1001 Stories

Background

• Literacy is a fundamental human right.

• Yet, access to a basic education including literacy development is still restricted in many areas around the world.

• While many programs exist in order to promote education in underserved areas, funding for these programs is mostly limited to sporadic aids, grants, scholarships, or other financial sources that often remain unsustainable for numerous reasons.

Overview of 1001 Stories

• 1001 Stories is a literacy development program that differs from other programs (referred to earlier) in that it establishes a more sustainable economic model.

• It establishes an economy that taps into a natural resource entitled to every individual – creativity.

• The discussed model is designed to leverage the rapidly emerging social networking infrastructure and the global mobile network in developing countries to allow a self-empowering and self-sustaining blended entrepreneurship model for the underserved.

Overview of 1001 Stories• Here's how it works:

o Our volunteers conduct storytelling workshops that teach children to use the Pocket School mobile learning device.

o We collect these stories and the best work is published internationally in an array of mobile learning applications at “mobile application stores”.

o The proceeds of these “mobile application sales” return to the storytellers, their families, and communities to promote entrepreneurship and support the

local education system.

Objectives• Promote literacy; demonstrate how large of an impact they

can make through education and literacy

• Increase entrepreneurship skills and provide a means of sustainability

• Provide technology experience, an essential skill in today's world

• Develop critical thinking skills

• Increase cultural awareness and global understanding as these stories are written and heard around the world

• Foster creativity

Storytelling Workshops in Andhra Pradesh, India

February 2011

Paul KimArafeh Karimi

Kamakshi Duvvuru

The workshops were conducted in three schools:

• Girijan Community School (Allipuram)o located in a rural town in the center of a community of Girijans, a low-

ranking caste that is secluded from the rest of societyo students: Most are Girijan and from migratory families

• Drus Society Child Labor School (Nellore)o established by the National Child Labor Project (NCLP) in efforts to

eliminate child labor and promote literacyo located in a relatively urban region of Nelloreo students: previously engaged in child labor

• Chandrababu Nagar School (Nellore)o established by NCLPo located in rural Nelloreo small one-room school with thirty childreno students: previously engaged in child labor

Girijan Community School

After exchanging greetings, we introduced ourselves to the children and started by telling them that we came all the way from America for them. Then, we asked them if they knew where America, India, and Korea were on the globe.

Introduction

Sharing our StoriesDr.Kim pointed to Korea, showed them the huge distance between Korea and America, and then began to tell the children his personal story.

He explained that he used to live in Korea, which was once a very poor country. He went on to tell them that studying day and night, despite the numerous struggles, was what brought him all the way to America.

Sharing our StoriesWhen we asked them if they wanted to hear another story, they screamed "Yes" in unison! So, we read Jomopira and Real Hero, stories written by African children. They listened intently.

• Jomopira and Real Hero are stories that teach values and were written by African children during a similar workshop.

• They were so excited to find out that the stories were written by African children--children just like them.

When we finished reading, we asked who wanted to come to the front of the class and tell the story to their classmates again.

Our storyteller was amazing! He retold the story perfectly to his classmates in his language, Telugu.

We asked them questions from the story to lead them to the moral. They had such insightful answers and were right on track!

Us: "What qualities must one have in order to be able to help others? Money?"

Children: "No! The richest guy in town did not help the hurt boy. The guy was selfish."

Us: "Intelligence?"

"No. The smartest guy in town did not take the time out of his day to help the boy."

Us: "What is it that you need then?"Children: "A kind heart! Helping nature!"

Exploration

To familiarize the children with the PocketSchool mobile learning devices before they had to use them in their storytelling, we gave them time to explore independently.

We told them that we had no idea what these devices were or how they worked, leaving it up to them to figure out what these "foreign devices" were!

"We really need your help! No one in this room knows how these devices work! It is up to you to find out and teach us!"

Only a few minutes after we split the children into groups of three and passed out the devices, they figured out how to turn the devices on!

Once they discovered the various applications on the device, the level of excitement in the room was indescribable!They loved the immediate feedback they received every time they touched something on the screen.

Soon enough, they were taking pictures and videos of each other!

They were so surprised and excited when they flipped through and found the pictures they had just taken!

Since we told them that we knew nothing about the devices, they were completely on their own in figuring out how to use them.This made them even more motivated and, after a short while, they were teaching us how to use the devices!

By the end of exploration time, they had already discovered and experimented with so many different functions of the device:

-eBook Maker-Taking photos-Viewing photos-Taking videos-Homework Management System-Audiobooks-Streaming educational videos

They were no longer "foreign devices", that's for sure!

• Since they gained familiarity with the PocketSchool mobile learning devices, they were ready for storytelling time in which they needed to use the devices to record each other's stories.

• So, NOW, it was their turn to share stories!

• We told them that the best stories would be collected, illustrated, and published.

• "Do you want your stories to be heard around the world, like Jomopira and Real Hero? Will you tell us stories?", we asked. "You can tell us any story! You can talk about helping your friends, about a day in your life, or a story you created."

• "Yes! We are ready!", they answered.

Storytelling

During their lunch break, all the children thought about which story they would tell.When they returned, in groups of three, the children took turns videotaping each other's stories!

