18 • MODULE TWO: KNOWING MYSELF
Directions:ACTIVITY ONE
The River of Life
Group check in, if earlier sessions have been conducted.- Ask the children to form pairs. Ask them to discuss the memories of the happy times and the
difficult times in their lives. - Ask the children to draw a “River of Life” for their partner. The River of Life begins when the child
is born. When there is a happy event the river flows upwards, when something sad happens it
flows downwards. When an event is neither happy nor sad, the river flows in a straight
horizontal line. Encourage the children to remember as far back as they can and write or draw
the events. The events could be marriages, deaths, entering school, meeting your best friend,
learning how to cycle, going on a trip for the first time, or anything else that the child feels is
important. - The child then asks the partner what happy event he would like to see in the river of his life five
years from now and 10 years from now. This is drawn using a different marker. - The child shares the partner’s River of Life with the rest of the group. If the child has had many
traumatic events in life and does not wish to share with a partner or rest of the group, his/her
wishes must be respected.
Experience from the field
“Before starting the activity, I explained to the children (12-14 years) to remember all that had happened
to them immediately after running away from home, the ups and downs on the street. I reminded them
to draw the river up for good things and down for sad things. Some of the children went back to their
homes and drew pictures of home, hills (many have come from Nepal), trees and a river. They used
colors to fill their life lines. Most remarkable were their memories of each good and bad thing that had
happened on the street, which they then shared with the group. Some of the children said they had made a
‘mistake’ in running away from home when they relived the bitterness of street life. Some even drew an
upward line showing they were going back home. Understanding their need for repatriation, I referred
them to the counselor.” (PCI Street children’s project)
One child sat with his mother, a sex worker, and helped her draw her ‘river of life.’ (Prerana)
The mothers (who are sex workers) of the children wanted to draw their river of life so the facilitator
made a special session for them. (CCDT).