Sharing Stories: Workshop report

For the past 2 weeks I was working with the Department of Chahta Immi (Tribal language and culture department). The preparation work that I did including making a workshop manual and Power Points for the sessions.

From May 25-27 we had the workshop. I was the main presenter. The topics we covered included:

1. storytelling methods & techniques

2. storytelling demonstrations

3. recording methods & techniques

4. a recording demonstration

5. storytelling in the bigger picture of the Department of Chahta Immi and the archives.

Stories are powerful. They are a way to connect with others around us.

Next week we’ll do some follow-up recording activities. Something of note was the fact that the Choctaw staff members who did presentation sessions spoke in Choctaw!

On a personal level, I feel like I’ve learned more about presenting to a Choctaw audience. I got some feedback and was able to improve throughout.

In Pennsylvania

I've been on the road this week. On Saturday afternoon I loaded some audio books onto my MP3 player, packed my car and left for Pennsylvania. I stayed over night at a hotel in Birmingham, AL. On Sunday I was in the car from 8:00-10:00, losing one hour when I crossed into the eastern time zone. I was very excited to see my parents when I finally arrived at their house in Pennsylvania. I had a chance to talk with my godmother Beth this afternoon. We were sitting on the porch in the cool evening air. ...I'm heading for North Carolina on Wednesday morning.

Language Learning Coach Visit

The week of May 1-5, we had a visit from Shedd Waskosky. He showed Laura-Christel, Jason and I a language learning process using the Growing Participator Approach. We had information sessions. Then we had language learning sessions with Elijah, Lillie and Le. The goal is to build-up language knowledge by reviewing vocabulary over and over, using physical objects ("realia") and Total Physical Response (TPR). This summer were going to begin having language learning sessions four evenings per week. Language learning is a major aspect of my internship.

Released!

This week I got a call from my Wycliffe Personnel Administrator, Jo. We had a conversation about my current partnership development efforts. It was decided that I am able to begin my assignment with the Bible Translation Committee as an Arts Intern!

"As an Arts Intern, I will support the Bible Translation Staff and local ministries in incorporating the Arts (storytelling, dance, music, visual arts and drama) into ministry in order to share the Gospel message in effective and meaningful ways. Some of my activities will be leading storytelling and songwriting workshops, developing church drama teams and doing illustrations for literacy materials."

If you are interested in supporting me please go to the Wycliffe online Invitation to Partnership. Type my name into the fields.

April Showers

This week brought some extreme weather to central Mississippi. Several people called or emailed me to ask if there was any damage to the area and if I'm okay. I'm doing well. The trees on Nana's property lost a few branches but the house is intact. The Bible Translation Office, a double wide trailer, is okay.

Please pray for those who experienced loss during the storms.

Scenes from the ECHO Spring Festival

Cooking Hominy over the open fire

Community Dancers performing

Literacy Class Visit

A group of students from the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics are scheduled for a visit April 18-20. I've been communicating with Amanda over Skype to work out the details.

Yesterday I went to the Choctaw archives to find some samples of literacy materials. The challenge for the students is making "big books" - large sized story books for use with large groups of students. The storybooks I found in the archives were in the School alphabet, not the Modern alphabet. Literacy teacher, Pam, is very excited about having the students come to visit. She's looking forward to their insight and support.

For more information on the Choctaw orthography, visit the Wikipedia page.