Slum - Caritas

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Slum

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Contents

Introduction.........................................................................................................................................3
Plan ahead...........................................................................................................................................5
Teachers’ checklist...............................................................................................................................6
Students’ checklist/slum rules............................................................................................................8
Team activities.....................................................................................................................................9
Sponsorship form ............................................................................................................................. 10
Parents’ letter and consent form.........................................................................................................11
Health & safety.................................................................................................................................. 12
Recipes.............................................................................................................................................. 13
Quiz................................................................................................................................................... 16
Share your Survive a Slum experience............................................................................................... 18

Acknowledgements Contact details 0800 22 10 22
Mike Delany + 64 4 496 1742
Rosalie Connors Freephone (NZ only): [email protected]
Colin Macleod Phone: www.caritas.org.nz
Design: MW Graphics Email: PO Box 12193, Wellington 6144
Website:
Post:

Photography credits
Caritas
Verdon College, Invercargill
2 Communications, Futbol por la Vida, Trocaire, Nicaragua

Introduction

Survive a Slum gives students a chance to experience something millions of families in the world do every day – live
without a home, comfort or regular meals. It can be held overnight or over a weekend – students construct their own
temporary shelters, engage in learning and personal development activities, and eat simple food.

Survive a Slum is a fun way to:
• encourage learning through experience
• build awareness of poverty around the world
• raise money for Caritas’s work
Caritas is the Catholic agency for justice, peace and development. Caritas works in over 200 countries, helping to create
positive, sustainable change for disadvantaged communities around the world.

In New Zealand, we:
• provide Catholic schools with Social Justice resources for Religious Education
• coordinate Social Justice Week for the Catholic church
• conduct research and advocacy on New Zealand based justice issues
• fundraise for our work in advocacy, education, emergency response and international programmes

Internationally, we work with partners to:
• help communities around the world overcome challenges presented by complex situations
• provide aid in emergencies and training to help people help themselves
• build people’s skills to nurture integral human development, development of the whole person and society

For more information on Caritas, visit www.caritas.org.nz

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Survive a Slum memories...

“I love the way that the Year 13 students get into it, especially at night when it starts to get dark and they talk
about what it would be like to be doing this all the time.” ~ Rosalie Connors, DRS, St Peter’s College, Gore

“Mass is always prayerful... lots of prayers of intercession flow from the kids and they show that the students are
reflecting on their experience and about people who have no choice about living in a slum… Survive a Slum is fun
and it’s a fun way to raise money!”
~ Mike Delany, DRS, St Peter’s College, Palmerston North

“I HATE sleeping on the ground!!! I barely sleep a wink and because our slum site slopes down I
usually end up with my face pressed against the cardboard. That’s why it’s so good for me.
Let’s be real, our experience is nothing like a real slum, but we can’t help but think
about what the real thing might be like. This year it rained all night. That
makes you think!
~ Colin Macleod, DRS, Kavanagh College, Dunedin

“ Survive a Slum is concrete, it has a clear set of
guidelines (which you can easily manage/modify
to suit your school), it works, and the result is
always positive. Do it.
~ Colin Macleod, DRS, Kavanagh College,
Dunedin

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Plan ahead for a successful Survive a Slum experience!

3-12 months prior 2 months prior 1 month prior 1 week prior CAMP Event Post Event
• Finalise arrange-
• Discuss the • Discuss and • Send out permission • SURVIVE A • Send out letters
proposal with the plan pro- forms ments for food, SLUM! of thanks to
principal gramme with parent roster and helpers
senior • Give sponsorship activities • Keep a diary
• Set dates students forms to students • Team games • Write an article
• Apply to the • Quiz about your
• Keep parents • Plan menu and • Set chores experience for
Board or HOD for informed programme • Reflection the local paper
funds through or school
• Book school site newsletters • Collect cardboard time newsletter
• Contact local boxes • Liturgy
youth worker • Plan budget • Fitness • Collect students’
• Prepare and photo- sponsorship
copy activity sheets money

• Identify parent • Tell Caritas
helpers about your
‘slum’ experi-
ence and send
in your
donation

• Reconcile
budget

• Review for next
time

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Teachers' checklist

• Lots of cardboard boxes (never too many) • Food covers

• Newspapers (for insulation) • Cooking and eating utensils

• Light tarpaulins • Stovetop or portable heating source

• Video player and camera • Pot scrubbers

• TV and video • Get food donations from parents or small businesses if you can

• Sports equipment Cleaning and toileting
• Art/writing/paper resources • Disinfectant
• String/baling twine • Toilet rolls
• Rope • Rubbish bags
• Masking tape
• First aid kit Team
• Torch • Have a small senior group help you organise and run
• Cell phone
• Extra blankets and spare sleeping bags the weekend
• Plan a sequence of events for the whole time –

tired and bored kids get grumpy!

