What was the Market Place?

The Market Place as part of the Global Learning Festival

The Global Learning Festival is based on the idea that we, as individuals and as part of communities, can learn from our own experience and the experiences of our peers. The aim is of the Global Learning Festival is to stimulate that learning process in the context of Local Response.

On the first day of the Festival, we concentrated on learning-and-sharing as individuals. We considered the very human question, 'What is it that makes us human?' On the second day, we immersed ourselves in the world of local communities with SALT visits to communities in Tiruvannamalai and Nagapattinam. The main event of the third day was the Market Place and here we learned-and-shared as members of the communities in which we worked.

Siaap could arranged this part of the Global Learning Festival in a large room with tables and chairs. But instead, they chose the metaphor of a Market Place. In fact, they did more than choose the metaphor of a Market Place, they created a Market Place in the car park.

What happened?

When we woke up in the morning, the car park had changed. This is what it looked like:

It had changed! It really did look like a Market and all that was needed were some stall holders and some customers. Very soon the stall holders began to set up their stalls:

"Even before the first session, the groups were busy setting up their stalls in the Marketplace. Despite the hectic, though wonderful, travel the previous day, everyone was up early, excited and chattering away ideas as we ate some sumptuous breakfast: not just coffee, bread and cereal, but also idli, dosa, vada, sambar, chutney! Thus nourished everyone set out to furnish the stalls with posters, booklets, banners and other items." (See Ani's report)

and soon the stalls were ready for business!

and soon things got very busy...