At ShelterBox we are driven to amplify the voices of the people we support, as they know their stories best. That’s why we’re running a co-creation ethical storytelling project in Minawao camp in Cameroon. Whilst that is quite a mouthful, I hope this behind-the-scenes look will help it all become clear.
We’ve been exploring what ‘ethical storytelling’ means to us at ShelterBox for many years now. For us, it means examining biases whilst making story and image choices that reflect the wishes of those we support, as expressed by them. It also means constantly listening, learning and improving so that the stories we share with you honestly reflect and represent the diverse experiences of those we support.
But where does co-creation come in? Co-creation is a process of story production where the core principle is to share power with those whose stories we are looking to tell. It’s about sharing decision making with the people we support, asking questions like – what story do you want to tell? Who should tell it? How? What images or words would you like to highlight most? By answering these questions and co-creating content in partnership with those we support, the images, videos and stories will naturally be an honest representation of people’s lived experiences.
Our co-creation project in Cameroon
I’ve recently returned home from a trip to Cameroon where we are trailing this co-creation way of working. Working closely with our local partner Public Concern over a six-month period, we are running a series of storytelling workshops and training sessions with eight participants who live in Minawao Refugee Camp. These sessions aim to equip participants with camera skills and writing techniques to share their experiences directly with you through co-creating a series of emails – sign up now to receive them.
There really is so much to tell you about this project – from recruiting our eight participants, the process of building and facilitating the workshops, to the brilliant stories which are already emerging.
As part of my recent trip, a small team and I led a story development and camera skills workshop. The group were so engaged and it was joy to meet everyone and collaborate together.
Of course we had to start with a healthy game of ZAP to get the group warmed up, before we moved onto developing story topic themes. I don’t want to spoil too much (sign up to our emails to read the stories in-full), but just three of the themes which the community identified as topics they want to share with you so far are:
- Extreme weather and it’s affects
- Shelter provides protection and hope for families and children
- Resilience – not giving up
One man, Ishaku, had even written a poem and rap (part in English and part in his local language) which he sung to us all. It’s unexpected moments like these which make me so excited about co-creation.
Next we ran an exercise which explored how images can make you feel. I had printed out and stuck lots of different types of images to the walls and using emoji stickers we asked the group to identify what emotion they felt by placing the relevant sticker to each image. In a short time we laughed, reflected and had conversations about the feelings the images had evoked in the group.
Next we got the cameras out and a huge storm rolled in. The very heavy rains meant we had to continue teaching photography techniques in the dark, all shouting over the rain to be heard. We even had to make mini lamps using our phone torches and water bottles (see photo below)! Everyone was laughing at this, and it didn’t stop us with our photography session, although it did mean we had to stay indoors.
These are reflections from just one of the twelve workshops we are running this year. There is so much more to follow, and we cannot wait to see what stories and images the community will help create next. But for now, we hope that this co-creation project brings you, and the communities we support, closer together and please do sign up here to receive emails directly from this wonderful community.
More images from our first workshop
