Poverty Challenge game - Learn - Christian Aid

a Christian Aidsimulation gameThe PovertyChallengeExploring sustainability

THE [W]RIGHT WORLD MAP(c) David R Wright, 2007Cartography by Cox Cartographic Ltd.The [W]RIGHT WORLD MAP is copyright, but may be freely reproduced by schools andchurches for use within these institutions. For other uses, please make prior contact via thewebsite: www.dandjwright.co.uk

The PovertyChallengeAboutthis mapWhy a new world map?The [W]Right World Map is a fairway to show the world. Manyworld maps show ‘cold’ lands fartoo large and ‘hot’ lands far toosmall. Also, the cold lands havefew people, and the hot lands havemany millions of people. This isnot fair, and it’s not right, so the[W]Right World Map shows eachpart of the world at the correctsize. It’s called an ‘equal-area’ map.Why not use an existing‘equal-area’ map?On most other equal-area maps,the shapes of land are wrong.There tend to be distortions inEurope, eastern Asia and at theedges of the map. It is importantto have a map where the shape ofthe land is as accurate as possible.So what are the solutions?The only way to show the size andshapes correctly is to ‘unwrap’ thesurface of the globe. Place thison to a flat page, and you have toput cuts in the map – mainly in theAtlantic and Indian Oceans. Thismap has two extra cuts in Siberia(the Asian part of Russia). Thisallows Europe and eastern Asiato have almost correct shapes.Antarctica is cut into severalpieces, but it’s all there (unlikeon many world maps) and it’s theright size too. Also, because theArctic is mostly ocean, not land,and very few people live there, it’sthe best and fairest place to putanother cut. Even so, Greenland isthe correct size – so different fromthe huge Greenland shown on somany maps.So, is this the perfect map?No! For perfection, use a globe,not a flat map. No map can beperfect. But if you feel this map isfair, you’re welcome to use it. Youcan call it the [W]Right World Map.Find out more about world mapsand atlases atwww.dandjwright.co.ukContextToday’s world is extremely unequal and canbe divided roughly in two. The developed worldincludes Australia, the US, Canada, Japan andmost of the European Union countries. Mostdeveloping countries are in Asia, Africa and LatinAmerica. People in developed countries generallyhave a much higher standard of living than peoplein developing countries. Almost a quarter of thedeveloping world’s population live in severepoverty, struggling to exist on less than US$1 a day.The Poverty Challenge aims to raiseplayers’ awareness of our dividedworld and the importance of findinglasting solutions to help poor countriesdevelop and work their way out ofpoverty. The game is based around thereal-life experiences of people in ruralcommunities who are benefiting fromprojects supported by Christian Aid.Often using local, sometimes traditional,knowledge and methods, these projectshelp people to protect their environment,strengthen their communities anddevelop their ability to earn a living.This in turn improves people’s chancesof growing or buying enough food tosurvive; enables them to gain newknowledge, skills and self-confidence;afford education and healthcare for theirfamilies; and helps them to becomeself-sufficient. By working together to‘…meeting theneeds of thepresent withoutcompromising theability of futuregenerations to meettheir own needs .’BrundtlandReport, 1987What is sustainabledevelopment?Sustainable developmentis any economic activity(eg farming, tourism,etc) that can continueindefinitely withoutcausing permanentloss/damage to theenvironment and itsresources (eg soil, water,oil, gas).Sustainable developmentconsiders local needs andis based on the availabilityof local resources.learn about and address these social,economic, ecological and political issues,we can all do our bit to reduce povertyand inequality, and create a more equaland stable world.The game also helps players tounderstand that poverty is aninterconnected, global phenomenon,and that sustainable development isjust as important for developed nationsas it is for developing ones. The waypeople in richer countries are usingnatural resources today simply isn’tsustainable – for example, a personin the UK uses on average about 20times more resources than a personliving in Africa. Finding alternative waysof living to avoid overusing the world’sresources is one of the most importantchallenges of our time.The technologyinvolved in locally baseddevelopment is smallscale and appropriateto local needs (eg makingenergy-saving stoves outof local, natural materialsto reduce firewoodburningwhen cooking).This tends to be moreenvironmentally sensitivethan large-scale, high-techapproaches (eg ThreeGorges and Yellow Riverdams in China).Sustainable, smallscaleapproaches todevelopment can benefitlocal people and enhancetheir quality of life.Non-governmentalorganisations (NGOs)often support peoplein taking sustainableactions. NGOs arevoluntary, noncommercialgroups ofpeople seeking to helpothers find ways toimprove their lives.

SummaryAimsThe Poverty Challenge takes place in six countries:Bangladesh, Bolivia, Kenya, Malawi, Nicaraguaand Tajikistan. By representing families livingin rural communities in these countries, playersexperience how changing to a more sustainableway of life can help to break the cycle of poverty.The activities of the game – collecting water,negotiating with market traders, disasters(chance cards), training with NGOs (sustainabilitytokens) – have parallels in the real world.When to playWho can play?• introduce the concept ofsustainable development• demonstrate some of thepressures faced by poorfarmers in developingcountries• show how rural communitiescan benefit from sustainabledevelopment• illustrate how players’ choicesaffect their ability to sustaintheir livelihoods• generate discussion aboutsustainable development andother global issues in a funand informal wayThe Poverty Challenge helps playersunderstand the issues surroundingrural poverty and sustainabledevelopment. Ideally, players shouldhave some background knowledgeof poverty in developing countriesand sustainable development. Theintroductory activities on page 8 willaid this understanding and supportfollow-up discussions after the game.The game is a fun way to run orconclude awareness-raising sessionsat youth, fundraising or campaigningevents. In schools, it is helpful to playas part of a wider piece of work focusingon sustainability issues.How thegame worksThe Poverty Challenge can be adapted tosuit your own circumstances and players’age groups.• You need at least three people perfamily group and ideally one markettrader/NGO per country. If you havea small group of players, reduce thenumber of countries featured.• It is most suitable for anyone aged11 years and above.With younger players (ages 9-14)you could:• ignore the quality of sacks produced andgive the players a training card instead ofasking them to choose one from the NGO• extend the playing time to increasethe length of each year, then hold thedebriefing discussions in another session.With older players (ages 14+) you could:• drop the habitat sheets (older playersmay find this visual representationunnecessary).• stimulate players to thinkabout how they can live moresustainably• develop skills in cooperativeworking, communication andnumeracyPlayers form ‘family’groups (one ‘family’ percountry) and role-play livingin a rural community.The ‘families’ play a totalof four rounds. Each roundrepresents one year.During each year they:• grow crops• collect water• sell their produce.‘Chance cards’ represent problemsfor the families in maintaining theirlivelihoods. ‘Sustainability tokens’ givefamilies opportunities to benefit fromliving more sustainably, eg by improvingtheir farming techniques.Collecting water, negotiating with market traders, training with the NGO, and dealing with situations

PreparationTime requiredBefore the game: Prepare your equipment (you could asksome players to help). Allow time to brief those who willplay the roles of the market traders/local NGOs. Choosecompetent helpers and make sure they understand howthe game works so it flows smoothly.Playing the game – 90 minutes: This includes theintroduction and debriefing.If you have less than 90 minutes available: Divide thegame into two sessions, either playing rounds one andtwo in the first session and rounds three and four, plusthe debrief, in the second session, or playing rounds oneto four in the first session and debriefing afterwards. Ifyou need to divide the game, keep the habitat sheets andrecord sheets in a safe place, together with any notes orevaluation sheets completed by the ‘families’.If you have only 30 minutes available:• reduce the time spent producing sacks each year• skip year 4• omit colouring in the habitat sheetsOR• suddenly stop the game and announce that therehas been a natural or human disaster (eg drought,flood, earthquake, war). These often affect people indeveloping countries, particularly their food production,and the sudden end to the game will demonstrate howunpredictable life can be in the featured countries.Please note: However much you reduce the time, alwaysinclude the debriefing session. This is crucial for players toevaluate their experiences and increase their understandingof poverty, development and sustainability issues.People• one leader to manage the game• extra helpers to oversee activities (collecting water,selling crops, assisting the local NGO, tidying up aftereach round), especially with younger players• divide players evenly between the six countries. These arethe family groups. Each family group has its own countryrole cards and habitat sheets. You will need a seventhgroup of people to play the market traders/NGOs (ideallysix people, one for each country). They will have two roles:market traders and members of the local NGO. It isessential to brief these players beforehand about bothroles (see role card on pages 15-16). As market traders theywill monitor each family group, recording water collectedand crops grown. As the local NGOs they will oversee thetraining of family members. (See market trader’s recordsheet on page 17 and sustainability tokens for each countryon pages 26, 30 and 34.)Space and furniture• a room big enough for seven groups of players – ideallya hall, library or room that gives players enough room toexperience having to walk some distance to collect water• desk/table/floor space for each of the six family groups• desk/table/floor space for the market traders/local NGOs.This should be easily accesible for all family groups• space for the game leader by the flipchart so all playerscan see both the leader and instructions• board/flipchart/wall for displaying the game rules (page 8),as well as maps and any supporting posters, suchas images from the featured countries• enough space for family members to move aroundand visit their water source (ideally six metres awayon the opposite side of the room) and the market traders/local NGOs.Market traders/local non-governmentalorganisations (NGOs):• monitor families’ activities• buy their produce• offer training to improve families’ skillsand ability to survive.Families record whathappens each year andhow they feel about it.arising from the chance cards and sustainability tokens all have parallels in the real world.

