Twice a year, groups of volunteers work with trained coaches from the MOTH Community Workshop to frame their story and share it at a final workshop session.
“I have come to realize that all of our stories have common threads, and it is these that bind us, make us a family, and give a sense of hope and purpose” 9/11 Tribute Center guide.
On the evening of May 8, 2013, the 9/11 Tribute Center held a performance showcasing Tribute Center guides after a 6-session course with the MOTH Community Education Program. Five coaches worked with 11 guides, creating a tutorial on how to craft a story. Many lessons were learned as our guides found ways to distill their stories: the loss of a father, the pain of working on the recovery site, helping others in pain to heal while really healing oneself, dedicating oneself to helping a community rebuild. Our guides helped one another suggesting new directions and points to emphasize. The sense of support and camaraderie between the storytellers was enormous. The MOTH coaches taught skills of communication, shaping and how to layer and roll-out key elements. These new skills will be cherished and used by the guides with whatever story they choose to tell.
The MOTH, true stories told live, is a national organization. Poet George Dawes Green created the MOTH as he aimed to recreate in NYC the sultry summer feeling of his front porch in Georgia; people sitting around telling stories, as moths flickered in the light. The MOTH is an award-winning, not-for-profit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling.
