A Scrapbook of Story Tsunami - Asia

More fundraising happening in St. Louis:

While we told at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, the Shrine recorded the event for use on their Mind's Eye (Radio Inf. Service for the vision impaired). They gave us free and clear 25 of the CDs to sell. If you'd like one, let me know. The $15.00 can be made out directly to the Save the Children Foundation. I'll forward any checks I receive to them.

The recording is crystal clear. Here are the stories - The Burning of the Wheat Fields, The Tiger and the Brahmin, Angel on the Beach (true tsunami story), Nic, Nic, Nic (Eastern version of Soap, Soap, Soap) The Precious Ruby, It's Mine (a Leo Leoni story), The Bosong Pahoo (sp?), The King's New Chancellor, The Road to Llasa, The Perfect Heart.

So far Riverwind collected $1020.00 for the relief efforts. We could add another $165.00 if we can sell the CDs. I'm not even charging any postage!! (Write to Marilyn at markinsella19@hotmail.com to order a CD for yourself!)

Lancaster, PA event in the news

Marilyn Kinsella reported on the two events that took place in the St. Louis area:

On Sunday, February 20, 2005, the Riverwind Storytellers, Co with guest tellers from the St. Louis Gateway Storytellers and MO-Tell told stories for the Story Tsunami benefit. It was an absolutely beautiful, sunshiny day. Many families opted to take advantage of the outside weather. But, still we had over 70 people at the church to listen to stories. Father Lou from the Oblates gave us information about the tsunami from their mission in that part of the world. He led the audience in a prayer for the victims, survivors, emergency care workers and those who donate money. Also, a word of thanks to the Belleville News Democrat for co-sponsoring the events. They gave us two free ads, a great write-up and a follow-up picture with none other than our Lucy Grondahl at the Shrine.

Gloria Anderson-Hegg wrote about the stunning success in Togo, MN, the most rural community participating in Story Tsunami:

The saying paraphrases as “If you have it, they will come.” And come they did – at least 150 to 200 people - to the “twin cities” of Bear River & Togo up in the woods of Northeastern Minnesota. In this area, the township of Carpenter has built a charming log cabin Town Hall, all nestled in the wilderness. That was the setting for our “Mighty Wave of Story, Song and Silent Auction. Coming to see the Hall alone attracts people far and wide, but on this day they also came to hear stories and music, and to enhance their collections of “stuff” by bidding on a wonderful variety of wonderful items at the Mighty Wave of Silent Auction. It was also a great opportunity to help out people on the other side of the world. People who need help badly. Folks in this neck of the woods are good at helping those in need, and so they came.

There was great fun to be had at this benefit! Our storytelling group The Tin Cup Troubadour Society was there to help out at the concert with tellers and singers including Casey Aro, Lyn Aro, Larry Koski, Harry Whitt, Erling Hegg & Gloria Anderson-Hegg. We gather once every other month at Carpenter Hall, and once a month in the community of Zim – about 60 miles from Bear River. Local groups Second Chance, Casey Aro & Playing Favorites, Bill Maxwell & Friends and Gloria & the Man from Sourdough Creek provided music and additional stories at the concert as well.
                          
When the Auction was over and the last strains of music floated down from the rafters it was time to eat. We’ve got a plethora of great cooks in the area. They brought food for snacking on during the event as well for the “pot luck” dinner to be held after the Benefit and before our “normal” Tin Cups event that was held that same evening. Not only did they bring food, but a few of those terrific cooks commandeered the goings on in the kitchen, making sure the goodies were out and keeping a steady stream of coffee flowing. (Coffee is the life-blood of the many Scandinavians here in the North Woods!)

Stomachs full, the music and stories began again. This time they flowed in the name of The Tin Cup Troubadours. People must sign up to perform at Tin Cups, so we never know just what will happen until it has happened. Each month we have a loosely followed theme, and this month the topic was “chickens.”   Everyone, it seems, has a chicken story or song in their repertoire – and all are hilarious! 

