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About Ayay Media

Ayay Media was founded in 2015, with an aim of sharing African stories with African children, teachers, educators, parents, and caregivers. The platform will serve as a space for promoting African heritage, culture, and awareness and essentially improve literacy among the continent’s children by making available books, animated videos, narratives curated from folklores, riddles, poems based on African communities. The content is currently available in 7 African languages with the aim of scaling up the language options.

 

ኣያይ ናይ ቖልዑ መፃሕፍቲ ኩባንያ

ካብ ዝተፈላለዩ ኩርናዓት ኣፍሪቃ ንዝመፁ ነበረያ ነበረያታት፥ ሓፀርቲን ነዋሕቲን ታሪኻት፥ እንካ አዝግነኒ፥ሕንቂሕንቅለያትን ቪድዮታትን እናዳለና ነቕርብ።

ናይ መፅሓፍ ወይ ናይ ነበረያ ነበረን ካልዖት ሓሳባትን ንዘለውዎም ሰባት ካዓ ነማኽር።

አያይ የልጆች መፃህፍት ኩባንያ

ከአፍሪካ ምድር ለሚመጡ  የተለያዩ ታሪኮች፥ አጫጭርና ረጃጅም ተረቶች፥ እንካ ሰላንቲያዎች፥ እንቆቅልሾችናቪድዮዎችን እያዘጋጀን እናቀርባለን። የመፅሀፍ ወይም የተረት ተረት እና ሌሎች ሀሳቦች ያሏቸውን ሰዎችን እናሳትፋለን፤ እናማክራለን።

 

We aspire to serve as the venue for sharing lessons and folktales, getting reacquainted to the old learning ways and capturing the lessons from the stories, imparting the wisdom of our ancestors, and keeping the story of the African Continent in the hearts of African children.

adulis illustration

Opened in the 1960’s as a small bookshop by George McCoy in a quiet neighborhood in Queens.

There is a chance to have a cup of coffee or tea, or during the summer, a glass of lemonade or ice tea and a kolache, an English dessert roll that is common here in New York. We also have other snacks.

In addition, we host a series of programs called A Conversation With in which we host speakers with a wide range of interests and expertise. They take the form of lectures, readings, musical events and gatherings for social occasions. We also feature the work of regional artists in the store on a regular basis.

Vision

A platform for sharing African stories through multilingual and multimedia options.

Mission

Increasing cultural awareness, and appreciation among African children by sharing African stories through a digital platform.

Currently, we offer stories in 7 African languages including Tigrigna, Amharic, Oromifa, English, Swahili, and Kinyarwanda.

We’ve evolved from a small bookshop to a bigger community and we’ve gone digital.

There is a chance to have a cup of coffee or tea, or during the summer, a glass of lemonade or ice tea and a kolache, an English dessert roll that is common here in New York. We also have other snacks.

In addition, we host a series of programs called A Conversation With in which we host speakers with a wide range of interests and expertise. They take the form of lectures, readings, musical events and gatherings for social occasions. We also feature the work of regional artists in the store on a regular basis.

Products and Services

Ayay Media is committed to conducting our business in a responsible and meaningful way. We continually work to ensure that we operate in a way that is beneficial to all of our stakeholders—teachers, parents, and schools, our employees, our local communities, and our customers—who contribute to and inform our corporate social responsibility focus.

Digital books

In the digital era, digital versions of all books ensure versatility. The digital versions are depictions of all the different options.

Audio books

Read by children, the elderly, celebrities and more. They are made available for your children to be used on the go.

Animated videos

Mostly prepared by our youth in Rwanda, our animated videos mimic reality and promote innovation in Africa.

Print books

All our books are available in a print form for those who enjoy reading the physical books.

Riddles and poems

Africa has a rich tradition which allows social interaction. Wisdom is shared through riddles, poems and stories. This is an interactive platform for all to read and share. Tackle the riddles and share yours for others to tackle.

Who was?

Africa, like the rest of the world, is full of history and people the world should know about, good and bad. We select personalities, and our historians write about them, in a way our children can understand and learn from.

Ideas for Children

Do you have any additional ideas that you think we should do to create yet another option to let our children learn and have fun, tell us, we are always open to new ideas.

Customized books

Do you want us to use your son’s or daughter’s name in a book? We have that option. Just let us know. We shall work with you and a printed version of your book will be in your mailbox.

 

Language Offered

  • Tigrinya
  • Amharic
  • Oromifa
  • English
  • French
  • Swahili
  • Kinyarwanda

Learn and Teach Forums

Live interactive sessions for children from different parts of the world to engage with each other, share experiences and stories, and also get to learn from accomplished teachers and leaders. These sessions will also serve as a venue for children interested in learning a new African language and hear stories narrated by prominent African figures.

Topics for these sessions can range from cultural identity, effective disciplining techniques, to study habits, time management, and anger management, and many other topics as requested!

Are you interested in sharing stories? In teaching your language? In sharing worthy wisdom? Do you want to have your children participate in interactive sessions where they will exchange their experiences virtually? Let us know and we shall arrange.

