The Great Rift Valley Lakes

Home to over 300 kinds of birds, the Rift Valley in Ethiopia is home to a vibrant and diverse ecosystem, including Nechisar National Park. The lakes formed by the Rift Valley attract rare and endangered wildlife and support the people who raise livestock along the lake shores. Beautiful watercolor illustrations by art students at Clark College bring the birds and animals of the Rift Valley to life. Side by side text in English and indigenous Ethiopian languages like Amharic, Tigrinya and Afaan Oromo support fluency and help build vocabulary. Part of the Ready, Set, Go! series of bilingual early readers by Open Hearts Big Dreams, a nonprofit devoted to increasing literacy in Ethiopia and beyond.

Open Hearts Big Dreams Ready Set Go (OHBD-RSG) Books were created to help increase the literacy rate in Ethiopia through giving readers books with stories in their heart languages, full of colorful illustrations with Ethiopian settings and details. Profits from book sales are used to create, print, and distribute more OHBD-RSG books to kids in Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country. Ethiopia’s population has a high percentage of children ages 0-14. Only a small percentage attend pre-school or kindergarten, and the adult literacy rate is around 50%.

Some of our books are based on wise Ethiopian sayings that often rhyme in Amharic. If an adult says the first half, many children can chant the second half. Sometimes the meaning of these sayings is clear. Sometimes it has to be puzzled out and argued over. But sayings and idioms and proverbs help people express truths and beliefs in unusual ways. Other books are based on STEAM topics, cooking, colors, counting and more.

Since late 2017, OHBD has published over 150 unique OHBD-RSG bilingual titles in a number of Ethiopian, African and global languages plus English and has plans to publish more titles and add more languages. New titles or languages are added monthly; follow our author page to get new release announcements. Open Hearts Big Dreams Fund (OHBD) is a 501(3)(c) not for profit organization that believes the chance to dream big dreams should not depend on where in the world you are born. Our mission is to inspire and enable youth in Ethiopia through Literacy, Innovation, Inclusion and Leadership Projects in collaboration with individuals and organizations in Ethiopia and globally.