voluntary Pyramid Peer Sharing within social networks: 1 – 5 – 5 – 5…..

GAMEChange methodologies are distinctive in that the main facilitators and implementers are women and men within communities using and innovating with the methodology to improve their own lives.

The basis of peer scaling up is people’s self interest and voluntary dissemination to other people within their own support networks who they have an interest in assisting – because these people will then assist them.

As part of a Catalyst workshop, and other subsequent workshops, champions use a tool called the Empowerment Leadership Map to identify people in their families, friends and communities with whom they will share – those they love and who will help them, and those they need to change in order to achieve their visions. They commit to training a number of other members using all available means that will not cost anything ie meetings of savings and credit groups, churches, school meetings, government meetings and going house to house in their neighbourhood. In this way the initial champions are reaching an average of 50 other people each. Those trained also learn the same Pyramid Peer Sharing tool.

The aim is to ‘go viral’ with an endless chain of volunteer sharing within peoples’ own networks without cost or excessive burden on each champion.

Accessible Tools that can be used independently without special manuals

The importance of voluntary peer sharing and aim means that GAMEChange tools must be designed to be used independently by people who cannot read and write as well as people with higher levels of formal education.

Participants keep their own individual diaries in ordinary A4 exercise books which they themselves buy, together with coloured pens. Women and men farmers and entrepreneurs design their own pictorial manuals to teach others the tools they themselves have found most useful. The diagram outputs and diaries from workshops and subsequent discussions are much more powerful than any externally designed printed manual – as well as much cheaper and more likely to be used. The more people are involved in designing the manuals they themselves will use, the greater the sense of ownership and local creativity, and hence likelihood the change process will be dynamic, sustainable and scaled up through community initiative.

no free lunch or training kits

Reaching thousands and millions of people also means minimising unnecessary costs. All GAMEChange processes require participants to take responsibility wherever possible so that external resources and support can be properly targeted for maximum benefit tgo things that are really necessary. Participants are asked to provide their own exercise books, pens and manilla sheets wherever possible – if they can afford a bottle of beer or a hairdo, they can afford to miss out once or twice to get materials for their long term education! Materials should only be provided for people who are really poor and unable to buy for themselves – they also should take responsibility once their livelihoods have improved.