As long as there have been people, there have been stories. From the stories told through art in all forms to the bedtime stories told to young children, stories make up our history and guide our future. You are surrounded by stories every day. The lessons teachers give in school are often stories. Songs tell stories. Pictures tell stories. Movies tell stories. When you tell a friend about something that happened to you, you are telling a story. Some stories have lasted hundreds and even thousands of years and are still being told. Stories began with the oral tradition, they were passed on by being heard and retold. Later, people began to write the stories down, but we still love to hear stories told out loud. Stories are powerful. They can teach morals —the values that the author of the story thinks people should live by. They can teach history. They can entertain us. They can make us laugh. They can make us cry. Telling stories is a large part of what makes people connected to each other. Stories are a part of every culture.

On 5th July 2017 the ChildrenLiteratureFestival team Punjab comprising of NidaAlam (the story teller) and Mr. InamIllahi who is the Art and Calligraphy Specialist conducted a story telling and Origami session in one of the LSK (Life Skills for Kids) School in NiazBeg, Lahore where children who were working as rag pickers have been enrolled for quality education opportunities. The duration of the session was 2 hours. Where the students’age ranged from six (6) to twelve (12) years. The book which was chosen was “BhooliBisri Sunni Sunai”written by Rumana Husain and published by CLF-OUP. It has different folklore long forgotten stories. The storyteller asked the children to pick one and they chose “Julahay Ki ChukChuk”.

“The weaver and the Priest which is a story translated from English from the book folk tales of the upper Indus written by Rev. Charles Swynnerton which was published in 1982. This has been translated & republished in a collaboration between Children’s Literature Festival and Oxford University press.
The highlight of the story shows the simple nature of the protagonist who at the time of dinner did not complete his meal and starts feeling hungry later on. His friend who helps him down a chimney so he can curb his hunger. The protagonist gets in trouble by getting his head stuck in a big jar out of greed and starts a commotion. A simple folklore tale of friendship written in a way that keeps the audience engaged with humor and defines a moral in the same.
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The students were really excited that they are going to hear a story. In order to engage the students the reader used different voice tones, expressions and hand gestures. In the middle of the story the storyteller asked the students what do they think will happen next in the story? This technique proved beneficial as the students started taking more interest. Through their imagination they started suggesting how the story should progress. At the end we asked different questions related to the story in order to see whether the students were attentive. For example what is the moral of the story? Who is their favourite character and what they think was the most interesting part of the story? Etc.

After the completion of the story the students were taught how to make origami which was related to the story as well. Origami is a Japanese art of folding paper/paper crafting in decorative shapes and figures. Mr. InamIllahi conducted this part of the session. The students were given colorful papers. Then step by step Mr. Inam told them how to make a bird and a tree. The students followed the instructions throughout and were really amazed at the end result that with just one piece of paper they were able to make a bird and a tree. At the session’s completion we asked the students and teachers how was their experience? They replied in unison

“We enjoyed it”and one of the teacher said

“It is a very interesting technique to teach children in a fun way”

The session was observed by the teachers of class 1 and prep, so that they understand the process of conducting such sessions and the importance of alternate teaching methodologies. The teachers attending were Miss Maida Fatima and Miss ShaguftaFirdous.

Overall storytelling with paper crafting was a fantastic experience for the CLF team as well as for the students and teachers.

Blog Post

By Rumana Husain

On April 29 and 30, the large grounds and building of the Public School in Sukkur, Sindh, were bustling with the laughter of thousands of children. They came from various schools from within Sukkur, and also from Rohri, Khairpur, Pannu Aqil, Gambat, Shikarpur and the villages near and far, to participate in a unique two-day experience. This was the first time a festival for children was held on the banks of the River Indus in Sindh, and that too a literature festival!

The CLF was holding its twenty-fourth celebration in a period of just five years in the historical city of Sukkur. Spearheaded and steered by its founder, Dr Baela Raza Jamil of Idara-e-Talim-o-Aagahi (ITA), who is an education activist and former technical advisor to the Federal Ministry of Education, and co-founder Ameena Saiyid, Managing Director Oxford University Press (OUP), CLFs have been held several times in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad, twice in Bahawalpur, and also in Swat, Quetta, Peshawar, Multan and other places.

The CLF in Sukkur was a landmark event, as this was the first time it had the support of the Education & Literacy Department, Government of Sindh as a key sponsor, along with the Sindh Reading Program (SRP) and Dubai Cares. The Public School, managed by IBA Sukkur offered its building, its grounds and its support.

As an author-illustrator, and honorary member on the Board of the Children’s Literature Festival (CLF), I take children and children’s literature quite seriously. It is my professional raison d’être. Not only me, but all of us associated with this movement love children. Similar to Philip Pullman, the award-winning British writer, we also believe in the power of the arts. Pullman has rightly said that “children need art and stories and poems and music as much as they need love and food and fresh air and play”, and that “we must understand that every child has a right to the experience of culture. We must fully understand that without stories and poems and pictures and music, children will starve.”

