Today I was on a course. Its the second part of a certificate in Community Engagement (IAP2) which I'll finish tomorrow. Basically it is all about how to engage groups in a decision making process, and this last part is about the tools or techniques that you can use - workshops and brainstorming sessions for example. This isn't really hugely related to the point of this blog, although I guess the facilitation type skills will always come in handy, but what is relevant is that you never know when you will meet like minded people.
We did a 'getting to know you' type exercise where we had to pick an object we had on us and tell the group what that thing said about you. I picked my keys and talked about how I am house sitting and that I was in it for the veggie garden, that my raggedy car key and alarm button showed the raggedy nature of my car but that it represented my new-found independence, and the performance car key ring my brother gave me and my Mum's house key, which shows that my family is important to me. So you can see how this simple exercise gave a lot of insight into what sort of people were in the group. Well I found I had things in common with most of the people there. In particular, I found one lady who shared a love of gardening, and another lady working in the corporate world but living on a farm and wanting to move more towards her 'second life'. Well, I just had to have a chat with her at the break.
It turns out she runs meat goats and a few steers on her farm in Kaukapakapa. Thats just north of Auckland and I happen to have an aunt and uncle who live in those parts. So I had a very interesting chat about different breeds of goats, whether they were o.k. on boggy ground (not really is the answer but you can work around it), goat milking, goat rearing, and the good and bad things in general about farming. When I told her a little bit about my farming ambitions, she said 'So it sounds like you can hear the rural life calling'. She is so right! I think I have always heard it calling. Sometimes it definitely gets louder.
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