Requirements for children

  • Registration form
  • Signed parent/caregiver consent forms

Requirements for teachers

  • Registration form

How?

Asking our elders, teachers, parents, and communities to share folktales, words of wisdom, and any other stories gotten from the continent’s ancestors.

Dr Alula Teklu

Dr. Alula Teklu

Founder, CEO and Author

Raised in Adwa Ethiopia in a typical African home and community, Dr Alula Teklu was accustomed to listening to folktales, stories, music, and riddles from his grandparents and other elders in the community. Through this tradition came a special kind of wisdom, and a deeper connection to cultural heritage and pride that he utilizes and carries with him throughout his life. As a father, Dr. Alula chose to reminisce about his childhood by telling the stories he heard as a child to his two young daughters. During these times spent with his daughters, he was inspired to create a venue where other children can have access to stories from different parts of Africa, learn and appreciate their cultural heritage, learn new languages, and, promote interactions among children.

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ኣሉላ መረሳ ተኽሉ ዕባይ ዓድዋ-ትግራይ እንትኸውን፤ ቑልዕነቱ ምስ ወለዱ፣ ኣሕዋቱ፣ ኣቦሓጎታቱን ቡዙሓት ጎራብትንዝዓበየ ብሞዩኡ ሓኪምን ናይ ማሕበረሰብ ስነ-ጥዕና ተማራማራይን እዩ። ጎራብትን ዓበይቲ ዓዲን ንኹሎም ቖልዑእቲ ሰፈር ከም ወለዲ ሓልዮምን ኣስተኻኺሎምን ኣብ ዝዕብዩሉ እዋን እዩ ተወሊዱ ዓብዩ። ናይ ኣታዓባብዩኡ ፅልዋምስ ዝሓደሮ ድልየት ታሓዊሱ እንዳሃለወ እተን ክልተ ደቁ ነበረያ ነበረ ክነግረን ምጥያቕ ምስጀመራ መቐይሮ ነጥቢኮይኑሉ ደጋጊመን ንዝሓተትኦ በምፅሓፍ መፅሓፍቲ ምድላውጀሚሩ።

ኣብ ኣፍሪቃ ቡዙሓት ዛንታታትን ነበረያ ነበረታትን በብመንደሩን በብቑሸቱን ኣለው። ዕድል ተዝረኽቡ ቡዙሕዘምህሩ፣ዝሕስቡን ዘዛናግዑን መፃሕፍቲ፣ ስነ-ቓልን ካልኦት እስካዕ ፊልሚ ዝበፅሑ ፍትዋት ታሪኻት ከምዘለውብምእማን ንዚ ኣያይ ሚድያ ኢሉ ዝሰየሞ ኩባንያ ኣጣይሹ ኣብ ምምራሕ ይርከብ። ኣያይ ሚድያ ንደቂ ስድራኣፍሪቃውያን ድያስፖራ ዝጠመቱ ናይ ክረምቲ ካምፕን፤ ሓሳብ ንዘለዎም ሓሳብ መግለፂ መድረኽን እውን ኣለዎ።

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ኣሉላ መረሳ ተክሉ ዓድዋ ትግራይ ከወላጆቹ፣ ኣያቶቹና ብዙ ጎረቤቶቹጋ ያደገ ሲሆን፤ በሞያው ሃኪም ነው፣ የማህበረሰብ ጤና ተመራማሪም ነው። የሰፈር ሰዎች የሰፈሩን ልጆች ሁሉ እንደ ልጆቻቸው ተንከባክበውና ገርተው በሚያሳድጉበት ዘመን ነው ተወልዶ ያደገው። አስተዳደጉና የራሱ ፍላጎት ባለበት ሰ ኣት ሁለቱ ልጆቹ ተረት እንዲነግራቸው ሲጠይቁትና ደጋግሞ እንዲነግራቸው ሲማፀኑት በተደጋጋሚ የጠየቁትን ፅፎ በማስቀመጥ የመፃፉን ስራ ጀመረ።

ኣፍሪካ ውስጥ በየቦታው ብዙ ተረቶችና ታሪኮች በየሰፈሩ አሉ። አንዳንዶቹ ታሪኮች መፅሃፍ የመሆን እድል ቢያገኙ ብዙ ሊያስተምሩ ይችላሉ። አዝናኝ፣ አመራማሪ እና አስተማሪ ታሪኮች የሚፃፉበት፣ የሚተረኩበት መድረክ ይኖር ዘንድም ይህ ኣያይ ሚድያ ኩባንያ ተፈጥሯል። ለልጆች የሚጠቅሙ ሃሳቦች ላላቸው ሰዎች ሁሉ የተፈጠረ መድረክም ነው።

Partners

Partners we collaborate with.

Employment Opportunities

Ayay Media is a team of collaborative, innovative professionals who enjoy contributing to our dynamic, rewarding culture. We’ve come together from many different backgrounds, united by our passion for working critically—and with curiosity, integrity, and camaraderie.

jobs@ayaymedia.com

Animator

03/20/2023

Remote

Story Writer

03/20/2023

Remote