Turn the world around!

Leaving our Jet-Lag behind, and expecting to fully immerse in the program of the forum, we got on the bus early in the morning heading to Holiday Hill Camp, a local summer camp and retreat near the University.

Once there, a group of animated facilitators awaited us, and after a few short games of mingling and music, we split into various groups with which we would spend the rest of the morning.

In groups of 15, we shared recreational activities of trust building, obstacle courses, and name games to help us get to know each other better and prepare for our time together.

We were challenged to trust one another, to cooperate as teams to carry out different goals during the activities. Who knew that at a human rights forum we would spend a day balancing 15 people on a teeter totter makeshift boat, working together to stay afloat and steady. It was a morning full of team-building and reflecting, but mostly a LOT OF FUN!!

The Director of Holiday Hill Camp closed the day with a meaningful reflection on the story of the flying goose: as leaders we often try to emulate eagles, independent and flying high.  Instead we find that as human beings it’s better to live like geese, flying strong together in a V.  When the leader gets tired it flies to the back, letting the next goose take the lead. A real leader knows when to share the work, and when to let another take the lead. Just like Mary Oliver illustrates in her poem, “Wild Geese”…

“Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things”.

We sang a last song before heading back to UCONN: