Even traffic jams can feel like home with the right perspective, as author Lupita C. describes in this HomeStory.
Out of Eden Walk-Chicago (OOEW-C) is a grassroots program that encourages city residents to join civic walks to learn more about their own and other neighborhoods. Inspired by Paul Salopek’s global slow journalism project and funded by the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, OOEW-C has brought people in the city together on foot since July 2017.
The community walks (temporarily paused for safety during the COVID-19 pandemic) proved a meaningful way for Chicagoans to form connections and gain new awareness about their city. We look forward to resuming them when the pandemic abates.
Building on the idea of sharing stories while walking together, in spring 2019, OOEW-C launched the HomeStories Project, a digital storytelling platform where Chicagoans can post their stories, just as Paul does as he walks across the world. The platform, which aims to foster empowerment, empathy, and understanding, exists thanks to pro-bono support from the GIS software company Esri.
Even traffic jams can feel like home with the right perspective, as author Lupita C. describes in this HomeStory.
Out of Eden Walk-Chicago (OOEW-C) is a grassroots program that encourages city residents to join civic walks to learn more about their own and other neighborhoods. Inspired by Paul Salopek’s global slow journalism project and funded by the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, OOEW-C has brought people in the city together on foot since July 2017.
The community walks (temporarily paused for safety during the COVID-19 pandemic) proved a meaningful way for Chicagoans to form connections and gain new awareness about their city. We look forward to resuming them when the pandemic abates.
Building on the idea of sharing stories while walking together, in spring 2019, OOEW-C launched the HomeStories Project, a digital storytelling platform where Chicagoans can post their stories, just as Paul does as he walks across the world. The platform, which aims to foster empowerment, empathy, and understanding, exists thanks to pro-bono support from the GIS software company Esri.
For a self-described “bachelorette who is still enjoying her freedom,” home and maternal ancestry are intertwined.
On this digital commons, participants can publish brief narratives describing their experiences of “home.” If they choose, they can include a photo of themselves and can answer the same three Milestone questions Paul asks people he meets every hundred miles along his global route: Who are you? Where are you from? Where are you going? Each post is pinned to the location the author is describing, creating a unified, geotagged archive of individual narratives.
Although intended originally for Chicagoans, HomeStories sparked interest from the Out of Eden Walk’s global community, with many followers asking how they could participate. Educators in the United States and other countries wanted to bring HomeStories to their classrooms (OOEW-C’s growing education mission is bolstered by local partners and the Pulitzer Center), and community members in various locales wanted to add their stories and to share the map with family members and friends. The isolation imposed by pandemic lockdowns has only intensified people’s desire to communicate through HomeStories.
In keeping with the spirit of Paul’s multicountry storytelling journey, the OOEW-C team has opened the map to anyone, anywhere in the world. Already, hundreds of people from dozens of countries representing every continent have added their stories.
In one, titled “Building Homes for Others,” an 18-year-old from Munger District, in Bihar, India, finds home in construction work in New Delhi: “I always wanted to reach heights but never thought I would end up at high rise buildings of a big city,” he says. “I do not own them but I make them. For the past six years I’ve been making homes in big cities but haven’t built mine yet. This huge city Delhi has started to feel home because it pays for the education of my two younger brothers and a little sister in my village…my first home will always be my native village in Bihar where a dry piece of land awaits me.”
In another, titled “PaiTavytera,” author Osmar Valenzuela describes his ancestral past and his plans for the future in response to the Milestone questions: “I am a descendant of the PaiTavytera that’s in the state of Amamabay. I am in the town of Pedro Juan Caballero, in the Republic of Paraguay. My goal is to be a public defender, so that I may defend the rights of my native brothers so they and what is rightfully theirs will be respected (protected). For many years the rights of the natives have been played with.”
A team of eight Story Gatherers have helped make this expansion possible. These volunteers act as ambassadors for OOEW-C across their personal and professional networks in the U.S. and other countries, including Paraguay, Canada, and India. We thank them for their enthusiasm.
If you’re interested in collecting stories from your community to add to the map, we invite you to join the Story Gatherer team. Please email us for more information at: info@outofedenwalk.com.
Explore the stories already gathered and add your voice to the global chorus here. To follow HomeStories news, join live digital events, and more, please sign up for the OOEW-C newsletter here. You can also follow us on social media via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Julia Payne is the program director for the Out of Eden Walk nonprofit. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
For a self-described “bachelorette who is still enjoying her freedom,” home and maternal ancestry are intertwined.
On this digital commons, participants can publish brief narratives describing their experiences of “home.” If they choose, they can include a photo of themselves and can answer the same three Milestone questions Paul asks people he meets every hundred miles along his global route: Who are you? Where are you from? Where are you going? Each post is pinned to the location the author is describing, creating a unified, geotagged archive of individual narratives.
Although intended originally for Chicagoans, HomeStories sparked interest from the Out of Eden Walk’s global community, with many followers asking how they could participate. Educators in the United States and other countries wanted to bring HomeStories to their classrooms (OOEW-C’s growing education mission is bolstered by local partners and the Pulitzer Center), and community members in various locales wanted to add their stories and to share the map with family members and friends. The isolation imposed by pandemic lockdowns has only intensified people’s desire to communicate through HomeStories.
In keeping with the spirit of Paul’s multicountry storytelling journey, the OOEW-C team has opened the map to anyone, anywhere in the world. Already, hundreds of people from dozens of countries representing every continent have added their stories.
In one, titled “Building Homes for Others,” an 18-year-old from Munger District, in Bihar, India, finds home in construction work in New Delhi: “I always wanted to reach heights but never thought I would end up at high rise buildings of a big city,” he says. “I do not own them but I make them. For the past six years I’ve been making homes in big cities but haven’t built mine yet. This huge city Delhi has started to feel home because it pays for the education of my two younger brothers and a little sister in my village…my first home will always be my native village in Bihar where a dry piece of land awaits me.”
In another, titled “PaiTavytera,” author Osmar Valenzuela describes his ancestral past and his plans for the future in response to the Milestone questions: “I am a descendant of the PaiTavytera that’s in the state of Amamabay. I am in the town of Pedro Juan Caballero, in the Republic of Paraguay. My goal is to be a public defender, so that I may defend the rights of my native brothers so they and what is rightfully theirs will be respected (protected). For many years the rights of the natives have been played with.”
A team of eight Story Gatherers have helped make this expansion possible. These volunteers act as ambassadors for OOEW-C across their personal and professional networks in the U.S. and other countries, including Paraguay, Canada, and India. We thank them for their enthusiasm.
If you’re interested in collecting stories from your community to add to the map, we invite you to join the Story Gatherer team. Please email us for more information at: info@outofedenwalk.com.
Explore the stories already gathered and add your voice to the global chorus here. To follow HomeStories news, join live digital events, and more, please sign up for the OOEW-C newsletter here. You can also follow us on social media via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Julia Payne is the program director for the Out of Eden Walk nonprofit. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
