Yahoo Lifestyle Making A Difference: Catherine Keenan
Ask Catherine Keenan about the children who have been helped by the Sydney [http://www.sydney storyfactory.org.au|Story Factory|target=_blank] - the not-for-profit she co-founded to help children express themselves through creative writing - and the success stories come thick and fast.
She talks about a teenage girl from Sierra Leone who arrived in Australia as a refugee and who now uses poetry as a way to make sense of her experiences. Then there's the young boy who was so anxious about writing that when he wrote, he would tear the page with his pen. After working with the Story Factory he has flourished, his teachers commenting that he's not only better at his schoolwork, but, for the first time, enthusiastic about it, too.
Keenan also talks about children who have been brought to the Story Factory by parents who are dyslexic or who speak English as a second language and therefore cannot help with schoolwork, but they are determined to see their children develop the writing skills they don't have.
"It's an incredibly positive environment," says Keenan. "The kids love coming here, the staff work here because they love it and we all come here really happy."
Keenan helped establish the Sydney Story Factory in 2011 after watching a TED Talk by author Dave Eggers, who had opened a similar centre in San Francisco. "It just seemed like such a great idea. I'm a person who's always loved writing and words," she says.
Today, the Story Factory is based in inner-city Redfern, where it provides creative writing lessons for thousands of children every year. "It's a great place to be," says Keenan. "We see kids' futures looking brighter and that's fantastic."
Visit [http://www.sydney storyfactory.org.au|www.sydneystoryfactory.org.au|target=_blank].
