A Guide to Overcoming Fear and Violence in Our Lives

Singing to the Lions is a free training package (facilitator’s guide, supplement and video) by CRS, that is designed to help children and youth lessen the impact of violence and abuse in their lives. It has been used in more 25 countries – and continues to spread. The main component is a three-day (or six half-day) workshop where participants ages 10-24 learn skills that can help them transform their lives and no longer feel dominated by fear. Although the workshop is aimed at young people and includes games, art and songs, it can also be used to help adults take action on aspects of their lives that cause fear and, in so doing, become better parents and caregivers. (A one day version for older youth and adults is also available and is called Rising from Resilient Roots).
 
Singing to the Lions is available in twelve languages, with Turkish in progress: See the links on the left-hand column. There is also a 2-page guide to follow-up activities (English, French, Spanish, and Arabic) that we strongly recommend to reenforce the workshop’s lessons and skills, for example in an after-school or club setting. Singing to the Lions can be easily adapted to different cultures, with different pictures and metaphors (e.g., “Singing to the Wolves” in Arabic; “Charming the Snakes” in Hindi.) Finally, there are full-length supplements in most of the languages plus data entry sheets to download, which are intended to be used with the main manual, along with this 20-minute training video (English only).
 
For facilitators who only want to do the “Tree of Life activity,” which is part of this manual, it is best to refer to this resource, Tree of Life: A workshop methodology for children, young people and adults. We would love to hear about your experiences with this training – when and how you are using it, how you have trained staff as facilitators, etc.