A beautiful day in Khayelitsha. The sun is out, people are roaming the streets, and vendors are colourfully presenting their goods. A perfect day for an interesting and active group session. Little do I know that this time the session will be an emotional one.
A Participatory Action Research project is supposed to be carried by the participants themselves. They discuss together what their main topics are and how they are aiming to establish change, only guided by the researcher when asked. However, in the previous sessions the mothers indicated they would rather have me guide the first few sessions so that they can get to know each other better, before they feel comfortable enough to take over the course of the project.
Therefore, for today I have prepared an exercise which gives them an opportunity to tell their life stories to each other. This exercise is called Life River and asks participants to draw a river that represents their life. A steady stream indicates a peaceful and happy period in their life, whilst rough, sketchy parts of the river symbolize the toughest times.
After I explain this exercise (a known and commonly used exercise in Action Research), the women seem reluctant to start. Under the impression that I haven’t explained the exercise correctly, I draw my own Life River as an example. By the time I am finished, two women are in tears. Crying bitterly. When asked, Judy explains that thinking about the course of her life is extremely painful. It hasn’t been a good life and she doesn’t want to draw about it, feel horrible afterwards and go home with a heavy heart. I explain that the purpose of the exercise is to discuss all life rivers after drawing to get to know each other. They understand and agree that sharing their stories will be worthwhile. However, a few mothers want to draw the river first and then talk, others want to talk first and then draw the river. So after the first group is done drawing, we start with Judy, who was crying so intensely. Unexpectedly, her story lasts for 1,5 hours and reaches such an intimate level of sharing that most women are crying in empathy with her in the end. Just one life story, of one mother, seems to represent the whole group and hits a nerve with everyone.
When she is finished the other women express their desire to also share their story. The group decides that the next session, or two, will be dedicated to listening to each other life stories. A very personal, vulnerable and intimate way of getting to know each other and building trust. I believe a very brave decision of the group. Until next time…
A Participatory Action Research project is supposed to be carried by the participants themselves. They discuss together what their main topics are and how they are aiming to establish change, only guided by the researcher when asked. However, in the previous sessions the mothers indicated they would rather have me guide the first few sessions so that they can get to know each other better, before they feel comfortable enough to take over the course of the project.
Therefore, for today I have prepared an exercise which gives them an opportunity to tell their life stories to each other. This exercise is called Life River and asks participants to draw a river that represents their life. A steady stream indicates a peaceful and happy period in their life, whilst rough, sketchy parts of the river symbolize the toughest times.
After I explain this exercise (a known and commonly used exercise in Action Research), the women seem reluctant to start. Under the impression that I haven’t explained the exercise correctly, I draw my own Life River as an example. By the time I am finished, two women are in tears. Crying bitterly. When asked, Judy explains that thinking about the course of her life is extremely painful. It hasn’t been a good life and she doesn’t want to draw about it, feel horrible afterwards and go home with a heavy heart. I explain that the purpose of the exercise is to discuss all life rivers after drawing to get to know each other. They understand and agree that sharing their stories will be worthwhile. However, a few mothers want to draw the river first and then talk, others want to talk first and then draw the river. So after the first group is done drawing, we start with Judy, who was crying so intensely. Unexpectedly, her story lasts for 1,5 hours and reaches such an intimate level of sharing that most women are crying in empathy with her in the end. Just one life story, of one mother, seems to represent the whole group and hits a nerve with everyone.
When she is finished the other women express their desire to also share their story. The group decides that the next session, or two, will be dedicated to listening to each other life stories. A very personal, vulnerable and intimate way of getting to know each other and building trust. I believe a very brave decision of the group. Until next time…
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