by Fr Christopher Cunningham
The World — Our Family (Cafod 45p)
Food for Thought by Wren and Whittemore (Action pack sponsored by Oxfam, Cafod and Christian Aid £2) The production of teaching aids for an understanding of the Third World's problems is now a veritable industry. Fast and thick they seem to pour, of necessity rather simplified in their approach: but no harm is done for they don't set out to be the complete guide. Rather they suggest guidelines, leaving others to improvise and develop.
The World — Our Family has been produced under the guidance of Fr Anthony Bullen in conjunction with 60 teachers from the archdiocese of Liverpool. As its title page says, the book is basically in the form of notes for use in secondary schools, but its possibilities of use in other groups is easily envisaged.
For schools, its usefulness lies in that it can be used as a link between the various subjects such as geography, economics, history and religion. It offers ample scope for stimulating work and so can be recommended to teachers.
As stated on the foreword there is need "of placing under the light of the Gospel" the questions which haunt the developed world in its relations with the Third world.
Food for Thought is an "action pack". It contains two sorts of material: background papers and various educational aids (including slides) along with a board game, "The Grain Drain". This is a Monopoly-style game with such injunctions as "Collect $10 million when passing" to "Economic outlook uncertain, miss a turn."
It is all very entertaining and instructive, and might be a change from always buying Leicester Square or going to jail. It should certainly give a very good idea of the forces at work in the world grain market, and it gives a very real sense of what it is like to be rich or to be poor — particuluarly the latter. The poor person in the game knows
the feeling of helplessness and that nothing is going to change his position until the rules of the "game" are changed.
The pack is a joint venture of Cafod, Christian Aid and Oxfam in its continuous efforts to educate people to care about the less fortunate — not so much from the attitude of giving more but of consuming less and so redressing the balance in food production and prices.