Over winter break I had gotten myself registered for the Active Citizens workshop organized by British Council and Shell Tameer. It was a four-day long interactive workshop and was very effectively managed. I’d say it was one of those things I’m glad to have been a part of since there was a lot of learning involved.
Over winter break I had gotten myself registered for the Active Citizens workshop organized by British Council and Shell Tameer. It was a four-day long interactive workshop and was very effectively managed. I’d say it was one of those things I’m glad to have been a part of since there was a lot of learning involved.
The facilitator for the first day was Mr. Imran Azeem who is the Training & Development Manager at Shell Pakistan Ltd. He immediately had us on our feet by making use of interactive activities that helped us get familiar with the different participants. For instance, there was this sheet which we had to get filled in 5 minutes which had statements like ‘Find someone who has lived in a foreign country’ or ‘Find someone who knows a musician,’ etc. So we ran about asking each other their names just to get our sheets filled lest we be put on public demand. Public demand, or PD as it came to be known, was the wrath people had to face when they were unable to meet instructions. They’d be forced into singing a song or poem, and other such embarrassing things. Then we had the ‘Cover Story’ activity, where groups of 4-5 people had to come up with a project that could earn them much acclaim in the media in the future. Our group came up with a cycling marathon across different regions of Karachi which would help unite the city’s people and so we made a news story for that and acted it out for a new report.
Then we took a break for lunch where we had delicious chicken karahi and cold drinks. Returning from break, we went deeper into the theme of ‘individuality,’ and each one of us drew a self-portrait and wrote about ten things that are closest to our heart. The speaker for the day had arrived. Shiraz Ahmed who is also a lecturer at CBM spoke to us about the importance of knowing our purpose of life. When he asked around, it was surprising to see how many of us were unsure of it or had settled for so little in life. It was a question that requires much deliberation and the answer to it can shape our entire life into a more concrete structure.
On the second day we started off with an activity that should have been done the day before. The exercise was such that we managed to learn each other’s names by the end of it. Mr. Imran informed us that the speaker scheduled for that day would not be coming because he had met with an unfortunate accident. So we continued without him. Another activity we did was ‘Complete the story’ where one person starts off a story and the next person adds his bit to it. The amusing story we came up with was about a wedding where the lights went out and bride ran away and the groom died and then was reincarnated (Start Plus much?)
We were then briefed about how we’re supposed to form groups and come up with a social action project that we’ll have to implement in order to get through the second stage of the workshop. After this we discussed the difference between debate and dialogue and then were divided into groups of four where through dialogue we were to come up with the four most important things needed for inter-cultural dialogue. The groups were then merged such that the new groups were groups of eight and then together they had to agree on the four most important dimensions. And then came the final merger where as one big group we had to arrive at the final four. After much dialogue we agreed to communication, flexibility, tolerance (and one more which I can’t remember). After returning from lunch (biryani this time), we were divided into two teams and had debates on the topics of ‘The Role of Media in Pakistan’ and ‘Bachay Do Hi Achay’.
The third day our facilitator was Mr. Saqib. He did an ice-breaker where we had to introduce ourselves by performing an action that was a part of our personality. So I had to say, ‘I’m Yumna and I like to walk’ as I walked from one place to another. Another activity was the ‘Pakao Pakao’ where each one of us had to say this phrase in a different tone of voice. Rather dull activity but still people managed to come up with innovative ways of saying the same words. This was followed by a game of Tom & Jerry, the details of which I’d much rather not go into. :P Since we were out of things to do and had some time on our hands, we indulged in a game of Dumb Charades which was the high point of the day. Movies like MI4, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Haseena maan jaegi, Abduction & Inception were acted out for and it was quite interesting to watch the performances. Another interesting thing was the ‘Who Decides..?’ activity where we had to come up with answers to questions like ‘Who decides at what age to get married?’ and ‘Who decides what political/religious party one must follow?’
After lunch, we had an activity where we were each gives Rs.30 million and we could use that money to buy countries that were being presented before us. We had the option of pooling in money with any of the other participants and sharing the countries we purchased. I got Sudan for myself and later got to know that as a representative for Sudan, I would have to speak to the representatives of the richer countries, telling them how their activities are impacting my country’s environment and people. So I became Mozambique Mogadisu, the Sudani representative and lashed out at the developed countries. Other interesting performances were France’s indifferent stance and Pakistan’s determination for attaining self-sufficiency.
By day 4 we had chalked out a plan for our social action project. The idea was that we would go to students of 9th and 10th grades at TCF schools and provide them with career counseling. That morning we actually visited one such school in the vicinity of our campus and spoke to the students there. Most of them were kids of policemen and seemed like really hardworking children. They were willing to stay back after school to take advice from us regarding their future despite the fact that all of them had tuitions after school. In comparison to them, I felt ashamed. The kind of struggle these young children do cannot be compared to our laid-back attitude at all. Back at the workshop, we had an inspirational young speaker from MAJU named Adeel Kapasi who told us about his own project through which he helped lower the cost of food for people living in poorer parts of Karachi so that they could save and spend on better things like education and health for their children.
After all this serious talk, we had another activity where we were given a list of things, namely nail polish, cricket ball, table calendar, seasonal fruit, coin of a different country, old PKR note, picture of Salman Khan, a utility bill & a green chili. We had to find these things on campus within the next half hour as a team. So we divided the tasks and managed to get most of the things. We couldn’t get nail polish so we tried to pass of a bottle of lip gloss as a bottle of nail polish but got caught. :P This was followed by lunch and then we had an entrepreneurial activity where we had to create something from scratch using only the resources available in the room and get it sold for Rs.100! So our team quickly got hold of a carton that was lying there and managed to convert it into a multi-purpose box which we claimed could be used for decoration, for storing brochures, as a stationery box, etc. Our ‘creativity’ went under appreciated as we had a tough time selling it. There were no willing buyers. Some said they didn’t need such a box, others didn’t have the money or the space for it. Finally we managed to find one poor soul who was having lunch in his office and using emotional dialogues we were able to convince him to buy the box. But even he did not spare us the embarrassment. As he made the payment he said, ‘You can keep the box too’ and I could have died of laughter there and then! Such humiliation! :P
After lunch Dr. Saif Rehman shared enlightened us about an education related campaign by the name of ILMPOSSIBLE. According to the Facebook page, it is ‘an awareness campaign to get the word out about the government’s promise of making free of cost education available to every citizen of the country, as per Article 25 - A.’ He shared with us an interesting video too which is posted below:
The workshop drew to an end as the certificates were distributed, again in a creative way! Some of the participants took each other’s contact details to stay in touch afterwards. We bid farewell to our respected facilitator Mr. Imran Azeem and headed home with the spirit of Active Citizens infused in us.
