At Writing Through, the belief is that today’s world demands more from its citizens than an ability to parrot information. Engaged and contributing citizens of the world need to be able to think conceptually and critically, to know what they believe and have the confidence and poise to be able to stand up and say it in their own voices. These skills, which are so crucial to intellectual enrichment and personal advancement, are not skills traditionally taught in many school systems, but Writing Through aims to remedy this failure of education within some of the world’s most at-risk populations. Writing Through knows that creative language training and exposure to the arts creates new perspectives and opens minds. Opened minds lead to self-esteem. The combination of conceptual thinking, language skills and self-esteem are some key antidotes to poverty and corruption. At Writing Through, they save minds, one poem, one story at a time.

Writing through uses a unique pedagogy focusing on creative writing of poetry and stories in English. Writing Through breaks down barriers between student and teacher while establishing mutual respect, thus creating a safe space for learning which encourages students to think in new ways, investigating and sharing their dreams and experiences. The process includes a specially designed format of themes, prompts, brainstorming, presentation skills and other bespoke techniques.

Workshops are run by fluent English speaking facilitators trained by Writing Through, with the in-class assistance of a local teacher with advanced knowledge of English who is generally a staff member of the participating school or NGO. This supports the goal of long-term sustainability through local teacher training. The program can be adapted to students with a wide range of English facility.