Introduction
In this session, participants learn about ways of gathering information and narratives from others. They explore the value of learning from our stories and the ethics of representing them.. . . the story of a man who saw three fellows laying bricks at a new building:
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He approached the first and asked, "What are you doing?"
Clearly irritated, the first man responded, "What the heck do you think I'm doing? I'm laying these darn bricks!"
He then walked over to the second bricklayer and asked the same question.
The second fellow responded, "Oh, I'm making a living."
He approached the third bricklayer with the same question, "What are you doing?"
The third looked up, smiled and said, "I'm building a cathedral."
At the end of the day, who feels better about how he's spent his last eight hours?
This is the first session after the first Family Event. You will need prints of the family photographs to use in the session. By this session, you should have decided if you will host a Family Event 2 or if youth will need to contact the families they photographed individually. Either way, the second contact with families will be used to gather narrative in the form of an interview and/or a "write-back." Both of these methods are explained in the activities of this session. Second contact with the families gives youth more time to establish a relationship with them. For this reason, we strongly suggest that you host Family Event 2 at your congregation. It will make the second meeting easier for all involved and provide the greatest amount of safety and control over the experience.
Last updated on Tuesday, April 29, 2008.
