Our Mission
To provide a tool and to be of assistance to anyone (Igbo and non-Igbo alike) who has a genuine desire and interest in learning to read, write and speak the Igbo language
Every society is known by what they speak. The Igbo language is ours; at least it still is. It is the one thing that makes us who we are as Ndịigbo and we would not be Igbo without it. So the job of preserving it for the future generations is for all of us. It does not ask for much. It just wants to be spoken and written and read like any other. It demands to be continuously enriched through constant usage. And for it to have any kind of future at all, it demands to be taken seriously by its native speakers and passed on to the next generations. Who knows, it might even one day hope to become the language of nuclear and space science, but it is unlikely to get there if there is no guarantee that it will even live from one generation to the next. The task of ensuring that much needed continuity falls squarely on the shoulders of the current generation of Ndịigbo, because if we didn’t, no one else would.
This is our generation. The future of the Igbo language now depends on our collective attitude as a people and what we do today to preserve it for posterity. To survive into the next centuries, Igbo needs our children and our children's children to speak it, and speak it with PRIDE. But they can only do that if we, their role models at home, will show them how and why. An Igbo adage says that when a mother goat chews the cud, its young would watch its mouth and learn: “Nné éwū nā-àtá àgbàrà, nwá yā àná èlé yā ānyā n’ọ̄nụ”. Our children are watching and learning alright. Except that what we are showing them how to chew is not at all the stuff they need from us. There is no greater way to propagate a language than by actually speaking it. It follows that what your children hear you speak is what they too learn to speak and invariably pass on to their own children. If it was down to them, every child would love a chance to be able to speak their heritage language as soon as they could talk. If not for anything else, it helps them to refocus their own sense of identity as they go through life. It is a right, not a privilege. Let us not deny our children that right.
The term sugar has been used over time as a loose referral to refined or processed sugars available in different forms – cubes, granules, liquids. Scientifically, however, sugar is a generalized name for sweet soluble carbohydrates consisting of linked carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms, the most common of which are glucose, fructose, sucrose and lactose. Sugars are primarily ingested in the form of carbohydrates which as we know are primary sources of energy in diets. But what is it that makes these sugars able to act as a sustaining energy source? The answer is glucose. Glucose on its own is a simple sugar; after we digest various carbohydrates, glucose is the end product which is converted by the body to provide energy. The importance of glucose can neither be overlooked nor overemphasized. As a primary energy source, glucose is required to keep your body active, healthy and energized. The brain most importantly is the largest consumer of glucose as 75% of glucose generated from carbohydrates (and indeed other substances) is used by the brain. Sugar (glucose) is brain food; it is the fundamental fuel needed by the brain. If you have ever experienced a bout of dizziness after skipping a few meals, watch it; most likely your brain has used up its store of glucose. Another goodie about sugar: it aids in the healing of wounds; sugar dries the wound, thus preventing the growth of bacteria. Other classes of food also act as sources of glucose. For example, proteins and fats can be converted to glucose in cases where carbohydrate consumption is too low to replenish glucose stores. The conversion process is known as “gluconeogenesis†and it accounts for phenomena such as weight loss or muscle wasting in malnourished children who are unable to include carbohydrates in their diets. Muscle begins to break down and fat in the adipose tissues is converted to glucose to provide energy. It is thus difficult to overlook how important glucose is.
