Stories to build bridges
Stories to build bridges uses storytelling techniques to share the stories of asylum seekers and refugees. Sally Pomme Clayton has been developing Stories to Build Bridges since 2007 working with Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers to value the traditions, languages, and culture of refugees. Stories to Build Bridges fosters oral traditions and encourages understanding between different faiths, languages, cultures and local communities. It gives value to refugees’ languages and heritage of stories, encouraging people to share and tell their stories. It passes on storytelling skills, and creates an atmosphere where people can value and share each others traditions. The project believes that stories can develop and foster dialogue, and build bridges across cultural, linguistic and geographic boundaries. Listening can re-awaken forgotten stories, produce the desire to speak, and connect people to their past and ancestral history. Telling and listening to stories helps develop spoken and written English, encourages communication and integration. Sally Pomme is available to work with groups to encourage speaking and sharing, listening and expression, and the preservation and revitalization of oral heritages.
“Sally Pomme Clayton is a master of the oral tale. She has travelled widely and listened well.” Times Educational Supplement