Forced to flee solidarity walk

Before you begin

• Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Additional help to carry out your risk assessment, including examples can be found here.  Don’t forget to make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
• Make sure you’ll have enough helpers for each team to have one. You may need some parents and carers to help out if you’re short on helpers.
• Print out the resources.
• Decide whether you’ll walk in smaller groups, and how you’ll stagger it so people don’t get bunched up at checkpoints.
• Put the ‘Before you set off’, ’Checkpoint one’, ‘Checkpoint two’, and ‘Final destination’ sheets in separate envelopes. You’ll need a set for each group of young people.
• Decide how you’ll share the text messages. You could read them out at the checkpoints, give them to the group to read, or even send them in a WhatsApp group where leaders pretend to be the characters (and then show young people a leader’s phone).
• You’ll need appropriate adult supervision throughout, and you may also need an Adventurous Activities permit, depending on the terrain. Check that a suitable InTouch process is in place and that all planned routes are risk assessed from start to finish.

Plan the walk

1. Everyone should gather together and chat through what they’ve learned about refugees and displaced children. Can they imagine what it’d feel like to have to leave their home and walk to safety? What challenges do people in that situation face?
   
2. The person leading the activity should explain that one way to understand a bit more about the lives of people who are forced to flee from conflict is walking in solidarity with them, using resources from Save the Children.
   
3. Everyone should chat about when and where they’ll hold their walk.

For guidance and support on walking, check out the Scouts website.

4. Together, people should work together to plan a route with four places to stop along the way. Their walk should be challenging, but not impossible. They should decide what they’ll need to bring.
   
5. Everyone should decide how they’ll use their walk to raise awareness of refugees and displaced children. For example, they could hold an event at the end and invite friends, family, and decision makers such as their local MP. They could also spread the word using local or social media.

The walk

It’s really important that the people who take part in the walk don’t look at this before they begin. It’ll ruin the surprises!

1. The person leading the activity should give the group the ‘Before you set off’ envelope and explain that they’ll need everything inside. Everyone should look through the contents.
   
2. The person leading the activity should share the ‘Before you set off’ texts with the group. The group should decide what to do.
   
3. During walk one, the person leading the activity should share the ‘Texts from walk one’ with the group.
4. Everyone should chat about how they’d respond to the ‘Texts from walk one’ messages. Do they know who the people are? How would they stay in touch with family if they had to flee from conflict?

How would the group feel if they had to leave their home in a hurry? What tool they take with them for the journey? Would they take anything to remind them of home?

4. When they reach the first checkpoint, the person leading the activity should give the group the ‘Checkpoint one’ envelope. They should chat about what’s inside and decide how to respond to the messages. Who are Ali, Mia, Lara and Yasmin?
   
5. At the first checkpoint, the person leading the game should share the ‘Texts from checkpoint one’. Everyone should decide what to send in reply.
   
6. During walk two, the person leading the game should share the ‘Texts from walk two’ with the group. Everyone should follow the instructions.
   
7. When they reach the second checkpoint, the person leading the activity should give the group the ‘Checkpoint two’ envelope. Everyone should complete the activity inside.

What have they learned about each other? Were any of the facts about refugees and displaced children’s experiences surprising?

8. During walk three, the person leading the activity should share the ‘Texts from walk three’ with the group. The group should chat after each one. What would they reply to Ali’s text about Abdul? Do they have anything in their envelopes that could help them? Have they noticed the battery life on their phone? What will they do when it runs out?

What would people find hardest about being on the move? What do they think people could do to help refugees and displaced children on their journey?

9. When they reach the third checkpoint, the person leading the activity should share the ‘Texts from checkpoint three’ with the group. Who might Abdul be talking about when he says there are ‘bad guys everywhere’? What might they be doing? Who are the people in the red T-shirts? How could they recognise people who want to help in a crisis? Where do people think Abdul is now?
   
10. During walk four, the person leading the activity should share the ‘Texts from walk four’ with the group. Who do they think Mia’s talking about when she mentions people helping Rafiq? What sort of help do people think young children who’ve experienced conflict might need? Is it different from the help teenagers or adults might need?
    
11. When they reach the fourth checkpoint, the person leading the activity should share the ‘Texts from checkpoint four’ with the group. What’s the password? Who do the group think V is? Do they trust him?
    
12. During walk five, the person leading the activity should share the ‘Texts from walk five’ with the group. Everyone should chat about how they’d respond.
    
13. When they reach their final destination, everyone should chat about what think they happens to Rami. Do they think he makes it to his destination? Why?
    
14. The person leading the activity should share the ‘Final destination’ envelope with the group. Everyone should look at what’s inside and use it to learn about the real lives their interactive walk was based on.
    
15. Everyone should chat about how the walk made them feel. What was most memorable? Which decision was the hardest? How did they feel about what was happening to the people involved? What was the worst moment? Was there a best moment?
    
16. Everyone should chat about how they’ll use what they’ve learned on the walk to support refugees and displaced children. They should remember that while Rani’s a refugee who’s left his home country, many people who flee conflict stay in the same country and move to different areas.
    
17. If people invited friends and family to join them at the end of the walk, they should share the real stories with them and talk about all they’ve learned.

At the next meeting

1. Everyone should share any more thoughts they’ve had about the walk – they may have more to share after some time to reflect.
   
2. Everyone should chat about how they’ve used the talk to help them spread the word about the challenges facing refugees and displaced children.
   
3. As a group, everyone should make a commitment about how they’ll share what they’ve learned.
   
   

This activity helps contribute towards some of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. Find out more about the SDGs, and how Scouts across the world are getting involved.