ORAL Literature for Development

28/09/2026

On 25 September we held the online book launch of the edited volume:

– Inge Brinkman, James Wachira, Teshome Mossissa, Peter Wasamba (eds), African storytelling and images in teaching: youth and crisis management through folktales and visuals from Kenya and Ethiopia (Berlin: De Gruyter 2026). 124pp.

We were honoured to host Prof. Evan Mwangi of North Western University for the Keynote Address and Juma Rang’ombe and Suleiman Madaraka of Kwale Arts Troupe for a storytelling performance, and welcomed those who joined the event. The PhDs on our team organised the event.

25/09/2026

Our Online Book Launch starts now!

25/09/2026

Dear Friends,

On behalf of the OL4D-Team of the VLIRUOS project: ‘Storytelling and Young People Coping with Crisis: Oral Narratives and Crisis Management in Kenya and Ethiopia’

(https://www.ol4d.ugent.be/),

We cordially invite you to our online book launch to be held today Friday 25 September, 15:00 (CEST). (4:00 p.m East African Time)

Attached you will find more information and a registration link:
https://event.ugent.be/registration/OL4DBOOKLAUNCH

Feel free to spread this message.
Looking forward to seeing you online during this festive occasion.
Kind regards,

The OL4D Team

Home Storytelling and Young People Coping with Crisis: Oral Narratives and Crisis Management in Kenya and Ethiopia A VLIRUOS TEAM Project, joining scholars from Ghent University and Howest in Belgium, Jimma University in Ethiopia, and the University of Nairobi in Kenya Announcements: BOOK LAUNCH We....

23/09/2026

For those having issues with the OL4D Book launch registration, here is a step by step video demonstrating the process, Please note one of our contributors has agreed to use his University email for illustration. The code will only be sent to your email of your choice and you need to input it, the three codes, in each of the 2 boxes given. It is the the six digit code, so the first 3 codes goes to the first box, and last 3 codes to the last box.

Please register for you to receive the Microsoft Teams link in advance.

That also informes you you need to download Microsoft Teams App for use in our online book launch.

22/09/2026

Week 12 (Final Reflection): OL4D Book Launch Series – Tips for Educational Practitioners

Over the past eleven weeks, we have journeyed through stories from Kenya and Ethiopia on resilience, famine, justice, exclusion, beauty, education, belonging, ecological wisdom, and crisis management.

As we conclude our Facebook Story Series, the final chapter of African Storytelling and Images in Teaching: Youth and Crisis Management through Folktales and Visuals from Kenya and Ethiopia takes a different approach.
Rather than introducing another folktale, Prof. Suma Inge Brinkman offers practical guidance for teachers, lecturers, youths, students, trainers, and community facilitators who wish to use oral narratives as educational tools.

Why Do Stories Matter?

Stories can help young people:
1. Reflect on crisis and conflict.
2. Discuss difficult social issues in a safe environment.
3. Build empathy and critical thinking.
4. Explore cultural heritage and identity.
5. Develop creativity and confidence.
6. Engage with ecological and social challenges.

From Storytelling to Learning

The chapter provides practical suggestions for organising storytelling performances and facilitating educational workshops or “story circles” based on oral narratives.

Among the suggested approaches are:
✅ Socratic circles
✅ Think-Pair-Share discussions
✅ Text-to-self and text-to-world connections
✅ Visual storytelling
✅ Role-play and dramatisation
✅ Creative rewriting
✅ Reflection and evaluation activities

The central idea is simple:

The moderator's role is not to tell participants what to think, but to provide tools that help them think for themselves.

A Final Reflection

One of the most remarkable lessons from this project is that oral narratives continue to speak across generations, cultures, and places.

Students from Kenya, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, and Belgium engaged with stories from communities far from their own yet still found ways to connect them to their lives and experiences.

This reminds us that storytelling is both local and universal. Stories preserve the voices of the past while helping young people imagine new futures.

Reminder: Book Launch This Friday!
The wait is almost over.

We warmly invite all our readers, colleagues, students, storytellers, educators, researchers, artists, and friends to join us for the official launch of:
African Storytelling and Images in Teaching: Youth and Crisis Management through Folktales and Visuals from Kenya and Ethiopia

This Friday

Come and celebrate the storytellers, illustrators, photographers, translators, researchers, teachers, and community partners who made this remarkable book possible.

Together, let us celebrate the power of African storytelling.
Our online book launch will be held on:

Friday 25 September, 15:00 (CEST).

Registration link: https://event.ugent.be/registration/OL4DBOOKLAUNCH

See you at the launch!

