CONCRETE EXAMPLE (here Cambodia's currency, to be modified according to the country)

Introducing Sarou: A first-year student, she received her sponsorship three weeks ago. Let's follow her for three days.

Share Sarou's story with each group and ask the following questions. Discuss as a group:

·       What is Sarou's problem? She only has 900 riels left.]

·       Why is this a problem? [She must wait for the next sponsorship; she doesn't have enough to eat and pay for photocopies when needed.]

CALCULATE A BUDGET:

• Ask: As a group, calculate how much money Sarou will need to eat for the rest of the week.
•  Ask each group to present Sarou's food budget.

FINDING SOLUTIONS:

• Ask: As a group, discuss how Sarou can solve this problem (the fact that she only has 900 reels left for the rest of the week and needs money to eat). Write your solutions on one page. Ask each group to share their solutions.
• At the same time, write the summary on the board and use chalk to indicate if more than one group has the same solution. [Possible solutions: buy only what is needed = cheap food; ask for money from Mekong parents/siblings/students/children and pay back as soon as the sponsorship arrives].

THE PROBLEM OF BORROWING

• Ask: Many of you have said that Sarou should borrow some money: decide as a group from whom to borrow and come and get the appropriate card. Hand out the appropriate borrowing card.
• Ask each group to read the back of the card. When you borrow... it affects others.
• Say: There is another consequence. Ask: What is the difference between borrowing and giving? [Borrowing = you must give back what you borrowed; Giving = you keep it, it's for us]. Explain: Sarou borrowed 20,000 riels. She has made a list of her expenses and can pay back 4,000 a month; if she pays back more, she won't have enough for food and school supplies.
• Ask: How many months will it take Sarou to pay back the 25,000 riels? [20,000/4,000 = 5 months = half the school year!] Show the repayment poster. For 5 months, Sarou will have to be very careful with his expenses, no snacks, no clothes. Borrowing = spending the next few months' money = poorer until you're done paying it back.

What are the differences between a loan and a gift? What is the risk of being in debt?

What else has the game taught you that you hadn't thought of before?

It's important to watch your spending and not spend more than you earn. If you have to borrow money like Sarou, you always have to be able to pay it back, otherwise you get into a vicious circle from which it's very difficult to escape. And not being able to repay increases poverty.

Good advice: budget regularly

But you spend every day on food and going to university. If you're not careful, you'll spend a lot at the beginning of the month... and you won't have enough at the end. You'll have to borrow and: debt = spending other people's money