KARACHI, Pakistan: The Citizens Archive of Pakistan (CAP) and I AM KARACHI have launched ‘Oral History School Tours’ for 3,400 students from 15 schools this April across the city.
The project is one of the several activities running under the civil society’s I AM KARACHI campaign that aims to inculcate hope, pride and ownership in the citizens of Karachi to collectively strive for a peaceful city.
The Oral History Project allows students to become oral historians by learning how to use an interactive ‘Oral History Project Do-It-Yourself KIT’ developed by CAP. The CAP team has been conducting workshops in partner schools to teach students how to use the ‘Oral History Project Do-It-Yourself KIT’ to conduct interviews of their elders. Through the process of collecting narratives from their elders, who have lived in the dynamic city of Karachi and have seen the city grow with them, students will be able to trace the former identity of Karachi. The project aims to instil in a sense of pride and ownership amongst the youth of Karachi which is also the primary objective of the I AM KARACHI campaign.
It is expected that by becoming oral historians: conducting interviews, collecting stories, archiving history, and by preserving these in CAP’s oral history archive, the youth will be able to give a voice to the yesteryears and strengthen bonds with their elders.
Speaking about this initiative, Swaleha Alam Shahzada, Executive Director and Governing Board Member of CAP said: “We hope that through this project our children will be able to bond with their elders, help preserve their invaluable stories and be inspired by them.”
Schools partnering with CAP for oral history project include Bay View Academy, Indus Academy, Haque Academy, The Lyceum School, Froebels, AMI, Lecole, Mama Parsi, Nasra Public, Lady Bird Grammar School, Happy Home, The Learning Tree, BVS, Links, and The City School – PAF.
The Oral History School Tours are a part of a project launched by CAP under I AM KARACHI campaign, which collects, preserves and shares stories of Karachi’s dynamic past. CAP aims to encourage city’s youth to explore more peaceful and sustainable possibilities for their city. The project also includes radio programs, mobile museums and a festival.
