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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>Welcome, fabulous Kaliya !</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>I agree that Open Space is possible across
cultures and with a rich mixture of participants with languages different from
each other – even different from the facilitator’s. It is
simply a design issue, a discussion and ideas that happen during the pre-work,
and perhaps some extra resources and support for translation, depending on the
needs of the group.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>Many of you readers remember my asking a few
months ago for experiences from those of you who had facilitated in
multi-language events – I had done this before as well but for this
particular event there was the extra layer of readers and non-readers and many
people who spoke only one language (not the main conference languages). </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>I had promised to write this experience up
for you all, my colleagues – the full paper will appear at my website
soon and will include more description of the event and the other activities we
designed. Here is an <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>excerpt</span></b>
regarding language and access, from my to-be-on-my-website-in-a-month-or-so
photo-story and paper:</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";font-weight:bold'> </span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";font-weight:bold'>Open Space Conference for
Immigrant and Refugee Farmers</span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>In February 2007, two-hundred and sixty
participants joined together for three days rich with learning, networking and
knowledge-sharing at the National Immigrant and Refugee Farming
Initiative’s (NIFI) historic Inaugural National Conference for Immigrant
and Refugee Farmers. There were close to 300 participants, speaking over
17 languages traveling from all across America to meet and share best
practices, challenges, ideas and solutions for 3 days. Over 50% of the
participants were farmers, many of who received full funding to attend this
conference in Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA. The conference was the culmination
of months of visioning and planning between funders, the planning committee,
NIFI and Heifer staff and myself as the conference facilitator. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>While the conference was held in the method
of Open Space, we also designed the entire time participants would spend
together in a way that could maximize intercultural learning, knowledge
exchange across language and culture, an equalization of power dynamics and a
welcoming of the rich diversity in the room.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>One of the challenges was that many of the
participants were monolingual non-English speakers. Languages included
Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Hmong, Vietnamese, Somali Bantu (Maay Maay), Khmer,
French, Navajo and others. Plus, not all of the participants could read
written word, even in their home languages. So our design for both the
Open Space and the other activities included an emphasis on multiple languages
and modalities.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>The pre-work was complicated, the design
work was challenging, the event and site kept the core planning and
facilitation team on its toes - and, as is usual - the success of the
conference was due to an interdisciplinary, intercultural, skilled, flexible
and energetic team. Registration was in two languages (Spanish and
English - the two languages spoken by the most participants) and we knew that
those who could not access written language, English, Spanish or computers
would have an advocate working with them to register for the conference.
So we asked all registrants to pre-identify what languages they spoke. We
also asked who had laptops to offer and who would like to spend some or all of
their time helping us as notes-takers. This helped us identify what
translation and other support we might need, what were the top languages
spoken, how many computers we could have for the Newsroom and a sense of being
able to ‘seed’ the room with enough people who were comfortable
writing as notes-takers. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>Spanish, English and Hmong were our top
three languages spoken - therefore NIFI collaborated with the Highlander Center
in Tennessee, USA, who held a training in Maine, USA for a group of farmers
serving as peer simultaneous translators for the conference. To that we
added a few professional translators from Professional Translation
Interpretation Services in North Carolina, USA. We had multi-channel
translation headsets for about 40 people, I believe. Then, as we had
asked in advance about languages participants spoke, we pre-labeled every
participant’s conference badge with color-coded dots indicating which
languages they spoke - and we gave them extra dots to fill out and apply to
their own badges to add additional languages they spoke. This would help
is with ‘whisper translation’ - people being able to sit together
to translate for each other. It was important that we support participant
self-organization for translation as well as offer professional support.
The professional and peer translators wore strips of color fabric coded to
match the dots on everyone’s badges. If a translator spoke more than
one language, she would have several strips of fabric - they wore these as neck
ornaments, arm-bands - whatever fit their personal style. In this way,
you could find someone to help you wherever you were in the conference.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'><br>
Then there was the challenge of how to design for a switch from the conference
host and the facilitator speaking to the full group (welcome, explanation of
the Open Space process and guidelines) -- to the voices of the participants themselves
coming to the center and announcing their topics. So we started with
those who needed it on headset (Spanish, Hmong and Maay Maay listeners - others
sat next to friends and peer translators for whisper translation).
