A shoulder to cry on, a helping hand – we associate
these images with what it means to be empathetic, but what happens when the
pandemic has cut off physical touch?
At Soristic, we had this question at the front of
our minds when developing In Their Shoes, a project geared towards
developing empathy as a young person. It was initially planned as an in-person
workshop based on our “Where Basic Needs Are Not Met” webinar, but circuit
breaker restrictions meant that this was no longer viable.
Even so, Covid-19 provided us with a valuable
opportunity to re-evaluate our goals. The pandemic not only exposed but also
worsened inequalities between various communities in Singapore. Our task was
therefore two-fold: to both adapt our existing empathy workshop for an online format
and ensure that it would be relevant long after the pandemic.
We officially launched the project on 18 March 2021
and are proud to have received resoundingly positive feedback: 100% of
participants reported a better understanding of the ways in which inequalities
affect people’s lives, and the specific details of what these challenging
circumstances might look like. Today, In Their Shoes is:
- In Their Shoes: Youth – an
online simulation game that discusses mental health, learning
difficulties, and low-income backgrounds.
- In Their Shoes: Seniors – an online simulation
game that discusses Covid-19, financial assistance, and homelessness.
- The How-To-Play Guide that
provides context about what empathy is, how to play the games, and
worksheets to record your thoughts.
- The Educators’ Guide that
helps facilitators run their own empathy workshops, based on our
experience on rolling out the project to hundreds of young people, youth
organisations and schools.
We hope you’ll try In Their Shoes –
feel free to reach out to connect@soristic.asia for
more information.