Even though main Might Wave of Story, Song and Silent Auction lasted only from 2:00 to 5:00, the donations boxes stayed in place throughout the Tin Cups evening as well. The event was a rousing success! When the doors were finally locked around 10:30 p.m. and I dragged my aching feet and tired body home to count the money, the total to send to World Vision tabulated at right around $2500! Not a bad sum for a little community in the middle of the Minnesota Wilderness. “If you have it they will come….” And come they did! And they gave!

Joanne Piazzi wrote about the Portsmouth, NH event:

We had a fantastic concert in Portsmouth, NH on Sunday! An audience of approximately 100 gathered at South Church to hear stories from Burma, Japan and India told by Joanne Piazzi, George Radcliffe, Meg Gilman, Tony Toledo
and Debra Ballou. "Voices from the Heart", an alternative women's chorus delighted everyone with songs of hope and persistence. A great moment occurred when "Uncle George" enlisted the help of the chorus to lead us all in singing about the mosquitoes, frogs and snakes that had taken over the village! Donations totaled $1142, with $315 going to Oxfam, $297 to Save the Children, $250 to Mercy Corps and $280 to Sarvodaya. Many attendees, including members of the chorus, donated well over the $10 ticket price. One little girl even donated the $25 she had saved from her allowance! The tellers gathered over dinner afterward, and everyone agreed that the event was a tremendous success, both in bringing in a new audience for storytelling, and for the relief agencies involved.

Ron Jones from Durham, North Carolina wrote about Thava Mahadevan, a Sri Lankan drummer accompanied some of the stories:

We were a small group but we had a wonderful time and raised $300 in donations. We had a drummer from Sri Lanka- Thava Mahadevan- who did an incredible job accompanying several of the storytellers with their stories! It was amazing how it worked out with the drummer. No one really rehearsed with him. We chatted with him for about 20 mins before we began. He played to warm up the audience as they came in and did brief "rifts" between tellers. The most amazing part was he just "followed" the tellers within their story and had an incredible ability to know when to play and what to play! For example- I did the "Burning Fields" story and he was right on the mark with supplying drumming effects to represent the flames, the surf, and of course the "pounding waves". All of us tellers were so incredibely impressed with how he seemed to be able to anticipate the story and in many cases able to literally "stop" on the word with his drumming to accent a point, a phrase or a moment.

Read about the contributions of a young harpist in Cohassett, Massachusetts

Dan LeMonnier wrote from Munster, Indiana about an event which inspired the larger arts community:

It was a great night and there is already talk of making this an annual or semi-annual event as a fund raiser for the One Great Hour of Sharing (Presbyterian Disaster Relief Fund). The Chair of the Westminster Arts Association commented that "this concert lit a fire. I can see it growing each year as the word gets out about the evening and we educate people about how much fun a concert of this nature can be." We have a meeting set for Saturday to do a post mortum and discuss plans for our next event. Thanks for providing the "divine spark"!

Read about the Portsmouth, NH concert in the news!

Janet Means, Tempe, AZ wrote about storytelling going up against the Superbowl:

We held our concert on February 6th -- Superbowl Sunday, you may remember. We had 8 storytellers plus one who gave the history of LAFTI, the organization we chose to receive our money. Everyone told stories from the area of the Tsunami. The concert was held at Tempe Community Christian Church where Doug Bland is Pastor. Doug is an active storyteller in our community and he teaches in the Storytelling program at SMCC, as do I. We had a pretty good turn out, even though it was Superbowl Sunday Every one who participated was happy with the results. With the extra money contributed by East Valley Tellers of Tales we were able to send a check for $1,700.00 to the Gandhian Foundation -- they will pass the money straight through to LAFTI which is a small organization in India. They build houses for people and do other projects to help the poorest of the poor. They were badly affected by the Tsunami. The wave came 10 miles inland, wiping out several orphanages. The mangrove swamps, which would have slowed it down,
have been removed in order to build shrimp farms. LAFTI can build an entire house for $1,200.00. I think the thing that is so pleasing to me is that the money is going directly to people who need it. There was no overhead at all for the event, everything was donated, and no administrative cost is withheld by the charity.

