Tell young people that the game you are going to present to them has a very specific purpose: to put them in the shoes of young parents who have just had their first child. Here, the child will be represented by an egg. They must take care of him, prevent him from breaking a leg or a foot (introducing a little humor relaxes the atmosphere!). They will have this child for 24 hours (or any other planned duration), and their egg must not break: it is their responsibility!

Each receives 1 fresh egg, from hand to hand. The object of the game is to return it at the end of the allotted time (ideally the next morning).

Criteria for winning:

• don't break the egg
• do not put it in a box or other container
• always have it with you, because it can be requested by the facilitator at any time, for verification

Organize games and activities that have nothing to do with eggs.

The ideal is to alternate some dynamic activities with some totally calm activities. For example :

61. The butterfly, quality and defect (calm)

36. Paint me a picture (dynamic)

48. Origami, lotus flower (quiet)

63. Hunga (dynamic)

No more talking about these eggs of the day (or during the allotted time) except for:

Asking to see the egg of such and such a young, from time to time, during the day.

• Check that it is in the player's hand or placed next to them, but not in a box or equivalent

The next day (or at the end of the allotted time), collect all the eggs.

Award the victory to the team that has kept the most eggs intact, while respecting the criteria indicated

CONCRETELY :

• What did you think of the "egg" activity? : was it difficult to succeed, was it funny, stressful, ...
• As the "parent of an egg", how did you prevent it from breaking? If your egg was broken, can you explain why?

FOR FURTHER :

• What are the important things to have in mind, or to put in place, when you have the responsibility of a fragile being?

#responsibility #vulnerability

This activity over time requires a conclusion for the young people. They are placed in a situation where a fragile “being” is held responsible, such as a child, for example. Like the egg of the game, we cannot put it anywhere, it can end up in danger, it requires constant vigilance.

• We are fragile: our human fragility is a reality that often frightens us and that we sometimes prefer to hide. Yet it will always be there. It is part of our human condition. Man has a body, he is therefore dependent on his environment. To refuse its fragility and to show only its power is to refuse a dimension of our bodily identity. There is a wisdom attached to fragility. It reminds us that we do not control everything, that we are not all-powerful.

In cold countries, man is dependent on the climate and must take shelter; in hot countries, the man must work in the rice field during the rainy season and put enough rice in reserve for the year.

• Mutual aid: Through our frailties we are dependent on each other, we need each other. The inherent fragility of our person is an invitation to be responsible for each other, to take care of each other.
• Thus, responsibilities require taking care of what one is responsible for and which always involves fragility or vulnerability.

Man is responsible for Nature, his work, his colleagues, his family: he must take care of it

By this we are invited to '''enter into a deeper relationship''', more intimate, more respectful than if we were all-powerful, self-sufficient.

By taking care of my children, I am no longer all-powerful, something can always happen to them that I did not foresee. I make myself fragile because I fear for them. By taking care of nature, disasters can always happen that I did not foresee. I am fragile.

• The fragility of our bodies, of our psychology reveals our vulnerability which comes from our capacity to love. Indeed, loving implies an openness to others, a welcome and a gift to others that make us vulnerable. But this openness-vulnerability is the condition of communion with others in unity.

If I love the other I make myself fragile, being fragile I can understand him and make him grow

• Thus, if it is our responsibility to protect those for whom we are responsible, it is not with the aim of eradicating all fragilities from our lives: unfortunately, there will always be "eggs" which will break in life, suffering that will be part of everyday life. Rather, the responsibility to protect those for whom we are responsible is to create bonds between people that dispose them to be in communion.
• This fragility helps us to remain humble and welcoming of others. They remind us that we are small, in this universe.
• Our objective must therefore be to take care, at our level, of what has been entrusted to us:

1. a parent must take care of his child
2. a head of government must take care of his country
3. a team leader must take care of his teammates
4. a doctor must take care of his patients
5. a farmer must take care of his land, his animals
6. a worker must take care of the product he is making