It is said that story-telling is the most powerful way of putting ideas into the world, and that has been the crux of Aao Likhein Kahani. This creative writing initiative has been developed by SEED Ventures and published by FK Squared. Two cycles of the program have already been executed in Karachi. The third cycle of Aao Likhein Kahan was sponsored and supported by Shield Corporation Limited and was launched all across Pakistan for the first time. Through an essay writing competition, 1200 applications were received from 27 cities across the country. 30 best candidates were selected from this large group of applicants, and the selected candidates were inducted into a creative writing boot camp. The training was delivered by experienced trainers who worked with the children and taught them how to develop stories and illustrations.
The five themes for the stories were: Selflessness, Empathy, Humanity, Bravery, and Determination. To help the children relate better to these values, during the boot camp sessions the trainers spoke to them about notable personalities from Pakistan like Abdul Sattar Edhi, Dr Ruth Katherina Martha Pfau, Masarrat Misbah, Samina Baig, and Sana Mir who have demonstrated these qualities in their lives and actions.
In addition to the training, the online curriculum was also developed to benefit children all across Pakistan. This online curriculum provided information, methods, tips, and suggestions on how children should create stories, develop the characters and illustrations, create suspense, provide a good ending, and what they should do when they experience writer’s block. The topics were delivered by Ms Ameena Saiyid – Managing Director, Lightstone publishers, Ms Amra Alam – Freelance writer, Ms Romana Husain – Writer of children’s stories; Ms Jacqueline Mirza – Academic and Author; Ms Iram Nasir – Academic; Mr Imran Azhar – Founder & CEO at AzCorp Entertainment; Mr Omar Iftikhar – Author of the novel “Divided Species”; Ms Fiza Fatima Asar – Author of Amazing Muslim Super Heroes ; Ms Lailamah Khan – Young Author; Mr Moiz Shaukat – Motivational speaker and writer. After the trainers worked with 30 young writers, they were able to write beautiful and inspiring stories. The best five stories were converted into an audio-visual format, and the remaining 25 stories were converted into a digital flip book titled ‘Aao Likhein Kahani – Bachoun ki Zubani’.
Children not only created their own stories, but they also developed illustrations for their tales. Each story represents individuality and a creative thought process. It shows how much passion and talent young children have. Top 15 children from all across Pakistan were invited to attend the closing ceremony of Aao Likhein Kahani along with their guardians. The event was held at a local hotel in Karachi on 19th March, 2022.
Sania Saeed, a senior Pakistani actress, was invited as the Chief Guest. While addressing the event, she stated that there was a dearth of programs organized for youngsters. She expressed her concern that adults in our society put little emphasis on a child’s intellectual growth other than their studies. Sania said, “Today’s youngsters are writing a history that our next generation will read, and it will disclose to them about our era and how we lived.”
Shield aims to nurture young people and encourages them in building their critical skills with creative platforms like Aao Likhein Kahani. These initiatives are much needed because they provide avenues for children that help in their educational development and empower young storytellers in Pakistan.
