It is a story for our times. A group of students were taking a tour of the Sharjah Archaeology Museum.
In the weaponry section, their guide explained how each piece had been used in the past. A cannon, half white and half black, caught their attention. Unlike the other cannon, this one didn’t use gunpowder. To see it in action, it was necessary to sing and dance.
The students’ minds filled with excitement and curiosity. Three of the boys started to sing and dance, but to no avail. The students then went home and told their grandfathers about the cannon.
Story Mile 2014 is back on stage. This is the second Zayed University Al Kharareef Club, a storytelling initiative drawn from the UAE’s mythology that this year introduces 50 new Emirati fables and fairytales displayed on illustrated storyboards in Khalifa Park.
Written and illustrated by Emirati students, the intention is to create new stories using traditional characters with the aim of preserving and promoting Emirati heritage and culture. Each story carries an important message.
Al Medfah Al Maskoon or The Haunted Cannon, for example, talks about society’s deteriorating values.
“The reason the cannon didn’t work when the three boys danced and sang was because they were entertaining themselves,” says Noura Abdullah, 23, an international studies student who wrote the story.
The three boys returned to the museum the following day, but this time with their grandfathers.
“When the grandfathers sang and danced for the cannon, it moved because they upheld the old values – the spirit of giving and cooperation,” Ms Abdullah explains.
Parents today are raising children who are more familiar with Disney characters than those in traditional stories. “If parents wish to retell the story of Umm Al Duwais, it would be better if they retold her story as a more positive character to instil positive values in children,” says Ms Abdullah, referring to the female djinn who kills with bladed hands.
“Let us reach the peak in all aspects of our lives, but let us carry our past along.”
The treatment of workers is frequently controversial in the region. In the fairytale Mansor and Abu Ras, the author Safeya Al Romaithi and the illustrator Khawla Al Marzouqi reflect their concerns over labour abuse.
The story begins with Mansor setting out to buy fish from the souq. While paying the bill, a worker accidentally drops a bucket of fish, staining Mansor’s kandura. He loses his temper and shouts at the worker despite the man’s apologies. Mumbling how much he hates clumsy workers, Mansor runs to the washroom to clean himself. There he meets Abu Ras, the djinn guardian of the souq who casts a spell on Mansor and makes him work as a servant.
Soon after, Mansor finds himself sitting on a rock under a palm frond house. Dressed in traditional attire, he starts his day by selling fish as a punishment from Abu Ras to teach him compassion and mercy towards the less fortunate. After a day, Mansor returns to his normal life, but promising to never degrade anyone because, “I don’t think anyone deserves to be mistreated”.
“While I was illustrating Mansor and Abu Ras, I wanted people to benefit from the characters and stories,” says Ms Al Marzouqi a multimedia design student. “The new generation need more local stories because they resonate in the mind.”
Abuse towards labourers must end and abusers brought to justice: this group of people must be appreciated for their hard work: these are the messages the students are trying to convey. The theme is applicable to every society and country.
“Social status shouldn’t create friction between us. We are different indeed, but remain human beings at the end of the day,” Ms Al Romaithi says.
Children should be taught leniency and compassion towards every group at an early stage, Ms Al Romaithi says. Planting the seed of values and morality in them will result in a rich harvest.
“They are the future. How families treat others have a great influence on their children,” she says.
Underlining the stories is the idea that fairytales have the power to stimulate and demonstrate better moral conduct in a world that can seem bewildering to young children.
“Too often, we fail to deliver a message effectively to our children,” she says. “Why? Because the message hasn’t penetrated the heart. Children love fairytales, so creative themes will improve their personality and character.”
The focal point of Story Mile is to revive the tradition of storytelling. The project has grown from a classroom initiative to a commission from Abu Dhabi Music & Art Foundation to create original stories that will safeguard the richness of Emirati society.
“Some instructors noticed that many students were not familiar with many characters in Emirati fairytales,” says Brione LaThrop, programme manager for Story Mile and an instructor on Zayed University’s Academic Bridge Programme, which ensures students have the English language skills needed for their studies..
The idea of Story Mile, she says, is to tell new stories and create new Emirati fables and folk tales. Without the oral tradition of retelling them, there is a real risk that these cultural treasures could be lost.
“A lot of the characters in the stories were very dark,” says Ms LaThrop. For instance, one recurring element in many of the stories was of people being killed and eaten by the djinn for their misbehaviour. “Participants of Story Mile had the freedom to tweak characters,” she says.
As a teacher, Ms LaThrop often witnessed her students’ concern that their culture was being lost. Her students are well aware of the dramatic changes their country is undergoing, she says, and being part of a multicultural environment, they feel they have a greater responsibility to protect their past, present and future.
“Story Mile is one way to express themselves. The themes in the stories are universal that everyone can relate to,” she says. Honesty, respect, integrity, cooperation, creative thinking, generosity, selflessness, courtesy are a common thread among different nationalities.
Raising environmental awareness through “green” stories was also part of the project. The fable When Mountain Speaks takes the reader on a beautiful and exotic trip to the mountain. As a family enjoys the tranquillity, the children scatter to play. Immersed in their activities, they throw waste everywhere. The mountain becomes furious and decides to fight back by kidnapping one of the girls.
“We were once human like you,” says the mountain. “We didn’t care about nature. Then destiny changed us into mountains. My daughters were destroying their surroundings, which is my fault because I never advised them to be better.” The mountain later forgives the girl and sets her free.
“The picture shows that even nature has feelings. We need to protect them to sustain life on this planet,” says Amna Al Tunaiji, 20, a graphic designer.
“When I was young, we were introduced to scary characters, such as Umm Al Duwais,” she says. “We need a new twist for this generation to change attitudes.“
aalhameli@thenational.ae
