Game: Break the Circle of Hunger

Aim - To experience how difficult it is to break out of poverty and hunger

Materials - A piece of chalk to draw a circle on the floor, or a masking tape circle on the floor, or a stick to draw on the ground.

How to do it

  1. Divide the group into two equal teams. One team represents poor people and the other one represents poverty and hunger.
  2. Draw a circle on the floor or the ground. The "poor people" team stays within the circle. The "poverty and hunger" team stays outside the circle.
  3. At your signal (clap, whistle or shout), the players inside the circle try to break out of it. The players outside the circle try to keep them in.
  4. Once a player breaks out of the circle, he becomes a "helper" and tries to help people inside the circle to break out of it. If no one breaks out, select one or two people to be "helpers"
  5. Continue the game for a few minutes, then change sides and play a second round.

Reflection

  1. How easy is it for a person who is poor and hungry to get out of the circle of hunger and poverty?
  2. In which ways can people be supported to break out of hunger and poverty?
  3. Can the players identify similar situations in real life?

Note: this game didn't really work well for our group as the "poor" girls all just climbed under the arms of the "poverty and hunger" girls... but I have presented it on this site as it is a game that we did attempt!  Perhaps it will work for you.