EquipmentOthermaterialsOur pre-prepared resource materials are readyfor photocopying from page 14 onwards.To make them more durable and easy to clean, laminate the sack templates, role cards,sustainability tokens, water buckets, habitat sheets, market traders’ record sheets, trainingcards and chance cards. This initial preparation will allow you to re-use the equipment andwill save time when you play the game again. (If you want to hold the debrief in a differentsession or players to use the records at a later date, use paper copies of the habitat sheetsand market traders’ record sheets.)You will need:Role cards (See pages 15, 16 and 24 onwards)One country role card for each of the six families.One role card for each market trader/local NGO.The country role cards are based on places where Christian Aid supports local development projects.Record sheets (See page 17)One record sheet for each market trader. Write the country’s name at the top of their record sheet.Record sheets are used by the market traders at the end of each year to record what each familyhas produced.Habitat sheets (See page 18)One habitat sheet for each country. Write the country’s name at the top of their habitat sheet.Family groups refer to the habitat sheets to assess how they progress each ‘year’. At the end ofeach year, the market traders/local NGOs shade in the appropriate number of rows in the bucket shapefor the amount of water collected (in blue) and rows on the chart for the crop harvested. Each year’srows should be shaded in with a different colour. The habitat sheets are a useful visual aid for players(particularly younger participants) to see what effect living more sustainably is having on their lives.Training cards (see page 25 onwards)One training card for each country represented.Training cards are held by the local NGOs. NGOs are voluntary, non-commercial organisations thatseek to help others find ways to improve their lives. Family members choosing to be trained will stay withthe NGO for the whole year, and will receive their country’s training card from the NGO. They read it alongwith their country’s role card and decide which training course to do: water, food or home. They take thisnew learning – in the form of a sustainability token – back to their family at the end of their training year.This token is then included when the family records its crops and water at the end of each subsequent year.Sustainability tokens (see page 26 onwards)Sustainability tokens for each country.Sustainability tokens represent the advantages of living more sustainably and help families to liftthemselves out of poverty. At the end of years 2 and 3, the local NGO gives a sustainability token tofamily members who have received training and are choosing to live more sustainably.Chance cards (See page 14)One set of chance cards, photocopied on red paper/card and cut out. The game leader gives these outduring the game, but players should not be told about the cards or be warned before they get one.Chance cards represent the unpredictable environmental, social and economic conditions to which theworld’s poorest people are most vulnerable. They make players think about what it must be like to liveevery day under the threat of such events.

Game leadercrib sheet• one sack template for eachcountry (see page 26 onwards)• years 1-4 evaluation sheetsfor each country (see pages20-23). It is important thatfamilies stop growing cropsat the end of each year tocomplete their evaluationsheets. They will need thesefor a successful debrief• a set of 20 small water buckets(see page 19) for each country,photocopied on A3-sized bluepaper or card, cut out andplaced into the ‘water sources’• water sources (eg buckets orboxes) for each country, withthe country’s name clearlywritten on it• scissors (two pairs per ‘family’)• pencils (two per ‘family’)• crayons (two per ‘family’)• sets of pens containing atleast five different colours,including blue (one set for eachmarket trader to complete thehabitat sheets)• two large pieces of paper, A3or flipchart size, to display therules of the game (see page 8)• lots of recycled plain A4 paperfor family members to copytheir sack template on to (don’tforget to recycle this again atthe end of the game!).In addition, the gameleader needs:• dice• a copy of the market trader/local NGO role card, forreference• a copy of the crib sheet(see right)• a watch or clock• a whistle or bell• spare equipment, especiallypencils, scissors and plain paper.The day before• prepare a flipchart page with rules of thegame, or photocopy and enlarge page 8• copy and laminate the habitat sheets,record sheets, chance cards, waterbuckets, role cards, training cards,sustainability tokens and sack templates• copy evaluation sheets• obtain containers to use as ‘watersources’• find scissors, pencils, pens, crayonsplain paper, dice, a watch and a whistle• select and thoroughly brief the markettraders/local NGOs. Prepare a pack foreach of them, containing the relevantcountry’s record sheet, training cardand sustainability tokensIn year 1• hand out chance cards• stop the game after five minutesto collect water• collect water for one minute(buckets handed out by market traders)• make sure market traders do theirrecording properly• give out evaluation sheets while familymembers are recording their harvestwith the market traders. Remind playersto record their feelings/thoughts• collect chance cards from the markettraders once they have finished theirrecording• ask market traders and any otherhelpers to clear paper and unfinishedsacks from tables to avoid cheatingand give families new paper beforethe next year begins• market traders return water bucketsto water sources.• prepare a pack for each countrycontaining a role card, scissors,habitat sheet (if using), pencils andsack template to be handed out toeach family.On the day• arrange the room• divide the players into six family groups• give out the packs and explain whatto do, following the ‘Setting the scene’on page 8• keep an eye on the time• play the game.In years 2 and • announce that each familycan send one person to thelocal NGO for training• repeat year 1 activities, includinghanding out chance cards• reduce time for water collectionif players are collecting too much(ie there are few small bucketsleft at the water sources).In years and 4• if families have sustainability tokenssaying they have chosen to improvetheir water sources in years 2 and/or 3,the market traders should give themtwo buckets at a time instead of one• at the end of year 4 roll a die tosee if the families’ water supply hasbeen affected• do not give out chance cards in year 4.End gameHold a debriefing session if time allows (see pages 12-13). If not, debriefin a subsequent session using the evaluation sheets as a reminder.7

Rulesof thegameBefore the gameUse these activities to help introduce thesubjects of poverty and sustainable developmentto players before the game.Each round equalsone year in yourfamily’s life. Duringeach year you:Grow cropsTo do this you need to:• trace the sack template• cut it out• colour it in• label it with your country’sname and product.Collect waterTo do this you need to:• send one person at atime from your family tothe water source• collect one bucket at a time• NOT run – you will spillthe water!Each time you collect onebucket of water you makesure that you grow onesack of crop successfully.Visit your markettrader to sell yourcrops at the endof each yearOnly one person per familycan do this.You need to take with you:• the sacks your family made• the water buckets you collected• your sack template• your habitat sheet• any chance cards orsustainability tokensyou have collected.1. Bring in a selection of ‘rubbish’. Askplayers to sort it into buckets labelled‘Re-use’, ‘Recycle’, and ‘Throw away’,and ask them to explain how theywould re-use or recycle things or whythey would just throw something away.The objective is to throw away as fewitems as possible. Finish off by askingwhether players are aware of the smallactions they can take to reduce wasteand pollution and preserve energy, ie tolive more sustainably.2. Go to www.christianaid.org.uk/learnand download the Comparing lifestylesworksheet to compare sustainable andnon-sustainable lifestyles.3. How much do the players know aboutsustainability and development? Start byexploring what the words ‘sustainable’and ‘development’ mean, and whatthey might mean when used together.Use the definition on page 3 and the weblinks on the back cover for reference.Take notes, or use a mind-map activityto creatively investigate perceptions.4. Introduce players to the countriesfeatured in The Poverty Challengeby exploring the role cards and thesupporting photographs atwww.christianaid.org.uk/learnAsk questions such as what do playersknow about the country? Where is it?Why are there problems? Who canchange things? How?5. Use activity 3 again after playing thegame to see how players’ perceptionsmay have changed. What will theychange about their own lives?Playing the gameSetting the scene (5 minutes)1. Explain thatThe purpose of the game is for playersto experience:• some of the real pressures felt by poorrural communities in the developingworld and• how their choices affect thesustainability of their way of life.Each group represents a poor rural familyas identified on their role card. Theiraim is to grow enough food to live onby ‘producing’ sacks of crop from theirtemplate. But their crop can only grow ifthey collect enough water. One bucket ofwater enables one sack of crop to growsuccessfully. Their water source is a longway away, and they have to walk there,at specific times of the game.2. Explain the rules of the game (copythe rules on the left to a flipchart orphotocopy to A3). Refer to the stageschart on pages 4-5 to support yourexplanation, if necessary.Allow participants a few minutes toopen their packs and read their role cards.Encourage them to imagine what theirway of life is like. Discuss the habitatsheets (if using them), which representwater collected and crops grown. Usethis time to answer any queries.During the game, note how the groupsorganise themselves. Some familymembers might be good at cooperating,while others may prefer to work on theirown. Discuss these differences at thedebriefing session.

