WHAT WE ARE DOING IN GHANA
Campfire Tales is working with students, teachers, elders and community partners in Adaklu, Ghana to teach personal narrative storytelling.
Ghana has a strong oral storytelling tradition. Personal narrative is different: taking something from your own life, deciding what matters, shaping it into a story and telling it in your own voice.
We aren't bringing storytelling to Ghana. We're sharing a specific form of storytelling that can build confidence, communication and self-advocacy.
CONNECTING WORLDS OVER ZOOM
Each week, we meet with students over Zoom to work on finding stories, adding detail, building structure and telling those stories to others - we are also teaching the students how to help others tell their own stories.
We're also working with teachers, elders and adults to develop the program together. We're learning what translates, what doesn't, and how personal narrative can be useful in their community.
One goal is to collect stories chosen by the students and publish them in both English and Ewe, creating locally relevant materials that can be shared in their community.
Internet access can be inconsistent. We work around dropped connections, rainstorms, lack of internet and rolling power outages, and keep going.
On October 24th, 4 Westerners will travel to Ghana to continue the work in person with students and adults.
READ STORIES THAT SHOWCASE THE CURRENT PROGRESS HERE: GHANA STORIES
JOIN THE PROJECT
We’re looking for mentors to join our weekly storytelling sessions with students in Adaklu, Ghana.
Mentors meet with us on Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m. Pacific Time for about 90 minutes over Zoom.
You do not need teaching experience. Mentors listen to students’ stories, ask questions, encourage them, and help them develop their personal narratives. The gift is simple: just show up and listen.
Interested in becoming a mentor? Email Ryan for more information and to set up a short conversation about the program and what the role involves.
WHY PERSONAL NARRATIVE?
Our partners are helping shape this project. From the beginning, they spoke about the importance of having opportunities to talk about their own experiences:
“People should feel free to talk about what impacts them, something they've been happy or sad about, because it's healing when you talk about such things.”
Teachers also talked about how difficult it is for students to learn when something else is weighing on them:
“We've realized that no matter how well we teach our kids, our learners, if they have things bothering them... I think learning cannot be impactful.”
Personal narrative gives people a framework to talk about their experiences, communicate clearly and develop confidence in their own voice.
Our long-term goal is for students and adults in Adaklu to learn not only how to tell personal stories, but how to teach personal storytelling themselves. That way, the program can be locally led, sustainable and continue without Campfire Tales.
Campfire Tales - Working in Partnership with