“The Compassion Experience” Mobile Space

The Compassion Experience is a mobile space created by child development charity, Compassion UK (an international child development charity with more than 60 years’ experience working with some of the world’s poorest children).

The “Experience” is housed in an articulated truck that can be parked for one or more days in a central location (e.g. a school playground). When deployed, the mobile space allows pupils to take an immersive tour through replicas of the homes, environments and stories of two children who have been a part of Compassion’s programme in two African countries. They “visit” homes, markets and schools and experience sights, sounds, and events from the lives of Sameson, a boy from Ethiopia and Shamin, a girl from Uganda. Though the use of an iPod and headphones pupils also have the opportunity to hear first-hand from Sameson or Shamin, who share what daily life was like growing up in extreme poverty.

Each tour takes approximately 20 minutes and pupils can experience one or both stories.

As well as being a very useful enhancement of a school’s global citizenship programme, there are numerous opportunities for Values education, e.g. compassion, empathy, materialism and the worth of the individual, making a difference in the world etc.

Other curricular links can include:

Languages: English: letter writing, descriptive writing, character description, narrative writing, moving between voices in writing, creative poetry, role-playing Shamim and Sameson’s stories, discussion (e.g. how their own lives differ from Shamim and Sameson’s/can one person make a difference?)
RME: Values and Issues (e.g. Is poverty our responsibility?)
Social studies: People, past events and societies; People, place and environment; People in society, economy and business

Since a visit by The Compassion Experience mobile space would be most commonly sponsored by a church or a group of churches, it provides additional opportunities for schools to develop community links, welcoming members of the public to visit outwith school hours.

https://experience.compassionuk.org/learn-more/2017/03/07/school-friendly/