Founder and Director of Kitabna-Our Book CIC | Consultant WHO/NRC | Author and illustrator of children's books in the UK/globally | Teaching creative writing/story-writing methodologies with communities affected by war.
What a wonderful moment to see our Kitabna - Our Book CIC Toolkit of best practices for story-writing with communities affected by conflict and disaster shared with UNICEF on the MHPSS.net (Mental Health & Psychosocial Support Network). I know from my work with WHO that this can be the first port of call for many people and practitioners seeking resources that can help alleviate emotional distress in overwhelming situations, in multiple languages. It's now less than one month to go now until the physical launch our toolkit in Yerevan, Armenia, on the 6th July, and we have already started to read the stories that have been created by children in several months of piloting. I truly can't wait to see the Kitabna family, Asia Haidar, Shannon Rayner, Andrew Bell, and our wonderful project team David Clarke, Arpine Kostanyan, Liana Ohanyan and friends from last year to celebrate the launch of this freely available resource and interview our participants to understand how best these practices can be used in Armenia and beyond. It means a lot to me that this project was funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council, who see value in what we do. Kitabna has always meant "our book", and this feels like the best way to celebrate 10 years and share all we have learn along the way. Our toolkit is available here on MHPSS Net: https://lnkd.in/g8ZAqJ5g And on Kitabna's dedicated webpage: https://lnkd.in/g5n5phkH
