A day of debt
Aim: To understand how debt can become a never-ending cycle. You will need: Paper and pens (optional) Duration: 30 minutes
Read this story about a situation where you could experience a 'day of debt'. You could decide to act out the story as a play, draw a cartoon of the different incidents, or read the story to a group of younger children.
Day of Debt
At the beginning of school you realise you have forgotten your colouring pencils. Your friend, Bob, says he will lend you 4 colouring pencils for the day - but at the end of the day he wants you to give him 5 back. You do not have an extra pencil to give him.
You ask another friend, Fred, if he will give you a pencil in return for 2 sweets and he agrees. You don't have any sweets with you, so you say you will give them to him tomorrow.
That evening you ask you little sister, Josie, if she will give you 2 sweets so you can repay your friend Fred. She agrees, but says she wants 4 sweets back in return.
You ask your Dad if he can lend you some money to buy some sweets to repay your sister. He gives you some money, but says he wants you to give him the money back, and also to sweep the path to say thank you.
You realise you haven't got time to sweep the path, as you have homework to do, so you ask your younger brother, Jim, to sweep the path for you. He reluctantly agrees, on condition that you will owe him a favour in return.
You also need to find some money to repay your dad, so before school the next day you offer to do an errand for your neighbour in return for a small payment.
Your little brother Jim decides now is the time to repay him a favour - he wants you to lend him your colouring pencils for him to use at school today...
Can you see how easy it is to enter a chain of debts and obligations? It may feel that you are never going to escape.
On a much larger scale, poor countries can experience the same problem of becoming entangled in a cycle of borrowing and repaying. Sometimes it seems that the only way to solve the problem is to cancel the debts and give people and countries a fresh start. This is what campaigners are calling for.