Horoscope of Poverty

Practice:

Introduce the activity. Talk about horoscopes in general. Do participants ever read them? Do they believe them? What sorts of information do they usually give?

Divide the participants into three small groups. Give each one a set of Life cards together with the corresponding Horoscope cards. Give the groups twenty minutes to write fantasy horoscopes for the four lives on their cards. The horoscopes to be created should be fictional. They should use their imagination, intuition and general knowledge to foretell what will happen to the people on the life cards in the coming year. Stress that there are no right or wrong answers, but that they should try to make the predictions within the scope of reality. When they have finished, call people into plenary. In turn, ask each group to present their work. They should first read out the information on the life cards so everyone is introduced to the different characters, and then they should read out the horoscopes.

Finally tape the life cards and the predictions onto the large sheet of paper to make a wall chart.           

Debriefing and evaluation

Start the discussion by asking each group to explain how they decided the futures of each of their characters. Then go on to try to define poverty and finally move on to discuss the consequences of poverty.

How do participants perceive poor people in their own country and in developing countries? Are these perceptions stereotypes? How well-founded are the images? Where do people get that information from?

What do participants understand by the term “poverty”? Is it possible to regard someone “rich” if they live in one country, and “poor” if they live in another? In other words, is poverty relative? In your society, why are some people rich and others poor?

What is the main way out of poverty, both in your country and in Eritrea, one of the poorest countries in the world? Having a rich uncle? Winning the lottery? Having an education? Being healthy? Meeting the right people? Working hard? What else? How easy is it for poor people to break the circle of poverty? In other words, how hard is it for someone born into a poor family not to be poor as an adult?    

What kinds of opportunities do people have when they are rich?

What kinds of opportunities do people have when they are poor?

Is it people’s own fault to be poor? Is poverty their fate? Or is poverty the result of certain social, political and economic factors?

Poverty often goes hand in hand with poor health, hunger, malnutrition, lack of education, poor work skills and unemployment. Is it a coincidence or are these factors connected? If so, what are the connections?

In general, how do people perceive/treat poor people?

What sort of political and social policies lead to the best life opportunities for all citizens?

Is education a key to reducing poverty in your country? To what extent?

In almost every country around the world, the gap between the rich and the poor is increasing. The gap between countries is also increasing. What are the consequences of this for Europe?

Does it matter that the gap is widening? If people think it does matter, then whose responsibility is it to act to reduce the gap?

What can individuals, groups, local communities and nations do to close the gap?

Life Cards

Bengt is a young Swedish “skinhead”. He has been arrested twice this year for violent behavior. He has been out of work for two years now and despite this, refuses all the offers that have been made to him. He prefers to spend his time training his dog, doing body-building and being in the streets with his mates, who have been linked to several recent racist incidents. Bengt is Aries.

Ricardo lives on his own in Barcelona, Spain, in a tiny apartment he can hardly afford. He has been ill for many months and lives off social security payments from the government. He used to work doing odd jobs. His wife took the children away and abandoned him when she heard that he has AIDS. Ricardo is Libra.

Abdul came from Mauritania many years ago to look for work in the French capital, Paris. He spent the first years alone but was later able to bring over his wife and four sons as well as their grandparents. They all live in one apartment in a poor area of Paris. For a while things went well, especially when Abdul’s wife gave birth to twins. But it has proved a struggle to bring the children up to keep the Mauritanian traditions. The twins are now 12 years old. They have lots of problems at school. They often refuse to obey their parents. Recently, Abdul lost his job because of the general economic downturn. Abdul is Leo.

The twins, Moktar and Ould, were born in Paris, France. They are the children of Abdul, an immigrant worker, originally from Mauritania. The whole family, their parents, four older brothers as well as the grandparents all live in one apartment in a poor area of Paris. The twins are now 12 years old. They have lots of problems at school. They refuse to study. They skip classes very often to hang around with their friends in the suburbs of Paris. They refuse to obey their parents, with whom they quarrel a lot. And those quarrels are sometimes violent. Reports from school show that they are becoming increasingly aggressive. Moktar and Ould are Aquarius.

Krista is 20 years old. She rents a tiny flat in a very poor suburb of Prague. She dreams of living in Germany. She has read an advertisement offering jobs in Berlin. She called the number and met a man, who promised to get her out of poverty saying that she will easily find a job in Berlin. She decides to trust the man and to take the chance to go to Germany. Krista is Sagittarius.

Jane is an elderly widow who lives in Scotland. Her husband was an alcoholic and hardly ever worked. She survives on the very small state pension. But she now needs extra care as her health is worsening. Jane is Pisces.

Bella lives together with her sister, Angelica in Palermo, Italy. Their parents died when the girls were 16 and 17. So they had to leave school and start working. They are now 22 and 23 years old. Bella has two jobs; she works as a maid during the day and as a cleaning lady in a hospital at night. She also looks after Angelica, who is a drug addict. Bella refuses to let her sister down because she knows how much her sister suffered from the violence of their father. Bella has problems with her own hot temper, that she finds hard to control. This caused her to lose her job on two recent occasions. Bella is Taurus.

Angelica lives together with her sister Bella in Palermo, Italy. Their parents died when the girls were 16 and 17. They are now 22 and 23 years old. Bella has two jobs and she also looks after Angelica, who is a drug addict. Angelica often steals her sister’s wages to buy drugs. She has been using drugs for many years. She has been on and off drugs sometimes but finds it very difficult to control her addiction. Angelica is Scorpio.

Maria, is a single mother with three children. She lives in a very poor suburb in Madeira, Portugal. Her latest companion has just left her. She works as a maid for a wealthy family, but for how much longer? Someone recently stole an expensive ring from the lady of the house, who suspects one of the maids. They can’t find out who is guilty, so all the maids are going to be sacked and replaced. Maria is Capricorn.

Emine is from Turkey. She lives in a small village in one of the poorest regions of the country. She is 12 years old. Her parents – very poor peasants – are talking about looking for a husband for her. But she does not want to get married; instead, she decides to run away from home. She travels to the capital where she hopes to have a brighter future. Emine is Gemini.

Misha is from Tomsk in Siberia. He has been unemployed for many months and he does not know what to do. His wife is very ill and has to stay in bed all day. He has four children aged 20, 18, 10 and 8. The two youngest are disabled. Misha is Virgo.

Yuriy lives with his parents and three younger brothers in Tomsk in Siberia. He is 20 years old and a very promising ice-hockey player. His uncle in America has offered to try to find him a scholarship to study in an American university. Yuriy’s father, Misha, has been unemployed for many months. At the moment, the only source of family income is from odd jobs that Yuriy does. Yuriy does not know what to do. His mother is ill, two of his younger brothers are disabled. The family relies on him. Yuriy is Cancer. 

Horoscope Card

1. (Hür, 2010)
2. (Kan, 2009)
3. (Burman et al, 2013)
4. (Özdemir, 2011: 102)