Read about the 12-hour Story Tsunami Maration of Bethlehem, PA in the news!

Chris King wrote from Ohio:

I just got home from taking part in our Ohio Story Tsunami. It was wonderful - thanks to Donna Fetzer who knows how to organize a perfect event (the variety was wonderful - from the very young to the more mature, one young man who was visiting family and experienced the real tsunami, a college student from India who performed an incredibly beautiful dance, the pastor of the church where we held it who also told an hilarious personal story, and so much more).

I don't know how much money was donated - 124 people attended, and the church fed a good number of those free of charge. All expenses had been donated, and the tellers even received a special piece of art. Thank goodness the weather was also perfect (winter storm warning for tonight - we have had our share of snow this year). Thanks also to Lee-Ellen for sticking with this. The number of people involved not only helps the victims of the tsunami, it also is great for storytelling. Hooray!

[Lee-Ellen's note: Chris had two different planning meetings cancelled on account of snow before plans were underway for this event! Chris is the real hero for sticking with it!]

Regina Ress, member of the national Story Tsunami committee and New York City storyteller wrote about the NYC event:

Storytellers, musicians, photographers, and wonderful listeners gathered in New York City’s historic Provincetown Playhouse on February 20th for a Story Tsunami event. On a simple stage draped with gorgeous cloth from India, Indonesia, and Thailand, Laura Simms, Diane Wolkstein, Milbre Burch, Heather Forest, Mary Rachel Platt and Regina Ress told stories interspersed with and sometimes accompanied by music by jazz great Art Baron. Susan Enin, a singer-songwriter from Belfast, sang, accompanying herself on the guitar. Of course, Heather Forest sang a song too!.

On either side of the stage were photographs taken by Nancy Rudolph of a fishing village in south India, sea Gypsies in Thailand, and a beach in Sri Lanka. The front of the stage, where the stories and music were performed, was covered with Tibetan rugs. In a small front lobby was an ongoing video display by Eric Miller of rituals, dance, and storytelling from South India. Regina welcomed the audience on behalf of the Center, NYU and the Story Tsunami project, explaining that we were one of fifteen such events taking place on that day. Carley Wellman from CARE spoke about CARE’s work in the Tsunami region. Bhante Paniatissa, a Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka, opened the evening with a blessing for all beings. Laura beautifully wove the whole evening together.

This Story Tsunami evening was the second produced by The Storytelling Center of New York. The first was in cooperation with St. Hilda’s and St. Hugh’s School and raised $910; this event was with the help of New York University
which gave us the use of the theatre and two technicians. The money raised,
$1330, was sent to CARE and Mercy Corps.

Tony Toledo wrote about the Danvers, MA event:

It was great to get to hear other tellers. We all went out to dinner afterwards. It was a small success. Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness. We hope that someone was helped by our efforts. We wish them well on the road to bringing their old lives back, for as much as that can be done when so many have perished.

Sister Maryam wrote from Utah:

I don't know if I told you this, but we decided to raise funds for the African Refugee Artists Club, since the whole world is focusing on the Tsunami. We personally know some of the artists, so we had an opportunity to share with someone we know and we raised about $500 in two hours. The event was magical. It was a celebration of African heritage month with the Utah Cultural Celebration Center. We showed a video, "A Time for Justice". We had an art exhibit with some of the art from the South African Street Artists--an electrically colorful exhibit, including some of the African Refugee Artists heart rending paintings, and three of my own paintings.

We had entertainment! Joan Nabors told a wonderful story. Fred Simpson- authentic African drumming, Ava Cabey sang jazz and Georgia Barretto, the Brazilian singer gave us a real treat--a concert from her latest c.d. and Jose and I teamed up with Fred and sang. The whole atmosphere was warm, fast paced and most enjoyable. There were about 30 students from Hunter High and some other adult guests. We had about 50 altogether. Two of the artists (besides me) came and so, it was a real celebration! There will be a Tsunami fundraiser, here in Salt Lake Saturday night, I'm told. I'm so glad that so many people are concentrating on the Tsunami, but it leaves the African refugees without hope, so there we wish to take up the "slack".

