Can you help the Guinard family to make ends meet and get ahead in their poverty-stricken homeland, Haiti? In this sometimes tragic and always challenging simulation game, you help the parents, Jean and Marie, and their children, Patrick, Jacqueline, and Yves, make decisions about work, education, community building, personal purchases, and health care that might brighten their future.
While interacting with and helping your family, they may ask something of you that you do not want to do. This article explains how to say no in a nice manner. For example, you can say “ I can’t commit to this as I have other priorities at the moment.” or “Let me think about it first and I’ll get back to you.” When you come across a refugee need that you cannot fulfill, please let your teacher or the Agency know about it so that more people can be aware of this need that needs to be filled.
The first step to breaking poverty barriers is to examine your attitudes and beliefs about poverty and those who live in it. Your attitudes and beliefs will shape your tone of voice, your body posture, your facial expressions, and your actions.
Develop a deeper understanding of poverty and its impacts on people.
People faced with poverty feel like no one cares - so be someone that does.
Focus on and build on strengths. When communicating with someone in poverty listen for their strengths. If they tell you that they are losing their home, are unemployed and are raising 3 kids, but they are trying to do odd jobs to help pay the bills, find the strengths. They are obviously a strong person, resourceful and want to be a good example to their children.
Treat people special. Show people what is unique about them.
Become aware of what assets are in a person’s life. Work to connect people to missing assets.
Help people build their address books and grow their networks.
When we attribute motive to someone’s behavior, we set ourselves up for judgment and relationship breakdown. Believe people are making decisions and behaving in ways that make sense from their perspective. Seek to understand the “Why” behind behavior from the individual’s point of view. Once you understand their perspective, you can share other ideas for responding to situations.