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Key date
17 October
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty |
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49 Practical Activities and Methods for Human
Rights Education > Horoscope of poverty |
Horoscope of poverty
Can you see into the future? What will next
year bring for Amina or to Misha?
Themes |
Poverty, Globalisation,
Social rights |
Complexity |
Level 3 |
Group size |
15 - 21 |
Time |
60 minutes |
Overview |
This activity combines knowledge and creative composition
to explore issues about the consequences of poverty and the
opportunities in life which are denied to the poor. |
Related rights |
- The right to food and housing
- The right to health
- The right to work
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Objectives |
- To reflect on both the lack of opportunities poor people
have, and the difficulties they face in taking those which
are presented
- To understand the cycle of poverty
- To promote social justice, human dignity and responsibility
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Materials |
- 12 Horoscope cards
- 12 Life cards
- One sheet of paper and a pencil for each participant
- Large sheet of paper or flipchart or board
- Markers or chalk
- Tape
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Preparation |
- Copy the Horoscope and Life cards and cut them out.
- Make up three sets of cards so there are four life
cards with their corresponding horoscope cards in each
set. Put each set in a separate envelope so that they
don't get muddled up.
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Instructions
- Introduce the activity. Talk briefly about horoscopes in
general. Do participants ever read them? Do they believe them?
What sorts of information do they usually give?
- Divide the participants into three small groups and give
each one a set of Life cards together with the corresponding
Horoscope cards.
- Give the groups twenty minutes to write fantasy horoscopes
for the four lives on their cards. They should use their imagination,
intuition and general knowledge to foretell what will happen
to the people in the coming year. Stress that there are no right
or wrong answers, but that they should try to make the predictions
within the scope of reality.
- When they have finished, call people into plenary. In turn,
ask each group to present their work. They should first read
out the information on the life cards so everyone is introduced
to the different characters, and then they should read out the
horoscopes.
- Finally tape the life cards and the predictions onto the
large sheet of paper to make a wall chart.
Debriefing and evaluation
Start the discussion by asking each group to explain how they
decided the futures of each of their characters. Then go on to
try to define poverty and finally move on to discuss the consequences
of poverty.
- What images do participants have of people who are poor?
In their own country and in developing countries? Are these
stereotypes? How well-founded are the images? Where do people
get their information from?
- What do participants understand by the term poverty?
- Might someone be regarded as 'rich' if they lived in one
country and 'poor' if they lived in another? In other words,
is poverty relative?
- In your society, why are some people rich and others poor?
- What are the main passports out of poverty, both in your
country and in Eritrea, one of the poorest countries in the
world? Having a rich uncle? Winning the lottery? Having an education?
Being healthy? Knowing the right people? Working hard? What
else?
- How easy is it for people who are poor to break the circle
of poverty? In other words, how hard is it for someone born
into a poor family not to be poor as an adult?
- What kinds of opportunities do people have when they are
rich?
- What kinds of opportunities do people have when they are
poor?
- Is it people's own fault that they are poor? Is it their
fate? Is it because of social, political and economic forces?
- Poverty often goes hand in hand with poor health, hunger
and malnutrition, lack of education, poor work skills and unemployment.
Is it a coincidence or are they connected? If so, what are the
connections?
- In general how do people view/treat poor people?
- What sort of political and social policies lead to the best
opportunities for life for all citizens?
- To what extent is education a key to reducing poverty in
your country?
- In almost every country of the world, the gap between rich
and poor is increasing. The gap is also increasing between countries.
What are the consequences of this for Europe?
- Does it matter that the gap is widening? If people think
it does matter, then whose responsibility is it to act to reduce
the gap?
- What can individuals, groups, local communities and nations
do to close the gap?
Tips for facilitators
Make it clear to participants that this is a fantasy horoscope
and that it is not necessary to be an astrologer or know anything
about the characteristics traditionally attributed to the signs
of the zodiac. Rather, they should focus on the details given
in the life stories on the cards and use their own general knowledge
and knowledge of history, economics and sociology. The "love"
item in the horoscope cards should be taken to refer not only
to the love life of the individual, but also their relationships
with family and friends.
Variations |
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You can adapt the life stories
or replace all or some of them with others you find more interesting
or appropriate. You can also replace these stories by real cases
you know of, or have heard of, in your own community or country.
Suggestions for follow-up
Women are frequently the sole breadwinners in the family, either
because they are single parents, or because their partners are
out of work. However, women are often discriminated against in
the workplace and, if social support is lacking, it is often extremely
hard to both work and bring up a family. If the group are interested
in exploring some of these issues, they could do the activity
"Work and babies".
We can speculate over our horoscopes, but our future is not
written in the stars, it is what we make it. Nonetheless, we
do need to have ideals and visions to work towards.. You may
like to do the activity, "Dreams" in the all
different all equal education pack and let people share
their hopes and aspirations for the future.
Ideas for action
Offer your support to an NGO or association that is working
with people who are poor and trying to create opportunities for
them. You could identify a local group and find out what their
needs are, then develop a project to raise funds. |
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Handouts |
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Maria,
a single mother with three children, lives in a very poor
suburb in Madeira, Portugal. Her latest companion has just
left her. She works as a maid for a wealthy family, but
for how much longer? Someone recently stole an expensive
ring from the lady of the house, who suspects one of the
maids. They can't find out who is guilty, so all the maids
are going to be sacked and replaced. Maria is Capricorn.