Lorraine Hartin-Gelardi, wrote about the Poughkeepsie, NY event:

Our Story Tsunami was a wonderful event - it gelled and the stories flowed together in a marvelous, touching way that could not have been orchestrated! Many folks expressed both delight and gratitude for the event and the stories told! We had over 80 folks show up. For Poughkeepsie in midwinter, that is amazing! With a matching grant, we raised $1750.00. Folks still call Dutchess Interfaith Council and wish to make donations AND I am doing a local television program whose producer hopes to use the TV format as a way to raise even more money. You started a wonderful thing and opened many hearts. Our Interfaith Council director would like to do another "story tsunami" next year so that people simply do not forget the long rebuilding/commitment process. Many good things have come from this event.

Tsunami Story Event in Delaware:

What a joy to see the warmth and the unity in a room full of diverse people, adults and children, all gathered to experience the power of story telling and to bring their collective good will, to make an impact on those who have recently suffered in the tsunami and really to all people who suffer.

Ten artists in all were offering their voices to the gathered audience. Some were dancers, some were story tellers, and some had come to read a story of wisdom and hope. Those ten artists, five adult volunteers, and six students made the event the success that it was.

The volunteers included students from Wilmington Friends School [WFS], Tower Hill School, and a WFS teacher. The students helped in a variety of ways maintaining an ongoing conversation with the organizers. They were responsible for getting the event listed on a web site at Tower Hill School. In house volunteers, staff at WFS, sent out letters to parents within the WFS community. The Tower Hill School and WFS students also acted as hosts on the day of the event, guiding the storytellers and the audience to the meeting room where the event took place. One crucial volunteer ran the sound system that allowed for sound reinforcement and music for the dancers. Four adults attended to the contributions table and one served as financial manager. In addition, the story tellers themselves all worked through their own individual storytelling communities and networks to bring in the audience. The event was advertised on the radio and through an initial news article on fundraising by Delawarians in the Wilmington News Journal. The local Wilmington papers also listed the event through its community events listings.

The actual storytelling event was launched by a friend from Sri Lanka. Tara Defonseka welcomed and thanked the audience for their concerns for people they had never met. She read a wonderful story from the Life of Buddha called The Mustard Seed, a story of learning to understand loss and of human compassion.
The next teller, Michael Forestieri told a tale from Korea, The Firekeeper's Son, about duty and family loyalty, a tale of the honor of the watchman. Then Kim Graham followed with a delightful Anansi tale about Anansi’s many sons saving his life and quarrelling how each had been the critical player and claming the credit, when really, it needed every single one of them to do the job. LillyMarge Hill then did a Scottish tale with song, Room for More, followed by and Bob Jones who did a short piece by Paul Laurence Dunbar, The Cabin Tale, in which big, greedy bear proves no match for a little weasel's trickery.

Geeta Mishra’s two daughters Divya and Sonya told Aham Brahmasmi, God is in Me, and performed a Bharta Natyan dance. Momma Sandi did a terrific piece, The Three Kingdoms, about the power of story telling and Daphne Santosa shared cultural traditions of Java in costume, music and dance. Daphne told the story of Kekeko, a magical bird, an Indonesian folk tales. Finally TAHIRA finished with a story she had written with a focus on creating a place for women and children that is safe. She told Safe Space and accompanied it with the kalimba.

The audience was very appreciative and the storytellers themselves had a great exchange before and after the event. Raising $2, 060 total was just one piece of evidence of the power of stories.

