Congress in the Forest 2:Cultural Night and Roundtables

I realised that I have left out from blogging for so long. After so many days of hassle and bustle life in Brazil, I have to pick up the memories I had in Brazil. So, be get ready for words and photos~!

In my previous blog, we have talked about the opening ceremony of the congress, here I will go through the cultural night briefly, workshops and roundtables at the event. 

Congress Talent Show

Compared to many cultural nights I had participated, the cultural night, or talent show in this congress was the most impressive show I have ever experienced. It was probably due to the performances were mostly came from Latin America countries. We began with Hawai'ian chanting, followed by poem recital, singing and dances from Argentina, Honduras, Mexico, Chile, Guatemala, Uruguay, Suriname, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Canada, South Africa, and so on. Above all, we have the host country, which was Brazil brought to us joyful country musics and dances such as Farro and Capuela. We the Malaysian delegates didn't perform on stage, but we had a booth that showcased Malaysian culture with local foods such as kacang putih, coconut cake, dousabiah; traditional clothes (baju Melayu, baju Kebaya), beautiful postcards and pins sponsored by the Malaysia Tourism Board and some pamphlets. People who had never been to Malaysia would exclaim how nice our food is! 

Brazilian drum 

African countries union. Erasmus from Zambia at the back. 

Colourful dance...from Brazil~~?

Malaysia, Indonesia and Honduras!~

 

I particularly like this picture very much. Everyone seems to be so happy. 

Malaysian, Canadian and Thai

Malaysian delegation consists of Leow ZeTong, Bernard Eng, Yu Kin Len, and me.

Skills Workshops 

Most of the workshops were youth-led, to allow delegates to learn from each other how to develop projects more effectively in their chosen field. There were over 100 workshops targeted at the different interests of delegates. Several topics were quite interesting: 'Plant-for-the-Planet 1: The Climate Crisis and What to do against it' facilitated by Kjell Kuhne (We met at the Youth Blast), about the climate crisis and how children and youth are making a difference and leading the way; 'Green Schools' that highlighted the best practices such as sustainable design to waste reduction and renewable energy resources; 'MyCity+20: Engaging the youth in Sustainable Development' which aimed at giving the participants a taste of the MyCity+20 events that are being held worldwide; 'How to take environmentally sound decisions based on the concept of Life Cycle Thinking' facilitated by a good friend of mine, Daniel Wehner (too bad that I have missed it). In a workshop called 'A critical analysis of the application of contemporary global development indices', I didn't learn as much as I expected because it was more likely a discussion where everyone posted each opinion without facilitation.

3 minutes pitching at workshop 'SP: Changing realities through a new way of doing business' facilitated by CHOICE/RioJunior

Group photo: I guess our team won in the presentation. Cheers Dimitri!

Workshop 'So you wanna be a campaigner?' facilitated by Sonya Silva. Sonya, I still haven't get your email and information. =P

'A critical analysis of the application of contemporary global development indices'.

'Best practice approaches in operationalizing green economy initiatives in the Caribbean'. Someone pushed me forward here and I presented the Green Economy Model spontaneously. 

My Workshop: Green Economy Model/Takakura Home Composting Method

So, it was my session of running a workshop on "Takakura Home Composting Method". In the beginning I talked about inappropriate organic waste management that contributed to environmental problems such as air and water pollution, waste of natural resources and then I introduced 'Green Economy Model' that was proposed to help eradicating poverty, producing environmentally friendly compost and generating a sustainable economic impact to local community. After that, the audience were taught with the Takakura composting method whereby I set the composting site in University Malaya campus as a reference for the outcome of the study. Besides the 3 steps composting method, I had the opportunity to share my knowledge in making organic enzyme from fruit peels for cleansing purpose (The not-so-complicated method: 1:3:10 of brown sugar, peels and water). Oh ya, I guess no one have seen facial mask made of enzyme, haven't they? There the participants had the opportunity to see the facial mask made from enzyme by Ms Rose Tan (En Nature Marketing). 

Showing the comparison of amount of methane and CO2 eq. produced before and after composting.

Simple ingredients obtained from the kitchen for enzyme making, and the sample of facial mask in white colour container.

Photo taken after the workshop, and some participants left. 

So I guess that's all for today. I want to thank Ng Chee Guan and Jaron Keng Zi Xiang (Malaysia Green and Blue Environmental Protection Society) for helping me to prepare for the workshop, and thanks to Mrs Tan for sponsoring me the fund and materials for this workshop and exhibition! 

Next, I will talk about the one day outing and Action Day...Stay tuned!