This activity allows participants to think about situations in which persons were discriminated or even aggressed because of their ethnical or religious background.

OBJECTIVES

• To raise awareness on the different manifestations of discrimination and exclusion in society;
• To start identifying what each participant can do to prevent these from occurring or continuing.

REQUIREMENTS

• Materials: 1 copy of the “4 Quadrants” handout for each participant.
• Time: 45 min.

DESCRIPTION

1. Give each participant a copy of the 4 quadrants handout. Explain to each of them the meaning of the 4 words, also offering a personal example.
2. Ask participants to select a partner (or to group by three or four) and to share in these pairs an example of a time when they played one of these roles.
3. Reconvene the group and discuss the following:

DISCUSSION TOPICS

• Was it easy to identify these 4 occasions? Which one was the most difficult to remember?
• How did it make you feel to remember those 4 situations?
• How did you feel remembering about times when you were the perpetrator? What made you act as one? How could have someone prevented you from doing that?
• How can a “bystander” be turned into a “healer”?
• What can we learn from this activity?

Method adapted from:

NANCY FLOWERS, Marcia Bernbaum, Kristi Rudelius – Palmer, and Joel Tolman (2000), “The Human Rights Education Handbook. Effective Practices   for Learning, Action and Change”, Human Rights Resource Center, University of Minnesota,