The Right to Shelter

ACTIVITY INTRODUCTION:

This activity can be used to build empathy and imaginative resilience while mapping out the tribulations and capabilities of a street child in the form of a game

PREPARATION BEFORE THE ACTIVITY:

Supplies Needed: Sharpies and several sheets of large poster-board (Note: if you have students in your class who are good at coding, the game could also be created online).

ACTIVITY DURATION: 40-45 MINUTES

ACTIVITY OUTLINE:

1 Have students read Children of the Street: Why are they in the Street? How do they live? by Augendra Bhukuth and Jérôme Ballet Ask them to highlight circumstances throughout the article that affect positive and negative change for street children.

Examples of circumstances with positive outcomes: joining a group of children who share food and shelter with you, finding a dog, someone gives you money

Examples of circumstances with negative outcomes: getting sick, witnessing a crime, being picked up by the police, a drug dealer recruits you

2 Make sure students understand the definitions of:

Children of the Street Children on the Street Street Families

Children in Institutionalized Care

3 Have a discussion about the deep-seated and intersectional issues and systems in our society that lead to children on the street Talk about the racist, classist and patriarchal systems of oppression in play

4 Divide the class into groups of four or five students each

5 Have the groups design a chutes and ladders game following the progress of a child on the streets Chutes and Ladders, also known as Snakes and Ladders, is an ancient board game believed to date back to the 2nd century BCE.