WELCOME TO GRANVILLE ISLAND
WELCOME TO GRANVILLE ISLAND
So, week 2 is past and the memories of the week lingers on. One of my major high points from this week started with the support the graduate scholars gave to Groundswell Market vendors on Tuesday 8th August at Granville Island.
Scholars at Groundswell Market, Granville Island
We joined in the setting up of the various tents at the market space. It was amazing to be given a warm reception by the vendors as they were excited to put us through the process of setting up the tents, as well as offering safety tips to prevent injuries. I met Alex (leather designer), Chris (Wood Shop workers) and others. Thanks to Alex for accepting to keep my back pack with him almost throughout the time we spent at the Island. I remember bumping into his tent often to get one thing or the other from the bag.
SCHOLARS SETTING UP TENTS.
WITH ALEX (THE CREATIVE LEATHER DESIGNER)
I was highly enthused by the short tour we took round the tents of the various vendors as led by Mr. Gillard. The passion with which each of the vendors enlightened us on what they do, how and why they started was very impressive and contagious. I took interest in the work of the Wood Shop Workers Coop which specialise in Upcycled wood products and custom design. So, I engaged Chris, one of the co-founder of the business in a long discussion within the time allotted for such interaction. I leveraged on the opportunity to inform him of my background in wood technology and more importantly, my passion for recycling waste bottles which can be re-used for various purposes. He educated me on how they source raw materials, their production process, collaborative efforts of the owners amongst others. He offered to connect me with a lady who recycles waste materials in British Columbia. What can be categorised as a low point for me during week 2 will be the long session allotted to Eve on Friday afternoon. Although Eve did a great job, she coordinated the session well and we enjoyed.
AT THE WOOD SHOP WORKERS TENT
I leant a lot from the activity at given to us by Sarah at Groundswell Market workshop. I could remember she gave each participant a white sheet of paper with a circle drawn at the centre of the paper. She instructed everyone to make an inscription, painting, image or thought on each paper as it was being circulated around, such that when your own paper returns to you, you would have had inputs from everyone in the group. The lessons learnt are as follows: Every man has something to offer, no matter how little it seems. There is beauty in diversity. Collaboration or teamwork makes tasks easy for partners and they achieve more. I also learnt that one will not achieve anything if such person does not task himself to work. It is best to also say that man was created to be a creative being.
DURING GROUP ACTIVITY
MY DESIGN PASTED ON THE WALL OF MY ROOM
In addition, the Photo Scavenger Hunt was also very adventurous and educating. Each member of the 4-man team immediately took some time to think about how to execute this assigned task. The task really put to test our ingenuity, interpersonal skills and communication skills. Two of the major scenes that continue to amuse me was when we approached a police officer regarding fist bumping with him and take photographs of the act, he declined and moved away from us. LOL! Second was when we had to create a performance by the shore of the Island. The choral group was led by Kofi. He took us through a brief tutorial of the Ghanian song and the necessary actions. Seeing the video after the performance, it seemed I was the most excited of all. WINKS!
FIND A NEW PET, SCAVENGER HUNT
CREATING A PERFORMANCE, SCAVENGER HUNT
I learnt a lot from the community focused economy principle used by Groundswell . I believe this principle can be well adapted to my socially minded project (recycling of waste bottles). this recycling enterprise will help to create a lot of unskilled labour for those who will be involved in bottle collections across the locality or beyond, bttle collection centres, transportation. In addition, skilled labour will be needed in terms of managing the recycling machines or facilities, customer relation, etc. this will benefit my community in a lot of amazing ways.
EXCITEMENT!!!