Laura Rio Fernández, acting on behalf of Trócaire, visited St Mary’s University College recently and delivered a thought-provoking and emotionally engaging workshop on the global economy, raising awareness of issues that resonate strongly with the College’s mission.

St Mary’s students were taken on an experiential and emotional journey by role-play activities in a trade game in which separate groups represented the developed and the developing countries.

What was the aim of each group?

To make money, of course. Become strong, even achieve “world” domination! The game developed into a fascinating exposé of human behaviour: our fears, our vulnerabilities, our greed, our willingness to cooperate for a common goal, but also our self-justification when we behave corruptly.

The messages delivered to our students through these activities were varied and powerful. Laura concluded by presenting some very sobering statistics on the current distribution of global wealth. The inequity and unfairness is simply breath-taking.

What an opportunity for our students, who going on to become practitioners in schools here in Northern Ireland and further afield, to carry these messages with them and, through their teaching, to play an informed part in redressing that balance!