Showing the human side of Nelson life
A national storytelling initiative has hit Nelson and a small but passionate group of local volunteers are driving it.
Humans of Nelson is part of the nation-wide project, Humans of Aotearoa whose vision is to share the stories of everyday New Zealanders.
It is an idea based on the success of Humans of South Auckland, a project which was led by photographer and storyteller (and new Nelsonian), Jasmine Jenke.
In 2014, Jenke and her team began sharing South Auckland stories on the Humans of South Auckland Official Facebook page.
The project grew rapidly and saw the stories being published in the local community paper and book, Real, Raw and Relatable which was published in 2016.
‘‘HOA [Humans of Aotearoa] is an opportunity for communities nationwide to benefit from the power of storytelling’’, says Jenke.
‘‘Our vision is to connect, engage and empower communities’’.
Together with her colleague, Roxanne Leech, they aim to equip communities with the tools to develop their own ‘Humans of’ project.
The project has been piloted in Kaitaia and Christchurch and is now in Nelson, where Jenke will be a member of the local team.
If you’re interested in interviewing and writing short stories for Humans of Nelson, contact hoa.kiaora@gmail.com Humans of Aotearoa.
Her dream is to connect everyday New Zealander through the power of social media and digital, interactive displays.
She hopes to do this with the help of local volunteers and the everyday New Zealanders opening up and sharing their story.