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Shaping your Shelter

GoalTo support humanitarian shelter teams to motivate volunteers

and communities to acquire more knowledge about safe construction and about improving the structural stability of constructions.

Learning Objectives Inspire further learning about safe building methods: in

particular “bracing” Open dialogue about constructing hazard-resistant homes &

for recovery building back more hazard-resistant homes

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This game was developed with support from the American Red Cross (International Services Team).

Designed by• Pablo Suarez, Rosana Morganti, Martin Badie, Wade Kimbrough, Carina

Bachofen and Janot Mendler de Suarez for the Red Cross / Red Crescent Climate Centre.

Acknowledgements

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Preparation: Pre-Game For each team of 3 players: 30 Wooden sticks: can be pencils, chopsticks, any long thin pointy pieces, broken

into two different lengths (short and long) 50 Elastic bands: to fasten sticks for building 1 Pizza box, or any cardboard surface ~ 40 x 40 centimeters 5 pawns to represent people, 1 marker at least 5 inches high, to ensure structures are tall enough to fit people 1 square piece of plastic ~ 30 x 30 centimeters (to simulate tarp) 1 cup of dry pasta (e.g macaroni) or similar small objects per team (to simulate rain)Facilitator’s materials 1 Wind Speed die: 6-sided 1 Wind Direction die: 8-sided w/compass directions* 1 Earthquake Magnitude die: 10-sided Prizes: small candy or similar reward for winning team

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Preparation: Facilitator

Playspace Requirements Tables for 1, 2 or 3 teams of 3 players each. Game can be played sitting on the floor.

Set Up Organize seating arrangements for teams of 3 players.

To begin, each team gets: 8 pencils 20 elastic bands 1 cardboard box or surface: draw a square in the center, 6x6 inches and designate

which side of the box is the ‘North’ side 5 pawns: representing a household 1 tarp

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Playing the Game: Introduction

• Explain Players’ Objective in game:A severe earthquake has just left thousands of people homeless. Your family

has relocated to a new area in the same region. You are tasked with using limited building materials to build back your shelter and protect your household from the impacts of future hazards.”

• How to win? The team with the fewest “insecurity points” at the end of 3 rounds wins the game. Additional incentives can be offered (such as “prize for the most creative shelter”)

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Playing the Game: Sequence1. Year 1: players have 5 minutes, limited materials to build shelter2. Countdown…stop! Invite observations on different structures3. Announce Earthquake aftershocks, roll earthquake die4. Resolve consequences of earthquake, tally insecurity points5. Year 2: Red Cross (Facilitator) provides additional building materials6. Players have 3-5 minutes to build back stronger shelters 7. Announce ‘some rains’ (see if pawns get wet)8. Announce likelihood of strong winds, players roll windspeed dice9. Discuss with teams perceived vulnerabilities10. Year 3: Announce climate change, provide teams with additional materials,

players have 5 minutes to continue to build shelters11. Invite debrief on building methods, drawing on the teams’ structures to

indicate what works in the real world, what does not work and why not

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Debrief: Discussion promptsInvite players to form new groups and reflect on what are the structural elements of each shelter that help make them robust to extreme winds and earthquakes.Groups select one insight to share with the rest of the participants. Note: facilitator can introduce or amplify the value of structural bracing.

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Facilitation TipsExplain: • The game is a hugely simplified representation of reality, and shelter

experts have valuable information about how communities can best use construction materials to create structures that are as resilient and durable as possible given materials, labor and time constraints.

• Stick to allocated time for each ‘year’ of activity. Players experiencing insufficient time to build their structures can simulate ‘real life’ where a disaster can strike at any time.

• The purpose of this playful activity is to inspire people to learn more about the best options for building better shelter.