Children encircle him, watch his face closely, and listen attentively, letting their imagination grow.
They become more eager to listen for more as he relates more details of the story.
Some of them smile, and others quietly guess what will happen next.
For them, this is more than just storytelling. It is a special and magical moment.
At the centre of the circle stands Haitham Shoukry, an Egyptian storyteller who has turned storytelling into a journey across Egypt’s countryside.
Carrying only his backpack, Shoukry travels everywhere to reach children who rarely have access to cultural activities or entertainment.
For many children in remote rural communities, his arrival is an eagerly anticipated event.
They wait patiently for their friend, “the storyteller”, to return.
With him, they do not simply listen to fascinating tales, but interact with the characters, believe in their journeys, and sympathise with their struggles.
Since 2018, Shoukry has been leading the “Hakawati” initiative, a storytelling project dedicated to children in villages across Egypt.
The idea of the initiative is simple: he packs a small bag, takes a train, and travels from city to village, gathering children around stories that inspire imagination and curiosity.
The initiative is part of a broader movement that has emerged in Egypt in recent years, with grassroots cultural initiatives working to create safe spaces for Generation Alpha, or more accurately the children born in the digital age, to learn, explore creativity, and engage with culture.
Shoukry expressed sorrow that rural children usually lack access to organised cultural activities, libraries and digital entertainment.
“This is why such efforts are particularly significant in rural areas,” he told The Egyptian Gazette in an interview.
Shoukry has passion for storytelling, which is far from coincidental. This passion grew out of a childhood surrounded by books and stories.
His grandmother used to tell him stories that never failed to fascinate him. In 2000, he underwent an experience that proved to be transformative.
Shoukry was attending the Cairo International Book Fair when Germany was the guest of honour of the event.
Those responsible for the German booth wanted to borrow a young storyteller from Misr Public Library, the nation’s largest state-run library at the time, who could tell children a story translated from German.
The library recommended Shoukry for the job. He did not expect, however, that this would become the beginning of a lifelong mission.
Shoukry did nothing in the following 25 years but tell stories. This was his main side job, apart from his main library work. He also participated in the Goethe Institute’s mobile library project.
In 2018, he turned his passion into a formal initiative by launching “Hakawati,” to fuel children’s enthusiasm for reading wherever they are.
It takes a lot of storytelling, playing and laughing to do this, he said enthusiastically.
For Shoukry, storytelling is less about words and more about interaction that blends different forms of visual and performing arts.
This interaction, he said, aims to create a space where children can participate, imagine and express themselves freely.
“During storytelling sessions, children often become part of the story itself,” Shoukry said.
“They mimic characters or even act out scenes,” he added.
He noted that this approach transforms passive listening into active engagement, strengthening both imagination and confidence.
Nonetheless, the journey is not always easy for this man. He sometimes he has to travel to two governorates in a matter of two days, something he describes as “very exhausting”.
On the way back, however, he remembers the children’s happy faces as they enjoy his stories and games.
This memory, he said, makes every kilometre of my journey worthwhile.
Beyond entertainment, Shoukry uses storytelling to introduce broader ideas to children, including sustainability and teamwork. Children often use laminated sheets of paper that can be reused multiple times by different participants for writing.
In one memorable situation, children gathered to make Ramadan decorations, using empty bottles and recycled waste collected from the streets of their village.
Shoukry felt proud at the moment because the children had not only grasped the ideas he preached, but also applied them, working together as a team to beautify their village.
“Moments like this one reveal the deeper impact of storytelling,” shoukry said.
“Stories introduce ideas that later evolve into useful actions,” he added.
Shoukry’s small dream has already taken shape, even as he continues to hope for something bigger.
He hopes there will be one storyteller, at least, in each governorate, who travels everywhere to tell children stories.
He also hopes his initiative will one day be expanded and adopted across Egypt.
The foundations, he believes, already exist.
“There are rich and abundant materials in the nation’s libraries, with publishers producing a large number of stories for children and adults in recent years,” Shoukry said. “We only need to connect children with books.” For him, storytellers make this exact connection
