Mabasa modernises storytelling

Award-winning writer, Ignatius Mabasa has embarked on a programme of storytelling in different schools titled "Dende Rengano, a Calabash of Stories"  in a bid to safeguard and promote local languages.In an interview with The Herald Entertainment, Mabasa said the programme is set to benefit a lot of students and improve their literacy and understanding of culture.

"This programme of live storytelling will benefit a lot of students in schools. I realised that most children find it difficult to read books but if they hear folk stories it becomes easy for them to develop interests to read.

"Story telling is a rare opportunity to feed your imagination as the audience gets to see and listen to lion, elephant, baboon and the other folk-tale characters and become part of their world, their philosophy, struggles, fears and joys," he said.

So far he has performed at various places like at the Harare City Library, some youth organisations, Emerald Hill School for the Blind and North Park Primary School.

Mabasa said his folk stories are modern and an educational tool.

"This programme builds vocabulary and fluency and it gets children in the habit of reading outside of school. Things are advancing and it means even folk stories are supposed to be modern so I am using art as an educational tool.

"People should know we can have our own Disney through such programmes," he said.

One of the stories that has become a hit in his programme is titled "Mukanwa Megarwe Maita Party".

It is about a chicken which produces many hens in a drought season and because of hunger they went to the crocodile and it lured them that in his mouth was a party and the would enjoy.

When the hens enter they indeed find a party where Winky D's song "Paita Party" is playing.

Suddenly electricity is switched off and the story unfolds.

"Other stories include 'Mari nebhutsu tsvuku', 'Chikoro chatafanana', 'Radio yatsuro' and some of the stories are in the books I wrote," said Mabasa. Mabasa won accolades for his novels "Mapenzi", "Ndafa Here?" and "Imbwa Yemunhu" and they were also well received by critics and readers alike.