Healing Through Storytelling: a Journey of Resilience

I had the privilege of working with these incredible middle and high school students from Khartoum American School in November 2023. We used storytelling strategies to talk about the trauma of leaving Khartoum when war broke out in April 2023, and to create and share digital stories with the community.

by LeeAnne Lavender

When war broke out in Sudan in April 2023, Khartoum American School (KAS) teachers, staff and families were forced to flee the city amid gunfire, bomb blasts and great uncertainty. After finishing the 2022/23 school year online, the school was facing 2023/24 without a physical place to call home because of the ongoing conflict in Sudan. Amazingly, the Schutz American School team in Alexandria, Egypt, opened its campus to KAS and invited them to share space this year, and a number of teachers, staff and families have relocated there.

In the wake of such upheaval and disruption, you can imagine that the KAS community had much to process, and many losses and hurts that needed healing.

In November, I was excited to visit KAS at the Schutz campus in Alexandria so I could use storytelling strategies to help all members of the KAS community reflect, connect and express key learnings from the tumultuous experiences of the last 7 months.

Here’s a snapshot of what happened and how the power of storytelling helped the KAS community pause, reflect and begin a healing journey. For more information about the KAS/Schutz partnership, as well as the events of spring and summer 2023, please check out the article I wrote for the NESA (Near East South Asia Council of Schools) blog.

Story Circles & Deep Listening: Healing and Empowerment

Using a protocol for deep listening and sharing stories provided a safe and structured space for KAS students and staff to explore emotions and losses stemming from leaving Khartoum amid war. Most KAS community members experienced gunfire and bombing in the capital and left their homes and possessions in Khartoum as they fled to safer places in Sudan or other countries.

I spent time in class with middle and high school students leading story circles that featured prompts to help students share their thoughts and feelings. Each participant was able to speak without being interrupted, and also share verbal “flashbacks” with others to indicate what impacted them from what others shared.

At the end of one school day, adults from the KAS community also gathered to participate in a similar deep listening experience. One parent attended the story circle alongside KAS staff and faculty, and it was a time of deep connection where tears and laughter offered some catharsis and permitted the adults to acknowledge their experiences.

Mona Hassan, Business Manager at KAS, reflects on the impact of the story circle experience: "There's so much others can learn from our stories," she says. "I think we have been so focused on helping the students and making sure they’re okay that we haven’t talked about what happened, and at a certain point, it became difficult to go there in our hearts and minds. Opening that door, though, is important for all of us to heal and move forward. The story circle was deeply impactful and necessary.”

She emphasizes the strength of the KAS community, noting, "It's been very challenging to process what happened last spring, and sharing our stories is part of the healing for us."

Below: photos of story circles for deep listening and reflection with KAS staff.

Transformative Digital Storytelling

After the students experienced deep listening through story circles, I was able to guide the launch of a digital storytelling experience to empower students to share their stories and highlight messages about what they have learned, as well as their hopes for Sudan.

Students, grappling with experiences of displacement and upheaval, found strength in crafting and sharing their stories. I guided them through planning their stories using a 5-stage planner and helped each student establish a main idea or theme for their story. We explored a variety of digital story forms; most students chose to record a video story, while one student created an animated story and another created a slide show with a voiceover. Each student was encouraged to choose a story form that allowed them to be creative and feel empowered in growing their digital storytelling skills while, at the same time, engaging in deep personal reflection.

Mona notes the importance of perspective: "I've been telling the kids, you're not refugees; you're heroes. There's so much you can teach others."

The digital storytelling experience offered students a semblance of normalcy and fun amidst the intense backdrop of remembering what happened and processing ongoing emotions.

"For my kids, it was about feeling human again," Mona shares, reflecting on the experience of her grade 7 son and daughter who participated in the digital storytelling experience.

Below: photos of KAS students planning digital stories which feature themes of hope and resilience. Students are excited to share their stories so more people understand what is happening in Sudan and participate in envisioning peace for the future. You can find Mohammed’s story embedded below the photos and you can find more student stories HERE.

Leadership and Empathy

Bridget Davies, KAS Head of School, is a pillar of strength and empathy. She has consistently prioritized the well-being of her community through everything that has happened and her leadership style has fostered a culture of mutual care and responsibility, which is crucial in times of crisis. It’s clear her teachers and staff admire and respect her, and that her leadership has been essential through these months of upheaval.

Bridget views storytelling as a powerful educational and empathetic tool, and she was pivotal in arranging the on-site collaboration that brought me to work with the KAS community in November.

"Telling those stories is difficult," she says, "but it helps people feel and understand empathy. It’s a really important ingredient in the KAS journey.”

Conclusion

This collaboration with KAS is a testament to the healing power of storytelling. It underscores the role of schools as communities that nurture not just academic achievement but emotional resilience and empathy.

You can find the KAS student digital stories here. Please feel free to share these stories with other educators and students who would benefit from learning from this amazing group of middle and high school students.

Below: A photo with Schutz Head of School Michael Schooler and KAS Head of School Bridget Davies (left), and of the KAS faculty and staff who have relocated to Alexandria and Schutz for the 2023/24 school year. High school student Hanien’s video is also embedded so you can see another student-created digital story. While on campus, I was also able to work with Schutz educators and students in exploring the foundations of service learning and active global citizenship.