2.2.5        The Boat Is Sinking

Eight participants from the village are asked to volunteer to perform the role-play. The volunteers represent social groups or persons of differentiated status in terms of socio-economic, political and technological parameters. These could include: age (young, old), employment (civil servants, retiree), income (business), productivity/dependency (widow, orphan), education etc. These could include: mother and child, a youth, prosperous businessperson, doctors, head-teacher, farmer, cox-swain

As they sail along, a storm breaks out and the boat starts sinking. The passengers and cox-swain get worried and decide that the luggage be thrown out. The boat continues to sink. The cox-swain demands that more weight has to be offloaded to save the boat and people. The doctor, prosperous business-person, and head-teacher conspire and throw out the mother and the child, the youth and the farmer.

Those considered poor and less important are thrown out in the implementation of community projects. Other ways in which people are thrown out include redundancy in employment, the exclusion of persons with disabilities and the disbursement of loans and other community input which are mainly given to those who can afford.

2.2.5        The 65-Year Old Couple

A story is told of a couple……..

Once upon a time there was a man who fell in love with a young lady. He loved her very much such that when he was 25 years and she was 23 they married. At the age of 35 and his wife was 33, they had not had a child but continued believing that God would give them children.

When the woman was 45 and the man 47, their parents started worrying and asked their son to marry another woman to give him children. Their parents wanted to see their grand children before they died. He refused to succumb to their pressure for him to marry a second wife. She too was now reaching menopause and was giving up.

After this stage they gave up to ever having a child. At the age of 65 years and the wife 63, they heard a voice telling them, “ my children you have been faithful, you are going to have a child. The condition however, is that the two of you must agree on the sex of the child you would like to have and I will give you. You must only choose one sex, do not say any?