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  AT THE HEART OF THE MATTER:  

 PERSONAL STORYTELLING IN A DIGITAL WORLD 

Community Works introduced At the Heart of the Matter in spring, 2014. The storytelling approach we use is modelled after the one introduced by the Centre for Digital Storytelling (CDS) storycentre.org over 20 years ago. Since then, it has found its way into many fields in North America and internationally. It has been used as a transformative resource by social service and health providers, educators, oral history researchers, and groups that are committed to building community and to social, environmental, and political change. 

 

This process has been particularly valuable for storytellers who have been silenced because of poverty, histories of violence and oppression, gender, age, disability, and membership in marginalized populations.

 

But it is for storytellers of all ages and from all backgrounds. For all of us carry stories: of joy and sorrow; of the challenges we have met or are in the process of addressing; of life transitions and decisive moments; of discovery and recovery; of displacement and resettlement; of injustices and of our efforts to heal ourselves and our world from injustice…..

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PROCESS:    In an At the Heart of the Matter workshop, Community Works facilitators offer:

  • a safe and respectful storytelling space where participants can take time to listen deeply to themselves and others, and where they can learn that it is most often our stories that best guide and nourish us - not the stories that come out of our media-saturated, consumer-driven world; 

  • tutorials on digital video editing tools used by participants to create short  (2-5 minutes) multi-media first person stories;

  • The process ends with a screening of the completed videos

Animating images and adding music to digital stories.

It was a joy to witness how the process invited what I can only name ‘poetry’ to arise from undiscovered places within us and take shape in the world. It was like witnessing birth. Amazing!   - Amy Teakle, Spiritual Care student (Winnipeg, MB.)

 

We were encouraged to feel what we needed to feel. I know for myself the journey was transformational.  â€“ Glenda Knoll, Oak Table Volunteer Co-ordinator (Winnipeg, MB.)

 

I appreciated your patience, skill and respect for all the participants. You were willing to accept whatever we had to offer with grace and gratitude. I loved it.  â€“ Candace Savage, Author (Saskatoon, SK.)

Why Community Works is guided by  Centre for Digital Storytelling's approach 

PLEASE NOTE:  At the Heart of the Matter is not a digital editing

course. While we teach digital software applications, the process

is more closely connected to the oral storytelling tradition, participatory education, and communal art making.

 

DELIVERY OPTIONS:   Community Works offers two options for At the Heart of the Matter workshops:

  • Public workshops with open registration. These workshops are delivered over 3-4 days. Participants are invited to explore first person narratives that are particularly meaningful to them, their families, and their cultural and geographic communities;

 

  • Workshops delivered through partnerships with agencies, organizations, faith-based groups, community groups, and First Nations. These workshops can be stand-alone offerings, or can be incorporated into larger projects that explore issues relevant to the group’s mandate.   

 

We provide start to finish project planning and development services, including assistance with community engagement strategies and fundraising through proposal development.

 

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