The book launch will have a nice programme: with a key-note address by Prof. Evan Mwangi (Northwestern University, US), a live performance from Kwale Arts Troupe (Kenya), a Q & A with the editors, and a conversation with one of the illustrators (Ethiopia). Looking forward to meeting you online for t...

18/09/2026

Week 11 (Final Week): OL4D Book Launch Series – Story 11: The Farmer and the Animals.

The Farmer and the Animals is the final story in African Storytelling and Images in Teaching: Youth and Crisis Management through Folktales and Visuals from Kenya and Ethiopia.

The story was narrated in Afaan Oromo by Guddata Midhaksa, a farmer and elder from the Ambo District in Oromia, Ethiopia, and documented by Terefe Mitiku. Far more than a simple tale of a snake and a farmer, this narrative explores justice, gratitude, promises, exploitation, and the complex relationships between humans and animals.

The Teaser

A man arrives at a flooded river.
There, he finds a snake trapped on the riverbank.
The waters are too strong.
The snake cannot cross alone.
Desperate, it pleads for help.
The man hesitates.
"How do I know you won't betray me once we reach the other side?"
The snake makes a promise.
"If you help me cross, I will leave you immediately."
Trusting the snake's word, the man carries it across the river.
But as soon as they reach the opposite bank, the snake refuses to leave.
“You promised!” the man protests.
The snake remains firmly coiled around his body.
“No,” it replies. “I will not leave.”
Instead, the snake demands a trial.
A judgement.
A chance to present its case before a council of elders.
What follows is one of the most fascinating courtroom dramas in African oral literature.
The snake calls witnesses.
An old ox.
An old cow.
An old horse.
An old donkey.
One after another, they tell the same story.
Once they were valued.
Once they worked hard for the farmer.
Once they helped build his prosperity.
But when they became old, weak, and no longer useful, they were neglected, abandoned, and pushed aside.
The snake’s argument becomes increasingly powerful:
If the farmer broke his promises to those who served him faithfully, why should the snake honour its promise to him?
Suddenly, the story becomes much more complicated.

Who is right?
The snake who broke its word?
Or the farmer who spent years exploiting those who depended on him?

And when the final judgement arrives, it comes from the most unexpected character of all:
A clever grivet monkey.

Will justice be served?
Does kindness deserve repayment?
Can someone who has wronged others still claim to be a victim?
What happens when truth and justice point in different directions?

This remarkable Oromo tale of a dilemma refuses to offer easy answers. Instead, it invites us to reflect on promises, power, reciprocity, gratitude, and the often-overlooked relationships between humans and animals.

👉 Read the full story here:
https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783112235010-016/html

Thank You for Following the Series

Over the past eleven weeks, we have travelled through stories of famine and generosity, beauty and jealousy, cleverness and deception, education, friendship, resilience, ecological wisdom, and human-animal relations preserved in oral traditions from Kenya and Ethiopia.

These stories remind us that oral narratives are not merely entertainment. They are archives of cultural memory, ethical reflection, ecological knowledge, and community values.

You're Invited! Next Friday

As we conclude our Facebook Story Series, we warmly invite you to join us for the launch of: African Storytelling and Images in Teaching: Youth and Crisis Management through Folktales and Visuals from Kenya and Ethiopia

Our online book launch to be held on:
Friday 25 September, 15:00 (CEST).
Attached you will find more information.
Registration link: https://event.ugent.be/registration/OL4DBOOKLAUNCH

Come celebrate the storytellers, researchers, artists, photographers, translators, educators, and communities whose work made this book possible.

Thank you for reading, sharing, and engaging with these stories. We look forward to celebrating with you.

14/09/2026

Week 10: OL4D Book Launch Series – Story 10: Four Animals

Four Animals is one of the stories featured in African Storytelling and Images in Teaching: Youth and Crisis Management through Folktales and Visuals from Kenya and Ethiopia.

Mr Hailu Yaye, an experienced teacher and storyteller from Jimma Zone, Ethiopia, narrated the story in Afaan Oromo, and Tsehay Dinsa documented it. At first glance, it appears to be a humorous animal tale. But beneath the laughter lies a powerful reflection on friendship, belonging, power, trust, and betrayal.