Jeff Gere, who organized the Honolulu version of Story Tsunami wrote:

"Story Tsunami? In my eyes, there was a great bloom of folks there early to help. We were really ready for an army of interested story fans to descend! That is something wonderful. We got some small-kind publicity. There were GREAT tellings (I cried a few times, was surprised often, and laughed LOTS) in a gorgeous new old venue (with an 'on it' sound crew) and a disappointingly smallish crowd which gave $1,350.00 towards helping the victims. I left with a glowing sense of thankfulness and tangible, visceral sense of community. It was worth doing and I'm glad we all did it. We did that!"

Vicky Dworkin, also of Honolulu added:

Vicky again: Personally, I suspected we would have a small turn-out. It was gorgeous weather on a holiday weekend, and people here had already responded intensively to a series of fundraisers in January, sponsored by various organizations. 2 days after Lee-Ellen's initial suggestion, an East West Center event raised I think over $300,000 in one afternoon. This community had already given generously. Still, I felt good that the storytelling community came together to do this. We had over a hundred people attending in an auditorium designed for 300., so it looked sparse. However, like Jeff, I think we can feel proud of what we accomplished.

Rihab Sawah wrote about the Columbia, MO event:

Columbia Story Tsunami was held on Friday, February 4, 2005. The evening brought together some remarkable storytellers who told a variety of wonderful stories. Some stories were from the countries affected by Tsunami, such as Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Other stories were about overcoming adversity and about people helping people. The international choir "Buds of Peace" opened the concert with their lovely songs; one of the little girls in the choir was from Indonesia and she addressed the audience with a few words about her home country. We also had student-tellers from the Columbia Independent School who did a very fine story-theatre performance.

Our audience consisted of people who came from many different communities around Mid-Missouri, and some came from as far as St. Louis to attend the concert. Some of them were attending their very first storytelling concert, and they were in for a memorable treat. They all gathered in love to share a warm evening of stories that touched their hearts and left a long-lasting impression (as some of them mentioned later.)

The primary goal of the concert was to raise funds for the relief of Tsunami survivors; however, there was a bigger vision the concert helped serve. This vision was that this event would serve as a way of building community and of permeating as well as transforming people's hearts in ways that were permanent. Each new person that was touched would in turn touch many others, and those in turn would touch others, creating a wave of love that unites us across cultural differences.

Since the concert, some have told me about how there were stories that have stayed with them since then and have affected their lives so drastically; someone also wrote "The effects of the concert are still happening, rippling outward to touch an untold number of hearts." It is such comments that affirm the vision of transforming peoples‚ hearts forever in ways that unite us as human beings, and this is the essence that allows us to grow in ways that help us make a continuous difference in the world from here on.

Sandy Farley reported on the Story Tsunami event in Palo Alto, CA:

Feb 12, the Southbay Storytellers and Listeners held their fourth annual Winter Workshop and swap in Palo Alto. Workshops were much appreciated. Barbara Maloney gave and introduction to Alexander technique for people who use their voices. Scott Goldberg demonstrated how he records storytellers and cleans up their digitized voices for a great CD with balanced sound. Cathryn Wellner from Stage Bridge led group on how to tell personal stories while Kate Frankel led a critique session. There were swaps, books and CDs for sale, good food. A great time was had by all twenty or so tellers. The same evening, half of us hung around, and Joy Swift M.C.'d a fine Intimate Story Tsunami benefit concert for about 40 people. We raised over $500. David Ponkey, Ruth Fraser, Kristin Link, Tom and Sandy Farley, Kate Frankel, and J.C. Cockrel all told. The Friends Meeting house is a comfortable place for a small conference or an intimate concert. We'll be back next year. A long day, but a great day for Storytelling on the peninsula.

Jane Sims dashed off a quick note from Asheville, North Carolina, right after the concert took place:

First reports are we raised $8,039 for the Asheville - Mountain Area Red Cross! Still have to find out proceeds from the bake sale and CD commissions, and I don't have an accurate people count yet. We had two venues set aside at the Asheville First Baptist Church, one room with 300 seats and one with 150. They both overfilled, a crowd was standing outside in the cold waiting, and the concert was moved to the main sanctuary of the church where we ended up having a substantial audience. Will let you know more when I do.

