Never the same again

Posted by aurelia on 15 June, 2009

I woke up late yesterday morning. I was thankful for my ten hours of sleep – the longest I had lately. I sat in my bed feeling a bit disoriented or overwhelmed – not because my mind was empty, but because I was loaded with so much joy for the outcome of the three-day digital storytelling workshop we have just completed teaching (11-13 June 2009).

My heart is still bursting with pride and joy for each participant who bravely made it through. Most of them have never done anything like this before; many were new to the softwares that we introduced; and one or two of them are not computer-savvy, or at least familiar, at all. But they all came with willingness to learn new things, and to share their stories.

Writing their scripts (allowing it to be evaluated, edited, etc), recording their own voices (as they read their script, feeling shy at hearing their own recorded voices), making their story into a video, and showing it to the whole class at the end of the workshop were big steps to take. I know how much courage it took for them to go through that. And how liberating and how fulfilling it is once it’s over!

One of the participants talked about a rubber band - once it’s stretched, it is never the same again.  Maybe we were all like rubber bands. I am happy to think that our creativity, courage, community, selves, journey, relationships, and hearts were all stretched through this activity. I found new friends and have come to know better those I am already friends with. It was quite a journey coming alongside them during the different stages of producing their digital stories all the way through the big day – the showcase!

My co-teacher Angeline Koh and I celebrate each one’s precious story. We are very pleased and encouraged to do more workshops. We were honoured to have National Book Development Council of Singapore’s Executive Director Mr. R Ramachandran, and Programme Development Senior Manager  Regina Kuan and also Selene Chew, wife of former Navigators Singapore National Director Jim Chew (now based in New Zealand) present at the showcase last Saturday.

Most of all, kudos to all participants! Your stories speak for itself! /ALC