Penulis: Marcelina Morgan

The southernmost part of South Sudan and Northern tip of Uganda is inhabited by the Ma’di, whose storytelling skills is not only for entertainment purposes but it is also an attempt to bring out the rich culture of the people. The art of conveying your message across in an elaborate folktale told by the campfire at leisure time, spiced with subtle house chores such as shelling groundnuts or picking vegetables is taxing to both the listeners and the storyteller, given the busy setting. The orator aspires to be as entertaining as possible while the listener aspires to retain as much information as possible in order to pass it on. Ibi the Lion displays his might in many of the pages of the book, while Ito the Hare (Rabbit) is never short of playing havoc. This lifestyle, missed out by the current generation is what kindled the desire to jot these lines on paper, in an attempt to reconcile the lost art of oral literature and the educational function of folklores and folktales and try breach the gap between them at a click of a button – the computer.