Year 1Living day to day, handto mouth (12 minutes)During the first year thefamily groups grow onlyone type of crop. They haveproblems collecting enoughwater to keep their cropsalive, as the water sourcemay be some distancefrom the crops, and/or itmay be contaminated.Growing crops(five minutes)Groups trace the sack templateto make as many duplicate sacksas they can during the year. Theirsacks should be identical to thetemplate and have the samelettering. However, tell the groupsthat each sack produced onlycounts if it is accompanied by awater bucket, as crops can onlygrow if there is enough water.While groups are making sacks,go round with the chance cards.Ask each family to choose onerandomly without looking at itfirst. Tell them to keep the cardsafe, as they must take it to theirmarket trader/local NGO at theend of the year.(If groups are slow to cut outsacks/grow crops you could skipthe chance cards this year.)Collecting water(one minute)After five minutes, use a whistle orbell to stop the crop production sothat family members can collectwater. This relay activity imitates theway many poor people queue dailyat a water source. It runs as follows:Announce to the family groupsthat every day they have to collectwater for crops and for cooking,washing and drinking. But thewater source is one hour’s walkfrom home. Although womenand girls usually do this work indeveloping countries, to havethe best chance of surviving allfamily members can take turnsto collect as much water aspossible. Show the families thattheir water source is a labelledbucket, box or other containeron the opposite side of the room.Water is represented by smallcut-out paper buckets storedinside the water source.Depending on the spaceavailable, some teams mayhave to walk further than othersto reach their water source. Tellthem that, although this mayseem unfair, it is how the realworld works – many peoplehave to walk for hours everyday to get water.A family might need around100 litres a day to water theircrops and for cooking, washingand drinking. That equals 20buckets each day. Remindgroups that the amount of waterthey collect determines theamount of crops they will havegrown at the end of the year.To collect water players mustfollow these rules:• only one person from eachfamily is allowed at the watersource at any one time• each person can only collectone bucket at a time. Thebucket will be given to themby the market trader monitoringthe collection• family members must wait untilthe previous person returns witha bucket before the next personsets off to collect water• no running is allowed. If yourun, all your water will spill,ie you will lose the bucket youare carrying• after one minute, any bucketsthat have not yet reached thefamily’s table will not be counted.Tell families that they now haveone minute to collect as muchwater as they can.Recording how muchcrop was grown(six minutes)After the water collection, eachgroup chooses a representative tosend to their market trader. Theymust take with them their waterbuckets, sacks, sack template,chance card and habitat sheet.The market traders ‘buy’ thecrop. They must check thequality (ie the sack cut-outs),comparing the family’s sackswith the sack template ifnecessary, and count howmuch water was collected. Themarket traders then write thisinformation on the record sheetand shade in the habitat sheet.ReflectionMeanwhile, give the familygroups the year 1 evaluation(see page 20) to record howlife has gone during the year,and to help them reflect onwhat has happened.It is important that families donot grow crops at this time,but complete their evaluationsheets. They will need these fora successful debrief and for anyhomework/extension work.Preparing for year 2Once recording is completedand while players are reflectingon how the year has gone, themarket traders and any extrahelpers:• put all sacks in the recyclingbin to prevent families re-usingcrops grown the previous year– but make sure to keep thetemplates!• clear away all used paper andincomplete sacks from thefamilies’ tables• give families new paperto use in the next year• return all chance cards tothe leader• return the buckets to thewater sources.9

Year 2Making contact witha local NGO (12 minutes)Training(one minute forexplanation)Announce that a local NGOis offering families trainingto help them have a moresustainable way of life. (Explainthat NGOs are voluntary, noncommercialorganisations thatseek to help local people findways to improve their lives.)By choosing to live in a moresustainable way, families maybe able to break out of poverty.Each family can send onemember on a training courserun by the NGO, but they willthen be away from home for thewhole year. Their absence willaffect the amount of crops thefamily can grow and the waterthey can collect. So the familymust decide whether or not totake the training.Family members who decideto train must ‘travel’ to the localNGO with their country rolecards and stay there for the restof this year. Only one person perfamily may be trained each yearand some families may chooseto send no one for training.The local NGO workers givethe trainees their respectivetraining cards. They read thesealong with their role cards duringyear 2 and choose which ofthe three areas – water, foodor home – they want to learnmore about. The NGO workersnote their decision on the recordsheet and give them the relevantsustainability token. The traineestake their learning (the token)back to their families at the endof year 2 to put their new skillsinto action during years 3 and4. Their new knowledge willhelp families to live in a moresustainable way, ultimatelyimproving their quality of lifeat the end of year 3 and for allfuture years.Growing crops(five minutes)The families continue to growtheir crops by producing sacks.Go round again with one chancecard for each family, as in year 1.Collecting water(one minute)Announce the start of the oneminutewater collection. Reducetime for water collection if theyare collecting too much (ie thewater sources are ‘running dry’).Recording how muchcrop was grown(five minutes)After collecting water, eachfamily representative takes theirwater buckets, sacks, sacktemplate, chance card andhabitat sheet to the markettraders to be recorded. Theirhabitat sheet should be filled inwith a different colour this year.ReflectionGive the other family membersthe year 2 evaluation (see page21) to help them reflect on whathas happened.Preparing for year The market traders and any extrahelpers prepare for the nextyear’s activities, as explained atthe end of year 1 (page 9).Year Putting the traininginto practice(12 minutes)Training(one minute forexplanation)At the start of year 3, the familymembers who went for trainingin year 2 have returned home.They once again help to growcrops and fetch water. But theknowledge they bring back (thesustainability token) will have apositive impact on their family’sharvest and way of life fromnow on.Again, announce that the localNGO can still help families findmore sustainable ways to live.Families who did not send amember for training last yearmay decide to train this year.Families who trained in year 2 cansend a different representativeto train in a different area ofexpertise. Allow the selectedfamily members to travel to thelocal NGO, where they will spendthis year.Growing crops(five minutes)The families continue to growtheir crops by producing sacks.Go around with chance cards,as in years 1 and 2.

Year 4Reaping more benefits fromthe training (12 minutes)Collecting water(one minute)Announce the start of the oneminutewater collection. Reducetime for water collection if theyare collecting too much (ie thewater sources are ‘running dry’).If families received sustainabilitytokens in year 2 saying theyhave worked to improve theirwater sources, then the markettraders/local NGOs give thefamily members two bucketsinstead of one at each collectionthis year. The first family memberto go up to the water sourcemust take the token with themto show to the market trader.Recording how muchcrop was grown(five minutes)After collecting water, eachgroup representative takes theirwater buckets, sacks, sacktemplate, chance card, habitatsheet and any sustainabilitytoken to the market tradersto be recorded. Their habitatsheet should be filled in with adifferent colour this year.The market traders/local NGOswill record the sustainabilitytoken again at the end of year 4to ensure that families continueto benefit from their training, butit is the families’ responsibility totake up the tokens at the end ofeach round.ReflectionGive the other family membersthe year 3 evaluation (see page22) to help them reflect on whathas happened.Preparing for year 4The market traders and any extrahelpers prepare for the nextyear’s activities, as explained atthe end of year 1 (page 9).TrainingAt the start of year 4, familymembers who went away fortraining in year 3 have returnedhome. They once again help togrow crops and fetch water. Butthe knowledge they bring back(the sustainability token) willhave a positive impact on theirfamily’s harvest and way of life.No more training is offered.Growing crops(five minutes)The families continue togrow their crops by producingsacks. This year, do not giveout chance cards.Collecting water(one minute)Announce the start of the oneminutewater collection. Reducetime for water collection if theyare collecting too much (ie thewater sources are ‘running dry’).If families received sustainabilitytokens in years 2 or 3 sayingthey have worked to improvetheir water sources, then themarket traders/local NGOsshould give the family memberstwo buckets instead of one ateach collection this year. Thefirst family member to go up tothe water source must take thetoken with them to show to themarket trader.At the end of the watercollection, ask all families toroll a die once. Families whoroll a number four, five or sixmust lose the same numberof buckets of water from theircollection. This represents anunexpected water shortage.However, families that havereceived water training shouldcope better with the loss ofwater because of the benefitsfrom their sustainability tokens.Ensure that the families losethese buckets before therecording process starts.Recording how muchcrop was grown(six minutes)After collecting water, eachgroup representative takestheir water buckets (exceptany buckets lost during therecent shortage), sacks, sacktemplate, habitat sheet andany sustainability tokensto the market traders to berecorded. Their habitat sheetshould be filled in with adifferent colour this year.At the end of year 4, markettraders may find it helpful tocheck their records to make surethey are correct and the earliertraining is included each year.ReflectionMeanwhile, ask each familygroup to discuss their thoughts.They must agree what to recordfor their final reflection on theyear 4 evaluation sheet (seepage 23).11