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Amina
is from Turkey. She lives in a small village in one
of the poorest region of the country. She is 12 years old
and her parents - very poor peasants - are talking about
looking for a husband for her. But she does not want to
get married; instead she decides to run away from home and
travel to the capital where she hopes to have a brighter
future. Amina is Gemini. |
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Misha
is from Tomsk in Siberia. He has been unemployed for
many months and he does not know what to do. His wife is
very ill and has to stay in bed all day. He has four children
aged 20, 18, 10 and 8 and the two youngest are disabled.
Misha is Virgo. |
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Yuriy
lives with his parents and three younger brothers in
Tomsk in Siberia. He is twenty years old and a very promising
ice-hockey player. His uncle in America has offered to try
to find him a scholarship to study in an American college.
Yuriy's father, Misha, has been unemployed for many months
and at the moment, the only source of family income is from
odd jobs that Yuriy does. Yuriy does not know what to do.
His mother is ill, two of his younger brothers are disabled
and the family relies on him. Yuriy is Cancer. |
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Bengt
is a young Swedish skinhead. He has been arrested twice
this year for violent behaviour. He has been out of work
for two years now and despite this, refuses all the offers
that have been made to him. He prefers to spend his time
training his dog, a pit bull terrier, doing body-building
and being in the streets with his mates, who have been linked
to several recent racist incidents. Bengt is Aries. |
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Ricardo
lives on his own in Barcelona, Spain, in a tiny apartment
he can hardly afford. He has been ill for many months and
lives off social security payments from the government.
He used to work doing odd jobs. His wife took the children
away and abandoned him when she heard that he has AIDS.
He is Libra. |
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Abdoul
came from Mauritania many years ago to look for work
in the French capital, Paris. He spent the first years alone
but was later able to bring over his wife and four sons
as well as his grandparents. They all live in one apartment
in a poor area of Paris. For a while things went well, especially
when Abdoul's wife gave birth to twins, but it has proved
a struggle to bring the children up to keep the Mauritanian
traditions. The twins are now 12 years old. They are having
lots of problems at school and often refuse to obey their
parents. Recently, Abdoul lost his job because of the general
economic downturn. Abdoul is Leo. |
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The
twins, Moktar and Ould, were born in Paris
in France. They are the children of Abdoul, a migrant worker,
originally from Mauritania. The whole family, their parents,
four older brothers as well as their grandparents all live
in one apartment in a poor area of Paris. The twins are
now 12 years old and have lots of problems at school. They
refuse to study, skip classes very often to hang around
with their friends in the suburbs of Paris and refuse to
obey their parents, with whom they fight a lot, sometimes
violently. Reports from school show that they are becoming
increasingly aggressive. Moktar and Ould are Aquarius. |
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Krista,
20 years old, rents a tiny flat in a very poor suburb of
Prague and dreams of living in Germany. She has read an
advertisement offering jobs in Berlin. She called the number
and met a man who promised to get her out of poverty saying
that she will easily find a job in Berlin. She decides to
trust the man and to take the chance to go to Germany. Krista
is Sagittarius. |
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Jane
is an elderly widow who lives in Scotland. Her husband
was an alcoholic and hardly ever worked. She survives on
the very small state pension but now needs extra care as
her health is worsening. Jane is Pisces. |
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Bella
lives together with her sister, Angelica, in Palermo
in Italy. Their parents died when the girls were sixteen
and seventeen, which meant that they had to leave school
and work to support themselves. They are now twenty-two
and twenty-three. Bella has two jobs; she works as a maid
during the day and as a cleaning lady in a hospital at night.
She also looks after Angelica, who is a drug addict. Bella
refuses to let her sister down because she knows how much
her sister suffered from their violent father. Bella has
problems with her own hot temper, that she finds hard to
control and which has caused her to lose her job on two
recent occasions. Bella is Taurus. |
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Angelica
lives together with her sister Bella in Palermo in Italy.
Their parents died when the girls were sixteen and seventeen,
which meant that they had to leave school and work to support
themselves. They are now twenty-two and twenty-three. Bella
has two jobs and she also looks after Angelica, who is a
drug addict. Angelica often steals her sister's wages to
buy drugs. She has been on and off drugs for many years
but finds it very difficult to control her addiction. Angelica
is Scorpio. |
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Aries (Bengt)
(21 March-21 April)
Love
Work
Health
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Libra (Ricardo)
(23 Sept-22 Oct)
Love
Work
Health
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Taurus
(Bella)
(22 April-21 May)
Love
Work
Health
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Scorpio
(Angelica)
(23 Oct-22 Nov)
Love
Work
Health
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Gemini
(Amina)
(22 May-21 June
Love
Work
Health
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Sagittarius
(Krista)
(23 Nov-21 Dec)
Love
Work
Health
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Cancer
(Yuriy)
(22 June-22 July)
Love
Work
Health
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Capricorn
(Maria)
(22 Dec-20 Jan)
Love
Work
Health
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Leo
(Abdoul)
(23 July-22 August)
Love
Work
Health
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Aquarius
(Moktar and Ould)
(21 Jan-19 Feb)
Love
Work
Health
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Virgo
(Misha)
(23 August-22 Sept)
Love
Work
Health
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Pisces
(Jane)
(20 Feb-20 March)
Love
Work
Health
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