OREANDA-NEWS. June 24, 2016. Employee volunteers from all 34 sites of Convergys recently participated in storytelling workshops held in both its Metro Manila and Cebu locations.

The workshop saw more than 100 participants learn how to effectively engage young children in storytelling as part of its Give a Bag of Hope campaign. Now on its second year, this community service advocacy now includes books in addition to school supplies for Grades 1 to 3 pupils in partner public schools and communities nationwide. The successful campaign that was launched in 2015 was a back-to-back recipient of both an Anvil and a Quill award.

Publishing house and literacy advocate Adarna House led the workshops which were attended mainly by members of the company’s training division. In turn, they will be the “lead storytellers” who will train other volunteers in their represented sites when Give a Bag of Hope Year 2 rolls out next month.

Attendees were taken through Adarna House’s “Interactive Book-based Storytelling” curriculum, which uses children’s books as the main tool, with support from audio and visual cues for a more immersive experience. They were also taught the importance of knowing each story by heart and how to adjust the story for varying audiences. Attendees were also trained to make effective use of eye contact and voice to capture their audience’s attention.

According to Convergys Philippines Senior Vice President and Country Manager Ivic Mueco, “Convergys believes in reading as a tool to stir children’s passion for learning. After all, good stories drive and develop children’s imagination, eloquence, and appreciation for education.”

She expounds, “This is why we’re adding books and storytelling to Give a Bag of Hope this year, and we are working with Adarna House to help equip our employee volunteers with the skills to make the storytelling experience fun and unforgettable for the kids. This is another way our employees can share their talents and skills in inspiring love for reading among our youth.”

After the workshop, Convergys employees were asked to do a storytelling session themselves, with Adarna House evaluating their performance. This exercise will help the Convergys lead storytellers in training other volunteers and gain confidence to lead the storytelling sessions when they visit the schools this year.

In 2015, Give a Bag of Hope raised P8.21 million through employee donations and referrals. This amount produced almost 22,000 bags of hope, which were then given by Convergys employees to public school students in 26 schools and communities nationwide. As of this writing, Convergys has already reached its target of 25,000 bags of hope with added books this year.