Food and Cooking • Invite a school or parish community leader to
• Tea, coffee, milo visit/stay over
• Sugar
• Margarine • Have a senior student act as motivator during
• Cooking oil the weekend
• Dishwashing detergent
• Ensure gender balance in teachers and
6 parents

• Organise a team to help with set up and
clean up

Venue Sponsorship
• Internal, open air courtyard (open air context provides • Have a set amount that students need to get

authenticity, but a dry alternative venue is a must in the from sponsorship (eg. $50 per pupil)
case of extreme weather)
• Post sponsorship form, feedback form and donations
to Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand, PO Box 12193,
Wellington 6144.

• Set a date for sponsorship monies being due

INCOMING _____ (no. of students) $_____
_____ cost per student

BUDGET Food $_____
COSTS Slum Housing (eg. tape, $_____
string)
Activities $_____
$_____
Other $_____
Food $_____
Slum Housing (eg. tape,
string) $_____
Activities $_____
Other

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Students' checklist/slum rules

ITEM CHECK
Clothing for the time away Eg. jeans, jumpers, t-shirts

Nightwear Eg. polypropylenes, socks, hat, gloves

Underwear for the length of the time away

Footwear Eg. sneakers and sandals

Wet weather gear Eg. raincoat, warm clothes

Toiletries Eg. toothbrush and toothpaste, hairbrush, soap, sunscreen, towel, shampoo

Sleeping gear Eg. warm sleeping bag

Medication – to be handed in to teacher

Luxury items Eg. guitar, board game, book, photo, pillow, torch

Cardboard box if possible (although we will provide most of these, we would appreciate some for ‘slum’ building)

* NOT ALLOWED: snack food, make up, deodorant, hair products, extra clothes, electronic equipment and electrical equipment.
Any other items you wish to bring must be approved by the coordinating teacher prior to the slum weekend.

SLUM RULES
• Look after yourself and your personal belongings
• Follow instructions of staff and other supervisors
• Show courtesy and consideration to others
• Inform your teacher about any medical conditions you have
• Accept the rules set by your school for the event, even if they are different to the rules you have at home

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Team activities

You may want to plan and vary your activities based on the number of students participating in Survive a Slum, and
how much time and resources you have. Some suggestions are below:

Build your teams
If the scenario of your temporary shelter is a refugee/displaced persons’ camp, you may:

• Elect a ‘camp committee’ – this committee can decide how to distribute food/shelter items like boxes, to
request further assistance, etc

• Organise a group of ‘aid workers’. The camp committee can approach the aid workers to ask for help
• Get a group of students to be civilians

Roleplay/Discussion
• The aid workers have limited supplies. How does the camp committee negotiate for these, and how do the aid

workers decide what to give?
• Have an unexpected disruption occur:

– Eg. while students are sleeping, they are woken by a ‘police raid’ during which the boxes are destroyed
– Eg. an unforeseen event happens, meaning they must skip a meal
– Eg. there is a ‘storm’ and the shelter is destroyed
• Experience what it is like to eat wet bread or sleep in wet bedding – this happens during storms, etc
• Experience what it is like to have limited access to shelter – there are limited boxes available. How does the
camp committee distribute these? How do those who miss out feel? Do those who have some boxes share, even
when there are not enough boxes for themselves?
• Experience what it is like to queue up for food when there is not enough for all. How does the camp committee
decide how to distribute it? How do those who miss out feel? Do those who have some food share, even when
there is not enough food for themselves?

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Sponsorship form for students

Please sponsor me.

I am raising funds to help disadvantaged people around the world. By spending my weekend in very basic conditions, I am learning a little
about what it means to be very poor, and to grow in empathy for those who do not have a home to live in.

The money will go to Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand. Find out more about their work on www.caritas.org.nz

School: City/town:

Student name: Teacher name:

Total amount raised:

Sponsor’s name Address Phone Amount Tick if a Tick to
received receipt subscribe
required to Caritas
newsletter

When completed, hand in this form with your sponsorship money and feedback form (page 18) to the event organiser. Try and follow this up

within the week of your slum experience.

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Parents’ letter and consent form

Dear Parent/Guardian

School is holding a Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand Survive a Slum weekend for students to experience first-hand the reality
that many people around the world live in.

Caritas is the Catholic agency for justice, peace and development. Caritas works in over 200 countries with disadvantaged communities to create
positive and sustainable change.

Start [DATE] [TIME] Venue
End [DATE] [TIME]

Attached to this letter are a gear list, slum rules and sponsorship form. You can read more about Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand on www.caritas.org.nz.

Staff and parents will supervise the slum at all times. If you would like to volunteer to provide supervision or meal assistance, please indicate this on
the form – we would be very grateful.

Simple meals will be provided over the weekend.

