“We are happy to have contributed to the mission in Shwebo for creating an inclusive and interfaith space for diverse groups of children who came from different faiths as well as children who are disadvantaged.” - Swati Bhatt
After the morning of more Play for Peace activities, it was time for some Practice Peace Sessions (PPS) with local children. Like the previous afternoon, the environment was alive with activities and laughter in all three spaces where sessions happened. The younger children came in much before the scheduled time and many wanted to repeat some of the activities from the previous day. So the group “warmed up” by doing another round of cap-making using old newspapers. Since everyone had a better understanding of what was expected, these second sessions occurred much more smoothly. Like in the morning, the children were coached through creative storytelling and cooperative team-building activities. They also discussed the Five Finger agreement which is a tool for building a community of learners. Also known as full value agreement, the Five Finger agreement uses the fingers as a metaphor for acceptable behavior in a community. Swati Bhatt demonstrated it to them by elaborating on each of the five values
- Safety – taking care of others
- Commitment
- Using appropriate language
- Acceptance and not blame
- Acknowledging what people do, cheering them up
In the end, the group talked about creating their Play for Peace Club and all of them agreed to call it “Play for Peace, Shwebo, Myanmar” (check out their Facebook page!). “It was good fun and a unique experience for us to do the training and at the same time guide them through the application,” said Agyat Shunya. “We were able to provide immediate feedback to them as they applied their learnings and understood what works and how they can adapt the games.” “We are happy to have contributed to the mission of SEMS and SSSG, Shwebo for creating an inclusive and interfaith space for diverse groups of children who came from different faiths as well as children who are disadvantaged,” said Swati.
