Life line

Description of the tool

The preparation:
1. Make along paper line on the floor (the line can be from flipchart papers or a big roll paper). Make a life line in the middle of the paper line. Divide the life line into different parts of participants´ life. For example: childhood, adolescence/teenage, adulthood, … you can make it even more specific: studies, working in my NGO…
2. Draw a small lifeline to A4 papers for each participant. This should be a small copy on the one on the floor.
The exercise:
1. Give each participant a pencil, marker and one of the A4 small lifelines.
2. Ask participants (about 20 min.) to walk along the lifeline on the floor and think, what kind of experience they had in their life when they have realised a difference among people, felt or experience a tension/conflict among people because of different background, have been involved in such a conflict …
Each time a participant finds such an experience, should put his or her name next to the appropriate part of the lifeline on the floor. In the same time should make more concrete notes in the personal A4 lifeline. In this notes participants are asked to focus on the motivation part. What kind of motivation, changes, different attitudes, way of thinking, stereotypes, prejudice the experience has brought to their lives.
3. After the participants are ready, divide them in small groups of max 4 and ask them to share their different experience (about 30 min.). Participants do not need to share all of their experience in case they do not feel like.
4. After sharing, ask the participants in small groups to prepare a flipchart with the different motivations, attitudes, reactions, thoughts the different experience brought to them.
5. Bring the results of the small groups into the plenary and open up a discussion. Focus on the lifeline on the floor, compare the different life parts, when participants have had their first experience. Work on the motivation flipcharts. What differences there are, how is it linked to the reality people are living in, the political, social situation of the different places, family impact … What can we learn from the exercise?