The creation of A Common Wealth of Experience, Freedom fighters, child brides and other untold real life stories was made possible through the CommonAge Story Telling project.
Held in 2017, this story telling competition encouraged young people from across the Commonwealth to spend quality time with an older person and to write their life story.
The outcome is this unique collation of stories giving an insight into life and growing old in many Commonwealth countries, and takes the reader on an exciting journey across 22 countries.
Starting in Africa, the journey travels from Ghana in the west to Kenya in the east then heads down to South Africa. From there the reader crosses the Indian Ocean to Asia, and is introduced to life over the years in Sri-Lanka, Malaysia, India and Bangladesh.
The next part of the journey is island hopping from Malta and Cyprus in the Mediterranean to Barbados and Grenada in the Caribbean. Tales in Canada, Australia and England conclude the 49 stories told by men and women aged between 72 and 101.
Capturing changes that have taken place over the last 100 years, these life stories reveal the impact they have had on individual lives; they are stories to be cherished and give a privileged access to those who have personally experienced and endured the complexities and challenges encountered in newly independent countries.
They are a personal record of history for generations to come.
Many of the young authors describe their experience of hearing the life story of an older person. It is obvious the real life memories of historical events such as natural disasters and wars, together with other life experiences have made a lasting impression on the young authors.
From the co-editors
“We hope you find the stories both insightful and informative, and provide you with much food for thought.
Through the process of encouraging and promoting intergenerational relationships, we sincerely hope to have contributed towards fostering a mutual understanding that will be a step towards stopping ageism.”
Ingrid Eyers and Annie Waddington-Feather
(NB CommonAge is run by volunteers and the competition and editing of this book has been done voluntary. While the book is free to download, there will be an option to make a small donation to CommonAge when downloading your copy.)