There are particular ways of using narrative practices to motivate social action. Even in circumstances of hardship communities have their own resources. Community members have their own histories, and their own knowledges and skills. They have their own hopes and dreams. These are existing resources that inspire action. We begin by asking questions that seek to learn about the resources of history in this particular place, and at this particular time.
Step one: Sharing stories of pride
During the first part of the meeting, participants share experiences, stories about what people are proud about in relation to their family, their community, or their own lives. They share something that he or she has been able to do well.
As people tell stories, other participants/facilitators ask them more questions.
· Ask for details such as how they took particular steps, and about who was involved, and so on.
· Ask them to give a name to the initiatives that they have been taking.
· Ask them to name the different skills and the special knowledge that they have been using to survive.
This enriches the stories that people were telling.
Here is an example:
Muyama is a widow taking care of six children. During our conversation, we asked her to share with us what she does to earn a living. She replied: ‘When I lost my husband two years ago, I thought this was the end of the world for me and my children. We entirely depended on him for provision of basic needs and life was so bad for one year.’ When we asked her what she was doing in order to ensure the survival of her family, we learned that she was carrying water to supply the restaurants in the Bumbo Trading Center. Muyama was carrying 20 jerrycans of 20 litres each per day. Through doing this hard physical work, she was earning just enough to buy food for her children. She also told us: ‘I also wash clothes for people, especially those at the Bumbo Trading Center. And occasionally I sell cooked food and sugar canes. This is how our family is surviving at this time.’
Step two: Outsider-witness responses
Outsider witness responses speak about what we have heard in the stories that people have told, what was most significant to us, why this was significant, and how these stories had affected us.
For example, in listening to Muyama, we highlighted the following skills that we heard in her stories:
• Her physical strength and endurance
• Her skills in building good relationships with the people at Bumbo Trading Center
• Her skills in organization, in order to be able to conduct all this work and still provide care for her children
• Her good communication skills that make it possible for her to sell food to people in the market
• Her agricultural skills and knowledge about sugar cane, harvesting, and selling.
We also reflected back what it meant to hear about her hard work and dedication to care for her children. We linked these to the stories of other women and to the histories of mothers caring for children in Uganda through difficult times. We spoke of our respect for the work and dedication of mothers.
Step three: Hopes and dreams
We then ask a further question: ‘What does this say about the dreams or hopes that you have for your future life?’ Participants then start to speak about their hopes and dreams for the future. These might be hopes for their own lives or hopes for their families or community.
Muyama mentioned three dreams: to take good care of her children, to ensure food security for her family, and to diversify the ways in which she could earn income.
Step four: The histories of people’s hopes and dreams
Once people start to speak about their dreams for the future, we want to learn about the histories of these dreams. Where did these dreams come from? Who passed them on? We seek to make it possible for people to link their current actions, and their hopes and dreams, to the legacies of those who have come before them. We consider ourselves to be the living legacies of those who have passed away.
When we asked Muyama about the histories that inform her dream of taking good care of her children, she linked this to her grandmother who took good care of Muyama and her sibling when her parents died. Muyama said that her grandmother would sometimes go without food, but that she made sure the children always had something to eat. Muyama also connected her dream of ensuring food security for her family with her grandmother who used to work so hard to provide food. Muyama told us stories of how her grandmother would work in the garden from sunrise to sunset, only ever returning home to prepare food for the children before soon returning to her labours. Muyama said that her dream of developing income-generating projects was connected to another mother in the village. This mother had separated from the father of her children and Muyama had admired the ways in which she fended for her family before she died. This woman had a poultry farm, five cows, and vegetable gardens. She also knew how to grow maize. All these projects enabled her to earn the income to support her family, and Muyama had been inspired by this.
Step five: Call to action
At this time, we then challenge participants to take an action that will be the next step towards fulfilling their dreams. This can be done individually or in groups. It can be a small step or a large step.
Having realised that her grandmother and the mother in the village were outstanding figures in her life, Muyama said she could not afford to sit back and wait as the family demands would only increase. She said that she realised that she needed to get started on something. She decided to join the women’s saving group and to start a vegetable garden.
Our entire approach is built around making it possible for people to take action, and then ensuring that the action is sustainable.
Step six: Documenting the call to action
Participants can create booklets and we can create digital stories from these elements, how people have overcome obstacles in the past, their dreams for the future, why this dream is important, where it has come from, and they describe the practical steps they will next put in place. Participants experience power over obstacles in their lives when they spend time writing these booklets which remind them of their strengths, skills and knowledges.
Want to print your doc? This is not the way.
Try clicking the ⋯ next to your doc name or using a keyboard shortcut (
