Walk into the Old Manila section of the Museo Pambata on Roxas Boulevard on a Saturday morning and you’ll find a group of children sitting cross-legged on the floor, listening attentively to a storyteller.

These storytellers are members of Alitaptap (which means “firefly” in Filipino), an organization founded in 1999 by some writers, educators, and theater people. Alitaptap’s mission is to promote the love for reading and encourage children to read through storytelling.

Kids these days prefer computer games and television over reading. Books are left to gather dust. “Nawawalan na ng buhay ang children’s literature,” comments Alitaptap member Ray Escasinas.

“For a child to love reading, the activity should be presented as fun and interactive,” says Charlyn Chua, Alitaptap’s VP for internal affairs. “There is an emotional aspect in the storytelling activity—it builds a connection between the storyteller and the child.”

Alitaptap’s storytellers use the book-based interactive technique, in which the teacher who tells the story holds the book during the activity, referring to it every now and then, or showing children illustrations from it. They also do not wear costumes.

“The method shows the kids that the stories we are sharing come from the book,” Chua explains. “This way, they will want to read the book on their own after hearing the story.”

Stories may vary depending on the audience and event. Even as Alitaptap uses stories written by local and foreign authors, it has a preference for materials by Filipino authors and illustrators.

Alitaptap has up to 20 active members, all of whom are volunteers. They represent a vast demographic: There are teachers and librarians; advertising executives and call center agents. A number of them are students like Escasinas, who is on his senior year, working toward a foreign service degree at the Lyceum of the Philippines. He is also a member of Tanghalang Batingaw, Lyceum’s theater group. Chua is a toddler teacher at Willow Tree Learning Center.

Alitaptap is regularly invited to host storytelling sessions at local private and public schools, shopping malls, NGOs, publishing houses, and church organizations. The group also performs for kids undergoing chemotherapy at the Philippine Children’s Medical Center and trains volunteers for GUIDE, an organization for special children.

Alitaptap president Manolo Silayan has also organized storytelling workshops for teachers to encourage them to bring back storytelling in the classroom. Free workshops and presentations are offered to government institutions with reading and literacy projects.

While interest and good intentions are certainly prerequisites to becoming a member of Alitaptap, an aspiring storyteller has to meet the group’s standards and master its techniques.

“A volunteer has to undergo a two-day workshop, after which he or she has to perform in three storytelling sessions,” Escasinas says.

Aside from the 10 a.m. sessions at Museo Pambata and at the National Museum a few blocks away, Alitaptap also hosts “Wan Day, Isang Araw,” a radio slot that airs at 9 to 10 a.m. on DZAS 702.

Other activities include the following: SWIT (Story Writing, Illustration and Telling) Summer Workshop (May 7-27); ARTIST (Acting and Reading Technique In StoryTelling) Workshops; Writing Stories for Telling Competition (a story writing competition); the Third Inter-College Storytelling Competition (August 2007); the Alitaptap English Storytelling Competition for Teachers (for preschool to grade 3 teachers, November 2007); and the Ninth Annual Alitaptap Children’s Storytelling Competition (for grade school students in December 2007).

For inquiries, contact +63917-5392630 or e-mail alitaptap_storytellers@yahoo.com.