Stay up-to-date with Trócaire's work overseas, get news on key global social justice issues, and find out about our latest campaigns in Ireland and how you can get involved.
This year on the Trócaire Box you will learn about Nasteha (8) and her family. They were forced to leave their home in search of help after the last of their animals died due to yet another season of failed rains.
The thoughtful activities we have created this Lent will encourage discussions, debate and ultimately a deeper understanding of the struggles faced by thousands of families just like Nasteha’s around the world. Together we will discover how to create a better world for everyone.
This Lent we’re once again asking the students of Ireland to create and build their very own Trócaire Box with our ‘My Trócaire Box’ activity. We have been so impressed by the response, enthusiasm and talent over the last few years that we have decided to continue this much-loved activity (see below a link to the My Trócaire Box template you can download and print)
The class with the winning design will win a prize worth €250 euro for their school and there will be runner-up prizes too!
TO ENTER THE COMPETITION – send finished designs to [email protected] by the end of April 2023.
We have also put together a fun and engaging programme of weekly activities to help your students explore the life of Nasteha and her family, along with so many families in Somalia facing similar challenges.
You can complete these activities with your class and then your students can bring to life what they have learned on the four panels of the box.
Don’t worry we’ll give you guidance and lots of tips and ideas along the way.
Keep an eye out for weekly reminder emails to fundraising tips, and more.
If you’d like to be added to our mailing list or have any questions at all we’d love to hear from you so, please email us at [email protected]
For our first weeks activity, we want to give your students a better understanding of life in an internally displace persons (IDP) camp in Somalia and the challenges the families here face.
Split the class into small discussion groups and assign one of the following topics (or one of your choosing) for discussion. Then bring the groups back together and discuss as a class.
Use the My Trócaire Box activity to help deepen your students understanding of the lessons in this activity. Students can use the DISCOVER panel of the template to bring to life what they’ve learned. They can draw a picture or create some imaginative art to show what Nasteha’s story means to them.
You can download the template here
In the second activity we want your students to harness their creativity by writing a short story or poem using some of the topics they discussed in the last activity. Writing about what they have learned about Nasteha and her family, and about life in Somalia in their own words can be a powerful tool towards deeper understanding. Some of the topics they might use to get them started are.
Or
They might like to share their stories with their class or send them into us. We would love to read them!
Your writers can then use the WRITE panel on their My Trócaire Box template to let their creativity shine by drawing a picture that visually represents their story.
In this activity we want your students to think about helping others. Volunteering takes on many forms. Volunteering to help a friend or family member with a chore or to help solve a problem not only makes us feel good but creates a more positive world.
Ask your students to pick a person or a chore to do that will make someone’s life that little bit easier. Include discussion on some of the following topics.
Why should I help others?
How does it make me feel when someone helps me?
What small things can I do to help others?
What can I do to help our planet / the environment / climate change?
What can I do to help Nasteha or other families around the world?
Ask some students at random to elaborate on their responses.
Your students can keep working on their My Trócaire Box Designs and after this activity they can get creative on the VOLUNTEER panel. Click here to download the templates.
Building on the spirit of volunteering, and after the students have learned all about Nasteha and their life in Somalia, this final activity encourages pupils to share their time and ideas in a way that best helps others. This week we ask students to come up with a fundraising idea or simply to fill their Trócaire Box.
If they’ve given up sweets for Lent, put the money they would have spent into the Trócaire Box. Encourage others to share a little too.
They could arrange a fundraising event of their own in school to raise some money, with some ideas below.
Let their imaginations be their limit! Even the smallest amount of fundraising means so much to families all over the world!
The final panel SHARE on My Trócaire Box should be completed this week also. Don’t forget to send your final designs to [email protected] by the end of April to be in with a chance to win.
For any support at all or to talk about further resources, fundraising, and how to send in any funds you have raised please contact us at [email protected] and we will be happy to help.
Thank you for your continued support.
