Galasin, A Story about Mangrove

Galasin, A Story about Mangrove
-(Nature Game)-

This is a traditional Indonesian game. We call it : gobak sodor, galasin, or maybe in another kampung (village), children play a same game with another technical term.

The rules different in every kampung. It show some modification, but basicly it have some basic rule:

GUARD
Children who guard the line must catch the attacker by touching part of the body by hand. The guard feet must always step in the line.

ATTACKER
Children who try to cross the line. They need to avoid being catch by the guard

LINE
There are some lines, according how much the kids are.

PICTURE - RULES

To help children understand about the concept of mangrove ecosystem in preventing the wave destruction we need to modified the secondary rules about this game.

We will discuss about :
- Use of mangrove tree to prevent damage by strong wave / current in the shore
- Different kind of mangrove tree characteristic, or maybe if you like this kind of activity you always can discuss more : relation between land - mangrove - coral - open sea ecosystem...

Needs
A line (plastic, or by drawing)

First divide children into 2 groups. For this game, I assume you have about 20 participants, divided into 2 groups.

NORMAL ROUND :
Play normal. One team try to go back and forth. To win the round, all the team must succes cross the line and go back to the start point. If there is any participants being catched, the team switch: the one who play as guardian then play as attacker.

MANGROVE ROUND:
Play as a normal game, but put 2 guards in one line (generally, in back line to make it more difficult). Notes: yes, so it will be an empty guard in one or two line.

MORE MODIFICATION:
- Extend the line to make it easier to play
- The length of the line is must not always be the same
- Make vertical line. In Indonesian game, we call it "geledek" or as lightning. It is a suplement line to hit the attacker

Notes:
Play normal round for about 30-60 minutes. Then you can play MANGROVE ROUND because they already used to play with normal rules
For facilitator: seek information about mangrove and don't forget to arrange discussion method... ^^

Reflection:
- If the guards are mangrove tree, you should show that mangrove tree also have different characteristic (which one is fast and big, small and slow to catch the wave? Try to relate with different kind of mangrove tree, and the size of tree
- In nature, a small tree always find difficulties to adaptate with big wave, so what must we do to make the survival rate higher ( placing kind of fence, water breaker, plant with bigger tree, placement strategy, and more)
- What happened if the mangrove trees being cut? Are there any options to show the people that economy and ecology can work together, to support life ?