“Weladna Bekheir” is a YouTube channel that Egyptian mothers have been looking for. It emerged to bridge the educational gap that existed since the beginning of digital content for children. The channel was founded by an incredible mother who longed for quality videos for her own children in Egyptian Arabic.
“I live abroad, and one of the hardest things you can give your children is for them to speak Arabic well. Not the standard Arabic, but the colloquial Egyptian Arabic.”, said the founder of Weladna Bekheir, Mona Faris.
The easiest way for children to learn is through cartoons and music. However, Faris found there is a huge gap in Educational content in the Egyptian dialect. Even though the Egyptian dialect is one of the most widely spoken dialects in the region, the Arabic content was either in Syrian dialects, Lebanese dialects, or Standard Arabic. She took it upon herself to fill that gap for her children and for Egyptian children everywhere. She reminisced, “I made the videos public, and I saw a huge demand for it. I was not the only mother who was looking for content in the Egyptian dialect”
The Content of Weladna Bekheir:
Weladna Bekheir offers a wide range of educational videos covering various subjects. Each video is meticulously made with a specific goal in mind. They research what each age range needs to learn and turn it into fun light-hearted videos. Weladna Bekheir started their journey with videos of numbers and letters, as they are the fundaments of languages. Fairs started adding songs to their videos. She explained, “Children learn best with is songs. This is why we wanted to do songs, not like the ones we grew up with, we wanted to modernize them. Children have adapted and they are modernization, so the content should parallel that.”
The Song “Who Am I?”:
By delivering content focusing on the Egyptian civilization, the channel aims to empower children through their own culture. Weladna Bekheir created an original song titled “Who Am I?”. The origins of the song came from a conversation with her own daughter. Her school told her to dress in her own culture’s customs, and Faris chose Cleopatra. Her daughter did not know who Cleopatra was. She reflected, “I never thought about it, but being born in Egypt, growing up in Egypt, we have a connection to our identity. So, I decided to make this song to explain who built the pyramids.”
Building The Trust:
With Weladna Bekheir, Faris hopes to build a trusting relationship with the parents. She noted, “The most rewarding thing is when parents say that they trust Weladna Bekheir and can leave their children to watch our videos.” She also hopes to enrich and empower children with their own culture. All of the channel’s content passes by children’s physiatrists to make sure that the videos do not overstimulate them. She said, “The most awarding experience to me is when parents send me videos of their children dancing to songs like “Wheels On The Bus?” or “Who Am I?”
What Is Coming Next?
The characters of “Weladna Bekheir” stay the same throughout most of the videos. This creates a sense of familiarity so the children are not overestimated. The two characters are based on Faris’s children, Yoyo and Domdom. Their animation is created from a picture of them. Fairs teased, “During this year, we are creating a new series titled ‘The World of Yoyo and Domdom’, which will target older kids.” She further explained that the content of the children will continue to develop and mature, as her children grow up.
