Empathy Action

facebook-roundGiveShop

  • About
    • Our Mission
    • Who We Are
  • Simulations
    • The Poverty Trap
    • Desperate Journeys
  • Action
  • Crafts
  • News
  • Volunteer
  • Contact
  • Give

Malawi Matters

One of our team recently spent some time in the district of Kasungu in the Central Region of Malawi. Here is a little bit about why she was there and what she discovered …


I’m tagging along on my son’s trip (he’s here to gain some volunteer experience in a District Hospital), and although I’m playing second fiddle/PA/hand-washer of clothes/the one with the dollars, I hope to discover something new for myself too.

This is my third trip to the Warm Heart of Africa and I know that the differences between it and my homeland are manifold – some are very obvious while others are so subtle that you only discern them in a drip, drip, drip way much later on.

My guide for the week is Innocent, second son of our friend, Fitta “the Fixer” Chipeta. Fitta knows everyone, and everyone knows Fitta (pronounced Feeta). It is he who has managed to secure my son this placement.

Fitta
Fitta
Innocent
Innocent

I want to learn more beyond the bare facts that Malawi remains one of the poorest countries in the world with about 50% of the population living below the poverty line and 25% living in extreme poverty. I’d like to hear stories, get to know individuals, gain impressions, understand how we are similar.

It’s true that stories of hardship are writ deep in the earth of this beautiful land. And yet smiles grace the faces of everyone we meet. Including the very engaging Fazili Gama (aka F Man), whom you may have already met via Instagram. He tells us of the ups and downs of his own story – including a recent personal tragedy – and explains his forbearance with reference to the Malawian mindset: “Things happen; we accept them; and we move on.”


Innocent shows me a country rich in bananas, cassava, tomatoes, onions, sugar cane, pumpkins, potatoes, maize, rice and a huge variety of pulses (a potential superfood in times of unpredictable rainfall due to climate change – particularly the so-called ‘Poor Man’s Pulse’, the drought-resistant Bambara groundnut).

I see them growing in the soil and then at the market – a busy, noisy, fast-paced labyrinth of tiny alleys which lead every which way to sell every which thing: to the fish quarter where silver catch from Lake Malawi (usipa) shine in neat piles; to the place where craftsmen hammer new pots and pans to add to their stock; and to stalls where bowls of bead-like pulses sit side by side with roundly stacked tomatoes and onions. And I hear the mellifluous calls of the women vendors as they spill colourful beans through their hands.



This vibrancy is matched by a deep love of life. Our friends (old and new) want to make time for my son and me, and visit us daily to sit, laugh and talk. We see people gathered in groups wherever we go, and I ask Innocent what they are doing. He answers: “They are chatting (kucheza), spending time together. It’s important.”

Back at the hotel the tired furnishings and vacant rooms speak of tough times. And when the power cuts occur (frequently), the generator chugs on only briefly in an effort to ration fuel.


Necessity engenders resourcefulness in all sorts of ways. The green bar of soap in our bathroom has been cut into half, with the other half probably in our neighbour’s room. One waiter says that nothing is wasted and everything is stretched to its maximum use. I learn that any leftovers we leave on our plates at mealtimes will find good homes with the kitchen staff. My son and I decide to over-order from then on …

On the medical side, people are no less inspiring. Each evening after work, clinician Tablin Mwambase drives an hour to a far-off village to assess the progress of a sick patient with serious wounds. He cleans and redresses them, then drives another hour home. When I tell him he is a very good man, he replies quite simply, “Every life matters.”

Richness in humanity … but the reality is that Malawi’s poverty can be crippling. We see it at the hospital, on the streets, at schools and in homes. It affects everything: health and growth, education and aspirations. Our contact at the hospital remarks that my son is very fortunate to be able to realise his ambition to become a medic. Countless families are unable to pay for their children’s secondary education. And although primary school is free, drop-out rates are high (children may be needed on their family smallholdings; basic school equipment is unaffordable; girls fail to attend when they are menstruating due to poor sanitation at school; etc).

Girls perform domestic duties.
Girls perform domestic duties.
Children swim when they should be at school - there may be many reasons for their absences.
Children swim when they should be at school – there may be many reasons for their absences.

