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Playtimes
T
here’s much talk nowadays
about being global citizens, but
does even the most travelled
among us really understand the
disparate lives of people around the
world?
Think about the old proverb: “I
can’t understand a man unless I walk
a mile in his shoes.” Stepping into the
shoes, through simulation, of those
who suffer is what participants in the
Global X-perience programme do
to understand global challenges –
be it war, poverty, HIV, vulnerability,
blindness, environmental issues or
hunger.
Making it meaningful
Hong Kong’s non-profit Crossroads
Foundation’s goal is to connect
people in a broken world, bringing
together those in need with those who
can help. As well as running Global
X-periences, the charity distributes
donated goods, links for-profit and non-
profit organisations, and sells fairtrade
handicrafts from around the world.
But it’s by stepping into others’ shoes
that the team believes people can
truly be inspired. Global X-perience
participants don’t simply hear about
need; instead, they briefly step into
the shoes of those who suffer. School
groups, corporate teams, families,
individuals and community groups
take part in heart-changing Crossroads
simulations – more than 20,000
Hongkongers participated in 2014. Their
popular Urban Poverty X-perience
sees participants making and selling
sufficient paper bags to escape
ruthless moneylenders. Another intense,
immersive experience – Refugee Run –
turns participants into refugees fleeing
across a country border into a refugee
camp, encountering challenges faced
by actual refugees.
Participant Pankaj, who grew up in
Nepal surrounded by poverty, took part
in a Struggle for Survival X-perience,
initially thinking that it was aimed more
at people from wealthy, developed
countries than his own. But the deeply
affecting simulation saw him adopt
a slum-dweller’s persona and force
his simulated children to work to
survive. After returning to Nepal, better
understanding the poverty trap, Pankaj
co-founded an NGO to empower
resource-poor people aiming, he says,
“to provide them with stepping stones
to help them climb out of poverty.”
Programmes are available for
children too, including the Challenge
of Water, where kids carry water for
their family whilst learning about
those without easy access to a
clean supply. Crossroads’ Silk Road
Storytime entertains pre-schoolers with
stories, songs and crafts from other
cultures, encouraging charitable and
environmental engagement.
Get involved
Crossroads has connected many local
school groups with world need since
the Global X-perience programme
launched in 2005. Indeed, students
at Kingston School were sufficiently
inspired by their simulations to raise
money for two aid shipments – one
for a Zimbabwean school, another for
orphans and foster families in Moldova.
The Nethersole School of Nursing lets
its nursing students undergo the HIV/
Aids X-perience annually to better
understand and assist those affected
by the diseases.
Whatever your age, experience or
background, get inspired to act – rather
than just think – as a true global citizen
by stepping into the shoes of people in
need through a Global X-perience. For
more information about the simulations,
or to volunteer or donate, go to
.
The Global X-perience from Crossroads Foundation
aims to inspire us to understand our neighbours and
their struggles, writes
Gillian Johnston
.
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