute to a proper collection of children’s literature in Papiamento.

    10.   What has been the readers’ reaction to your books?

Let me put it like this I’m very honored and happy to say that the first, the 1000 copies of the first Bencho are sold out. I got very good reactions from teachers and also from both kids. Kids always ask me, when I am going to write the third book of the series and what it is going to be about. Both books are being read in school.
11.   You are also the founder of the project Bon Nochi Drummi Dushi, what was the inspiration to create this project?

My inspiration was the need to share the joy of reading with the Aruban child. I wanted to motivate parents to read to their children, for several reasons:the importance of reading for the development of the child and  for the bonding between parent and child.

    12. Can you tell us what is Bon Nochi Drummi Dushi project about?

Bon Nochi Drumi Dushi is a reading promotion project. It’s main objective is visit homes in Aruba to tell stories or read to children and talk to parents about the importance of reading. Also offering families the opportunity to ask questions they might have about how to plan their reading activities with their kids. Bon Nochi Drumi Dushi has a variety of activities such as: reading bus tours, visits with the library bus in neighborhoods, T.V programs focusing on storytelling. DVD’s. Informational meetings and  reading quiz.

    13.  What have been the accomplishments of Bon Nochi Drummi Dushi up to the moment?

In five years our volunteers visited 1500 homes in Aruba. We have reached approximately 5000 children  with the various activities, We are on our way to make the Aruban community aware of the importance of reading.

    14. What are the future goals and activities of Bon Nochi Drummi Dushi?

The nearest activity in our planning is a survey to measure the outcome of the project. We want to know from the families we visited how the project affected their behavior towards reading. Also, we will be writing columns in one of two local newspapers with stories and information and subsequently create a storybook with the stories of the column. We also will be starting our storytelling  project for adults in the different neighborhoods,

    15.  What has been the support of people from Aruba to your project?  Has people from other neighboring countries or islands been inspired to begin similar projects?

The support from the people in Aruba has been tremendous. In 2007 we presented the project in Curacao for the library personnel, they launched it as a subject for the students of the teachers training college. In 2010 we presented it in Suriname. Here it is also part of the curriculum of the teachers training college. In 2011 we presented the project also for the personnel of the libraries in  St. Maarten, and St. Eustatius. In St. Maarten the project is called; Tell me a bedtime story.

   16. How important is to read to children from an early age in their mother tongue?

Very important. It has everything to do with how a child develops as a reader and listener. Reading will train the child’s  imagination at a very young age. The child learns to identify with its culture. Concepts he will learn on the way are being introduced in the stories he is told in his mother tongue.

     Olga Buckley has shown us how the love of literature can not only be shared with those close to us, but with dedication and motivation, it can impact great amount of people.  As Dr. Seus mentioned "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."