Kitabna - Our Book CIC’s Post

A teenager's dialogue with her future self... a debate between the sun and moon... a hungry bear befriending a squirrel... dogs Bolek and Lolek losing their homes in the forest... these are just a few snippets of the magical stories Ukrainian children created in Kitabna - Our Book CIC's fieldwork with Save the Children Poland' CFS ("child-friendly spaces") in carehomes this November. Almost a decade now into the founding of Kitabna, it's been such a joy to me to rediscover the power of the "child-friendly space", where children can come and be children, even in unstable situations, after fleeing conflict and disaster. As a teacher of creative writing, I believe primarily in creating the right environment for dreaming: a safe place for expression, listening ears and the encouragement of imagination. These methods only work in the hands of brilliant teams, facilitators, teachers, carers, whose experiences I always learn so much from. I am always so humbled by the way we can work and connect across so many languages - in this case, English, Polish, Ukrainian and Russian. How wonderful to me to share stories co-created with children and teens in Libya, Ireland, Syria and Jordan over the past 9 years, with these new teams in Poland - and to see those stories, the great work of former colleagues and friends, bring smiles and inspiration to a new response. To see these practices evolve again, with Pomeranian forests, animals and the beautiful landscapes of Central Europe at the centre of stories, has been a huge joy to me. We join hands and hearts in great work, and great words 💜 I can't wait to receive stories this December ahead of the illustration of a new book series, that will share the voices of these truly wonderful children and teenagers in 2024. When Kitabna began in 2014, in Lebanon, with the support of our Arabic school, Saifi, Save the Children and NGOs like the Norwegian Refugee Council, World Vision, UNHCR, and countless civil society initiatives and friends, we called ourselves "our book" - sharing in a belief that there should be no lost generations. There has never been a greater need to share the voices of children, and to try to imagine - and create - the safe world they want to live in.