The 27th of April, 2019, Saturday morning commenced enthusiastically for the boys of Bosco Boys Home, (BBH), Borivali with a Storytelling cum Puppetry Session by Mrs. Vanessa Essaki who is presently pursing her Diploma in Storytelling from Kathalaya- Home for Stories. It began as an organization which was child-centric has now grown into an academy of storytelling which believes in “Thinking, Linking and Telling.” In all 30 boys participated in the programme ranging from standard 5th to standard 9th
The session began with each boy sharing his name and identifying what he is good at. Some shared playing football, cricket, kabbadi, drawing, painting and singing. The boys were then led to a song and dance session and they boogied to the action song “Mere Jaisa Koi Nahi, Tere Jaisa Koi Nahi”…reinforcing their uniqueness while appreciating the same in others. The crisp of the session consisted of the Stories told in Hindi using props & glove puppets, which was followed up by a Story facilitation round where the boys interacted with Mrs. Essaki through a question and answer round to get a better understanding of the story. This followed up with the Story imagery- Activity wherein the boys expressed the story in art. “It was wonderful to see the colors and images they came up with helping us understand what part of the story each of them registered in their mind & hearts,” shared Engelbert Gonsalves, one of the benefactor present for the session. Mrs. Essaki using the puppetry shared with the boys the stories of Bholu the Foolish Donkey and Sammy returns Home.
Pashruram Pujari, a 9th standard boy said, “Thanks to Mrs. Essakipupperty stories we learned through Bholu’s story the importance of understanding ourselves, our uniqueness, being honest in all situations and to be hard-working and the Sammy the bird gave us an understanding of why we need love and proper guidance with an underlying message of good over evil. Sammy’s experience with his (fish)machli rani friend taught him the importance of giving proper advice & how careful one should be while choosing the right kind of friends. I liked it very much and learned a lot through it.”
Dn. Romero D’Souza the Prefect of Studies of the boys while explaining the concept behind this session shared, “Using a puppet to tell a story is a wonderful technique that can lead children to discover the joy of literature and learning. Puppets help us to bring stories to life and to spark young imaginations “anyway, anywhere and anytime.” The art of storytelling is about bringing stories to life, and puppets provide us with a great way to do just that. Thanks to Mrs. Essaki, she made our boys learn the important values of life through an educative and entertaining way.”
As a token of their appreciation the boys made beautiful handmade ‘Thank you’ cards and presented it to the facilitator Mrs. Essaki. The boys thoroughly enjoyed the ageless art of listening to a Story! Were especially fascinated at seeing the puppets bring the stories alive and were participate all through the sessions.
