Childhood is Eternal is the first release from SunBird Enterprises’s Publishing house SunBird Journal Publishing. The book was written by Yann W. Tanoé, founder of the international Social Enterprise in order to provide an insight into the 21st century through the eyes of the children. Weaving together the themes of child abuse, God/spirituality, culture and politics, the book is deemed the voice of the enterprise’s humanitarian mission and OYOMIFAI educational programme which currently operates in 3 locations in Western Africa. The book is written as poetic prose and features the narratives of different children from an array of countries and cultures; children who are going through the most heartbreaking of hardships which are all increasingly common in our current world.
The narratives in the book are mostly based on real life encounters that Yann has had while working with children around the world, especially on the African continent where he campaigns to improve the quality of education through OYOMIFAI, his bespoke educational programme. A great believer and supporter of human rights, Yann’s mission through writing this book is to raise awareness of the extent to which human rights are still greatly abused and threatened in many settings in our current century.
The statement ‘Childhood is Eternal’ itself, coined by Yann, is a deeply spiritual statement that transcends the imperfection of our human experience. It reassures, the suffering children and the readers that despite the hurt, pain and tragic abuse of children that, childhood is eternal; it is a light, a pure light that shines so bright, that it lives on forever, whether in this life or in the afterlife. No one can ‘take’ childhood from any child. It is part of their spiritual identity for eternity.
From the first page to the last, Childhood is Eternal showcases how childhood is always redefined from one place to the next, intricately shaped by the political, cultural and traditional factors that come to define it, as a result, the book’s mission is to shed light on the reality of abuse and suffering endured by children within their respective societies, cultures and communities. Yann’s hope in writing and publishing this is that through raising this awareness, we can each take action in our own way. Some of these ways could include to join the relevant campaigns that help alleviate the issues of child suffering/ abuse (such as SunBird’s very own #iamsunbird mental health and educational campaign) or just very simply promoting positive child mental health in our own homes and communities and being more vigilant.
Childhood is Eternal represents the brutality of uncomfortable truths that are painful to talk about, yet it represents hope, serenity and magic. Its words will stay deep within you forever, reshape your vision of the world and empower you to take action to help change this world little by little.
Emma Thompson
Publishing Editor.
Reviews
Hannah Edwards, English Teacher
Childhood is Eternal – Sunbird Poesy Vol 1
Reading Childhood is Eternal was an insightful and emotional experience. The collection reads as though the words are spoken directly to the inner child of the reader. They reveal anxieties and sadness, as well as joy and life. The tragedies revealed and explored are made much more unfathomable when considered through the perspectives of children. There will be those reading the collection that haven’t experienced such tragedy, yet will be able to share in their sadness. There will be many that have experienced the same happiness and familiarity of family life shared in parts of the collection. The prose feels like a one to one dialogue with each individual child’s story, forming poignant conversations that will stay with me and that I will return to again and again.
Hannah Edwards
English Teacher
Childhood is Eternal is the first publication from SunBird Journal Publishing to be published in French by renouned publishing house Les Editions L’Harmattan! Watch out for more details in Spring 2019!
SunBird Press 