Stories to Kick the Habit

 Since a Creative Narrations training with Sea Mar Community Health Clinic in 2008/9, Sea Mar health educators have been using digital stories at the Washington statehouse, in the clinic waiting room, and to outreach for their diabetes and tobacco programs. When their funder, the Washington Association of Migrant and Community Health Centers, caught a glimpse of their work, they invited Sea Mar and Creative Narrations to present at their statewide Learning Congress in December of 2009 and to begin a Train the Trainer cohort. In January of 2010, nine individuals representing five organizations from across the state joined forces. Our "trainers to be" created powerful personal stories revealing how tobacco had touched their lives...from quitting smoking when becoming pregnant to losing loved ones to tobacco related diseases. Their next step is to look at how best to implement digital storytelling in their communitiies. We'll post their stories in a few weeks.