Honouring Women in Our Lives



Objective(s) & Context

  1. Honour and reflect on the influence of women in our lives.

 

Intentional spaces to recognize the impact of girls and women in our lives are necessary to restoring public memory about the presence of strong, inspiring girls and women. This is especially necessary in patriarchal societies wherein the influence of girls and young women might be more easily minimized or forgotten.

 

Duration

20 minutes

* Add one minute for each additional group member

 

Group Size

15

 

Age Group

All

* Bear in mind that a lit match is part of the exercise

 

Skills

Reflection, creative expression, Interpersonal communication skills

 

Format(s) & Technique(s)

Large group activity and expressive exercise

 

Materials

Matches (enough for each participant)

Ashtray to collect used matches

 

String alternative

* If there are safety concerns, this workshop can be done with pieces of string:

Spool of strong string

Pair of safety scissors

 

Facilitation Tips

 

  • For safety reasons, you may want to check for a fire extinguisher or smoke ventilation in your room

  • If you have safety concerns about using matches, this workshop should be done with pieces of string. If using string, ask participants to each cut a piece off. Then do a go around. Ask each participant to unwind her piece of string each while saying her name and organization, etc.

 

Leading the Activity: Steps to Take

Preparation:

  1. Ensure you have materials for the activity.

 

Workshop:

  1. Explain to participants that the day’s activities will open with an introduction exercise where each participant will introduce herself and then honour an important woman in her life as a means of honouring our collective heritage of strong women.

  2. Pass around the matches or pieces of string, one for each participant.

  3. Explain that the only condition of this exercise is that each participant can only talk as long as the match is burning. When it goes out, each person stops and the next person takes a turn. If using string instead of matches, each participant can talk for as long as it takes to unwind the piece of string.

  4. Ask each participant to:

  • State her name.

  • Light the match.

  • Say the name of the woman that is important in her life.

  • Encourage participants to use women they know personally, rather than “celebrities.”

  • Briefly, explain why this woman is important in her life.

 

Debrief

  • If time allows, encourage participants who were cut off (either because the match went out or the string ended) to finish saying why their chosen woman was important to them.

  • Facilitators could ask the group to reflect on the exercise once completed.

 

Success Indicators

  • Participants share openly

 

Source: Andrea Canales, Go Girls