One hotel worker asks me if I think Malawi has changed since my first visit in 2012. I answer that – yes, my sense is that times are harder now than then. He agrees, saying that Malawi is beset by corruption at the top. He is doubtful that the unpopular president will be ousted anytime soon, although a court case is seeking to establish the truth behind claims of wrongdoing in the popularly named ‘Tipp-Ex Election’ earlier this year.

Worst of all, the waiter worries that the ‘Warmth’ has gone from this ‘Warm Heart of Africa’.

I don’t want to believe that’s true.


So what have I discovered? That Malawi is a beautiful and complicated place.

Everyone has a story that makes you think and … I realise that I want to hear more – there is a great deal further to learn from these friendly, open and incredibly resilient people, and their deeply captivating land.


Becky

Filed Under: Blog, News Tagged With: #EmpathyActionStories, #poverty, #zerowaste, Africa, education, Empathy, Global Citizenship, inspiration, Malawi, stories

Schools Choose Empathy


(Photos by Hannah Robertson Photography)

Following the recent spell of Desperate Journeys at The Royal Victoria Place, we reflect on the rise of schools choosing empathy for their students. We have the privilege of facilitating groups to take ’empathy steps’ and here’s a little of what we see.

When schools speak to us we’ve heard one phrase more than others: that they hope to ‘burst the bubble’ of their students. Teachers often inform us that they wish to not only expand and challenge their students’ understanding but also to inspire the use of ‘their own privilege’ and enhance their desire to help others.

A date, time and place are agreed and then they arrive.

A class of young people is ready to learn about empathy. Some are nervous, thoughtful and quiet. Others are nonchalant, and focus elsewhere as they wait. Yet others are noisy with anticipation. Their teacher is with them, answering questions, and asking their own too.

What they are all about to do is outside of their classroom. In this case, outside of their school. And possibly outside of the comforts of their own outlooks. It is an exercise in putting on the proverbial shoes of another.

They go through an immersive experience. In this case it’s Desperate Journeys. It explores the journey a Syrian family has to make when forcibly removed from its home, and is based on real facts and testimonies. It is one of an expanding range of empathy based activities.

Participants share about what they felt and matters that had impacted them. As organisers, we have one purpose: to listen. This is their empathy, we want to hear.

The debrief

It’s been called an “incredible teaching tool”, something that is not easy to create in the confines of classrooms. These are some of the words students have used to articulate how they felt during and after the event:

“It showed me that life doesn’t have a happy ending for so many people. This made me feel very emotional and sad because it makes me realise how lucky I am.”

“There was no control over the choices and we had to make them quickly, knowing each decision would be bad.”

“Breathtaking and scary.”

“It makes you feel for refugees and puts you in their shoes – it seems real, feels scary but mind-blowing.”

(Pupils, Frant Primary School & Hilden Grange)

And from the teachers:

“Today you have reached the hearts and minds of those who have the power to change the future… This was, without doubt, the most powerful school trip I have ever taken a class on.”

“The children have not stopped talking about it.”

(Teachers, St Johns Primary School)

What encourages us, as organisers of empathy, is the growing appetite from teachers to want to bring empathy right into the heart of their schools. Choosing to use experiences and simulations like Desperate Journeys and The Poverty Trap as curriculum for their students.

Empathy Action is looking to increase its range of empathy activities (including a future Climate Action simulation) and work further with schools, businesses and community groups.

If you’d like to know more about bringing a simulations to your group or volunteer with us, please do get in touch. We would love to hear from you.

Filed Under: Blog, News Tagged With: #chooseempathy, #EmpathyActionStories, be kind, burst the bubbles, choose empathy, Cognitive Empathy, community action, Desperate Journeys, education, Empathy, Empathy Deficit, Geography, Global Citizenship, Kinaesthetic Learning, Refugee simulation, royal victoria place, simulation, Simulation Development, simulations, Teaching Empathy, The Poverty Trap, Tunbridge Wells

My Desperate Journey by Jenny Maslin

Part time EA Administrator, Full time Singer, Musician and teacher, Jenny Maslin

Part time EA administrator, full time singer, musician and teacher, Jenny Maslin

My name’s Jenny and I volunteer with Empathy Action as an administrator.  Having sat through many staff meetings and heard all about the planning and preparations that have gone into creating our new simulation, I was excited (and a little nervous) to see what it was all about. I experienced Desperate Journeys as a participant during their launch week and co-founders Ben and Matt asked me to write about my experience…

