Orphans and Vulnerable Children - CRIN

The Tree of Life

In this activity, you will:

 Get participants to do a self-exploration exercise

Facilitator’s notes:

The ‘tree of life’ helps the participants understand themselves better on a psychosocial level.

This exercise will help participants to answer the following question:

• Are you, as a caregiver, well equipped with PSS skills to care for orphans and vulnerable
  children?

For this activity you will need:

 Extra sheets of blank paper

 Coloured markers or crayons

To facilitate this activity:

1 Give each participant a piece of paper and some coloured markers or crayons.

Ask each participant to draw a tree that they feel will best represent who they are.

The following parts of the tree represent the different aspects of each person’s life:

Activity 2

The soil: Place of origin;

where you come from

The roots: Background,

ancestry, cultural ethnic

or tribal background

The trunk: People, places and

events that influenced one’s

life when growing up

Branches: The people,

places and events that

influence one’s life

Bug: Challenges in your life

Fruit: Things you have achieved

Leaves on the ground:

Losses or traumas you have

experienced or suffered in life

2 After drawing their ‘tree of life’, each participant should share his or her tree with the group

members sitting closest to him or her.

30 minutes

(^210) Unit 2, Module 2 Guide to Mobilising and Strengthening Community-Led Care for Orphans and Vulnerable Children