Common Storytelling

Alright, Non-Ugandans, let's hear what you have to say. We are analyzing data from the interviews collected at two primary schools, one in the north and one in the central east side of the country. Children were asked to share stories which they had been told that they relate with peace. In this blog post, I want to share one of them.

Typically, in a setting with adults, when a traditional story is told, children are asked what they think is the point of the story. So we can start there. Also, you might think of traditional stories you know of which relate to peace. It will be nice to share these.

HERE  IS ONE OF THE STORIES THAT WAS TOLD.

"During hunger season, there was a girl, her parents used to send her to the bush, to pick wild fruits to be cooked. One day after picking the fruits a certain wild bird came and started singing to the girl. The girl looked at the bird and the bird told the girl that I can help you keep your wild fruits safely. So when I sing you listen to me. The bird started singing and flew down and started scattering the fruits and took them. When the girl went home she explained to her mother and the mother started quarreling. The mother went to pick the wild fruits herself and found that same bird which tricked her also.

The father went also to pick some fruits and still found that same bird, it tricked him and when it flew down to scatters the fruits he grabbed it and took it home. He put it in a box and told the children that they had got a radio. Each time they want to listen to music the bird should sing and asked them not to take out the bird when he was away. One day a neighbor went to grind and asked the girl to let her listen to the new radio. The bird asked the girl to let it sing from the door way, when the girl put it there, it again asked to be put in the middle of the compound. The girl put it there and it just flew away. When the parents came back, they asked who had let the bird go and were told it was the girl. They told her to always listen to elders when they tell her something."