Project DescriptionIn June, the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) reported that at the end of 2014, there were 59.5 million refugees in the world - the highest number ever recorded. The last time the world saw numbers anything like this was World War II. In this project, we took aim at the refugee crisis, specifically in Syria. We learned about the issue and how it's changing the world. Then we discussed different political views and possible solutions to the crisis. For our exhibition, we made a simulation where visitors play Syrian citizens forced to leave and seek refuge in another country.
Our goal was for every participant to leave knowing something new about the crisis and say “I never thought about refugees from that perspective before”. Learning GoalBy the end of this project every student will be an expert on the the Syrian refugee crisis, to the extent that they could handle being interviewed about it on the radio, for an hour, like it was no big deal.
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Why We Chose a Simulation |
For the first four weeks of this project, we read about Syria and the refugee crisis, watched reports and spoke our opinions in many socratic seminars about what should be done. A question we pondered was how should we display/ impact the community about this issue? Our options were a play, a regular exhibition with graphics and poster boards, a publication for the IRC (International Rescue Committee) or a simulation. To help us get an idea, we went to a museum about race to look at the way they displayed their work.
We knew we wanted visitors to walk away with a better understanding of the crisis and also show them multiple sides of the situation; the government, refugee and the worlds perspective. Most of the time people get their information from the news, but the news never expands on what the refugees have to go through physically or emotionally. We chose to make a simulation because it was a fresh idea and it seemed fitting to what we wanted people to take away. |
The Design Process |
We looked at example simulations to get ideas to build ours. Our teacher made a mock one where our regular class was interrupted by ISIS fighters and we had to 'flee'. We took our backpacks and went out into the canyon. Every so often we stopped and got an update on our journey. This may include classmates who's birthday's are in August are now injured or lightening up our bags and choosing what we would leave behind if this were a real occurrence.
We also talked about making this simulation have choice like video games. A few of them struck me because there were so many ways to die or fail. The graphics and strategy also varied in all of them. Some games we looked at were:
After that we looked at real Syrian refugee journeys across the globe. Then we made characters out of the people we read about. Read about my character, Hana. Below is the event sequence she went through to get to Lebanon from Syria. Many traveled great distances and all had roughly the same outline; crossing through countries to get to a safe haven. We decided to make these countries into groups of 4. Each group researches what happens to an average refugee in their assigned country and designs their station as similar to the real life process.
Eventually we came to a final simulation in which players are Syrian citizens forced to leave and seek refuge in another country. We tried to make the game as open as possible, allowing people to choose their own adventure (like the choose your own adventure books). Participants physically move through the simulation from station to station, starting in Raqqa, Syria, where they are given their character information paper and money. This briefing is interrupted when the room is taken over by ISIS (as Raqqa has been). At this point, participants escape and sneak across the border to Turkey, get to a refugee camp, and decide whether to apply for resettlement overseas or pay a smuggler who promises to get them to another country. At each station that participants reach, characters based on real people are there to help or hinder their passage, and each of these characters has a story to tell - if they are asked. The participant will continue moving through countries until they reach the country desired. They then proceed to the debrief area to discuss and give feedback to our students. |
My Station: Germany |
Before designing anything, we had to research about Germany in general. We did this on the Germany research document. All of my work is in purple. My choice topic was the German perspective of refugees. What struck me most is that Germans really dislike the refugees being there, mostly because they are overpopulating the country. They don't feel safe or respected anymore, meanwhile chancellor Angela Merkel is for more acceptance.
Next we created a rough vision for our station. All of my work is in purple. I did numbers 1-11. Looking back at this, the blueprint is super complex and overdone. The layout was the biggest mistake we made. I'm glad we simplified it. Then we designed our station in the station design document. I did the station pathways, map, layout, materials list and costumes. I helped revise the scenarios. Making this document required a lot of research, and I am most proud about that. My character gives people jobs and financial aid. It is rare for there to be a person in Germany willing to help refugees, but if they do they must have a big heart, so that's how I designed her. A story that hits close to home for her to want to work and help them. We still had the aspect of Germans disliking refugees with protestors. After we did some play tests(see below), we realized the simulation can be more physical so we added the aspect of heavy labor as a job. Final Layout: When a participant arrives at our station, they are greeted by the chancellor of Germany; Angela Merkel. She is also doubling as the acceptor/ decliner of applicants. Germany already has over 1 million refugees, so it's harder to be accepted. Almost all families with children are accepted because Germany believes they deserve to have a better future. Having a good job like a doctor or scientist also helps your acceptance. If you are accepted, you must give up all your belongings (in this case, money) to help pay for the cost of your stay. You can then wander around and do nothing, as if you were in a refugee camp, and this would be your final destination, or you can do hard labor to earn some money. Hard labor is carrying a few rocks across our station. The more you carry, the more you earn. If you are smuggled in, disregard all above. At some point, you will be yelled at by protestors. Unlike Merkel, these German citizens want refugees out of Germany, because they now feel unsafe. We made a sign that says "MERKEL MUST GO!" If you wish to leave to another country, you can pay a smuggler to take you to Denmark. The smuggler may take you to your destination or take you to the debrief area. This means death. Many times smugglers kill the refugees and take their money. Other times they are smuggled into a truck and die of suffocation. |
Playtests and Exhibition |
Play test one was on a giant dirt field. It didn't seem very realistic because we had no borders, no props and no refugees. Luckily by play test two we made a sign. We were still on the dirt field, but there was more improvement. We used money that time. I remember Mr. Craig came and he was really rich, so he lived a good life. Others like Ms. Regina and Lauren were poor. We realized during this play test there was not much for refugees to do, so in play test three we added the hard labor. Unfortunately, nobody got to our station because there were so many bottlenecks in the beginning and not enough time. In the final play test, we had many people. Our protesters were very loud and intimidating. We had a better sign this time too.
The exhibition with the parents was a very different experience compared to students. First of all, the parents came in as a trickle instead of a stampede. The parents were also more into it than the students. They got very angry if they were declined asylum to the point when we just needed a smuggler to get them out of our station. I remember a funny moment when it was just Germany and Austria, Austria was playing their anthem and if you looked at us from a distance it probably looked like a commercial or a scene from The Office. My advice for teachers doing a simulation project:
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Handouts and Quizes |
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