Participants wishing to announce and host a session would walk up to one of two
long tables (one in each of two aisles in the circle) and write their topic and
name on the top half of an 11 x 17” piece of paper. A multi-lingual
person sitting at that table would help them if they could not write and would
also add another language translation onto that sign (ideally in one of our
three top languages) in another color. The convenor would then walk to
the center where they would stand at a microphone to announce their
topic. After I had invited convenors to announce and post their sessions,
I joined a group of translators seated near the microphone in the center. We
had a cordless microphone to pass amongst ourselves. As this convenor
would announce their session (in their own voice; their own language) we would
pass the microphone to each other to translate immediately after them into the
top 3 languages. Then the convenor posted their sign on the Agenda Wall
and so continued the Agenda co-creation process.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>As usual when working in a multi-language
environment -- when I speak, I enunciate, choose universally understandable
vocabulary (no vernacular, no ‘Americanisms’, and for this
conference, no ‘agriculture-speak’, either), and put air between
each of my words: I speak slowly and carefully. I pause between each sentence,
and I use my body and my face to express the words, as well. I have found
that all of this gives time for translators to translate, helps people who
speak multiple languages translate in their heads, and gives people more of a
chance to sense and understand what is being said. My Open Space signs
are always in multiple languages, whether my participant group speaks one
language or more - as a way to welcome and include people and also to share an
awareness of the richness of working in a multicultural world. In this
case the signs were in Spanish and English. There is no universally-used
written Hmong language at this time.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>After returning to headset (for some) for my
explaining the schedule for the day, the group broke into discussion areas and
conducted their conversations throughout the day using whisper, peer or
professional translators as needed.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>Topics included a wide range of subjects:
beekeeping and pollination, how to apply for funding, engaging high school
youth, organic pest control, growing mushrooms, abuse of immigrants, disaster
response, organic corn for masa, organic crop development, growing ethnic
crops, farming in an arid environment, building greenhouses out of found
resources, and more.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>Notes-takers self-selected for all the
groups, though we knew we had seeded this thought of note-taking before the
conference -- so those who were multi-lingual and able to write easily simply
supported each group by notes-taking on paper notes-taker forms (with English
and Spanish both on the form). Throughout the day they would transcribe
their notes at the bank of computers in the Newsroom; most of which had been
loaned by participants themselves. If they had taken notes in a language
besides English they would sit with a colleague to translate before entering them
into the Book of Proceedings -- as our first edition of the Book would be in
English and then we would have the book translated into several other languages
next, thanks to the funders. Note that this was not an event in which we
created the Book for viewing during the event - we finalized and distributed it
post-event, translated it into other languages and also will be providing
photos and video for non-readers to review the event. Some groups are
also gathering post event to tell the stories of the event to each other and to
their communities as a way of sharing the news with non-readers.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>And so it went for 2.5 days, with Evening News
happening much like the openings each day - with some folks on headset and
others sitting next to peers for whisper translation. For Closing Circle
we allowed 2 hours - as in many of these cultures speakers use more words to
frame their experiences and tell of their experiences through telling stories
or returning to themes while they speak. We ensured that all who remained
for the closing (some had to fly away home before then) got a chance to speak
if they wished to. As is usual, I scribed their closing comments on my
laptop to include in their Book of Proceedings (participants would translate
after their peers as needed during this time). </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>_____________________ </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>The complete paper, including a description
of the other activities we designed for the evenings of this conference, will
appear at my website soon, along with a video and a photo-story. I shall let
you know when to visit to see these.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>Peggy – thank you for mining the
archives for some rich examples of learning from our fellow OpenSpaceniks.
</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>I look forward to the richness you bring to
our community, Kaliya,</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>Lisa</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face="Trebuchet MS"><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:black'>___________________________</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color=blue face="Trebuchet MS"><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:blue;font-weight:bold'>L
i s a H e f t</span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face="Trebuchet MS"><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:blue'>Consultant,
Facilitator, Educator</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face="Trebuchet MS"><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:blue'>O p e n i n g
S p a c e</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'><a href="mailto:lisaheft@openingspace.net"><font
color=black><span style='color:black'>lisaheft@openingspace.net</span></font></a></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'><a href="http://www.openingspace.net"><font
color=black><span style='color:black'>www.openingspace.net</span></font></a> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
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