‘Kuya Bodjie’: Anybody can be a storyteller

Those  who grew up in the ’80s and early ’90s will surely remember “Kuya Bodjie,” the affable character on the children’s TV show, “Batibot.”

Luisito Pascua in real life, he is a stage, film, and TV actor by profession, with a unique talent for storytelling.  His animated narration in “Mga Kwento ni Kuya Bodjie,” a segment on the show, never failed to get the attention of his young audience.

Since the show went off the air, Pascua has been busy taking on different roles in theater and film, most recently that of Padre Damaso in Tanghalang Pilipino’s “Noli Me Tangere The Musical,” at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

But he always goes back to the role he loves best, that of Kuya Bodjie, the storyteller.

Just recently, in a workshop held at Museo Pambata, he imparted storytelling skills to employee-volunteers from Smart Communications Inc. (Smart), as well as teachers, students and community workers. They are participants in a Smart-led initiative called CommuniTeach, which gets the community involved in helping their public school children to do better in class and to keep them in school.

Kuya Bodjie was only too glad to lend his expertise because he believes that storytelling contributes to learning and the development of children.

Meaningful interaction

“The simple but meaningful daily interaction between a child with an attentive adult who tells him or her stories has a great impact on a child’s life,” he told the group.

He equates storytelling with being there for one’s children and feeling their presence. And he thinks that if we could make storytelling popular again, by training and inspiring people, especially parents and teachers, to tell stories, our society would be more nurturing.

Pascua grew up listening to stories from his grandfather, whom he fondly calls “Tatay.”  One of his favorites was “Ang Pagong at Ang Matsing (The Tortoise and the Monkey)” by Jose Rizal.

It was through Tatay’s stories that he learned about life, growing up in a family that had its own share of difficulties. “Because my grandfather imparted in me a love for listening to stories, I found a venue for making sense of life,” he said

Although he delighted in listening to stories, storytelling was not exactly part of his plans.

“I was afraid to teach,” he confessed, adding that he wasn’t very fond of children then.

‘Act of providence’

Ironically, his acting led him to an unlikely role—one involving children. Landing the job on “Batibot,” he said, was “an act of providence.”

Kuya Bodjie believes that children have a natural hunger to learn and find out more about the world around them. He notes, however, that feeding that hunger has become impersonal.  He observed that in this modern age, children have more ways to occupy themselves, detaching themselves from others and slowly losing the ability to connect to and build relationships with people around them.

This is where storytelling comes in.

“Storytelling is about building relationships,” said Kuya Bodjie. “There is something deep, primal, and instinctive” about a child’s desire to be engaged by a good storyteller, he added.

This, despite the advent of TV and modern gadgets, he says.  There is still nothing like listening to a wonderful story! Nothing compares to the look of wonder on a child’s face as he or she follows a plot.  In the process, strong and genuine relationships are formed, he says.

Everybody is a storyteller, according to Kuya Bodjie. We have all been blessed with the talent to tell a story.  It is how we learn to deal with life: By sharing our experiences and learning from others, he said.

There is no right or wrong way of telling those stories.  We need only learn how not to feel “policed” by society and talk about anger, sex, crushes, about life’s realities, he added.

“A storyteller merely goes along with a truth or reality and in his or her desire to give meaning to the experience being shared, he or she brings it to life,” saud Kuya Bodjie.

“If you have a genuine love to communicate and the will to build a relationship with a person, storytelling will come naturally,” he said.

So go tell your story. Listen to the stories of others. Sit with a friend or with your children.  Be a storyteller—like Kuya Bodjie. Eric Wong