Spotlight Children of the Week: A New Year

Being a linguist, I have always been drawn to the children on the waiting list who speak one of the minority or indigenous languages of their country. In 2013, I plan to focus my Spotlight on these special children. Preserving their culture and language is a cause near and dear to my heart, and I would love to see these children receive the support of Sponsorship.

The largest minority population among Children International's children seems to be the Mayan children in Guatemala. They are usually easy to identify: they speak the language Cakchiquel, and the girls wear traditional blouses and skirts:

Yenifer, Age 3

Leslie, Age 4

Damaly, Age 7

 

In Zambia, the clothing of the children isn't useful as a clue to their heritage, and so I have to rely entirely on the listed languages that they speak. Nyanja and Bemba seem to be the majority languages, so I look for others (Tonga, Lozi, and Luvale are the three I have found so far):

Gladys, Age 5. Luvale.

Nayawa, Age 5. Lozi.

Mariot, Age 8. Tonga.

Ecuador has Otavaleno children and children who speak Quichua (sometimes spelled Kichwa).

Alex, Age 16. Quichua.

  The primary languages of Children International kids in India seem to be Bengali and Hindi, however India also has children who speak Santali and Urdu. 

Md, Age 3. Urdu.

Nabed, Age 7. Urdu.

Mohammad, Age 16. Urdu.

Chile has Mapache children, none of whom are currently listed.

This isn't a comprehensive list--I'm still exploring and learning about the countries Children International serves. But this gets us off to a good start for the new year!