Sarai’s Culture Day Inspires Children to Embrace Culture

Rebecca Ejifoma

Tania Omotayo’s Sarai’s Culture Day is one appealing book that strikes the right conversation on the need for children to learn and appreciate where they are from and be so proud of their cultural heritage that generations to come will regard it as noble.

Omotayo, who has an interracial origin from Austria and Germany, aspires to be that voice that awakens the consciousness of Nigerians and Africans to reconnect to their roots at the weekend’s launch in Victoria Island, Lagos. This is because, despite being of mixed race, she is married to a Yoruba man and speaks the Yoruba language with great delight. “I’m mixed. and I’m proud of who I am and where I’m from on both sides,” she said. “That is part of who I am and my originality and that is important.” 

She told reporters that her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Sarai, inspired her to put this book together. “I decided to write a kids’ book inspired by my daughter, Sarai. My daughter is mixed. So, I wrote this book to let her know her origin and be proud of it.

“If we start with the kids, they will pass it on to their kids and it will continue that way,” she added with a chuckle. 

Omotayo, who is a writer, model, fashion designer, and entrepreneur, emphasised the danger of losing one’s identity because one moved abroad. “So, this book is a conversation starter to help the kids appreciate who they are.” 

Meanwhile, she explained how she employed compatible colours to illustrate and enlighten the children about their origins in her new book. This is courtesy of Chike Obasi, the art director of Kunda Kids, the publishers of the book.

The CEO of Kunda Kids, Dele Olafuyi, said Sarai’s Culture Day is one book he and his team enjoyed working on. “This is because we at Kunda Kids are all about promoting African culture,” he said. “A lot of kids don’t know about African culture and can’t speak their languages. “We want to revive that cultural celebration among the kids, make them aware and appreciate it. So, we ran with her vision on Sarai’s Culture Day. This will help them celebrate their culture and who they are.” For Olafuyi, Omotayo’s book doesn’t only champion that conversation between children and their parents, it also creates a strong bond among them.