If students need to leave school to attend sporting, music or other commitments, please indicate this on the parental consent form.

As the teacher coordinating Survive a Slum, you can contact me over the weekend at mobile number [ ] .

Signed Date

Parental consent form My child is currently taking medication for
Name of medication and dosage
Please complete and return this form to the office by
Student’s name I am available to assist as a volunteer with Survive a Slum
Parent/Guardian’s name with food donations/preparation
Address of parent/guardian with supervision
Telephone Availability:
Emergency contact
Relationship to student I would like my child to attend the Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand
Telephone Survive a Slum on –
Doctor’s name
Telephone Signed Date

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Health & Safety

It is paramount to ensure the health and safety of staff and students at all times.

Under the Education Act 1989, boards must prepare charters in accordance with the National Administration
Guidelines. The Guidelines require boards to: provide a safe physical and emotional environment for students.

Under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992,
boards have obligations as employers to the health
and safety of employees, students, and other
visitors to the school.

Under general law, school boards of trustees,
principals and teachers owe a duty of care
to students to safeguard them from harm
in situations where a reasonable person
would have foreseen the likelihood of harm
arising.*

For more information on safety in EOTC
activities, visit www.minedu.govt.nz and
http://eotc.tki.org.nz

* http://eotc.tki.org.nz/EOTC-home/
For-boards-and-principals/FAQ

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Recipes Lunch

All recipes feed thirty people Vegetable soup

Breakfast Prep time: 1 hour

Porridge 7.5 litres chicken or beef stock

Prep time: 20 minutes 3 bay leaves

42 cups/3.6 kg rolled oats 3 cups carrots

22.5 cups/5.6 litres cold water 3 cups celery

4 tsp salt 2 cups onions, chopped

Put all ingredients into a large pot. Bring to the 1/2 cup rice
boil, stirring continuously.

Simmer and stir until the porridge reaches your 6 tins tomatoes
desired consistency.
2 cans beans

2 tbsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Put all ingredients into a pot. Simmer gently
over low heat for one hour, until vegetables
are tender and flavours are blended to taste.

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Dinner

Rice, dahl and chapati bread

Prep time: 1 hour

10 cups small red lentils

10 onions (medium)

15 cloves garlic

10 tsp coriander

1 tsp cardamom

3 tsp pepper

10 tsp ginger

10 tsp salt

3 tsp cayenne pepper

vegetable oil

water

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Peel and chop the onions and garlic. Pour some oil
into a pot, swirling the pot around to let the oil cover
the base. Add in the onions and garlic, and sauté for

around 5 minutes. Add in the lentils and stir.

Add the spices and enough water to cover
the lentils. Cook over medium heat. Check it
occasionally, and add extra water as needed.

Chapati bread

4 cups sifted whole wheat flour

2 tsp salt

2 cups warm water (adjust quantity as needed)

In a bowl, mix together the salt and flour. Make a well in the middle and add in two cups of warm water.
Mix with your hands and gather it into a ball of dough. Turn onto a lightly floured bread board and knead
for 8-10 minutes. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let stand for 30 minutes.

On a floured bread board, flatten the dough and separate it into rolls, each approximately eight inches
in diameter.

Heat a pan over medium high heat, and cook for 10 seconds on each side, before cooking for a further minute
on each side.

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Quiz

1. What is a slum?
a) a place with no bathrooms
b) a run-down area of a city with substandard housing, filth
and insecure residential status
c) a temporary township for people waiting to move into a
better home
2. How many people in the world live in slums?
a) 50 million
b) 837 million
c) 1 billion
3 Which continent has the highest concentration of slum dwellers?
a) Asia
b) Africa
c) North America
4. Around the world, slum numbers are
a) increasing
b) remaining the same
c) decreasing

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Answers: 1b, 2c, 3b, 4a, 5c, 6c, 7c, 8c, d 5. Slums are usually in cities. How much of the world’s population lives in cities?
a) about a quarter
b) just under half
c) two thirds
6. Do people who live in slums generally own the land they are on?
a) yes
b) they share ownership
c) no
7. People who live in slums are…
a) not trying to get jobs
b) lazy
c) caught in a poverty cycle
8. What are two main reasons why people live in a slum?
a) ethnic group
b) religion
c) poverty
d) overcrowding in cities
e) environmental disasters forcing people off their land

f ) globalisation

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Share your Survive a Slum experience

Please let us know how your Survive a Slum weekend went! Fill in this form and hand it in with your sponsorship

form (page 10) and money to the event organiser.

School: City/town:
Contact person: Total amount raised:

The best thing about Survive a Slum:

The thing that was hardest:

Survive a Slum made me think about:

Something I did during this ‘slum’ experience that I had not done before:

Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand would love to hear your Survive a Slum story and see photographs of your ‘slum’.
Send them to [email protected]

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