THE POWER OF STORYTELLING

WHY DO STORIES MATTER?

“It is easy to forget how mysterious and mighty stories are. They do their work in silence, invisibly. They work with all the internal materials of the mind and self. They become part of you while changing you. Beware the stories you read or tell; subtly, at night, beneath the waters of consciousness, they are altering your world.”

Ben Okri, Author

Stories matter because human beings

are meaning seeking creatures and

telling stories allows us to make sense

and find meaning in the world. Stories

are without doubt the oldest form of

advanced human communication. We

have been using stories to explain the

world for thousands of years, from the

first cave paintings to now.

Every culture has stories that it tells its

children from birth to explain how the

world works and to help people

understand why we exist, why society is

the way it is, and what we should

believe, think and feel.

Our brains are ‘programmed’ to

respond to stories, and this

instinctive hardwiring means

stories are our most powerful

form of communication. They

are easier for us to process than

facts and figures, logic,

argument or analysis.

1. STORIES SHAPE ATTITUDES, BELIEFS AND BEHAVIOURS.

Stories therefore are incredibly powerful.They can shape people’s attitudes, beliefs and behaviours. Part of our job at ADD International is to challenge the stories that get told about disability and to tell our own, alternative story.

2. STORIES CAN BRING OUR WORK TO LIFE.

The work we do at ADD International can

be confusing to explain. Terms like GBV,

WASH, log-frames and capacity building

can be meaningless.

Yet it’s critical to our success that we can

speak to ordinary people about what we

do and why.

Only when people understand, will

attitudes about disability change. Stories

can help us do that by humanising

complex issues and bringing our work to

life.

GENDER BASED VIOLENCE

LOG FRAMES

CAPACITY BUILDING

WASH

3. STORIES BUILD CONNECTION AND SUPPORT

When we told our UK supporters about

Amina, a Tanzanian grandmother who

carries her disabled granddaughter to

school every day, her story inspired 9 year

old Eve (right) to do her own sponsored

walk, raising £600 for ADD International.

Stories take our imaginations on a journey

and allow people of different ages,

backgrounds and cultures, to form bonds

across geographical locations.

Stories can transport us from our lived

realities to share, for a moment, someone

else’s situation.

OUR TOP TIPS

1. YOU ARE ALREADY A STORYTELLER!TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS.

Every day you will be collecting stories,

reflecting on stories and telling your own.

It may be with your children, with your

colleagues, but how you make sense of

experiences, situations and people is by

telling yourself a story of what is

happening or has happened.

We don’t think collecting stories for work

should be that different from collecting

stories in your personal life.

The same things matter: Attention.

Emotion. Information. Connection. Really

it’s all about feeling something.

Scientists have been studying stories and the brain for years and found two things to be critical:

Attention

If we do not ‘attend’ to a story, it will not pull us into its narrative, we will not care about what is

happening and we will move onto something else. Paying attention actually uses up a lot of our

brains’ energy, so unless we are truly grabbed by something, our brains will look for something

more worthy of our energy to focus attention on. This is why it’s so important when you are

gathering stories to trust your own attention - when it has been sparked by something then

chances are you are onto a good potential story.

Emotional Engagement

So once you have grabbed someone’s attention, you need to keep them interested. How? With

emotionally compelling stories. Stories that are personal and emotional, engage more of the

brain and we remember them better. So stories stay in the brain when they touch the heart.

Simply ask yourself:

What gave you goosebumps or a lump in your throat, or made the hairs on the back

of your neck stand up?

What grabbed your attention?

What made you smile?

What made you think?

What made you feel inspired?

What moved you?

THINK OF A STORY YOU HEARD RECENTLY THAT HELD YOUR ATTENTION AND EMOTIONALLY ENGAGED YOU. WHY?

2. LET INDIVIDUAL VOICES SPEAK OUT.

We all have a unique way of seeing the

world and a unique way of expressing

ourselves. This is what makes us individual

and our stories interesting and

compelling. When people express their

truth, in their own voice, using their own

words, it can create a very moving portrait

of their reality that can seize attention and

emotionally engage.

EXAMPLE.

Mariam Ahmed Elgali, a hearing impaired woman from Gedarif in Sudan, describing the isolation of a deaf friend who was left at home after finishing basic school.

“She told me how hard and miserable it was to be sitting days and nights at home not able to communicate even with family members…Sitting like a piece of furniture in the corner of the house, with people talking, shouting and laughing around her!I call my deaf fellows and deaf women in particular: get out of the grave you have been buried in alive… Get out and scream: I am here… I am alive!”

In this story we hear Mariam’s unique and powerful voice. Her way of comparing being deaf to being a piece of furniture, and her passionate cry for deaf people to awaken from their graves, are incredibly moving and striking because her words are unique and her own.

REMEMBER.

We want to hear each individual’s unique voice and thoughts.

We want to know what it’s like to live in their shoes.

We want to hear what they believe is needed to change their circumstances.

REMEMBER YOU ARE A DIRECT CHANNEL FOR DISABLED PEOPLE’S VOICES. Part of your job is to bring the unique, raw

and real voices of disabled people out into the

spotlight. Capture these unusual voices and

encourage people to speak their own truth,

freely, openly and passionately!