Debrief(Seven minutes plus)(Note: you could use this time to increase the timespent playing the game, and do the debrief duringa subsequent session instead.)1. Compare the families’ habitat sheets (or record sheetsif the habitat sheets were not used). Which family grewthe most crops and collected the most water, and inwhich years?2. At the start of the game, how did players feel abouttheir roles as families living in poverty? Encourage themto use the information on their role cards to talk abouttheir living conditions and their family’s biggest problems.3. Ask the family groups about the amount of cropsthey grew each year. Did they grow more as theyears progressed?4. How did the amount of sacks cut out compare with theamount of water they collected? How did it make theplayers feel when they lost sacks of crops because theydidn’t have enough water? How did they feel when thechance cards made conditions even harder, or they lostwater because of a water shortage? Try to draw outconclusions such as:• you can work hard and still be poor• people often have little control over what makesthem poor• poor people are especially vulnerable to environmental,social and economic change, such as droughts, flooding,war or changes in the price they are paid for their goods.Follow-up1. 2. .These activitiesfollow on fromlearning pointsstimulated byThe PovertyChallenge. Youcould use themfor homework,as a starter inthe followinglesson, or at theend of a schemeof work onsustainability.Making yourfamily’s life evenmore sustainableEncourage each group toassess the situation their‘family’ was in at the endof year 4, and think of newand realistic strategies tocontinue improving theirlives and making them moresustainable. For example:• How could they growmore and different crops,such as other fruits andvegetables, to improvetheir diet and potentiallyprovide an income?• What could they do tofind other ways ofincreasing their income?• How could they maintainand improve theirenvironment?Using the informationfrom these discussionsand notes madeduring the game,participants couldproduce the following:Year 1 a diary of eventsin the family’s lifeYear 2 a report about whatthe family member(s) learntduring trainingYear 3 a magazine articleabout how the trainingimproved their family’s lifeand helped them to livemore sustainablyYear 4 an overall summaryassessing how effectivesustainable development isat challenging poverty andhelping poor people improvetheir lives.Adapt these for the markettraders/local NGO workers, egthey could write a report onhow trading varied each year,and the reasons for this; whichtraining was most popular, etc.Going deeperTo deepen players’understanding of povertyand sustainability, researchthe work of Christian Aidand the NGOs it supportsin the countries featured inThe Poverty Challenge. Thewebsites listed on the backcover will help you.

5. Each group will have had different training cards, soencourage families to share what they learned. Howmight the training have helped families to improve theircrop yields, or to cope with any natural disasters? Ifparticipants chose to train in year 3 instead of in year 2,they will not have seen any benefits until later. How didthe delay affect their family? Would they have done thingsdifferently with hindsight? If so, why?6. Ask families to look through their habitat/record and/orevaluation sheets to comment on the level of poverty inwhich they were living at the beginning of the game, andwhether and how that changed by the end of the game(ie if they grew more crops). Invite feedback from themarket traders/local NGOs about what they noticed orlearned during the game. Draw out conclusions that:• training helps• disasters happen• most people do not have unlimited, easy access to water.7. Ask players – out of role – to consider the differencesbetween their own lifestyles and those of the game’sfamily groups. People’s lifestyles in developed countries– ie the way we use natural resources and producewaste – are not sustainable. An person in the UK uses onaverage about 20 times more resources than an averageperson in Africa. The overuse and misuse of the world’sresources must be addressed urgently, if our planet isto survive.8. What can we each do to change our own lifestyles tomake the world a better place to live – now and in thefuture? Return to the ‘Before the game’ activity (page 8)and revisit activities 1 and 2 and do activity 5. Then askfor further suggestions. You could include those in the‘Do something’ box below. List all the suggestions, anddiscuss which actions the group can agree on. Rankthese, with the first being the one action that everyoneagrees to take.4. .The lives of poorpeople living in citiesMany poor people living inurban areas of developingcountries also live in poverty.Often people migratinginto the cities from thecountryside may end upliving on the streets or inhuge slums on the outskirtsof big cities.Play Christian Aid’s PaperBag Game to introducethe topic of urban poverty.Discuss the differencesbetween this and the livesof the poor farmers featuredin The Poverty Challenge.Encourage players toresearch different types ofpoverty and how they impacton children and young peopleat www.globalgang.org.uk(seven- to 14-year-olds)and young people atwww.pressureworks.org(14+ years) and atwww.togethertv.orgHold a debatePoor people are alreadysuffering from effects ofclimate change. People’sefforts at sustainabledevelopment are uselessif the effects of climatechange aren’t tackled first.Do somethingfor sustainability1. Raise money for Christian Aid. This kind of actionmeans you will support Christian Aid to help itspartner organisations continue with their sustainabledevelopment work. See www.christianaid.org.uk/learnfor fundraising ideas.2. Sustainability is closely linked to climate change.Poor people are on the frontline because many placeswhere they live are already prone to drought or floods,high winds or rising sea levels. They will suffer first andworst as the climate changes. Campaign with ChristianAid to bring about changes that will safeguard people’slives and livelihoods in the future. Visit:• www.globalgang.org.uk (7-14 years)• www.pressureworks.org (14+ years)1

Chance cards(Ideally photocopy on red paper/card, laminate and cut out.)Chance card 1You buy artificial fertiliser that somepeople say will help to increaseyour harvest. But the fertiliser isexpensive and leaves you with lessmoney to get through the growingseason before the harvest.Because you can’t afford to buythem enough food, your familymembers lack energy, fall ill moreeasily and can’t work as hard.Lose four buckets of water.(The market trader takes these awaywhen completing your record sheet.)Chance card 2A big foreign company takes overland nearby and uses a lot of localwater to grow crops for export. Youhave less water to grow your crops.Lose four buckets of water.(The market trader takes these awaywhen completing your record sheet.)Chance card An environmental disaster (eg anearthquake or cyclone) suddenly hitsthe local area.Lose half your harvest.(The market trader takes this awaywhen completing your record sheet.)Chance card 4Your plants become diseased andmany die before you can harvestthem. You are now living in absolutepoverty and need to work for anotherfamily to survive.Lose half your harvest.(The market trader takes this awaywhen completing your record sheet.)Chance card Your water source becomescontaminated. You become ill ifyou use the water. Having to travelfurther to get clean water means youhave less time to work on your land.Lose four buckets of water.(The market trader takes these awaywhen completing your record sheet.)Chance card 6Several family members fall sickthroughout the year. They are tooill to work in the fields. Visiting aclinic and paying for medicinescosts you a lot of money.Two family members do not fullyrecover.Lose half your harvest.(The market trader takes this awaywhen completing your record sheet.)An example of how to do the calculations and fill in your market trader’srecord sheet. Chance cards apply after the harvest has been calculated.Photocopy this example for each market trader.A B C D E FYear 1Year 2Sacks Water Crop actually Chance Sustainability Rows shaded inproduced collected harvested card token on habitat sheetTotal harvestlose halfyour harvest18 10 10lose fourbuckets ofwater (iefour sacksof crop)(8 - 4 = 4)double yourharvest(4 x 2 = 8)12 8 885

Market traderand local NGOrole cardYou have two roles:1. You will be market traders, workingon a market stall buying and sellingfruit and vegetables2. You will be members of the localnon-governmental organisation(NGO), a group that helps communitiesto live in a more sustainable way.1. Working as a market traderThere should be one market trader for each family.At the end of each year (round of the game) each family sends one person to themarket. They will bring with them their water buckets, sacks of crops, sack template,chance card, sustainability token (if they have one) and habitat sheet. You then ‘buy’their crops and fill in all their details on your market trader’s record sheet.Calculating number of sacks produced• Count the number of sacks the family made.• Reject any sacks that are not cut out properly, not shaded neatly or that have spellingmistakes. Use the sack template to help you decide. If you reject sacks, explain thatyou won’t buy them because they are poor quality – the crop was diseased or rotten.• Record the number of good quality sacks in column A on your record sheet for thefamily’s country (see example left).Calculating how many water buckets were collectedOthercalculationsYou will monitor the familieswhile they are collecting waterto make sure it is done fairly.You will also help the game leaderwith other jobs.• Record on the family’s habitat sheet the number of water buckets they collectedeach year. For example, if 10 buckets were collected in year 1, colour in the bucketsymbol for year 1 up to level 10. Use a blue pen.• Write this number in column B of your record sheet (see example).Calculating the harvest (how much crop was actually grown)• Families need water to keep their crops alive. If they collect one bucket ofwater, they can successfully harvest one sack of crop.For example, if the family made 18 sacks, they also need to collect 18 bucketsof water to ensure that all 18 sacks of crop can stay alive.• If the families did not collect enough water, some of their crop will have diedor become diseased. They can only havest as many crop sacks as they have bucketsof water.For example, if the family made 18 sacks, but only collected 10 buckets of water, theywill lose eight sacks of crop. Their actual harvest is therefore just 10 sacks of crop.• Write the actual harvest figure in column C of your record sheet (see example).• Write the details of the family’schance cards or sustainabilitytokens in columns D and E.Family members keepthe sustainability tokens(once you have recorded themfor year 3) and must return withthem at the end of year 4 toensure that they continue tobenefit from their training.• Write the final amount of thefamily’s harvest in column F(once you have added orsubtracted crops/water asinstructed by the chance cardsand sustainability tokens).• On the family’s habitat sheet,colour in the number of rowsindicated in column F, eg if thefinal amount of harvest is 5 (asshown in the example) then youshould colour in 5 rows in thecolumn marked for the relevantyear on the habitat sheet.• This figure represents how muchharvest the family will live onthis year, after all other factors– like availability of water, naturaldisaster or learning new skills– have been taken into account.You will need to do thesecalculations at the end ofeach year.Remember to use a differentcoloured pen for each year whencolouring in the habitat sheet.Give the chance cards back tothe game leader.Put the water buckets backinto the water sources for thenext year.Clear away unused cropsacks – at both the traders’and families’ tables.1

