Thok Nath Literacy and Press is providing South Sudanese children living abroad with the tools to communicate with their parents by teaching the Naath language, an ancient language derived from Aramaic of the Midian and Moretic of the Agew Cushitic Sudan. Today, Naath is spoken in South Sudan and Gambella, Ethiopia.
After the fall of the Marawi Kingdom, Naath became a dialect of the Nuer (Agew), Lou, Jieng and other Sudanese tribes. Children living in North America, Australia, Kenya, Uganda, Egypt and other countries often struggle to speak Naath proficiently.
Thok Nath will be opened for kids who lack communication with their parents in diaspora. These children have communication barriers with their parents at home because they do not know pronunciation, jargon, technical terms, cultural idioms, and other expressions in their mother tongues. This has rendered communication difficulties and complexities at home.
Therefore, South Sudanese children in diaspora lack self-control, respect and positive relationships with their parents at home. Thok Nath will help children to keep familial norms and values, including love, hope, patience, kindness, self-control, self-reliance, hospitality, humility, respect, compassion and hard work.
The programs are open to children, adults, fluent speakers of Naath and anyone interested in learning the language. Sessions are offered in Lincoln, Omaha and Grand Island.
To learn more, email dchuang24@gmail.com or call (402) 937-3574.