IPP Balanza: 8 januar 2010

The municipality of Tame received us with open arms and hearts. We felt very welcome already the first days we spent in Tame. Now, coming back from the tour in Arauquita and Saravena, it felt like we were coming home. Familiar faces, wide smiles and welcoming words waited for us, as we were a bit late on the schedule, or in other words, on Colombian time.

For the morning session, the planning group had prepared Cross the River to encourage teamwork among the mediators. Cross the River is an activity in which a group of people has to pass an imagined river by using pieces of paper as their bridge. The number of the papers is limited so the group has to find creative ways to complete the task. Touching the ground outside the papers is forbidden.

The reflection of this activity gave us a lot of thoughts. Many local mediators talked about dangerous crocodiles in the river and they said they were very afraid of them during the activity. This aspect rarely comes up in internal CISV programs. It made us to realize the powerfulness of our activities, in letting people to come up with their own interpretations and give signification to the activities from their own experiences. The mediators concluded that because of the fear they had to work better together to reach their goals. The teamwork aspect was thus achieved but through a path that differs from the usual one.