What isan NGO?2. Working as a local NGO memberIn your role as a member of an NGO, you are able to offer training to help localpeople live in a more sustainable way. This may improve their quality of life andhelp them to break out of the cycle of poverty.In years 2 and 3, one person from your country’s family may decide to stay withyou for the whole year to do some training.What do you need to do?• Make sure the family representative brings their country’s role card with themto the training session.• Give them their country’s training card.• Make sure that they read both cards.• Ask the trainee to use their role card to help them decide which type of trainingto take: water, food, or home.• Once they’ve decided, record their choice in the box at the bottom of their country’srecord sheet.• Give them their country’s sustainability token for the type of training chosen.• At the end of the year, ask the trainee to take their token back to their family.The new knowledge they have gained through the training will increase theirsustainability in future years (this is recorded at the end of the following year).In years 2 and 3, different people from the family may come to train. Each familymember has to choose a different area of training.At the end of each year you will note down the sustainability tokens when thefamily members come to record their harvest (see the instructions on how to bea market trader ).NGOs (nongovernmentalorganisations)are voluntarygroups orcharities.Membersare usuallylocal peoplewho seek tohelp otherlocal peoplefind ways toimprovetheir lives.. Monitoring water collectionEvery year families have to collect water for their crops. When instructed by thegame leader, they must go to a water source which will have their country’s namewritten on it.What do you need to do?• Stand next to your country’s water source.• Make sure that only one person per family comes to the water source at any time.• Give the family member one bucket each time.• If they have a water sustainability token that says they can collect two bucketson each journey, then give them two buckets (this year and in future years). You canlook at your market trader’s record sheet to remind you whether the family has awater sustainability token, but it’s the family responsibility to bring the token upduring water collection.

*Remember that the families must have a bucket of water for each sack producedRecordsheet for…(Country’s name)Market trader’srecord sheetA B C D E FSacks Water Crop actually Chance Sustainability Rows shadedproduced collected harvested* card token in on habitat sheetYear 1Year 2Year Year 4Year 2Year Training given to thefamily for improvingtheir home, water sourceor food production:17

Habitat sheet forWaterbucketscollected20110Year one Year two Year three Year fourAmountof cropharvestedAmount of crop harvested114112111098764210Year one Year two Year three Year four

Bucket templates(enlarge and print on A3 paper, preferably blue, and cut out 20 buckets per family)19

Year 1evaluationIt is important to completethese evaluations. You will needthem for a successful debrief.My family lives inWe have a small house and asmall plot of land. It looks like this:During our first year we hadto do the following tasks andgrow the following crop:It was easy/difficult to grow crops.*To collect water we had to:It made us feel:By the end of the year we had grownsacks of crops and collectedbuckets of water.By the end of the year we werebeginning to feel like this aboutour situation:This was not enough/just enough/more than enough* to growgood-quality crops.If some crops went to waste becausewe didn’t have enough water, thatmade us feel*delete incorrect statements

At the start of year 2 did you decideto take part in the NGO training?Year 2evaluationYes NoIf yes, how did losing a family member affectcrop production?What other challenges did you face this year?By the end of the year we werebeginning to feel like this aboutour situation:By the end of the year we had grownsacks of crops and collectedThis is becausebuckets of water.This was not enough/just enough/more than enough* to growgood-quality crops.*delete incorrect statements21

Year evaluationDuring year 2 a member of your family may have been ona training course.What improvements are you hoping this will have madeto your life during year 3?Did you decide to receive training in year 3 and how has thisdecision affected the lives of other members of your family?Has your family’s diet changed? If so, how?By the end of the year we had grownsacks of crops and collectedBy the end of the year we were beginningto feel like this about our situation:buckets of water.This was not enough/just enough/more than enough* to growgood-quality crops.*delete incorrect statementsThis is because

Year 4evaluationYou have now been farming for four years. During thistime you have had to make a number of decisions aboutwhat you think is best for your family.What decisions did you make?Below, plot a graph to show whathas happened to your harvest overthe four years.0Amount of crops harvested20100Year one Year two Year three Year four2

Bangladesh family role cardWhere do you live?You live in Chondi village in Tangail district, centralBangladesh.At homeYour house has mud-brick walls and a grass roof thatleaks during the rainy season. It has three rooms, butyou use one of these to store crops after each harvest.Straw mats cover the earth floor.There is no electricity or running water. You cookoutside on a clay stove using twigs or manure for fuel.Your compound (private garden) has a small shedcontaining a weaving loom.Food and drinkJackfruit (huge fruits that taste a bit like pineapple) andbanana trees grow nearby. Some have old terracotta potsin the branches for nesting birds. Chickens peck aroundfreely, searching for food.You eat the same rice dish for every meal. You don’t haveenough to eat and your diet isn’t balanced so you are oftenill. However, local traders are trying to get you to startgrowing a new, genetically modified type of crop that willincrease your harvest. You think this may be a good idea.Every day, girls and women walk two kilometres to fetchwater from a well. The hand pump is broken and the welloften becomes contaminated with sewage after flooding.You each carry ten litres of water in a pot on your head.IncomeMost families in Chondi village have very little land oftheir own. You just have ‘homesteads’ (small piecesof land around your houses). You make ends meet byrenting more land from others or by sharecropping(sharing land with other farmers).You have little spare cash to spend on basics suchas salt, sugar, cooking oil, clothes and school books.

Bangladesh training cardBolivia training cardWelcome to the local NGO workshop, where you willfind out how you can improve and sustain your family’slivelihood and support your local community. It will takesome time before you see the results, but they shouldhave a real impact. You can receive training in:WaterYour family’s supply of drinking water is not alwaysclean. Your well can become contaminated by sewagethat seeps into the water, especially during floods. If youbuild latrines for people in your local community, it willhelp reduce water contamination and illness.• The local NGO gives you training in how to design andbuild a latrine that is safe, easy to keep clean and won’tsmell bad.FoodYou have been thinking about planting commercial seedssold by a large company. But you notice that the artificialfertilisers and pesticides that your neighbours used togrow these seeds have damaged the soil.• The local NGO suggests that your community starts up atraditional seed-exchange scheme. This involves sharinghome-grown seeds that will grow well in your localenvironment without chemicals. This will save you money.• Instead of buying chemical fertilisers, you start makingyour own organic compost which improves soil quality.• Instead of buying pesticides, you start doing ‘integratedpest control’. This means doing things like mixing cropsthat discourage pests with other types of crops thatneed protecting. In addition, you are now growing amuch wider variety of crops.Welcome to the local NGO workshop, where you willfind out how you can improve and sustain your family’slivelihood and support your local community. It will takesome time before you see the results, but they shouldhave a real impact. You can receive training in:WaterThe local NGO teaches you about the rights andresponsibilities you have as citizens.• It helps you register for ID cards which mean youcan vote in elections• You can now lobby (ask) your government to builda concrete well in your community.FoodThe local NGO provides you with seeds to grow cacaotrees and other crops like bananas. This allows you togrow a wider range of crops.• Eating the fruits gives you a more balanced diet.• You can sell seeds from your trees for twice the priceyou get for rice crops.HomeThe local NGO can lend your community 20 woollesssheep. It also provides fencing and equipment for youto build a shelter. When the sheep reproduce you giveback 20 animals to the NGO to repay the ‘loan’.• By selling sheep you have enough money to payschool fees and buy basic household goods.• Your family’s income is more stable.Home• The local NGO suggests that you plant trees aroundyour home. The fruit from these trees will give youa healthier diet. The trees also act as a windbreak toreduce soil erosion and in the dry season they are asource of timber and firewood.• You start storing food in a dry place for use inemergencies.• To prepare for the rainy season and prevent your homefrom flooding, you raise the level of your house byusing money from the NGO to build a mud platform.• You take a weaving course. By making clothes to sellat the local market, you will earn more money.• You increase your income even further by learninghow to repair bicycles and selling wood from the treesyou’ve planted.2

