Orientation a Success: Our Group Is Amazing

Sunday, 22 May, 2005 by Cheryl W. Colan

Wow. Yesterday, we had an orientation for our travel group from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the beautiful high school on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. Our students gave up six hours of their Saturday to better prepare themselves for their journey.

Jen Sydow of the International Education office started us off with a great ice-breaker and a visualization to help us all stay in the present for our orientation session. Then she all participants write a letter to themselves about their hopes, fears and goals for our journey. We sealed the letters in an envelope and we will give them back to the participants at an appropriate time on the trip, so they can see how their initial expectations compare to their actual experience. I thought that was a great idea.

Next we roll-played a powhiri, a formal welcoming ceremony performed when entering marae in New Zealand. The students had to approach our orientation room as if it were a marae, men first to protect the women. They entered and formally greeted those of us inside - including the hongi or pressing of noses. We gave the students this opportunity to practice telling the Maori who they are, where they come from, and why they have come to the marae. Although we were not in a real marae, the tone of the meeting changed completely as the students began to express who they truly are, often in their native language. Our orientation became a true exchange of self, and we were lifted into a higher place, where we remained for the rest of our meeting.

During lunch, Nizhoni brought out some Navajo jewelry made by her mother, and several of us bought pieces to take as gifts.

After lunch, Linda handed out Intercultural Workbooks, which all the students need to complete during the trip. I gave my assignment, a personalized art project each student must complete during our journey. Finally, Roger had assigned everyone to learn one thing about art in their culture, so the students gave five minute presentations about what they had learned. Some brought items to share, and we all learned many new things about each other as a result of this process.

I think I can say that a great time was had by all! One of the students, Teri, will be joining my mom and me as an author of this weblog. I’m very excited about this, Teri’s posts will bring her own unique perspective to this site while allowing her family to follow along on her journey.

I may not have time to post again before we leave. Next stop: the Korrawinga Community at Scrub Hill, near Hervey Bay, New South Wales, Australia!