I joined a group of 26 strangers from all different walks of life, none of us quite sure what to expect. We were welcomed by the simulation’s director, given a passport, some money and asked to remove our shoes before entering one of the seven marquee tents that housed the whole experience. From there the journey began as we were thrown into a situation where, as a group, we had to make multiple decisions for our group’s safety, under pressure and with limited information available.  I won’t give any plot spoilers, but will focus instead on the two questions that were asked at the end:

‘What struck you?’ and ‘How did you feel?’

When not volunteering with Empathy Action, I work as a musician and teacher. Sound and silence are a big part of my life and would therefore naturally be a focus for me as I walked through the dark, maze-like set. I found myself making observations between the cleverly designed soundtrack that followed us and the feelings I was experiencing: joyful party music; incoming explosions; the harsh voices of soldiers as they burst in on us; pants, sobs and cries of fear from the actors; the heavy silence as our group sat in darkness on a dingy to Europe, listening to the stories of desperation from a fellow passenger; the subtle changes in music as we turned corners and faced new, improved or worsened situations. I was struck with a sense of powerlessness, swept up in a tide of sounds and people I’d just met, travelling to an unknown destination.

I felt frustrated by the lack of autonomy of group decisions, and could see parallels with the loss of freedom of choice a refugee would face. I felt loss when we heard that our host’s family home and street had been flattened, and grief too when the same family had to make the horrendous decision to separate when applying to relocate. Earlier that day I had been enjoying the first signs of spring, gardening in my quiet peaceful neighbourhood. I had exchanged texts with my sister who has chosen to spend 2 years in Australia as part of a secondment scheme. I miss her very much but know that she is safe and happy, will be returning this year, and that I can visit her without many of the bureaucratic hurdles we experienced in the simulation. These feelings were brought home further in a concluding and powerful speech from one of our volunteers, and a resettled refugee herself. Reem told us of her family’s struggle to flee her home country and resettle in the UK. They are still waiting for the remainder of her family to be granted asylum. Her story brought me to tears. I left the simulation in deep thought, humbled and very moved.

As we drew to a conclusion, we were told that there are 65.6 million people worldwide (a similar amount to the entire population of the UK) who have been forcibly displaced from their home: That’s around 1 in 100 of the world’s population. Refugees don’t start out as refugees. They are mothers, fathers, friends, colleagues, students, professionals… human beings just like us. We must engage with this world crisis and do what we can to help.

More accounts of Desperate Journeys:

  • “A Desperate Journey, Seeking Hope“
  • A 16 year olds account

Filed Under: Blog, News Tagged With: Cognitive Empathy, Desperate Journeys, Empathy, empathy action, Empathy Deficit, Empathy with Refugees, Global Citizenship, Global Refugee Crisis, Kinaesthetic Learning, Pickwell Foundation, Refugee, Refugee simulation, Refugees, simulation, simulations, Teaching Empathy, volunteer, volunteering, World Humanitarian Summit Pledge

Climate Change: “the dividing line between poverty and wellbeing”

An Empathy Action team went to Bonn, Germany last weekend to join a Christian lobby at the 23rd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP23). Empathy Action is looking to build future empathy programmes in this area.

The COP23 this year serves to build on the COP21 and Paris Agreement to

…limit the global average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees above that of the pre-industrial age”

It has a focus on building more ambitious targets and being bolder on action for a common future. Everyone has a part to play: Governments (national, regional and local), Investors, Businesses, Civil Society, Everyone. The call is to go

Further, Faster – Together”

Paul and Heather Williams, already activists (they walked to Paris from London to COP 21 in 2015 and are involved in Creation Care at St Nicholas Church Sevenoaks), Alison & Kevin Dennis engaged in Renew our Food at Orpington Baptist Church and regulars for the Poverty Trap joined Director, Ben Solanky in the Empathy Action team.

