“Welcome to My Village!” tool

Welcome to My Village!!!!

Aims of the tool

• to bring reflection about intercultural competences
• to make participants aware how quick assimilation gets in stead of integration
•  to open discussion about cultures, values and symbols…

Description of the tool

• Group is divided in 4 groups, each on a table with 5 kg of clay.
• The whole activity should be silent, no verbal or written communication.
• Each table receives the instructions and starts to build.

When the villages are ready, you facilitate the ” destiny” by pulling straws. Longest straw goes to the right, shortest to the left table. (Follow the instruction according the uploaded attachment)

Let the process begin and observe the reactions.

Welcome to My Village!!!!

From now on, the activity will be in complete silence. It is forbidden to speak, or even whisper and you are not allowed to write things down. There cannot be any kind of communication with words.

IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS:

• In your village you do not use “Square“ shapes (the devil lives in the corners!!)
• Doors cannot be in front of each other ( you respect each other’s privacy)
• There should always be at least about 15 centimeter’s between each house, but not more then 20! (Because of safety reasons…)
• The center of the village is the place to pray. This construction should be more or less at an equal distance of each house, so nobody should walk more or less then somebody else, to pray.
• Images of animals are considered as nice; however you highly respect nature and cannot use images of plants…

Some more things to take into consideration:

• In your village there can be no direct eye contact with women when you communicate with them. This includes other women as well. When people do this, it is very rude and the women traditionally react by a loud and clear NO! and turn their heads away.
• Men can only work with their right hand, since the left hand is the  defense hand and should always be ready to react in case of danger
• When you wish to communicate you have to raise your hand and point at the “holy place” before communicating (but never speak!!!)

Welcome to My Village!!!!

From now on, the activity will be in complete silence. It is forbidden to speak, or even whisper and you are not allowed to write things down. There cannot be any kind of communication with words.

IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS:

• In your village you do not use  “round “ shapes ( this brings bad luck)
• Doors have to be in front of each other as you like to greet each other and you are strongly connected to each other)
• There should never be more than about 15 centimeter’s between each house, but not less then 5! (because of safety reasons…)
• There is no centre of the village. The place to pray is in the north of the village. This construction is in the shape of a star, and no other house should be more to the north than this place…
• The moon is a holy symbol and should be involved in ALL constructions

Some more things to take into consideration:

• When you wish to communicate (but do not speak) you have to raise your hand in the air before to start to communicate – other wise it is very rude….
• Women and man can never touch each other in public
• The image of a flower is considered as the most beautiful object and it is an honor to receive it… However you do not make images of humans…
• Messages for the whole group can only be made when you hold a piece of clay between your two pointing fingers…         

Welcome to My Village!!!!

From now on, the activity will be in complete silence. It is forbidden to speak, or even whisper and you are not allowed to write things down. There cannot be any kind of communication with words.

IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS:

• In your village you do not use  “flat roofs” – ( you need air to breath) and constructions  are always in the shape of an L. ( This is a holy symbol…)
• Doors can only be in each others line… well in order…
• It is not important how far the houses are build from each other as long as there is a road from one to another…
• The most important place of the village is the water fountain… all roads should go to the fountain, water is the symbol of life… and should be integrated in all kinds of images or constructions

Some more things to take into consideration:

• Man can never communicate with other man without first touching the left hand of a women
• When you pray you make an image of a flower but you destroy it immediate , the village prays a lot, at least once every 5 minutes…
• When you have something to say which is important for the whole group you fist need to run a circle around the village to ask for attention.

Welcome to My Village!!!!

From now on, the activity will be in complete silence. It is forbidden to speak, or even whisper and you are not allowed to write things down. There cannot be any kind of communication with words.

IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS:

• In your village there are only pyramid buildings. – you believe that it brings you good fortune and energy… other shapes are inferior
• The door is always on the north side of each building  
• The house nearest to the north is the highest , and they become smaller the more you go to the south
• Streets are forbidden because they make you walk too much in line and limit your opportunities
• The image of the sun should be on every house, this is the symbol of energy, if there is no image of a sun on the house then this house can not be entered and is not considered as  part of the community.

Some more things to take into consideration:

• Women are considered as the highest energy creatures ( they give birth to new life) and for that reason all final decisions should be confirmed by a women
• Before women respond in the communication (but you can not speak) she first sits down on the floor, to be in touch with mother earth and to receive good energy…
• Men can only sit on their bent knees on the floor and they cannot sit on their bottom as it is very insulting… Men can only sit on their knees as a symbol of agreement towards the women.  If he does not agree he needs to turn his back for 5 seconds to the women.

TASK FOR THE VILLAGERS WHO STAY IN THE ORIGINAL VILLAGES:

The persons from the other villages arrive in your village and have the right to pick out a position. It is up to you to help them…

Try to integrate (without talking) the new persons in your community! Take in consideration your original instructions to make the village…

TASK FOR THE NEW ARRIVALS

You can choose any position in the village to put your house. (The government gave you the right to this…)

Your next step is to integrate into the community

Since the government wishes to develop a collective and uniform feeling of identity, they have organised a competition to create a national symbol.

Every village needs to construct a new national symbol and enter it into the competition. The government’s department leading on this will choose a symbol for the whole country. This symbol needs to be made from clay of your houses (so you will need to adapt your houses after you gave your contribution)…

It should be a representation of how you all feel in your village…

Good luck!0