The Andover Swappers held their StoryTsunami on Sunday, February 13th at the North Parish Unitarian Universalist Church. Storytellers Lani Peterson, Susan Lenoe, Jane Gossard, Nicollette Heavey, Magdalen Cantwell and Tony Toledo were all in fine form with stories from Southeast Asia as well as personal tales of hope and resilience. Jane Gossard led the event with a drumming solo which grew into a full room participation as audience members were invited on stage to join her (we had twenty instruments waiting)or make noise of clapping from their seat. Later in the show, an A Capella group of girls from our town high school provided musical interludes, stealing the show with their enthusiasm and professional demeanor. Lastly, Chinmaya Maruti, a local Indian temple in our town sent members of their youth group to perform traditional dance, play the Veena (a gourd instrument) and sing blessings for the victims in Sanskrit. To see the positive bridging of cultures through this event was for me the most powerful outcome of the day.

We were thrilled at the end of the day to find that we had raised $1,100 dollars split between OxFam America, Save the Children, the American Red Cross, Mercy Corps, Doctors without Borders, and International Rescue Mission. Money was raised through suggested donations at the door, an incredible bake sale organized by the children of the tellers, a raffle of a beautiful painting by a local Asian artist (donated) and doorprizes of gift certificates to local Asian restaurants.

Storyteller Robert Blake, Toronto, Canada I first heard of the tsunami, my first thought was for the children of Butterfly Peace Garden and my friend Paul Hogan, a Toronto artist working with war affected children in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. The Garden is near the ocean and Paul's house was 50 feet from the shore. For a week I heard conflicting stories of death and survival. When news came that the Garden, Paul and the staff of Butterfly Peace Garden were safe and were faced with the daunting task of helping 180,000 tsunami refugees, I started work on organizing "Butterfly Talewinds" to raise money for their relief work. On Friday Feb. 4th, 50 to 60 enthusiastic listeners joined storytellers Dan Yashinsky, George Blake, Phyllis Walker and Norman Perrin for a voyage on the ocean of stories. Sailing on the good ship Mariposa, their sails filled with the Butterfly Talewinds, storytellers and listeners traveled to Africa, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Japan and exotic Toronto find and return with a cargo load of stories and tales for a listener's feast at St. George the Martyr's Church in Toronto. Laurie Edwards, a fundraiser for the Butterfly Peace Garden started the evening with a brief talk on the Garden's past work with war affected children and it's current work as a tsunami refugee center in Batticaloa. Dan Yashinsky led off the storytelling with an African tale of Turtle and Leopard and finished with "Seven Pots and Seven Jars", a tale from Thailand. Next up was George Blake with "Halibu the Hunter" a hunter who has the gift of understanding the speech of animals. When he learns of a coming flood, the villagers refuse to believe him until he reveals his secret and turns to stone.[Retold by Mary Casanova in The Hunter] Norman Perrin came next to share the tale of "The Dancing Lion", an original story created by Subura, a young girl, at the Spiral Garden of Toronto. "The Dancing Lion" had been told to a group of Tamil children when Norman was conducting workshops on story creation at the Butterfly Peace Garden in 2003. Storyteller Norm Perrin, Toronto, Canada Phyllis Walker ended the concert with "The Tsunami" a story adapted from a tale in Lafcadio Hearne's Gleanings in Buddha-Fields. It tells the story of a grandfather setting fire to his rice fields to draw the villagers up the mountain to save them from a coming tsunami. [Retold by Margaret Hodges in The Wave] After a short break for refreshments, chat and the sale of collections of folktales, listeners regathered to renew the storytelling with an open session of storytelling. With tales of owls and rubies, honey and plenty of money wrapped up in a five pound note, they concluded a wonderful journey on the ocean of story. The event took a lot of work to set up but it was wonderful to see how the storytelling community came together to celebrate story and to fundraise for a good cause. I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to Laurie Edwards of The Garden Path Campaign for his talk and gift of time in his hectic schedule, storytellers Dan Yashinsky, George Blake, Phyllis Walker for their gifts of stories and to the generous listeners who brought much good "palm" wine to our story feast which raised $1,100.00 Cdn. for the Tsunami Relief and the Butterfly Peace Garden. For more on the Butterfly Peace Garden and The Garden Path Campaign: www.thestupidschool.ca click on: Butterfly Peace Garden www.warchild.com click on: Field Diaries: Paul Hogan

