Exercise description

The participants should imagine themselves having to explain to someone why we need reconciliation and find arguments in support of it. One person from the training team takes a sceptical position regarding reconciliation and asks that every argument is explained until it is completely clear and acceptable. The arguments are written on a wall newspaper/board.

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Exercise description

The participants are split into two groups of seven people and they work in separate spaces. Two or three people are observers in each group (depending on the total number of participants). Slowly and clearly read the story about the context for the exercise, at least twice.

Story:

“You are two rival humanitarian organisations working with children. Both your organisations currently work on multiple important projects planned for the upcoming two years (one of the main projects is procurement of aids for children with disabilities). One officer from each of the two organisations has been arrested for using the privileges given to humanitarian organisations for personal gain (evasion of customs taxes). Importing technical equipment was at issue. All the other employees (all of you) knew about this but turned a blind eye. The public prosecutor suspects that the two officers cooperated in these illegal activities.

You are faced with the question: Is your organisation guilty as a whole?

The group votes by secret ballot and the decision is made by simple majority vote.”

The two groups then go work in separate spaces. It is important that they are in different room so that they cannot overhear each other.

It is explained to each group that the outcome of the vote on whether they are guilty as an organisation will have different illustrates the different outcomes:

Possible voting outcomes:

• If both organisations admit their guilt, they will be banned from working for 7 months.
• If both organisations deny their guilt, they will be banned from working for two months.
• If one organisation admits to being guilty, but the other does not, the organisation that admitted its guilt will be banned from working for one month, and the organisation that did not will be banned from working for 10 months.

You can download the voting outcomes chart suitable for printing on A4 paper

Voting plan:

1st round: Everyone receives a ballot paper to enter their vote (“Guilty” or “Not Guilty”). Everyone votes individually, without consultations within the group. The trainer delivers the verdict based on the results of the vote on both groups (to each group) and the corresponding punishment, as well as specifically how the other group voted. She writes this on the chart on the flipchart paper.

Example chart for recording the votes:

Each group receives a copy of the chart.

2nd round: Voting takes place again without prior consultation and the results are given to both groups. Only then does each group get five minutes to confer and nominate a negotiator to go negotiate with the other group. After negotiations, they again have a short time (two minutes or so) to confer within the group and then they vote. The trainer again delivers the verdict based on the results of the vote of both groups (to each group) and the corresponding punishment, as well as specifically how the other group voted. If from this point the voting results remain the same three times in a row and the same sanction is pronounced, whatever the ration of votes, the exercise ends.

If the exercise does not end by the fifth round of voting, the trainer announces that the next round will be the last. The negotiators should have a chance to meet again, and a short time to confer within the groups, followed by the final round of voting and the end of the exercise.

Some people may decline to vote during the exercise, which can lead to the vote being tied. If the results of the vote within the group are tied, the following rule is applied: the result will be determined in relation to the previous vote by making the tied vote opposite to the previous vote (if the results of the previous vote were “Not Guilty” then the result of the tied vote will be “Guilty” and vice versa).

Exercise evaluation

Suggested questions to evaluate the exercise:

How did you vote? How satisfied are you with the result?

How satisfied are you with the process? What did the observers notice?

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• “Put all the chairs in a circle. You have 10 minutes to complete the task.”
• “Put all the chairs by the door. You have 10 minutes to complete the task.”
• “Put all the chairs as far from the door as possible. You have 10 minutes to complete the task.”

You should have roughly the same number of each of the instructions. Ask the participants not to show or tell others what their instruction card says. The exercise starts at your signal and you should let it proceed for 5–10 minutes.

Evaluation Suggested questions to evaluate the exercise: What happened? Did you follow the instructions you were given? (Inform the group about the types of instructions that were available.) How did you behave? Did you get into confrontations, try to persuade others, try to snatch chairs, retreat, try to cooperate? What was your perception of the others?

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Exercise description Slowly and clearly read the instructions: “The whole group will spend 20 minutes doing as they please. You can go wherever you want (on your own or together), you can talk, etc., but everyone apart from one person will be blindfolded during those 20 minutes. You must first select the person who will not be blindfolded and you can take as much time as you want. After that, you put on blindfolds and the 20 minutes starts running.” Evaluation Suggested questions to evaluate the exercise: What was it like? What happened? How satisfied are you with the decision-making process?

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Exercise description

Set up five chairs next to each other (like seats on a tram) so that the whole group can see them. The second and fourth chair are reserved for women and the other three for men. Ask three men (volunteers) to imagine they are on public transport (a tram) and to sit on the chairs (the first, third and fifth) in typical male poses. Then ask two women to join the scene and sit down in typical female poses.

Ask the observers to keep quiet and note down their observations if they need to. Let the scene go on long enough for the actors to become uncomfortable and start interacting, and then let the interaction develop for a bit (two or three minutes).

Ask one of the three male volunteers to return to the plenary and ask for another female volunteer from the group. The actors are not tasked with taking on the role of the opposite gender. Ask them to sit in the chairs so that the women first take up typical male poses and the men take up typical female poses. Let the scene last a few minutes for interaction to develop. Ask the observers to comment on what they noticed and compare the scene now with the one before. Ask the actors what it was like taking on the roles.

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Split into two groups. The groups line up facing each other so that each person from one group has a pair from the other. The pairs stand with their arms stretched out in front of them, but without touching Type of exercise: Interactive, experiential exercise Duration: 30 minutes palms, leaving a bit of space in between. Instructions: “This is a non-verbal exercise. Your task is to get to your wall (your wall is the one you are currently facing), but you have to make sure the distance between your palms and your partner’s is always the same. You have 10 minutes.”

