Activity 1.3.3 Things in Common

Purpose

To discover similarities with unfamiliar people

Materials

Large white flipchart paper and markers

Time

1 hr

Method

Facilitators can draw this Venn diagram on the board as an example. Each participant has one circle to write facts about him or herself. The overlapping section is where participants write down things they have in common.

1. Have participants find a partner (someone they don’t know, or someone they assume to be very different from themselves).
2. Instruct the pairs to draw two large circles overlapping each other on their flipchart paper. Each person will have a section of one circle to write in. They are to write in their circle section various facts about themselves, e.g. language spoken, foods they like, etc.
3. Then have each pair look at what their partner wrote. Have them focus on all the similarities. The area where the circles overlap is where they will acknowledge and write down the things that they have in common.
4. After the activity is completed, ask each pair to analyze whether they had more things in common or more differences. Did they learn something about themselves or the other person? Were they surprised by what they learned?