Hi Lee Ellen, Our concert sold out this morning. We are setting up a second venue so we can accomodate the people who are still calling for tickets. Yeah! We'll let you know how it all turns out.

Regina Ress sent this picture from New York City:

. In the back row, left to right: Allen Seige, John Colligan, Bill Gordh; front row, left to right: Regina Ress, Joy Kelley, Penninah Schram, Robin Bady, and Marilyn Iarusso.

Tsunami

What is a tsunami, you say. Is it a surfer's delight? No, I don't think so. I really can't remember. Yes, I heard somewhere that it's a big wave gone wrong. But where was the whale to rescue that little boy over there and all the others. God, can you hear me? Talk to me. I will listen Your voice must be louder than the sea. Perhaps you are just too busy to answer. Over there God, a little girl is drowning. Look, over there God, a little boy is clinging to the stump of a tree. Do something. Don't just stand there and watch. Too late God, you blew it.

I hear the voices of people telling stories, the sounds of drumming and music proclaiming the joy of life. I see people gathered with arms outstretched to embrace those little souls who survived but have such a long journey to take. I hear the whirring sound of helicopters raining food, water and medicine, and guess what God, I believe again. 

Norma Chipps

It was a simultaneous double bill success. While John Colligan (the organzer), Marilyn Iarusso (Storytelling Center Director), Robin Bady, and Bill Gordh told stories for the early childhood set and their parents in one room, Penninah Schram, Joy Kelley, Alan Seige, and Regina Ress told stories to elementary age children and their parents in another. The atmosphere was relaxed, with many of the children sitting or lying on mats (except when Joy had them up doing the "Tree Pose" with her as she sang an Indian song about Sita and Ram). The event raised $910 for the Episcopal Relief Services in Cuddalore, Madras, India. As one of the school's teachers is from Cuddalore, the school community has organized a variety of fund raising events. Emily Holt, Head of the Lower School, was delighted to have the Story Tsunami as one of the events...and the Storytelling Center was delighted to bring the Story Tsunami to the school.

We didn't have that much to donate after all, but everything counts. It was a wonderful night and people loved the stories. We had a fourth grader who told two stories for open mike session as well. She was great! Tellers brought home baked goodies. We had a fire in the fireplace. The tellers were: Mary Ann Karre, Nilsa Mariano, Eileen Ruggieri, and myself. Our theme was wisdom tales to warm your heart. We told round robin style.

We had a great time at our Pongal fundraiser. Due to last minute flu attacks, we had fewer people than expected: about 40. But they were generous, so we raised $1375.00 for ASHA, an inspiring non-profit that works in South India. We know that each dollar will be stretched to the maximum because ASHA has worked in the area for years and is well respected and well organized.

A rather wonderful coincidence, in fact, was that a young woman came to the fundraiser, after reading of it in the paper, who was on her way to volunteer in India with ASHA. It was great to hear firsthand of their needs and accomplishments.

As for the entertainment: some people made kolams, the beautiful floor drawings made to welcome guests in India; others played with my collection of Indian folk toys and props, and still others browsed through our Indian book collection. Indian snacks and chai kept stomachs well pleased.

At 5 pm, Lee Shin Ye from Seoul shared some amazing p'ansori with us. P'ansori is the sophisticated, skilled form of singing storytelling found in Korea. Shin Ye is a very dedicated 16 year old student whose voice seems already incredibly powerful and flexible. No one in the audience had ever heard this form of Asian storytelling, so it was a special treat. She sang a part of the popular story of the filial daughter Shim Chung, and then taught the audience a part of Chindo Arirang, one of first songs taught to p'ansori students. It was a wonderful day, rewarding in so many ways.

