Jane Bickmore-Jaffer MBE, primary school teacher from London, moved to Oman 1980. She ran the Ruwi Play School from 1982 and set up the Muscat English Speaking School nursery in 1987. In the 1990’s Jane was involved in setting up the first woman’s only health spa and later created the Elixir Holistic Centre. In 2003, she qualified as a yoga teacher and, in 2005, she became a professional therapeutic counsellor.
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Jane has written several books including, Women on the Edge, Dana and the Dolphin, Scent of a Rose, Memoirs of an Omani Gentleman from Zanzibar, Love in the Time of Zanzibar and Sariya and the Turtles.
A strong advocate of children’s literacy, Jane created the Let’s Read Programme, under the auspices of Dar Al Atta’a, in January 2007. The aim of the programme is to promote the love of reading to children in Oman.
With Women’s Guild of Oman sponsorship, Let’s Read created Maktabati, Oman’s first mobile library, in December 2013. Maktabati visits schools across the country giving children access to good books and the opportunity to develop a love of reading. In March 2017, OPAL generously donated a second custom-made mobile library bus.
In 2014, Let’s Read set up Oman’s first charity book shop. A team of three Omani staff and more than twenty volunteers now run the Let’s Read Programme.
Let’s Read holds an annual Children’s Writing Competition and a Summer Reading Challenge. Let’s Read has published four collections of children’s stories: Tales with a Twist, Stories from Oman, My Home Town, Stories of Our Ancestors and My Favourite Place in Oman.
In October 2018, the Let’s Read Book Shop expanded its programme. With the support of Lulu Group International, the Let’s Read Charity Book Shop now operates a children’s library and a charity bookshop for children, teenagers and adults across the entire 3rd floor of Oman Avenues Mall in Muscat. Open all day, every day, for school visits and for children with their parents, we organize literacy activities, story-telling, parent workshops and meet the author events.
Let’s Read also organizes art exhibitions, musical nights and other fund-raising events. We are at present seeking company sponsorship in order to continue to promote the love of reading to children in Oman.
