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Students at Concordia Shanghai adopt the art of storytelling to evoke empathy
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In Concordia’s Applied Learning Storytelling Agency class, students explored the art of storytelling and its ability to build empathy through advocacy. Additionally, students worked with a variety of storytelling course partners to create stories that fostered compassion and awareness within the Concordia community and beyond.
Students gained valuable storytelling skills through conducting empathy interviews, crafting and sharing inspiring stories, and utilizing the design thinking process to develop and execute prototypes. To showcase their newfound learnings, students facilitated thought-provoking activities, created insightful videos and designed captivating narratives that fostered empathy around sensitive topics like the Syrian refugee crisis and homelessness.
This experience was especially impactful for students as they learned about the compelling work of the course partners and were inspired to take action and share their work with the community. The following excerpts are just a handful of the course partners students worked with throughout the year.
Alex Myterbi:
Teen changemaker
Alex Myteberi, a young boy from Scarsdale, New York, has been an activist for Syrian refugees since he was 6 years old. Upon seeing an image of Omran Daqneesh, a Syrian child caught in the violence of the Syrian Civil War, Alex responded by writing a letter to former President Barack Obama in 2016. President Obama was so moved by Myteberi’s empathy and compassion that he referenced his poignant plea during his address at the United Nations Leader Refugee Summit in 2016.
Inspired by Myteberi’s interview and advocacy, AL Storytelling Agency students created a children’s book which celebrates one youth’s uncanny ability to make a positive impact in the lives of their fellow human beings: Syrian refugees.
Covenant House: Redeeming Los Angeles homeless youth
Covenant House is a non-profit organization that has helped transform and save the lives of millions of homeless youth across North America. They offer immediate help through supplemental housing as well as providing programs that aid and support their future success.
Upon working with Covenant House, the team was able to further understand the needs and circumstances of people who experience homelessness. From this, students created a curriculum that was presented to the high school student body over the course of a week, which helped foster empathy and understanding among the Concordia community.
Help4Refugees: Sharing stories of empathy one at a time
Help4Refugees, an organization co-founded by Jordan Hattar, serves as a voice for the oppressed refugees by sharing their stories and advocating for their needs. Upon learning about the Syrian refugee crisis, two student groups reflected on their own privilege and were inspired to raise awareness for the crisis that is still happening today.
To foster empathy and personal connection in the community, one student group used Help4Refugees’ Refugee Curriculum to educate classmates through an assembly, homeroom activities and a live panel with four refugee students.
The other group collaborated with an asylum-seeking family in Jordan and created a poetry collection to highlight their voices and draw personal connections. Together with the Concordia community, the groups were able to personally fundraise enough funds for eight laptops to be sent to refugee families in support of their education.
International Justice Mission: Rehabilitating human trafficking survivors
International Justice Mission or IJM, operates in South Asia, South America, and Africa to rescue and rehabilitate human trafficking victims. Upon Speaking with IJM Specialist Rehab and Social Services Director, Shalini Newbigging, the Concordia storytellers were touched and fascinated by the resilience and hope exemplified by trafficking survivors. Inspired by Newbigging’s insight into IJM Aftercare Programs for the South Asia region, the team created an original story that illuminates the different stages of trafficking and rehabilitation. Their collective endeavor was to not only shed light on trafficking victims’ personal responses to trauma, but to also edify their path toward healing.
Xiaohusai: Creating social impact through tea
Xiaohusai is a social enterprise that sells organic tea sourced straight from the fields of Xiaohusai Village and ensures fair pay to the tea farmers. All these profits go toward scholarships for tea farmers’ children. Inspired by this action, the team created two videos to advertise the organization: one regarding its social impact and the other one showing the process of packaging.
“Working with Xiaohusai has really helped my team, and I better understand and take part in the purpose of the organization,” shares Kevin Y., a student in the AL Storytelling Agency class at Concordia. “By working so closely with the leaders, we were able to make the best of our resources to help Xiaohusai reach their goals.”
Re:new: Providing refugee women with meaningful work
Re:new is an NGO apparel company that employs refugee women and provides them free training in sewing and English. They are extremely motivated with regard to helping refugee women two years at a time to gain transferable life skills.
On our part, we chose to create posters with an accompanying podcast to best help communicate Re:new’s values as an instrument of social change. AL Storytelling student Stephanie D. adds, “The best part of this project was learning about Re:new’s method of handling bullying amongst the women, as it was an unforeseen challenge that arose from a romanticized idea of bringing refugee women together.”
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