This material takes you through the steps required to collectively build the vicious fence.
In life there are processes that form a kind of closed circle. An example of this is when people use firewood for cooking, which they obtain from deforestation; what causes erosion; which in turn produces infertile soils; The effect of this is low production, which increases poverty and malnutrition. As the cycle repeats, poverty multiplies.
The idea of building the vicious fence, is to put before the eyes of the people the negative chains that occur and that become a kind of fence that prevents people from going to better situations. Taking awareness of the problem, the idea is to design strategies and actions that help to get out of confinement.
the-vicious-fenceTo achieve the purpose of this tool requires the real participation of all the people involved, a lot of desire and some patience. As always, the construction of these techniques does not require materials that are difficult to obtain; So get to work.
Description.
The vicious fence, in this case, represents a kind of a circular wall, closed on all sides; In the Reflect Action spaces we use the fence to represent a succession of chained events that cause negative situations; to collectively seek alternative solutions.
Ú The fence is a tool that helps us to visualize the possible negative relationships between different actions and, from there, design and analyze the strategies and actions that manage to break the vicious circle that they make up.
Objective.
The objective of this tool is to open a space for collective reflection on the chain of negative actions that we sometimes carry out; to become aware of the situation and design strategies that minimize its negative impacts.
Required time.
Its construction and analysis requires at least two hours, depending on the complexity and number of participants.
Necessary material.
To build the fence you need a flat surface (preferably dirt); dry branches of various sizes and thicknesses; waste materials such as caps, wrappers, cigar lines, pieces of cloth, seeds, pebbles, etc.
How to make the fence.
Step 1. The group observes a real fence; its uses and risks are discussed.
Step 2. Select and clean a suitable place to build the fence and collect the materials to use.
Step 3. Explain to the participants that you are going to identify the possible relationships that occur in some processes that link negative actions; We will represent these actions in the fence to better see their relationships and effects.
Step 4. Place a symbol in the center of the fence that represents the people involved in the chain of actions.
Let's see an example:
The symbols that could represent the people should be agreed by the group and could be seeds, leaves, etc.
Step 5. The actions are placed, one by one, in a chain and around the center until they form a vicious circle.
We will use the example of firewood. The first situation represented would be the need to cook (hunger). We could identify it with a cork or capita (saucepan).
In this material we have placed a burner to better illustrate the example.
The first situation is seen as a need and a problem: we need to feed ourselves and we are not doing it properly; we have malnutrition and hunger.
Next we place an arrow (it could be represented with a string or string) that indicates that the first action leads or produces the second situation; in this case, the search for firewood through deforestation.
Deforestation could be represented with a dry branch or leaf. You reflect on how you get back the wood; the effects it produces, etc.
After the reflection, we think and locate the following situation; in our example, erosion; which could be identified with a pebble, a cactus, etc.
The result of erosion is the infertility of the soil, our fourth situation.
We could represent infertility with a piece of tile, broken seeds, etc. In our case we will do it with an empty bottle.
And so, successively, we would represent the rest of the situations (low production, poverty, etc.). until the fence is closed.
Step 6. Once the fence is closed, the group discusses alternatives to get people out of this vicious circle and the resulting graph is recorded.
Things to Take into Account.
- It is important that the fence is built on the floor and with waste materials to avoid costs and generate the participation of people who cannot read or write with letters. Do not worry if the construction process is slow; The important thing is discussion, participation and the search for solutions. Once the fence was completed, we asked the participants if they were satisfied with what was done. If not, the necessary changes are made until everyone agrees.By dealing with real problems and their own, the group will feel that the space is theirs and, as a consequence, they will have greater possibilities of discovering and constructing possible solutions and putting march of local actions We must take advantage of the spaces for reflection to promote the analysis of ideas on gender, environment,democracy and empowerment.
Well, here our proposal ends and your commitment begins to apply it, enrich it and turn it into a useful tool for people, the main objective of all our efforts.
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