His Excellency, Juan Anibal Barria, Ambassador of Chile to Trinidad and Tobago handed over eight Spanish language books to the National Library and Information on November 23, 2020. This donation followed the presentation made on November 18 by the Pan American Development Foundation of 24 copies of a bilingual children’s illustrated book titled, Un Cuento De Esperanza/A Story of Hope.

The books donated by the Chilean Embassy include: five copies of Prosa Y Poesía Escolar by Gabriela Mistral and one copy each of Geografía Gastronómica de Chile by Oreste Plath; Centésimas Del Alma by Violeta Parra and País Blanco y Negro by Rosamel del Valle.

At the presentation, the ambassador spoke glowingly of Gabriela Mistral who was Chile’s first Ibero-American to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1945. According to official documents from the Government of Chile, Mistral developed an extensive body of work – poetry and prose – that made her one of the most important Latin American voices of the twentieth century. The teacher received the First Prize at the contest Juegos Florales with her poem, The Sonnets of Death. Mistral was part of American and European diplomatic missions promoting peace, the protection of children and women’s rights.

A Story of Hope (written in both Spanish and English), commissioned by the Pan American Development Foundation’s (PADF), introduces the topic of migration to children. This colourful children’s book, which includes colouring pages, was written by Darron Sandy, translated by Raquel Vasquez La Roche and illustrated by Brianna Mc Carthy.

The donations by the Chilean Ambassador and the Pan American Development Foundation will be added to NALIS’ Spanish Language Collection. The Embassy of Chile also donated books to NALIS in 2018 and 2019.