Using our Films in Western Schools 

Because all children relate easily to puppets, they can watch our films and quickly make the imaginative leap to what life must be like for their counterparts in very different parts of the world.

They can start to appreciate not just what it's like to live with the everyday threat of natural disasters, but, through the careful scripting and character development, one of the most important lessons of all, which is that wherever we live, we are all pretty much the same, with the same feelings, fears and sense of fun.

From this perspective, our films have great educational value for schools in the West, where they allow classes a vivid perspective on a number of key North-South issues and wider themes.

Through our funding partner Trocaire and its Development Education team, the Tales of Disasters films have been integrated into unique teaching materials for Senior Primary in schools in the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland.

International Award

We were delighted to hear in December 2008 that No Strings and Trocaire are to be joint recipients of the World Aware Education Awards from the Council of Europe, to recognise this collaborative effort.

Trocaire and No Strings are hoping to be able to make the schools programme available to children in other countries, and develop new packs relating to new films such as the HIV / AIDS series.

A Global Dimension

In Ireland, of course, the audience engages from a different perspective. Theirs is a world that is rarely threatened by issues presented in the films, but by watching as if they were Indonesian children, they get a unique perspective on the realities that phenomena like earthquakes present.

And, of course, universal themes are also addressed, like the environment, safety, peace and conflict resolution, and gender equality.

In the Flood / Landslide film, our old friend Badu throws his rubbish into drains, which become blocked. He sells his hillside of trees to a logger who immediately fells them. When it rains, his house and all his new possessions bought from the proceedings are washed away. 

In Two Gardens, we watch through the eyes of the Little Girl and her friend the Squirrel as grown adults fall out through jealousy and mistrust. When Badu's boss offers his twin garden plot to Dani, a stranger from another island, Badu feels threatened. Insecurity turns to anger as the newcomer's plot yields better and better crops - this man must be stealing from him! Rumours spread, and disaster is imminent when the villagers set the plot on fire. Fortunately, their houses are saved from the fire spreading by Dani himself, who has been quietly working hard to fix the local well.

Because we wanted to create a strong female role model, the real hero of all the disasters films is the Little Girl, a young schoolgirl who leads by example with a thorough knowledge of safety procedures and evacuation routes, etc.

Irish Schools 

Trocaire's Development Education team works with schools in Ireland to inform young people about the root causes of poverty and injustice and mobilise them to bring about global change.

The team has created a series of worksheets which help focus a child's attention on given issues brought up in the films.

These education materials relate to all four disaster films, as well as the Two Gardens peace advocacy film. They contain information sheets, carefully-worded questions relating to the films, case studies, and a series of curriculum activities. These take in various subject areas like discussion work, literacy, numeracy, geography, history, art, media education, drama, music, and class worksheets appropriate for two different age groups.