Busayo Disu seated on a stool in a colourful striped African print jacket, smiling

Our Story, Our Voice

Walking in Their Shoes

The storytelling and educational brand behind every book, film and animation. One shelf, many voices, all telling the truth about what it means to arrive, adjust and belong.

Walking in Their Shoes  ·  A Documentary  ·  Our Story, Our Voice

Real people, in their own words. Spend a little time inside someone else's journey, and come away seeing your neighbours, students and colleagues with clearer eyes.

Screen or license this film

Journeys, told honestly

Two films, two windows. One gathers many voices, the other follows a single journey, both made so understanding could travel further than any lecture.

Key art for Walking in Their Shoes: real stories of being Black in Canada, presented with the Africans Society of Strathcona County

Walking in Their Shoes

The lived experiences of African and Black immigrants in Canada: the first winters, the first interviews, the names mispronounced, the quiet victories no one else sees. A way for schools and workplaces to listen first and assume less.

Bring this film to your community

The Price of a New Beginning

My own journey, from the day I left home to the slow, stubborn work of rebuilding a life in Canada. The most personal story I have ever told, shared so others starting again know they are not walking alone.

Screen or license this film
Our Story, Our Voice book cover by Busayo Disu

The book that started it all

Written through the eyes of young people in Grades 4 to 12, it gives immigrant youth the words for what they are living, and everyone around them a way to understand.

  • Helps parents and educators see what young newcomers carry each day
  • Used by schools and libraries to build more inclusive classrooms
  • Filled with practical strategies you can use the very same week
  • Rooted in the Canadian experience, relevant across the diaspora

Five shorts, five true feelings

Each short brings one chapter of the immigrant experience to life for young audiences and the classrooms that welcome them.

01

Not a Jungle

When World Culture Week arrives, Amara from Kenya finds her whole continent summed up by a display of safari animals. With patience and pride, she shows her classmates the cities, the music, the inventors and the everyday life the poster board left out.

Animated Short
02

Say My Name

Tendai from Zimbabwe is tired of hearing his name stumbled over, shortened and swapped for something easier. When he learns what his name truly means, he decides it is worth teaching, and his classroom learns to say it the way his grandmother does.

Animated Short
03

The Lunch Table

Malik from Nigeria opens his lunch and the whole table goes quiet. What begins as an embarrassing moment over an unfamiliar meal slowly becomes an invitation, and the lunch table turns into the friendliest place in the school.

Animated Short
04

The Casting List

Zuri dreams of the lead role, then reads the casting list and sees the part everyone assumed she would fit. Instead of shrinking, she asks the question the whole drama club needed to hear, and the story on stage gets bigger for everyone.

Animated Short
05

Starting Again

Tunde has already said goodbye once, and now a new school means starting again from the very first hello. Small kindnesses, a seat saved and a name remembered show him that beginning again does not mean beginning alone.

Animated Short

Podcasts and new voices

The next chapter is spoken aloud: long, warm conversations with immigrant families, educators and community builders, plus new films and resources already in the works.

The podcast is coming soon. Launch details, episode titles and dates will replace this note when they are confirmed.

Asked often

The questions teachers, librarians and parents send most, answered plainly.

What exactly is Our Story, Our Voice?

It is one story told in four forms. A book of twelve fictionalized stories drawn from the real experiences of African immigrant children growing up in Alberta. Two documentaries, Walking in Their Shoes and The Price of a New Beginning. Five animated educational shorts adapted from the book. And a Teaching Aid that turns all of it into classroom work. Each piece stands alone, and together they let a class meet an experience before anyone is asked to have an opinion about it.

What age or grade is the book written for?

The book is written for readers in Grade 5 and up, and it is already used in Alberta classrooms with students through high school. The five animated shorts are made for younger children, roughly ages five to ten, so a whole school can work with the same stories at the right depth for each grade.

Can my school, library or organization use the films and the book?

Yes. Organizations take an organization licence or an annual subscription from the store, which covers use across your classrooms, screenings and staff. A licence issues an activation code, and that code opens everything in the Digital Learning Hub. If you would like help choosing the right fit for your budget and your learners, write through the form below.

How long are the animated shorts, and what comes with them?

Each short runs two to three minutes, which fits inside a single lesson with room left over for the part that matters. Every one arrives with a discussion guide for teachers and parents, so the conversation after the film is already prepared for you. The five are Not a Jungle, Say My Name, The Lunch Table, The Casting List and Starting Again.

Does the Teaching Aid line up with Alberta curriculum outcomes?

Yes. The Teaching Aid carries discussion guides, prompts, hands on activities and cross curricular links written against Alberta learning outcomes, so the work counts as teaching rather than sitting beside it.

Will Busayo come and introduce the film in person?

Often, yes. Screenings, author visits and staff sessions can be booked alongside a licence, in person across Alberta and online anywhere. Tell me about your gathering in the form below and we will shape it together.

Bring these stories to your school or organization

Every film, book and short comes with licensing options and discussion guides, so a story can become a lesson, and a lesson can become a change. Tell me what you are planning and I will point you to the right licence.

Planning a classroom visit or a Mrs. Disu story time instead? That conversation lives with Mrs. Disu.

These forms are being connected to my inbox behind the scenes. If your note is time sensitive, email olubusayodisu@gmail.com directly.

One library, two doors

Buy what you need in the store, then open it in the Learning Hub with your activation code. Everything else, we can talk about.