Everyone h as imagination, but children’s imagination is more vivid. Literature and art take it a step further. At the festival, the entrance area was decorated with hundreds of colourful (origami) paper doves and cranes that artist Salma Habib of Karachi had made, and the poster designed by Sukkur-based artist Haroon Channa (coloured by Karachi-based artist Akbar Zia) set the mood for this CLF: big and small copies of the poster showing the River Indus and the various iconic heritage sites of the city were displayed everywhere.

The famous Sindhi language poet Adal Soomro, who works in the Sindhi Literature Department of the Shah Abdul Latif University in Khairpur coordinated with a wonderful galaxy of Sindhi writers and poets from interior Sindh. The inaugural session was joyful, laced with Sindhi music, dances, a theatre performance, and interspersed with a few speeches. Later, Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, Leader of the Opposition who was visiting his hometown, also made an appearance and addressed the audience.

A Sindhi Mushaira was held by Bekhud Baloch, Ghulam Mohammad Ghazi, Azad Bukhari and others who recited poetry for children. Storytelling sessions were held by me and a few others from Karachi, including author Amra Alam, journalist Khursheed Hyder and musician Natasha Humera, and local writers. Recitation of children’s poetryand messages for children by famous Sufi poets of Sindh were taken up by Dr Ismail Mako, Mukhtiar Malik, Naseer Mirza, Mir Sobdar Saeed, Akhtar Dargahi and Azad  Bukhari. CLF, in collaboration with the OUP has published its own books, and these were launched. The latest issue of the CLF bi-monthly magazine, Uran Tashtree / The Flying Saucer was also distributed.

OUP’s Batool Nasir demonstrated the Art of Book Making and worked with hundreds of children who created their own books. Salma Habib trained the children in the Art of Origami, whereas artist Zheela Ali Khan facilitated chalk paintings on the floor.

Panel discussions were held on the subject of Heritage. It was a bit disheartening to note that the children (as well as most teachers) had a complete disconnect with the richness that abounds in the land all around them. It was therefore vital to emphasize the need to read, observe, ask questions, find answers as well as opportunities for traveling around the district to visit a myriad heritage sites.

Discussions were also held on the need for a Curriculum of Peace (rather than hate) and on Non-formal Education. Dr Fauzia Khan, Head of Curriculum, Education & Literacy Department, Government of Sindh, Dr Christopher Ashford of the Sindh Reading Program, Dr Baela Raza Jamil and other academicians, scholars, authors and textbook writers formed the panels.

After a discussion with the children on the importance of education for girls, a screening of the world-famous documentary film on Malala Yousafzai was also held. Once again, it was depressing to note that an overwhelming number of the children were clueless as to who she is. This brings us to what the CLF founder says about the urgent need to crowd-source funding to keep the CLF going round the year, across Pakistan, and in at least 1,000 schools annually. These schools in turn could host ten schools each to show how the CLF works at local levels and inside the classrooms.

The low learning standard in most schools across the country necessitates such out-of-the-box solutions for new beginnings. This social movement for children must reach all rural and urban, public and private, rich and poor schools, as it enables children to come in contact with authors, poets, artists, musicians and actors, to learn in a multi-sensory, multi-disciplinary environment, and in unconventional ways. At the same time,they all have a lot of fun too!

As a run up to the World Book Day 2016 on April 23^rd, I decided to have a heart to heart session with the children of the famous “Garage school”. My encounters are always so wonderful, as they are about stories and storytelling. I was fortunate on Friday April 22, 2016 to conduct an hour long session with those amazing little angels.  I was so happy to observe that these kids, though have little exposer, but their worldly knowledge was commendable and not less than any other privileged school going children, perhaps the sensitivity was a bit more.  With them I read few nazms (poems) and  shortshort stories which they enjoyed thoroughly, asking many questions.

The school is amazing, a labor of love and vision indeed. The Garage school is run by Shabeena Mustafa, the passionate lady who has dedicated her time and life for the betterment and education of the children belonging to the families of lowest income group. Though it began in a “garage”, it is now housed in three different buildings in the same locality, where children of all age groupsget an incredible education- based on the principles of inquiry based learning, above all. Among these children are street children  as well, who have left their homes because of different reasons, but  the charm of this unique  house of learning and  knowledge motivated them to join Mustafa’s garage school.

This school does not only enroll the children, there are mothers’ classes as well where they join in the afternoon. Beside learning reading and writing these women also get skills in stitching, drawing andembroidery classes- above all it is a great support centre for women and mums!

AmraAlam –editor UranTashtaree (Flying Saucer magazine)  Children’s Literature Festival (CLF)

AmraAlam of CLF  reads to the “bright  angels Garage School” for International Book Day 2016