Sustainability token: foodYou make compost and then addit to the soil. You try new farmingtechniques, like intercropping(growing two or more crops in thesame space at the same time) andnatural pest control. Your soil is morefertile and you can grow more andbetter crops.Ignore chance card 1 if you get it.Double your harvest.Sustainability token: homeYou plant trees that prevent soiland wind erosion, and producetimber, firewood, fruit and animalfodder. Your land is now moreprotected from floods.Girls and women have to spendless time collecting fuel, givingthem more time for studying andearning money from other jobs.Double your harvest.Sustainability token: waterYou help build a latrine to prevent yourdrinking water being contaminatedby sewage. Your water supply is cleanand you get sick less often. You growmore crops.Ignore chance card 5 if you get it.Each family member can collecttwo buckets of water each timethey visit the water source in futureyears. Take this card with youwhen you next collect water andwhen you visit the market trader.Bangladeshi riceBolivian riceRICERICESustainability token: foodThe local NGO provides you withseeds to grow cacao trees and fruitlike bananas. This allows you togrow a wider range of crops.Eating the fruits makes gives youa more balanced diet. You can sellseeds from your trees for twice theprice you get for rice crops.Ignore chance card 4 if you get it.Double your harvest.Sustainability token: homeThe local NGO lends your community20 woolless sheep. You build a shelterfor the sheep. When they reproduceyou return 20 animals to the NGO.By selling sheep you have enoughmoney to pay school fees and buybasic household goods. Your family’sincome is more stable.Double your harvest.Sustainability token: waterThe local NGO teaches you about therights and responsibilities you haveas citizens. It helps you register forID cards which mean you can votein elections. You can now lobby (ask)your government to build a concretewell in your community.Ignore chance card 5 if you get it.Each family member can collecttwo buckets of water each timethey visit the water source in futureyears. Take this card with youwhen you next collect water andwhen you visit the market trader.

Bolivia family role cardWhere do you live?Bolivia is the poorest country in South America and oneof the poorest nations in the world. Few Bolivians havehomes with luxuries such as running water or electricity.Your family lives with 20 other families in a small villagebeside a river in the rainforest. It is a three-hour drive fromthe nearest town, and the journey there includes drivingbuses or cars on to a raft to cross rivers. There is no tarmacand when the tracks turn to mud during the rainy season,you have to travel by canoe instead.Monkeys swing through the trees and birds copy whatyou say. Your family has a small plot of land (a chaco) downthe river and grows a small amount of rice each year.Each day you row down the river to work on the landand look after banana trees. You hunt in the forest, fishin the river and collect wild fruit and plants. But you don’tcatch much.At homeYour house has wooden walls and a wicker roof that leakswhen it rains. It has three rooms, one of which is used tostore your crops after each harvest. Mats cover the earthfloor. Cooking is done outside on a charcoal stove. Thereis no electricity or running water.Food and drinkYou eat the same rice dish for each meal. You don’t haveenough to eat and your diet isn’t balanced, so you are oftenill. You keep some chickens, but they often do not lay eggsbecause they lack food too.In the dry season you have to walk one kilometreto the nearest water source.IncomeYou have ittle spare cash to buy basic goods such as salt,sugar, oil, clothes and school books.27

Kenya role cardWhere do you live?You live in the hills south-east of the capital, Nairobi. Localtracks and roads are dusty, but get muddy when it rains.At homeYour three-room house has mud-brick walls and a tin roofthat leaks during the rainy season. This is where you andyour family eat and sleep.You cook outside on a charcoal stove. There is no runningwater or electricity.Food and drinkYour family has passion fruit plants and banana trees in thegarden, which produce lots of fruit.The surrounding fields have poor quality, infertile soil. Youtry to grow maize, cassava and beans, but these crops failwhen there is drought.You eat the same dish, ugali (ground maize flour andwater) for each meal. Sometimes you don’t have enoughto eat and your diet isn’t balanced so you are often ill.Girls and women collect the water, which is clean. Butthe well is five kilometres away and you have to walkalong a forest path which is often muddy. You feel scaredbecause sometimes poisonous snakes live in pools ofwasted water around the pump. Due to drought, thepump regularly dries up. Then you have to dig in riverbeds or walk even further to find water. You each carryten litres of water on your head.IncomeThere is little spare cash to buy basic goods such assalt, sugar, oil or clothes, and sometimes you can’tafford to pay the school fees, so children can’t alwaysgo to secondary school.You keep some chickens and they sometimes produceeggs – when they have enough to eat. You have somegoats that roam freely but give little milk or meat. In thenearby forests your neighbours keep beehives.

Kenya training cardMalawi training cardWelcome to the local NGO workshop, where you willfind out how you can improve and sustain your family’slivelihood and support your local community. It will takesome time before you see the results, but they shouldhave a real impact. You can receive training in:WaterAlthough your water source is good quality, it is a longway from where you live.• A local NGO has surveyed your land and recommendsthat you use a water source that is higher up the hill andnearer your home.FoodYour family is often ill, so you need to look at improvingyour diet.• The local NGO suggests that you try organic ways ofimproving your harvest, such as composting and addingmanure to the soil to improve the quality.• The NGO also shows you ways to use different parts ofa plant. It shows you how to use bits you never knewyou could eat, like the leaves of cassava or the bud of abanana plant. It shows you ways to cook nutritious anddelicious food.The goats you keep are a problem because you let themgraze everywhere and the amount of grazing land isdecreasing.• The local NGO suggests that you start to collect fodderfor your goats and keep them tethered at home, ratherthan letting them roam all the time.HomeThe local NGO is providing training for women in theregion to show them how to make things that they cansell at the market, such as:• brightly coloured tie-dye cloth• soap made from natural products.The women can sell these and use the money to buyextras for their home, such as coffee, salt and oil. Themoney can also help to pay for their children’s secondaryschool fees.• A neighbour lends you a spare bee hive and the NGOshows you how to keep bees and collect the honey.Any extra honey can be sold at the local market.Welcome to the local NGO workshop, where you willfind out how you can improve and sustain your family’slivelihood and support your local community. It will takesome time before you see the results, but they shouldhave a real impact. You can receive training in:WaterYou explain to the local NGO that you face a number ofproblems getting clean water. Your main source is far fromyour home.• The NGO helps you to identify where to build a boreholethat is deep enough to get clean water. This will be afirst step towards having cleaner water closer to home.• The NGO suggests you form an association to beresponsible for the upkeep of the borehole and to raisemoney for when repairs are necessary.FoodThe crops you grow are not doing very well, due tothe regular droughts in your area. You would like to findalternative crops which will grow successfully.• You meet with the local NGO to find out more aboutgrowing other crops: sorghum and cassava are cropswhich will cope better with the dry conditions.• The NGO also suggests you start a small vegetablegarden in your backyard so that you can have ahealthier diet.HomeThe soil here is not very fertile because there are lots ofpeople living in a small area and the land is over-farmedand over-grazed. You can’t afford fertiliser.• The local NGO shows you how to make your owncompost to put nutrients back in the soil.• It also suggests that you start to collect grazing fodderfor your goats and keep them tethered at home. Thismeans that they don’t cause so much damage to theland, and allows you to collect their manure to put onyour crops.29

Sustainability token: foodYou have learned how to harvestcassava properly – if you replant thestem, the cassava root grows back.You get two cassava harvests inone year.The local NGO suggests you tetheryour goats to stop any being lost.You now have goats’ milk to improveyour diet, and manure to improveyour soil. Your health and crop yieldsincrease even more.Double your harvest.Sustainability token: homeYou learn how to make textiles andkeep bees. You increase your incomeby selling the textiles and the honeyyour bees produced. You also enjoyeating the honey!Double your harvest.Sustainability token: waterYou help dig a borehole close to yourhome, which means you no longerhave to walk for hours to fetch water.You increase the amount of crops youcan grow.Ignore chance card 5 if you get it.Each family member can collecttwo buckets of water each timethey visit the water source in futureyears. Take this card with youwhen you next collect water andwhen you visit the market trader.Kenyan maizeMalawian maizeMAIZEMAIZESustainability token: foodBy growing different kinds of cropsthat cope better with dry conditions,you can grow more food. Even ifthere is a drought, some of yourcrops will survive.Your harvest increases and you havemore to eat.Ignore chance card 1 if you get it.Double your harvest.Sustainability token: homeBy tethering your livestock, youstop them from over-grazing the land.By making your own compost fromtheir manure, you put nutrients backin the soil.The quality of your land improves.Double your harvest.Sustainability token: waterYou help build a borehole close by.You spend less time collecting water(or the same time collecting morewater). You grow more crops.Ignore chance card 5 if you get it.Each family member can collecttwo buckets of water each timethey visit the water source in futureyears. Take this card with youwhen you next collect water andwhen you visit the market trader.

