STORY TELLING AS A TOOL FOR TEACHING
13-5
An example from Nigeria
An excellent example of how traditional
forms of learning can become the basis for
health worker training comes from Lardin
Gabas, Nigeria. The Lardin Gabas Rural
Health Programme has been described as
follows: *
“The unique feature of the training
programme is its extensive use of
parables,** drama, songs, and riddles,
the traditional methods of learning among
people who still depend heavily on the oral
traditions. These techniques are used both
in teaching the course and in teaching in
the villages.
“Teaching in the village is often laughed at
or simply ignored if it conflicts openly with
current beliefs. For this reason, stories are
There is a saying in Lardin Gabas, One
head can’t carry a roof. It refers to the
need to lift heavy thatched roofs onto
the walls of the huts. This requires the
effort of many villagers lifting together.
Local health workers build a story
around this saying to help people
realize the need for cooperative action
in solving health problems.
constructed to include the traditional
knowledge or belief and to move, through
the means of the story, to an action which will help solve the problem.
Customary ways of telling stories in the village are imitated as much as possible.
The instructors must be sensitive to the differences in patterns and customs
among the various villages, as those differences are reflected in the form and
content of the traditional stories.”
In Lardin Gabas, even clinical teaching, which has a heavy emphasis on
prevention through changing health practices, is based on story telling:
“The diagnostic method taught is based on symptoms. Each set of symptoms
suggests a disease about which health workers will teach their fellow villagers
through story telling, taking into account the traditional beliefs and taboos.
“Use of simple medicines is taught in practice clinics with real patients. Brief
history taking and a physical examination are followed by a story conveying
the knowledge of what factors contributed to these symptoms and what
actions could be taken to alter the development of this health problem.
Teaching through stories avoids confronting the patient directly with
his inadequate knowledge, and allows him to identify with the story
character who finds the solution to the same problem. Finally, the
appropriate medication is given.”
*The complete article—which is excellent—appears in CONTACT 41, Oct., 1977. It is available from the
World Council of Churches, 150 Route de Ferney, P.O. Box 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland.
www.oikumene.org. Also see p. 13-9.
**Parable: A story that teaches a lesson.