My backpack is full of…

• Flipchart sheets and marker pens for each participant.

Explain that participants are going to take part in an exercise that helps them reflect on what they are taking with them from the training – on what they have gained in terms of knowledge, ideas, skills and relationships. Give each participant a flipchart sheet and marker pen.

Ask participants to draw a backpack and to fill it by writing or drawing everything they have learned or gained from the training inside the backpack. The backpack should contain all the elements they would like to carry home with them and on through life.

TIP! If there is a traditional or particular kind of bag that has more cultural relevance in your context, why not swap the backpack for that?

As participants are reflecting, give them some ideas to help them consider the range of things they have gained from the training. Have they gained particular knowledge, skills or tools that they value and could use? Or new ideas, feelings, or ways of perceiving the world – have their attitudes, values or positions on certain issues changed in any way? Have they found new friends, useful contacts, or potential partners for collaboration? They can draw or list these in their backpack.

After a while (particularly if some participants are done and others are still busy), suggest that they also draw or list things they wish to leave behind OUTSIDE of the backpack; things such as bad habits, old ideas, difficult moments in the training, an exercise they didn’t enjoy, fatigue, feeling distracted or frustrated at times etc.

Invite participants to show their drawings and share about their backpacks if they would like to. Emphasise that all sharing is voluntary!

Thank participants for sharing and for their active engagement during the training. Wish them well on their journeys through life!