Stories in the mountains

• While stories are a traditional way that ethnic minority communities share their loves and challenges, it is not customary for those stories to be shared outside of their close community.
  
   
  Red Dao & Nung ethnic people are involving in a roleplay
  The relatively near neighbours, the Hmong and Red Dao do not often get the chance to meet, however recently, with the support of CIRUM, the Hmong Sin Cheng community from Si Ma Cai travelled to meet with Red Dao from Phin Ngan Commune just outside of Lao Cai.
  The motivation to meet centered on the desire to be able to better share their traditional knowledge including ways of managing land and solving conflicts.
  
  
  Group activity
  High in the mountains, the 14 participants met over two days. Along with storytelling skills, participants also exchanged and practiced basic skills in taking photos and recording video to support community stories.
  
  Once stories and images were created and captured, the training covered the importance of ownership, storage and sharing of information, in order to protect the legitimate rights of ethnic minority people.
   
  
  
  Participants before saying goodbye
  
  At the end of the training, participants returned to their daily lives of farming, proud and confident of the rich traditions and knowledge they held, enriched by shared experiences, stronger in solidarity with their neighours and ready to share their stories to help the public understand and respect the cultural values, resources and livelihoods of the ethnic minority communities.