We had a packed house (maybe 100 people in a small space), a rapt audience, and I had so much fun telling. Kathe Brinkman not only emceed, but told a couple wonderful wish stories; Linda Dust told a haunting Scottish tale, and Kim Sheahan told a fine dramatic Tiger's Whisker. I told a couple of Tsunami stories from the news; one about how the animals knew to take to the hills an hour before the wave hit, specifically about an elephant with six men on his back and saved all six; another about a family dog who saved a seven year old boy who'd taken refuge in the house when his mother ran up the hill carrying her two younger children. And afterwards, I was offered many Tsunami stories from audience members, which is always one of my favorite perks of telling stories.

From the Arabian Nights, after telling a brief history of their origin, I told the frame story of Shahrazad who kept herself alive telling stories to King Shahryar; The Fisherman and the Genie; The Anklet; The Fool and the Ass; The Nightingale and the Rose (not actually one of the tales, but a Persian story from my book BLOSSOM TALES); and the outcome after 1001 Nights. It seems suitable to tell these stories of the Arabian Nights from the seat of Islam, the Middle East, when the countries hit by the Tsunami were predominately Muslim countries. I donated the money to Heifer International Tsunami Relief Sustainable Program.

Last night,Verena Tay and myself (Moonshadow Stories) told stories about "Strong Women" at The Substation at 8pm.We managed to raise S$710 (roughly US$433) to contribute to the Singapore Red Cross` tsunami victims relief fund!! For 3 nights we told stories in the same venue and we had decided to donate all of Sunday Jan 16th`s takings towards this fund.The response was overwhelming for all 3 nights and we had people willing to sit on floor mats and cushions,just as long as they could listen to stories!We do not charge for our storytelling sessions,and have a bowl for pay-as-you-want collections.

I live in the Blue Mountains 100km west of Sydney in Australia. On sat Jan 8th I joined with folk and Blues singers as a storyteller and raised A$5000. The event was organised by the local womens group but was agreat success interspersing stories and singing with raffles. My how the audience loved the night and gave freely. ( Entry was by donation). Best wishes in story, John Hockney

It was such a great party! Japanese New Year food by Robert kept flowing, as well as scruptious salads, Asian cuisine, and desserts brought by everyone attending. I think we had 200 people flowing through our Eth-Noh-Tec space, starting at 2:30pm, swelling at 4:30pm, the program beginning at 8:30pm and the musicians starting at 10pm. Once the music began, the music lovers tapped their feet and nodded their head to the groove, while those who preferred a quieter party environment convened downstairs for a good ol' storytelling swap to hear stories by Joy Swift, KateFrankel and others.

The program aspect was superb. It was opened with a welcome by Eth-Noh-Tec followed by a talk and blessing by a Shinto priest encouraging us to say 'thank you' 1000 times a day. Then a beautiful hula dancer graced the space followed by a speaker from United Religious Initiative. He was excellent with his enrolling all of us to make a donation for the Tsunami relief effort. Then Olga Loya, a Latina storyteller told a wonderful Mayan story that had us all lifting the sky together to make a difference.

Then a representative from the East Timor Network spoke and gave us an update on not only the tsunami tragedy in the region, but the prior and ongoing civil war. Then Joseph Galata - a Roma (Gypsy) teller and youth worker - told a wonderful Sufi story, then led us through a visualization that could help send recently deceased friends or family members blessings, but as well to help release the souls in shock from the Tsunami. He closed with this most WONDERFUL gypsy blessing dance - One could see their ancestral connection to India. I (Nancy) and friend Amy Zinn were graciously beckoned up to dance with Joseph this wonderful Gypsy dance! What a freeing experience! The whirling dirvishness of it, the foot rhythms stomping the floor, the sensuality, the hand gestures! Wow! It was magnificent!