In a group session on a serious subject such as HIV/AIDS participants may expect the content to be solemn and heavy, and for wisdom to reside solely with the facilitator. In this activity there is a role reversal as well as a reversal of mood. Participants are encouraged to be creative, in fact to stretch the limits of their imagination in creative materials that are touching, enjoyable and at times amusing. Since these products originate in the life experiences of the participants and in the realities of their work, the facilitator has much to learn from them placing himself in the role of the listener.

Purpose:

To enable participants to reflect on and share their feelings, beliefs, attitudes and concerns about different societal issues in a light, non-threatening way, as preparation for more serious group reflection on issues which have a direct bearing on the HIV epidemic.

Time: 1 hour and 10 minutes

Materials:

Three copies of a set of 10 to 15 pictures or "posters" (roughly 8 ½ inches or 210 x 297 mm) each depicting a tense or dramatic human situation (the reason for which is not clear). Examples: a seeming dispute between two people, a heated group meeting, a young boy receiving money from a man (purpose unknown), a family in distress (reason?), a serious illness, a community facility such as a hospital, a wedding ceremony, or an individual in deep reflection.

These scenes are depicted in a way that is open to many interpretations. The facilitator who selects the pictures should not have any one story line in mind. Since these posters are "un"-serialized, i.e., they are not numbered or in any set order, participants can rearrange them in any sequence they choose. That is what makes this exercise creative and challenging.

The success of the exercise rests in a major way on the selection of the pictures. They should be truly thought-provoking, depict dramatic human scenes and be open to different interpretations. Sometimes mixing together two sets of totally incongruous pictures can get the best results; it challenges the mind to make new connections and to give an unexpected twist to a story line, often with very humorous results. In the examples below, two different sets of pictures were mixed up, one from UNDP and the other from DESH, an NGO in India.

Procedures:

1. Divide the participants into three groups. Give each group a copy of the full set of posters.
2. Instruct them to choose any four posters, (strictly four only), out of their set and create a story which has a beginning, middle, and an ending. Participants should be encouraged to give names to the characters and to identify the community or village in which the story is supposed to take place.
3. The stories can be humorous, tragic, suspensful, sentimental, or whatever else each group decides but they must be recognizable as "true to life".
4. When all groups are ready, invite them to tell their stories in a plenary session using the posters to illustrate the sequence of events. Alternatively, the stories can be acted out, if time permits.
5. Have one member of each group note down the key issues and themes that have surfaced from discussion of their story. Let all participants reflect on the extent to which there are strong similarities or major differences in the stories they created and to consider to what influences these similarities or differences could be attributed.

At this stage the facilitator should not expect to see a clear linkage between these stories and HIV/AIDS. Rather the participants should have experienced the freedom to be creative, have demonstrated their capacity to come up with new ideas in a new form and have felt encouraged by the appreciative response of their peers. This heightened creative capacity will be of great value to them at a later stage when brainstorming new ways to promote community-based responses to HIV-related problems.

Source: Adapted from Srinivasan, Lyra, Tools for Community Participation, UNDP/PROWWESS

Photos by Jacob Pfohl