hope-based storytelling

Presented by Niniay Mohammad

How can I promote peacebuilding &
peace advocacy?

What is the connection of peace

and storytelling?
 Peacebuilding and conflict prevention are crucial
elements for the growth and development of any
society. These efforts have been primarily led by
governments and civil society organizations for a long
time, leaving out the crucial role that youth can play in
these processes. However, youth have immense
potential to contribute to peacebuilding and conflict
prevention efforts in various ways.
 Your Role. Our Role.
Youth can contribute to peacebuilding and conflict prevention by
actively participating in decision-making.

Youth can play a vital role in promoting social cohesion and tolerance. Youth have
a unique ability to mobilize communities and create positive change.

Youth can be instrumental in addressing the root causes of conflict, such as

poverty, unemployment, and inequality.

“Peace begins with a smile.”

 STORYTELLING AND PEACE

Storytelling has an important role in society, especially in the family.

Traditionally, children learn about their culture, religion and
traditions through listening to stories from their parents. Stories can
help people understand the world and each other. However, some
stories encourage tribalism and stories can be used to enforce and
coerce, so careful selection is important.
Storytelling among adults is often used to entertain but can also be a
powerful tool for uilding peace in divided families and communities.
Stories can provide opportunities to resolve conflicts and help people to
forgive and reconcile.

Storytelling can be valuable in comforting those who are mourning the

departed or other kinds of loss. The storyteller can benefit from feeling
they are not alone; that others have ‘heard’ their experiences. The
listener can hear a story and understand events through someone else’s
eyes and ears. When facilitated skilfully, the storytelling process can help
communities develop plans for healing and development.
 BE A LISTENER
When used in supportive groups, the ‘storyteller’ can benefit from someone listening and
bearing witness to their experiences, of sharing their burden of hurt and suffering.
Storytelling can enable someone to speak their truth for the first time and to recognise the
pain with which they have been living. Perpetrators of violence can also gain from
storytelling enabling them to voice their actions, how they feel about them and often the
pressures they felt they were under at the time.

The ‘listener’ can benefit from hearing about someone else’s experiences which are similar
to their own. Listening to others stories, allows them to see that others are struggling with
similar challenges on a daily basis, perhaps flashbacks, nightmares, the inability to visit a
particular place (like a water pump where an incident took place), perhaps difficulties in
loving a child from rape. In relating to others and their stories, the listener may begin to
feel less isolated or guilty and start a process of healing.
 I cry silently… Heavy footsteps enter the house My heart
beats faster and faster My mother screams a few minutes
later The footsteps leave soon after! I cry silently and try
to sleep I must go to school tomorrow I wonder why my
father beats my mother.

Judy Amunga, Tatua Communication, August 2010 based on her experiences in Kenya