Evaluation

What happened? Did you communicate? How did you agree on what to do?

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Exercise description

Introductory directions: “Find a pair for this experiential exercise, which is challenging and might be difficult. Take a piece of paper and a pencil and group yourselves into pairs.”

Each pair is given a stack of newspapers or masking tape and their task is to make a stick. The pairs will agree on who will be Person A and who will be Person B.

Step 1. Person A should beat Person B for 30 seconds. Person B is supposed to run away from Person A. Before beginning, they should write down on a piece of paper the thoughts/feelings/ questions they have going into the exercise. After the exercise, each person should briefly describe their experience in writing.

Step 2. Person A should beat Person B for 30 seconds. Person B should defend themselves so that as few blows as possible land. Before they begin, they should write down the thoughts/feelings/ questions they have going into this exercise. After the exercise, each person should briefly describe their experience in writing.

Step 3. Person A should beat Person B for 30 seconds. Person B should use a new strategy that wasn’t used in the first two steps but without using violence. Before they begin, they should write down the thoughts/feelings/questions they have going into this exercise. After the exercise, each person should briefly describe their experience in writing.

Person A and Person B exchange roles and the steps are repeated.

Evaluation

Suggested questions for evaluating the exercise:

• How do you feel now?
• How did other people’s reactions influence you?
• What did you write down?
• What does this experience remind you of?

* Bittl-Drempetic. Gewaltfrei Handeln, p. 378.

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Exercise description
A grid of squares is drawn on the floor, 6 x 8 squares It can be made by using masking tape.
Each square should be big enough to allow a person to stand in it. This grid
is a “swamp”. Only some squares are safe to stand on and “won’t sink”.
Only the trainer has the blueprint of safe squares (see illustration). All the participants stand on one side of the
“swamp”.

Peacebuilding Training Handbook

The following instructions are read out to them: “Your task is to get the whole group over to the other side of the swamp. Only some of these squares – “rocks” – are safe to stand on and won’t sink. You move in single steps and can only step on the
square that is touching the one you are already standing on, including those
positioned diagonally. There is only one safe path through the swamp. When you step onto the
wrong square you will hear a “splash!”, which means that you are sinking and have to start over. Those who manage to
go through the swamp remain on the other side of the it throughout the exercise. Only one person at a time can
go through the swamp.
You have 10 minutes to work out a strategy.
After that, all communication must stop and the group will have 20 minutes to get through the swamp.”

Evaluation
Suggested questions to evaluate the exercise:
How do you feel after this exercise? What was it like?
How did you agree on a strategy? Did you agree?

How much care did you take of others? Did you try to find a way to get everyone through the swamp?
What was it like for those who were left last?

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Set of Introductory Exercises for the Theatre of the Oppressed

Duration: 20 minutes. Descriptions of the exercises are given here.

Perpetrator, Victim, Observer

Type of exercise: Work in small groups Duration: 25 minutes Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Split into three groups. (You can use one of the creative division methods: see the section on Creative Division into Small Groups or Pairs on p. 259.) Each group is given one of the topics: perpetrator, victim, or observer. The groups are tasked with analysing these roles and preparing wall newspapers around the following questions: ͳ What does the perpetrator/victim/observer look like? (each group deals only with the role they were assigned) ͳ What are their characteristics? ͳ How do they make me feel? ͳ What are the strengths of this role?

• What does the perpetrator/victim/observer look like? (each group deals only with the role they were assigned)
• What are their characteristics?
• How do they make me feel?
• What are the strengths of this role?

Setting the Statues

Duration: 30–45 minutes

The participants remain in the same groups as for the wall newspaper. Each group is tasked with setting up a statue of the victim, perpetrator or observer (the same role they analysed previously).

Display, Analysis and Changes to the Statues

Duration: 225 minutes

Step 1. Display the statue of the perpetrator. The rest of the participants are the audience.

Step 2. The participants from the audience are asked: “What did you see?”

Step 3. The performers clarify what they wanted to show and answer the question: “What was it like playing that role?”

Step4. The performers present the wall newspaper they prepared in the first part of the workshop. (You will need about 40 minutes for steps 1 to 4)

Step 5. Then the next statue is presented, first the one of the victim, and then of the observer, and steps 2 to 4 are repeated.

Step 6. When all the statues have been presented and analysed, possible changes are considered. Theperpetrator statue is displayed again..

Step 7. The audience is asked to think about possible changes that could contribute to reducing violence and to try to replace one of the roles. (Do not replace the roles that are the source of the violence.) The other performers respond to the change and form a statue to accommodate the change and show their response.

Step8. All those on stage are asked: “How did you feel? What happened?” (start from the person whose role was most affected by the change)

Step9. Question for the audience: “What did you notice?”

Step 10. If there are more ideas, do a few more changes. For each change, repeat steps 8 and 9. Step 11. A round of applause for all who participated in the original statue and its changes. Make sure to have a break before

you move on to the next statue.

Step12. Move on to making changes to the other statues – first that of the victim and then the observer. For each statue, go through steps 7 to 11.

Evaluation

Suggested questions for the evaluation:

What was it like? What new questions opened up for you? What did you get out of this exercise?

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Exercise description Every participant gets a sticker on his/her forehead without seeing what the sticker is. For example, seven get a red square, five blue, two green, two yellow, one person gets black and one white. In addition, some people may get a combination of colours, for example, one person may get a red and blue square, and another a yellow and red square. Instructions: Get into groups without verbal communication.

Evaluation Suggested questions to evaluate the exercise: What happened?

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