A Brief History of Magdalene’s Journey
Magdalene Chorongo is one of the best children’s story narrators. She says that her voice is her power, identity and pride. In this blog, we delve deeper into this voice, a tool she has utilised over the past decade to transform education through storytelling.
Magdalene Chorongo was born in the coastal region of Kenya, as the firstborn among three girls. Since her parents valued (and still do) education, her father created a strict study timetable that was used from Monday to Friday. Magdalene would take advantage of this time to clandestinely read storybooks, which she would later narrate to her younger sisters over the weekends. This became a tradition; her sisters were always glued to her, eager to listen to a new story.
“I would find them already set in their specific positions and a charcoal stove already lit in preparation for a storytelling session.”
Magdalene says,
“I think about this, and it’s so humbling, they nurtured a storyteller without knowing it.”
Magdalene’s audience expanded as she grew, from narrating to her sisters as a child to narrating set books to high schoolers as a young adult. Additionally, she pursued a Bachelor’s Degree in Literature and IT at Maseno University, which further sharpened her skills as a storyteller.
How Storytelling Grew A Backbone for Magdalene
In 2022, Magdalene joined EduTab Africa for her industrial attachment. Among the many skills she acquired was recording, editing, and publishing podcasts for African Children’s Stories (ACS). During this period, she worked on stories like Demane na Pacha Wake, A Father’s Lesson, Sungura Mjanja, among others.
Later, upon graduation, she returned to EduTab Africa to lead the African Children’s Stories Podcast as the chief storyteller. Here, she narrates, records and edits stories from African Story Book and NABU, and publishes them on African Children’s Stories Podcast on Spotify. She has managed to publish over 80 stories in English and Kiswahili so far. She has also successfully hosted two Read Aloud Events in the western region of Kenya, bringing together over 600 learners.
Under her leadership, the podcast has garnered over 9000 listeners worldwide and recognition as a top 90 children’s podcast by MillionPodcasts, a leading podcast by PodBean, a top 100 podcast by FeedSpot, and GoodPods has featured its top 10 stories. Additionally, her team’s work exemplifies impact in education, as the podcast is featured on Ubuntu Hub, offering learning resources for 25,000 teachers on the platform.
Magdalene’s exemplary work at African Children’s Stories continues to impact African children through tales that relate to them, teach them about the African heritage, stories that break down STE(A)M concepts, and intriguing narrations that teach about technology.
As she talks about this impact, she touches on the support around her.
“ I do not work alone. I am honoured to have a great team behind me. I have volunteer narrators from different African regions that I work with. The ACS team also has animators, editors and reviewers that help propel the vision we have.”
She says.
A Glimpse into the Future
Magdalene envisages hosting more Read Aloud Events and Storytelling Festivals to keep the spirit of storytelling alive. She believes that through collaborations and partnerships, African Children’s Stories Podcast has the potential to reach a wider audience.
“As a storyteller, there’s no greater fulfilment than seeing children light up through stories. I believe storytelling is the new tool that can make a huge impact on learner experience.”
Looking for a storyteller for your next event? Whether it’s a school function, community gathering, children’s birthday party, anniversary or any special celebration, she’d love to bring stories to life for you.
Reach out to Magdalene and learn more about her here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/magdalenechorongo
Written by Faith Wanja