The Teaser

Long ago, four animals decided to go hunting together.
A lion.
A tiger.
A Hyena.
And a donkey.
Right from the beginning, something seems odd.
The lion is a predator.
The tiger is a predator.
The hyena is a predator.
But the donkey?
What exactly is a donkey supposed to hunt?
Still, eager to belong, the donkey joins them.
Together, they travel deep into the wilderness.
One day passes.
Then another.
Then a third.
They grow hungry.
Very hungry.
Finally, the lion suggests a solution.
Perhaps their hunger is a punishment.
Perhaps someone among them has committed a sin.
The animals agree.
Each will confess their wrongdoing.
The lion speaks first.
He admits that he stole and ate a lamb.
The others immediately forgive him.
“No, no, that's not a sin.”
Next comes the tiger.
He confesses to stealing and eating a goat.
Again, everyone forgives him.
“No, no, that's not a sin.”
Then the Hyena admits stealing a hen.
Once more, forgiveness comes easily.
“No, no, that's not a sin.”
At last, it is the donkey's turn.
Nervously, the donkey confesses that one day, while carrying a heavy load for its owner, it became tired and briefly lay down to rest.
Silence.
Then outrage.
Suddenly, the other animals declare it the greatest crime of all.

“This is why we have starved for three days!”
Before the donkey can understand what is happening, the predators attack.
And the donkey becomes their meal.

Why was a harmless mistake considered worse than theft?
Why were the powerful forgiven while the weakest was condemned?
And was the donkey’s greatest mistake really lying down to rest, or joining company that never intended to protect it?

This memorable Oromo tale combines humour with a serious lesson about power, injustice, peer pressure, and the dangers of trusting the wrong friends.
👉 Read the full story here:
https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783112235010-015/html

Side Reflection

One of the most striking aspects of this story is that the donkey is not punished for what it did. It is punished because it is the weakest member of the group. The lion, tiger, and hyena confess to serious offences and are immediately forgiven. The donkey admits a minor mistake and is condemned. The story therefore poses an uncomfortable question:

Did You Know?

Among the Oromo, Safuu refers to a moral and ethical framework based on fairness, balance, respect, and harmonious relationships. Ironically, everything that happens in this story violates Safuu.

The predators pretend to seek justice, but their “confession session” is merely an excuse to protect themselves and sacrifice the weakest member of the group. The story therefore becomes a critique of hypocrisy, abuse of power, and false justice.

07/09/2026

Week 9: OL4D Book Launch Series – Story 9: Boys and Education.

Boys and Education is one of the stories featured in African Storytelling and Images in Teaching: Youth and Crisis Management through Folktales and Visuals from Kenya and Ethiopia.

Nazimu Ababiya of Jimma, Ethiopia, narrated the story in Afaan Oromo, and Fedila Abazinab documented it. Unlike many folktales rooted in ancient traditions, this tale is relatively recent, emerging alongside the spread of formal schooling in Ethiopia. It uses humour to explore education, parental expectations, and the consequences of misunderstanding success.

The Teaser

A father has two sons.
Like many parents, he wants his children to succeed at school.
So he works hard.
He feeds them.
Clothes them.
Supports their education.
And eagerly awaits their exam results.
When the school year ends, the first son comes home.
The father asks a simple question:
“Which position did you get?”
The boy hesitates.
He knows his results were not very good.
Finally, he admits he ranked 48th out of 52 students.
The father pauses.
Then smiles.
“Only four students were ahead of you!” he says proudly.
“You have done very well!”
The boy cannot believe his luck.
But the real surprise is yet to come.
The younger brother steps forward.
He confidently announces that he ranked 1st out of 52 students.
Instead of celebrating, the father becomes furious.
First out of fifty-two?
How could that be a good result?
After all the sacrifices he has made, how could his son perform so poorly?
Within moments, the father praises the struggling son and disowns the high-achieving one.
The audience bursts into laughter.
But beneath the humour lies a serious question.

What happens when people pass judgement without understanding?
And how many opportunities are lost because success is misunderstood?

This short but memorable Oromo folktale reminds us that ignorance is not always a lack of intelligence. Sometimes, it is a lack of information.

Will the father ever realise his mistake?
What becomes of the son who excelled?
And why does a seemingly simple joke carry such an important lesson about education and fairness?

👉 Read the full story here:
https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783112235010-014/html

04/09/2026

Dear,

On behalf of the OL4D-Team of the VLIRUOS project: ‘Storytelling and Young People Coping with Crisis: Oral Narratives and Crisis Management in Kenya and Ethiopia’ (https://www.ol4d.ugent.be/), we cordially invite you to our online book launch, to be held on Friday, 25 September, at 15:00 (CEST).

Attached, you will find more information and a registration link: https://event.ugent.be/registration/OL4DBOOKLAUNCH

Feel free to spread this message.
Looking forward to seeing you online during this festive occasion.
Kind regards,

The OL4D Team