Venkataramana, part of a migrant family, told us an old rhyme about an egg that talks to a cow, making the whole class laugh. In class, he was the jokester. But, at home, as we found out from his story, he played a different role. He shared with us that he and his family are sometimes so hungry that they scream for hours at a time.

The stories told by these children were truly compelling.

While some told creative stories modeled after village folktales, others shared intimate stories about incidents with their friends and family.

Drus Society Child Labor School

Introduction

Children identifying America, India, and Korea on the globe

Sharing our stories

Dr. Kim telling his personal story

They all loved the story! When Dr.Kim asked them questions, they answered quickly and excitedly. They grasped the moral of his story immediately!

Dr.Kim: "What do you need in order tosucceed? Does it matter where you grow up?"

Children: "No!"Dr.Kim: "Does it matter what

clothes you wear?"Children: "No!"Dr.Kim: "Then what do you

need?"

Children: “Education! With education we can be all we want

to be!”

When asked, they all were eager to hear another story! So, we read Jomopira and Real Hero stories.

Storytelling

"Now, it is your turn to share! Are you ready?"

They hesitated at first, but then with a little encouragement, the classroom was bustling! They began talking to each other, thinking of stories, and writing away!

After giving them time to think of stories, we asked them to come up to the front of the room and read each of their stories aloud.

Whether they creatively constructed a new story, gave a detailed account of a real event, or portrayed an important value, their stories amazed us.

Ishwari, 11Aspiring Doctor

Ishwari told us a story that explains the importance of studying hard despite circumstances. Her story is about a little girl who is not good at her studies and can never seem to get it right, despite her poor family's efforts to support her. An encounter with a special stranger changes everything for the girl, making her see that if she puts her mind to it and concentrates, she can achieve anything.

Rajesh, 11Aspiring Mechanical Engineer

Rajesh told us a unique story, clearly a product of critical thinking, that very creatively combined the educational values from Dr. Kim's story, the plot of Jomopira, and the helping values from Real Hero.

Sahera, 14Aspiring Teacher

Sahera, previously a child laborer, said that she once had the chance to visit the town library and read books about helping people. She said that she soon realized that it was not enough for her alone to benefit from this information and showed these books to younger children in the village.

We called all the children who read their stories aloud to come to the front of the class. Their classmates then voted on who they thought had the best stories!

And the winner is.....

Congratulations!

Chandrababu Nagar Child Labor School

Children at the Chandrababu school were natural storytellers! The only prompting they needed was, "Tell us about yourselves." Their responses were not the usual descriptions of names and parents' occupations but instead were a series of very personal stories.

One after the other, they spoke sincerely and reflectively about various aspects of their lives and what they hoped for in their futures.

Sharing our stories

It was finally their time to share! Seeing how amazingly they conveyed their feelings and experiences without being prompted, we could not wait to hear what stories these children would tell when they were actually asked to share.

And like we imagined, we were awe-struck. Here are a few of the stories they shared with us:

Sasikala, 11Sasikala comes to school every day and manages to smile, though,back home, her father has resorted again to drinking and beating his family. Sasikala was determined to figure out what was wrong.

Chandini, 11Chandini had the happiest day of her life when her dad worked extrahard and bought her new clothes to subdue her tears on her birthday. Shehadn’t felt that happy in a long, long time, she says.

Rajesh, 11Rajesh's father had a medical problem for which has family could not afford treatment.He bared it as long as he could--until he could no longer take the pain. At that moment,Rajesh's father hanged himself. He and his siblings were shocked at the sight of this terrible incident.

Rajesh, eleven years old, tells us as we leave the school that he has learned one thing: “No matter who you are and what is happening at home, you have to keep coming to school and studying hard.”

After collecting the stories from these amazing children, a new mission begins--voicing the children’s stories and bringing them back, full circle.

Alex Bonk

Illustrator

Future Plans• Collect Stories from other countries, including Pakistan,

Argentina, Zambia, Palestine,…

Future Plans• Publish stories in hard copy and return those proceeds to

children as well• Return to rural villages and urban slums and redistribute the

same stories that these children have written in order to spread values and hope

These stories gave us a peek into these children's lives, making us realize what it must take for these children to show up to school every day, by choice.

It makes us realize how much courage, determination, and perseverance these children, even as young as eight, have for not letting their circumstances hold them back.

While an integral outcome of the 1001 Stories cycle is the economic support and sustainability it provides, we hope, even more, that it serves as proof and assurance that these children's efforts will not go to waste, will pay off, and will lead to great things.

Be a Part of the Story!• Meet us at www.seedsofempowerment.org

• Follow us at Facebook:

– http://www.facebook.com/pages/Seeds-of-

Empowerment/215464395149325

• Read our stories on iPhone. Look up for “Seeds of

Empowerment” in App Store.

• Buy our books at Amazon:

– http://www.amazon.com/This-who-Seeds-Empowerment-

ebook/dp/B002T45WEE

– http://www.amazon.com/Good-bye-love-Empowerment-

ebook/dp/B002T45V5O

– http://www.amazon.com/Who-real-hero-Empowerment-

ebook/dp/B002RWJ6JK