Malawi role cardWhere do you live?Malawi is in southern Africa. You live in the mountainoussouth, close to the border with Mozambique.The local tracks and roads are dusty when it’s dry, andbecome muddy when it rains.At homeYour house has mud-brick walls and a grass-thatchedroof that leaks during the rainy season. It has one room.Mats covering the earth floor are made of grassesstitched together.Cooking is done outside on a wood fire. There is noelectricity or running water.Food and drinkYour diet isn’t balanced, because you eat the samemaize dish for each meal. Sometimes you don’t haveenough to eat. You keep goats, but they are often hungryand graze on the nearby vegetation. This damages theland by stripping all the nutrients from the soil.The soil where you live is infertile from overuse, andmany families farm very small plots of land on the steepslopes. Your country often faces serious food crises wherepeople don’t have enough to eat. It doesn’t rain enoughduring the year for crops to grow properly and you oftenhave poor harvests.Every day you walk five kilometres to fetch water, whichis not safe to drink. You carry ten litres in a bucket on yourhead. Often the water source dries up and you have todig in river beds or walk even further to find water.IncomeThere is little spare cash to buy basic goods such as salt,sugar, oil or clothes, and sometimes you can’t afford topay the school fees so children can’t always go to school.1

Nicaragua role cardWhere do you live?You live in the small village of El Porvenir in north-westNicaragua in Central America. Most of the people livinghere are poor and own very little land.Your village is a three-hour horse ride from the closesttown, Achuapa. You have to ride, either by horse or mule,through rivers and over rocky, narrow, dusty tracks. Mostof the trees have been cut down and the land looks likea desert. During the rainy season, the roads often turnto mud and are almost impassable.At homeYour house has a mud floor and wooden walls witha corrugated-iron roof that leaks when it rains. Sometimesyour home floods.There is one room where the whole family sleeps, anda covered area outside for eating, preparing food andstoring crops.Cooking is done outside on a charcoal stove. There isno electricity or running water. Every morning the childrenwalk for an hour to get to school.Food and drinkYour family has a small plot of land, where you growsome sesame, maize and beans each year.Every day you work in the fields (children work to afterschool). You plant seeds, water the young plants and weed.It is very hot, sweaty work and ants often bite your feet. Atharvest time you beat the tall, dry sesame stalks with sticksto collect the seeds.You eat the same dish of beans and tortillas (made frommaize flour) at every meal. You have some unhealthychickens that lay few eggs because they have little food(except after harvest time when you feed them sesameseeds). You don’t have enough to eat and your diet isn’tbalanced so you are often ill.Every day, girls and women walk two kilometres to fetchwater from a well. You each carry ten litres on your head.IncomeBecause the soil in your fields has been overused it hasno nutrients left. This means that your crops are of poorquality and you have to sell them for a low price to thelocal market traders. Market traders press the sesameseeds to produce sesame oil, which they can sell for alot of money. Your family has little spare cash to buy basicgoods such as salt, sugar, oil, clothes and school books.

Nicaragua training cardTajikistan training cardWelcome to the local NGO workshop, where you willfind out how you can improve and sustain your family’slivelihood and support your local community. It will takesome time before you see the results, but they shouldhave a real impact. You can receive training in:WaterYour local well is in poor condition: it has an old handpump which is difficult to use and very inefficient. Yourcommunity needs to work together to get access tobetter water supplies.• The NGO helps you to raise funds by organising groupsto work on the community’s model farm (which sharessustainable farming techniques with local farmers).Money raised by the farm is ploughed back intocommunity projects, such as improving water supplies.FoodYour annual harvest is small, and if crops die becauseof drought, your family goes hungry.• The NGO helps you to plant different and morevaried crops to help you get a more balanced diet.• You start to grow drought-resistant crops that willsurvive when there is little rain.• The NGO trains you to use natural fertilisers, such asmanure and compost, instead of buying expensiveartificial fertilisers.• The NGO recommends that you think again about thelivestock you keep. It could ‘lend’ you a cow or goatto increase the types of meat and other products youproduce. When your cow/goat has a calf/kid, you returnone to the NGO to repay the loan.HomeThe ground around your house is sometimes floodedby the river. The local NGO advises that you first needto estimate the average depth of the floodwater. Thenthey ask you questions about how you built your houseand what you do to deal with flooding.• The NGO will then help you to build a raised house,or a house that is away from the river on higherground. Having a house that does not flood meansthat your health will improve because you can keepdry and warm and store crops safely.Welcome to the local NGO workshop, where you willfind out how you can improve and sustain your family’slivelihood and support your local community. It will takesome time before you see the results, but they shouldhave a real impact. You can receive training in:WaterThe local water pipes are broken so there’s no watercoming out of your taps. You are forced to collectrainwater or to take water from open ditches.• The local NGO trains your community to organiseitself to repair the public water points and irrigationchannels and to lobby the government to guaranteemore and cleaner water. A better water supply willsave you time, and you will have more water forgrowing crops as well as for household needs.FoodTajikistan has long, cold winters. You need to look athow you can grow crops after the short summer toextend the growing seasons.• The local NGO has researched ways to do this andsuggests that you build small greenhouses usingplastic sheeting. You can grow salad vegetables suchas tomatoes and lettuces in these. The greenhousesare heated using small wood or coal-burning stoves.If you pickle some of the crop, you will have healthyvegetables to eat during the long winter. And you willbe able to sell anything left over at the local market.HomeThe NGO advises you to collect all your householdvegetable waste to make compost heaps to improvethe soil so you can grow a few vegtables. You also needa good fence to secure your livestock. You will grow thefodder that they need and then feed it to them. If youdon’t have a cow, you can join one of the NGO’s self-helpgroups to get access to credit so that you can take a loanto buy a cow. Once the cow is fattened up, you can sell itto pay back the loan and generate income. Or if the cowhas a calf, you can sell the calf to pay back the loan.In addition, you take a sewing and needlework course.You will make extra cash from selling the clothing.Some of your family members can train in carpentry orshoe repair. This will increase your income even moreand bring much-needed skills into your community.

Sustainability token: foodYou grow different types of fruit andvegetables. With a better diet, yourfamily is much healthier and has moreenergy to work harder on the land.Crop yields increase. You have alsoborrowed a goat from the local NGO.This had kids, and you returned oneto repay the loan. You now have goats’milk to improve your diet, plus manureto improve your soil.Your health andcrop yields increase even more.Ignore chance card 4 if you get it.Double your harvest.Sustainability token: homeYou receive training to help youbuild a home that can withstanddisasters. Your home is less at riskfrom flooding and you can storecrops safely. You have more timeto work on your land.Double your harvest.Sustainability token: waterYou help raise funds to build a wellto tap a water source close by. Youspend less time collecting water(or the same time collecting morewater). You grow more crops.Ignore chance card 5 if you get it.Each family member can collecttwo buckets of water each timethey visit the water source in futureyears. Take this card with youwhen you next collect water andwhen you visit the market trader.Nicaraguan sesame seedTajik tomatoesSESAMESEEDTOMATOESSustainability token: foodYou grow different types of fruitand vegetables. Your family is muchhealthier. With a better diet, your familyhave more energy to work harder onthe land. Crop yields increase.Ignore chance card 4 if you get it.Double your harvest.Sustainability token: homeYou borrow a cow from the localNGO. This had a calf, which wasreturned to repay the loan. You nowhave cows’ milk to improve yourdiet, and manure to improve yoursoil.Your health and crop yieldsincrease even more.You learn how to make clothes andcrafts and sell many of them at localmarkets.Double your harvest.Sustainability token: waterYou help repair village water pipesto tap a water source close by. Youspend less time collecting water(or the same time collecting morewater). You grow more crops.Ignore chance card 5 if you get it.Each family member can collecttwo buckets of water each timethey visit the water source in futureyears. Take this card with youwhen you next collect water andwhen you visit the market trader.

Tajikistan role cardWhere do you live?You live on the flat plains in the south of the country inthe small village of Qahramon, a long way from the capitalcity, Pushanbe.At homeYour house has mud-brick walls and a corrugated-ironroof that leaks when it rains. It has two rooms, one ofwhich is used to store food and crops.Cooking is always done by the women outside or in ashed. There is no electricity or running water. There is anoutside toilet that you share with some other families.Your grandmother and other relatives live nearby. Theysew clothes to get some extra money to buy flour, meat,oil and salt. Most of the young men and fathers in thevillage have gone to Russia to find work, but they haven’tearned enough money to send any back yet.Food and drinkYou have a small patch of land next to your house, butmost of the time you cannot afford the seeds to growpotatoes or vegetables, so the garden is empty. You donot have any experience of growing food or raising animals,because before, when your country was part of the SovietUnion (1929-1991), food was easy to get hold of.You collect rainwater from the roof in a pot when you can,or girls and women take water from the irrigation ditchesin the fields near the village. You don’t have enough to eatand your diet isn’t balanced – you eat the same waterysoup and bread for every meal – so you are often ill.IncomeYou have little spare cash to buy basic goods such as salt,sugar and oil.

