Tales told for SEED by storyteller Laura Simms

Our differences are breathtaking—the variety of peoples, landscapes, languages, cultures, belief systems, and stories throughout the world … what connects us, however, is twofold:

• We are all human beings seeking happiness, life without suffering, and the best possible conditions for ourselves and our children in the future. Regardless of our diversity, every culture has age-old stories replete with wisdom, humor, and mystery. These stories offer thousands of explanations and ideas that explore our human condition and our relationship to the natural world. All of these stories—folktales, religious teaching stories, myths and fairytales—belong to us all. They are our shared heritage as human beings.
• The second similarity is how many stories are all about water. The most important element for our bodies and in and on the earth is water. With no water, there is no life.

Welcome to An Ocean of Stories, part of the SEED Water Project where you can explore folktales about water from around the world and find activities that will help you create stories—from your own imagination or by working with others. We also invite you to share these stories, in word or image, on the SEED web site.

Following are thirty-one stories from twenty-nine countries who are part of the SEED Community. These stories are offered to inform, inspire and delight. But mostly they are offered to be shared and to remind us of our common human history and our dependence on water to keep us alive.

An Ocean of Stories © Copyright 2006 Laura Simms

An Ocean of Stories Teacher's Notes : Making Stories Algeria Colombia Indonesia Oman Syria Angola Ecuador Iran Pakistan Thailand Argentina Egypt Kazakhstan Peru Trinidad & Tobago Azerbaijan Equatorial Guinea Malaysia Romania Vietnam Brazil Gabon Mexico Russia Venezuela Chad India Nigeria South Africa Yemen China