e’ve told our stories to people in numerous corners across this beautiful world. Our South Texas youth have shared their (and our) stories in South Africa, Japan, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Canada, and we have shared our stories in Sweden, Italy, Austria, and across this country. Just about everywhere, people connect with the idea that there is tremendous power in our own personal narrative.
People from underdeveloped places especially relate; I recall folks from Indonesian and sub-Saharan communities commenting that while they may not own ‘the store,’ they certainly owned ‘their story.’ We absolutely own our story, and through digital storytelling we generate even greater power, which often leads to personal transformation and by extension, to community change.
Before you begin, it is important to note that this toolkit is optimized for Mozilla FireFox web browser, an Open Source browser that can be obtained here. It is also useful to have Adobe Acrobat Reader and the latest version of Adobe Flash Player installed. The 70-page toolkit can be downloaded in its entirety here or you might prefer to print individual sections as you find information pertinent. In the Site Map you will find icons in each major section which link to smaller PDF files. The Appendix is an exception which is set up to be viewed and printed in smaller subsections.
You can jump to the following sections to learn about the origins of the toolkit, Llano Grande's work with story, an overview of what is a digital story, view story samples, and preview the cast:
