Storytelling Project
Storytelling Concept

We are seeking a way to better communicate the needs of people we work with (in the States and abroad); while this concept is not novel in itself, we have specific access to vulnerable people groups and the ability to document and distribute their stories. The following is a draft concept for a program that will allow us to train artists who work with BuildaBridge to gather media and for BuildaBridge to disseminate it. Right now we are talking to partners, associated artists and potential donors to fully flesh out the idea and determine how to frame it all out sensibly. In the meantime, there is a secure donation page for the project (we will have operating expenses at the outset though we hope to garner grant funding for the larger balance); click here and then select “storytelling project” from the drop-down menu (be sure to do this as we have several programs on here and the donation needs to be designated towards a particular one). 

Concept Description
The BuildaBridge Storytelling Project will document the lives of children and adults in our programs worldwide and the related work of artists we have trained. The project will concurrently provide case studies and support material for artists and therapists pursuing arts-based education and intervention. The primary goal is to gather life stories from vulnerable populations who would otherwise have little opportunity to express their situation or voice it to outsiders. BuildaBridge will then freely distribute this material in the form of audio recordings, still photography and video. (The same material could also be used to produce a quarterly journal but that is beyond the scope of this proposal.)

Need

BuildaBridge organises direct-service opportunities for artists worldwide; these are often in the extremely difficult social situations and participants are often at-risk and traumatised. Thorough the BuildaBridge Institute, we train artists to work effectively in these settings. We maintain close communication with our artists concerning the positive (and negative) results of their efforts; however, this dialogue is largely internal. We would like to open this up for other professionals who might benefit from an honest exploration of fieldwork (as opposed to merely producing promotional material that is more ‘polished’ in approach and geared towards fundraising). Also, academically, we wish to provide case study material as proof-of-concept for the techniques our artists attempt in the field; this is a benefit to the larger academic community as well as an acid test for our own Institute training. 

More importantly, as we are exposed to some of the most vulnerable people in the world, we feel obliged to document their life stories. Our artists often work closely with people for some time and have access that news organisations or other kinds of researchers might not have (both physical access and the earned trust of communities). The nature of our work leads people to open up and explore their own sense of identity, their place in society, concept of hope and connexion with the outside world. We think it’s very important to record these notions as it provides the participants with a voice (they feel validated and heard) and it provides research material for current and future studies on vulnerable populations.

We continually hear of tragic life situations among our participants and, equally, stories of hope and healing through our artist’s work. But these stories are not broadly disseminated; an artists might speak of a life-changing experience she had in the field but the children she worked with remain nameless. Or we might know the name of a child participant but never reach deeply into his life and situation. We are presented with many opportunities for compelling and significant stories in the course of our work but lack a ready means to tell them.

Proposal

BuildaBridge is quickly accruing a network of artists and therapists who work in the most difficult social situations in the world. This gives us ‘insider access’ and the ability to act as a clearinghouse for collected stories and data from the field. Our first concern is to effectively train our partners to gather the stories of participants in their programs. We have an established annual training institute in Philadelphia as well as occasional sessions abroad; in addition to this, we are expanding our online presence to present supplemental material via the Internet. Fortunately, the tools for digital storytelling are readily available and present an opportunity for us to gather stories from partners worldwide and disseminate them without a great financial burden.

Constituency 

It is our aim to produce material that is broadly applicable and accessible; there are three main groups of benefactors from this program:
  • Socially engaged artists and arts therapists (those who we have trained directly and those who only have a connexion with BuildaBridge via the internet or published material).
  • Participants in BuildaBridge programs (or, again, arts-integrated education programs akin to ours). These may be people in populations that are considered at-risk or participants in cross-cultural excursions who wish to learn more about the culture they are to experience.
  • Academics who are researching the use of art in therapeutic or educational settings.

Outcomes

As this will be an ongoing program, we hope for the following:
  • The open exchange of information will increase the ‘knowledge base’ concerning vulnerable populations and arts-related therapy and education.
  • Participation in this program by artists and therapists will increase interest and attendance in BuildaBridge Institute and related training opportunities via distance education. 
  • The program will increase our ability to link the resources of like-minded organisations and foster organisational partnerships (directly with BuildaBridge and peer-to-peer).
  • Most importantly, this program will allow us to better fulfil our mandate to work with children in difficult situations and increase global awareness of their situations.

Next Steps

As this is a very flexible concept, we will begin ‘small’ and build on to it where we have resources and funding. Initially, there are a few key steps:
  • In order for the concept to become financially viable, we will need to secure grant and private donor funding. We should first produce a prototype of the concept involving interviews with artists in the field, participants, civic leaders and etc. to give to potential donors ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , our volunteer communications coordinator, will travel to India in February and March on an informal trip to document the work of an artist in a shelter for trafficked girls). 
  • Reserve appropriate web addresses, set up a page on iTunes for distribution, etc. 
  • Contact partners and secure involvement (we can do this via our Ning networking site with involved artists, send out query e-mails to our lists, etc.)
  • Develop a ‘BuildaBridge Storytelling Manual’ for use in Institute training and to be made openly available online (this would be an evolving document probably published as a wiki; this will be up in time for the 2010 Institute in Philadelphia). 
  • Gather pre-existing material we have on-hand and publish it via the methods noted above.