Building Bridges Toolkit
The Toolkit was designed to collect and share the know-how on voluntary projects involving people seeking or who have recently found refuge, as well as raising awareness on forced migration in general. The collection of guidelines, methods and case studies is non-exhaustive and should simply foster your own inspiration and support you in implementing projects on the topic. The creation of the Toolkit has been driven by the ever bigger need of the international SCI network to exchange best practices on projects in the field. It was coordinated by SCI Switzerland with the support of Útilapu Hungary. Its existence wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the Mercator Foundation Switzerland and the active contribution of the Building Bridges working group and a number of SCI branches.
METHODS AND TOOLS serve to support your work on the topic of refugees and migration with different target groups.
DREAMS
Intercultural game on equality and solidarity
Time needed: 1 hour
Objectives / aim:
- To stress equality within the group
- To generate solidarity and empathy and to create a positive atmosphere in the group
- To encourage cooperation
Level of Difficulty: medium
Resources needed: Flip charts and markers
Number of participants: 6-40
One characteristic that we, as human beings, all share is the ability to dream and imagine a better future. This activity strengthens the feeling of equality within the group through the sharing of dreams and visions.
Issues addressed:
- Equality beyond cultural or ethnic origin
- Solidarity and empathy between members of the group
Steps:
1. How you organise this activity will depend on the size of your group. If it is a medium-size group (10 people) do it as a whole group brainstorm. If the group is large, divide people up into smaller groups of 5-6.
2. Tell them to spend the first five minutes reflecting on their own, how they would like things to be in the future – in terms of family, job, hobbies, housing, personal development, civil rights, etc.
3. Then ask people to share their dreams and aspirations saying what they are and giving reasons. They should write down, or preferably draw, any common features on a flip chart e.g. having a job, travelling, having children, their own house, etc.
4. Ask each group to present their drawings or conclusions to the plenary.
5. Continue by asking people individually or in the groups to identify 3 concrete things that prevent them from pursuing their aspirations and 3 concrete things that, they as a group (or an organisation) can do together to get a bit nearer to seeing their dreams come true.
6. Debriefing and evaluation: Start by asking people to share their feelings they experienced while doing this activity and then to say what they enjoyed about the exercise.
Follow with other questions:
Was there anything that surprised you?
Do you think that everybody should have the right to pursue their aspirations?
Do you feel that some people may have more chances than others? Who and why and is it fair?
How can you support each other in practical ways to overcome the barriers and make your dreams come true?
Tips:
- This activity can be a good stimulus to the group and to individuals while they manage to be specific about their dreams and to identify practical things which they can do together. It is important to stress this collective approach in order to overcome individual short comings
e.g. « I do not know how to do this or that »…. ‘I don’t have the tools..’ - The activity works better if the visions are put together in a creative way. If the group has difficulties in drawing, you can make use of collage techniques with old colour magazines, scissors and glue. Alternatively, you can invite people to present their vision as a short drama (sketch). Any method which facilitates creative and spontaneous expression is preferable to using only written or verbal communication.
- It is easier to make the links with racism, xenophobia and antisemitism if the group is multicultural. Otherwise, the question « Do you think everybody has the right to pursue their dreams » should help lead the discussion and reflection in this direction.
Links:
Reference / original source of the method:
All different – All equal, Education Pack p.74-75 (European Youth Centre)
CONTRIBUTE!
You can share your experience, observations, tips and tricks, pictures etc. by uploading for instance a method or a case study to the Building Bridges Toolkit. As this Toolkit is a work in progress to which all involved parties are invited to contribute, we would also be very grateful for your support and contribution in order to inspire others to continue the work towards peace and intercultural understanding.