The team took part in a convening of global groups from End Poverty 2030, Tearfund, Tear Australia, Micah Global Network, EU CORD, EFICOR India and more involving over 60 people. Their activities including handing a petition to delegates from Fiji, the Chair of this year’s summit, to honour the commitments made to date; an adoption of a tree in the botanical gardens of Bonn that can now survive the winter due to climatic changes; a celebration of the nations coming together and church services that reflected a call for action towards a climate of justice.

Martin Kapenda, Director of Micah Global in Zambia, one of the accredited civil society representatives at the talks, shared the very real impacts of climate change in his country and in Africa. He said:

Climate change in my country in Zambia and in Africa is ‘the dividing line’ between poverty and wellbeing.”

Kuki Rokhum, Director of Development and Learning EFICOR in India, who preached at the official Church service on Sunday morning, cited the late activist Wangari Maathai’s ‘story of the hummingbird’ in a call to action by the team encouraging us not to be overwhelmed or numbed by the scale of the problem before us.

Empathy Action is already involved in producing Global Citizenship programmes for schools and groups and will be looking to develop further its range of empathy activities to include climate action.

If you are interested in these programmes to either book for your group or volunteer please contact us.

Filed Under: Blog, News Tagged With: Bonn, Climate Change, Climate Justice, COP21, COP23, Empathy, empathy action, Global Citizenship, Global Goals, SDGS, volunteer

Building “Desperate Journeys”

Woman in scarf DJ

“Desperate Journeys“, Empathy Action’s new live interactive experience will be launching early next year to explore the refugee crisis with schools, businesses and groups.

Empathy Action are now actively looking for cast, backstage crew and event support to help build empathy with the global displaced and develop solutions and support for the refugee crisis.

The team have been trialling the set build at Tonbridge School courtesy of the Community Action Department of the school during their mid term break.

IMG_7004IMG_7008IMG_7081IMG_E7020IMG_7126IMG_7127IMG_7128IMG_7005 The experience is delivered within a maze-like set which can be assembled in a large hall or even outside during the summer. It will run for around 90 minutes as part of a 2-3 hour package delivered by the Empathy Action team, including briefing and a reflective feedback and discussion session. The experience is designed for up to 30 participants at a time, who will be guided through it by our cast members.

The challenging new piece is firmly based in facts, first hand accounts and case studies of this global issue to bring home to participants the human stories behind the headlines.

The launch is scheduled for 22-27th January at Tonbridge Baptist Church.

Empathy Action is now actively looking for more volunteering help to deliver this experience. The plan, to develop a pool of performers and crew, to rehearse through the autumn ahead of our launch week.

We need adults of any age who are comfortable improvising around a core script, interacting with the participants, and delivering powerful personal stories.”

If you are interested in helping please get in touch. Two local workshops will be running for all those interested.

  • Thursday 2 November 10 am -1 pm (Christ Church, Tunbridge Wells)
  • Friday 10 November 7 pm -10 pm (Christ Church, Tunbridge Wells)

If this strikes a chord with you please get in touch to hear more or to sign up for the workshops. Updates on the project will also be posted on Empathy Action’s Facebook page.IMG_7044IMG_7053IMG_E6998IMG_E7030

Filed Under: Blog, News, Uncategorized Tagged With: CSR, Desperate Journeys, Displaced, Empathy, empathy action, Empathy Actions, Empathy Deficit, Empathy with Refugees, Global Citizenship, Global Refugee Crisis, IDPs, Kinaesthetic Learning, Learning, Pickwell Foundation, Refugee, Refugee simulation, Refugees, school action, Schools, simulation, simulations, Syria Refugees, Teaching Empathy, Tonbridge, Tonbridge Baptist Church, Tonbridge School, Tonbridge School Community Action, volunteering

Next Page »

Latest

Solidarity with Refugees

Solidarity with Refugees

  Last month Sevenoaks School ran a Refugee focused week. … >>

The High Life

The High Life

Over the last year, we have been working on developing a new immersive … >>

Social Hackathon: Digital Empathy?

Social Hackathon: Digital Empathy?

Since lockdown last year, video calls, home working, virtual and … >>

More News >>

Give

© 2021 Empathy Action
  • Accessibility
  • Legal
  • Empathy Action Privacy Notice
  • Sitemap
served by freshSPRING