Challenge. Also includes moreinformation about all the Christian AidresourcesMoreavailableon povertyto teachers andandyouth-workers.sustainable developmentabout the countries covered in the gameand generally about poverty, sustainabledevelopment, environmental change,diet, health, and NGOs.7-14 year oldswww.oxfam.org.uk/generationwhy/www.globalgang.org.ukTeachers/youth-workers 16 issues 14+ yearsGames, www.christianaid.org.uk/learncartoons, crafts and stories The www.christianaid.org.uksections on climate change andfrom Has extension children around and background the world about livelihoods www.pressureworks.orgwww.christianaidcollective.orgare particularly relevant to thetheir information lives, including supporting exciting The Poverty and issues Useful raised for more in The detailed Poverty information Challenge.accessible Challenge. information Also includes about more life in about the countries covered in the gamea information developing about country. all the Christian Aid www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/esdand generally about poverty, climate sustainable change,resources available to teachers and The development, poverty, Encyclopaedia sustainable environmental of development,Sustainable change,youth-workers.Development diet, environmental health, and gives change, how NGOs. good young diet, definitions people health canof and get terms involved how related young to make people to sustainable a difference. can get7-11 7-14 year oldsdevelopment.www.oxfam.org.uk/generationwhy/involved to make a difference.www.christianaid.org.uk/childrensresourcesGames, cartoons, crafts and stories www.globaldimension.org.ukThe sections on climate change andwww.globalgang.org.ukissuesMonthly from children material around for children the world in about An livelihoods ideas and are resource particularly bank relevant focusing to thechurch-based their lives, including groups exciting and schools and on issues how raised to bring The global Poverty issues Challenge. into theplus accessible links to information games and about stories life from in classroom.children a developing around country. the world.www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/esdThe Encyclopaedia of SustainableThe Poverty Challenge Development supports: gives good definitionsof terms related to sustainableSubject: RE/RME (England and Wales),Subject: development. Geography (England, Northern Ireland,RE (Northern Ireland), RME (Scotland)Wales), Environmental Studies: people andSkills: Reflect and evaluate their own and place (Scotland)www.globaldimension.org.ukothers’ beliefs, express their own beliefs and Skills: Identifying geographical issues,An ideas and resource bank focusingideas, making connections between religious problem solving and decision making includingeducation and other subject areas.analysing on how evidence to bring and global justifying issues conclusions, into theTopics: Wealth, poverty, the environment, appreciating classroom. how their own values and attitudeshuman rights and responsibilities, socialaffect contemporary social, economic, andjustice, fairness, inequality, communities, political issues.responsibilities, The Poverty belief and action, Challenge stewardship, Topics: supports:Changing landscapes, physical andglobal and national citizenship, the work of human geographical characteristics of Bangladesh,religious organisations in the community.Bolivia, Kenya, Malawi, Nicaragua and Tajikistan,Subject: RE/RME (England and Wales),Subject: Geography (England, Northern Ireland,environmental change, natural disasters,RE (Northern Ireland), RME (Scotland)Wales), Environmental Studies: people andSubject: PSHE/PSD/PSE/Citizenship (England), sustainable development, interdependence,Skills: Reflect and evaluate their own and place (Scotland)Citizenship (Northern Ireland), PSD/PSE (Scotland), diet, health, local and global NGOs, quality of life,others’ beliefs, express their own beliefs and Skills: Identifying geographical issues,Citizenship (Scotland) PSHE/PSD/PSE (Wales) physical and human interactionideas, making connections between religious problem solving and decision making includingSkills: Explain and express views that are noteducation and other subject areas.analysing evidence and justifying conclusions,their own, discuss topical political, moral and Subject: Science (England, Northern IrelandTopics: Wealth, poverty, the environment, appreciating how their own values and attitudessocial issues, respect and value themselves Wales), Environmental Studies: science (Scotland)human rights and responsibilities, socialaffect contemporary social, economic, andand others.Skills: Thinking through environmentaljustice, fairness, inequality, communities, political issues.Topics: NGOs/community-based groups, the consequences of choicesresponsibilities, belief and action, stewardship, Topics: Changing landscapes, physical andworld as a global community, independence, Topics: Sustainable development, naturalglobal and national citizenship, the work of human geographical characteristics of Bangladesh,interdependence, sustainable development, disasters, water within habitats and forreligious organisations in the community.Bolivia, Kenya, Malawi, Nicaragua and Tajikistan,vulnerability, the developed world’s response sustaining life, climate change.environmental change, natural disasters,to the developing world, needs, rights andSubject: PSHE/PSD/PSE/Citizenship (England), sustainable development, interdependence,responsibilities, health, fairness, justice, Subject: Mathematics (England, NorthernCitizenship (Northern Ireland), PSD/PSE (Scotland), diet, health, local and global NGOs, quality of life,participation, making choices, citizenship, Ireland, Wales, Scotland)Citizenship (Scotland) PSHE/PSD/PSE (Wales) physical and human interactionstewardship, diversity, uncertainty, precaution, Skills: Using data-collection sheets, collectingSkills: Explain and express views that are notvalues and perceptions.data through observation, relating summarisedtheir own, discuss topical political, moral and Subject: Science (England, Northern Irelanddata to an initial question, looking at data tosocial issues, respect and value themselves Wales), Environmental Studies: science (Scotland)find patterns and exceptions, evaluating resultsand others.Skills: Thinking through environmentaland modifying initial opinions if necessary.Topics: NGOs/community-based groups, the consequences of choicesworld as a global community, independence, Topics: Sustainable development, naturalLondon: interdependence, PO Box 100, sustainable SE1 7RT development,Belfast: PO Box 150, BT9 disasters, 6AE water within habitats and forCardiff: vulnerability, PO Box the 6055, developed CF15 5AA world’s Edinburgh: response PO Box sustaining 11, EH1 0BR life, climate change.Dublin: to the developing 17 Clanwilliam world, Terrace, needs, Dublin rights and 2Website: www.christianaid.org.uk/learnresponsibilities, health, fairness, justice, Subject: Mathematics (England, NorthernUK registered charity number 1105851 Company number 5171525 Northern Ireland charity number XR94639 Company number N1059154participation, making choices, citizenship, Ireland, Wales, Scotland)Republic of Ireland charity number CHY 6998 Company number 426928stewardship, diversity, uncertainty, precaution, Skills: Using data-collection sheets, collectingvalues and perceptions.data through observation, relating summariseddata to an initial question, looking at data tofind patterns and exceptions, evaluating resultsand modifying initial opinions if necessary.hunger are a good introduction totopics related to poverty.www.sd-commission.org.ukThe Sustainable DevelopmentCommission is the UK government’sindependent watchdog on sustainabledevelopment. www.cafod.org.uk This website has someuseful The sections definitions.the millenniumdevelopment goals and food andwww.dea.org.ukhunger are a good introduction toThe topics Development related to poverty. Education Association(DEA) provides useful informationon www.sd-commission.org.ukdevelopment education – leadingto The greater Sustainable understanding Development of globaland Commission development is the issues, UK government’s developingpractical independent skills watchdog and confidence sustainable to makepositive development. changes This locally website and has globally. someLists useful local definitions. Development EducationCentres (DEC) around the UK.www.dea.org.ukThe Development Education Association(DEA) provides useful informationon Cover development Image education – leadingto greater understanding of globalHarvesting and development squash issues, in Tangail developing district,Bangladesh. practical skills These and confidence farmers practise to makeintercropping positive changes (growing locally different and globally. cropsnext Lists to local each Development other), which Education allows themto Centres grow a (DEC) wide variety around of the food UK. withinthe same area.Cover ImageChristian Aid/Mohammadar RahmanHarvesting squash in Tangail district,Bangladesh. These farmers practiseintercropping (growing different cropsnext to each other), which allows themto grow a wide variety of food withinthe same area.Christian Aid/Mohammadar RahmanP423London: PO Box 100, SE1 7RT Belfast: PO Box 150, BT9 6AECardiff: PO Box 6055, CF15 5AA Edinburgh: PO Box 11, EH1 0BRDublin: 17 Clanwilliam Terrace, Dublin 2Website: www.christianaid.org.uk/learnUK registered charity number 1105851 Company number 5171525 Northern Ireland charity number XR94639 Company number N1059154Republic of Ireland charity number CHY 6998 Company number 426928 The Christian Aid name and logo are trademarks of Christian Aid;Poverty Over is a trademark of Christian Aid. © Christian Aid March 2012 12-125-AP423