3. EVERY STORY NEEDS A MAIN CHARACTER.

DISCUSSION. HOW DO YOU CURRENTLY FIND POTENTIAL STORIES?

HOW TO FIND CASE STUDIES.

DPO leaders, project support team, wellbeing interviews

Once you have interviewed a disabled person, just think: is there anyone around

them who could also bring an interesting perspective? Family members, neighbours

and friends can speak about the changes they’ve seen in that individual and how it

has changed them as well. This additional perspective will make the story richer and

intimate.

REMEMBER.

You want to find people who are memorable.

Who have had unusual journeys

Or who are particularly charismatic and articulate.

4. TELL STORIES OF SUCCESS AND FAILURE.

TELL STORIES OF SUCCESS AND FAILURE.

When you are gathering stories don’t shy away from failure or bury mistakes, instead

lay them out in the open and capture negative as well as positive feedback.

We build trust with donors, partners and the public when we are honest about

our failings, our learnings and our achievements.

Don’t underestimate how much people want to hear about how we have learned

from things that go wrong, how we’ve made adjustments to approaches or

programmes, or the urgent needs that still remain.

Development work is complex. Whilst we may have achieved progress in certain

areas, gather feedback on the obstacles and challenges that still remain.

5. BE AUTHENTIC

Your job is not to gather stories that

paint a pretty picture of success and

happiness but stories that express

authentic portraits of people’s reality.

As a story gatherer, you are providing

people with a window into an unseen

world. Paint accurate pictures about

what the problems are, how they impact

lives, how best to respond, what’s

worked and what’s still needed.

Knowing these allows us to also see

people’s potential, talents and strength.

Stories of people expressing resilience,

hope, courage and defiance to overcome

brutal circumstances are very inspiring,

even when the outcome isn’t positive.

6. GATHER STORIES FROMDIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES

WE ARE SUCCESSFUL WHEN WE GET NON-DISABLED PEOPLE TO CHANGE THEIR ATTITUDES TOO.

Gathering stories from non-disabled people who’ve been touched by our work is

therefore crucial to demonstrating our impact.

In the same way that the sun is orbited by planets, our work is orbited by lots of key

people including DPO members, their parents, partners, friends, children,

teachers, community leaders etc…

When collecting stories try to get input from as many perspectives as possible as it

gives a bigger view of the story.

CASE STUDY:GENDER BASED VIOLENCE PROJECT,GULU REGION, UGANDA

TEDDY, BENEFICARY AND DPO MEMBERWhen I married my first husband, his

family shunned me. They would ask,

“Why would you want to marry a

disabled girl?”

I was severely abused. It began

affecting my mind, my health.

DOROTHY, PROJECT MANAGERSometimes I get overwhelmed.

When you try to put yourself in someone

else’s shoes it can be painful.

Knowing that a woman is living this way,

that they are going through these traumas

every day, because they have a disability.

RICHARD, LOCAL POLICEMANBefore ADD’s training we didn’t know how

to handle disabled people. We just

neglected them. We would not even bother

to listen to them.

(Now) when we hear a disabled person is

being tortured we come in very fast.”

DISCUSS:READ THE FOLLOWING QUOTES. WHY ARE THEY GREAT STORIES?

Interviewer describing first impressions of

Margaret a disabled woman living with

HIV, Uganda.

‘We met Margaret in a village in Masaka; she is

a joyous, warm and welcoming lady, with a big

personality and an even bigger laugh.’

Interviewer describing the context of when

they met Faith, a visually impaired girl

from Uganda.

‘Faith lives in the slums of Gulu. She uses her

cane to navigate through narrow corridors of

open sewage and strewn rubbish, to her

single room with space enough for a mattress

and a scattering of personal belongings.’

Interviewer met Sam Sambeth, from

Cambodia, and asked her to describe school

life after becoming disabled.

‘Imagine that you are in the same class, doing the

same thing, but now, no one talks or plays with

you. I felt so lonely.

They saw me as a monster. Sometimes my tears

dropped. I told myself I will make a change in my

life someday.’

Interviewer met Eric, a blind boy from

Tanzania. It’s often hard to interview children,

but you can get a lot from just meeting them.

“The school year will start in January. Not for Eric

though, who is visually impaired. is able to enrol

him, because he needs extra support, trained

teachers and books in Braille.

Eric spends the day at his mother’s phone shop,

while she attends to customers, hoping that one

day his mum will tell him ‘Eric, you can go to

school now.’

But that day never comes.”

ADD International’s Country Director in Bangladesh,

Shafiqul Islam, recalls a chilling story of a young boy

neglected by his community.

‘I was in a village in a very rural area and I saw a boy who

had covered himself with a cloth and sat down in the yard

of his thatched house. I went to him and when I sat near

him I smelled a bad smell. His condition was very bad. It

seemed like he was near death. He couldn’t understand

anything, couldn’t hear anyone and if someone touched

him he felt pain and shouted. He was becoming raw-

boned and in a moribund state.

We roamed around the area of his village home. Many of

the villagers said that the house was caught by jinn (a bad

spirit).

No one goes to their house. The villagers think that if they

mix with the boy or with his family the jinn will catch their

children too. ADD International was able to show the

village that this was superstition. After getting him a

wheelchair, the boy was able to open a shop which

completely changed how he was perceived in the village.’