0.3 Part three: service project  (Page 2/7)

Assignment 2: a community tree

2) Together, fill in the roots - show those things that are key ingredients to your community's foundation and past. This is where you'll draw the elders in thecommunity and their stories about the community's past and heritage. Here's where you put celebrations and traditions. This is where an exchangeof stories can happen and deep listening occurs. Who and what are the pattern keepers of your community? What are the key stories? How can you representthese elements, visually, to remind you of what you have just heard? (45 minutes)

3) Together, create the trunk of the tree. The trunk represents the connectors - the people and resources that connect the past with the present and the presentwith the future (i.e. It could be individuals in the community such as a mail carrier; it could be a river; it could be a sacred text; it could be anindustry; rituals, songs, dances; community assets regarding technologies, communication systems, education, livelihoods, skills,ways of governing/decision-making, etc.) How can you represent these elements, visually, in words or pictures? (30 minutes)

4) Together, create the branches . This is what's forming; what's being called forth. The hopes and desires of the adults and the elders. The hopes anddesires of the youth. What you are all experiencing now and what do you wish for the future? (30 minutes)

5) Together, create the seeds . The seeds carry the vision. Who/what are the seeds in your ecology metaphor? Perhaps the seeds are ideas for your ServiceProject. Ask these people gathered to help you envision those seeds. What's needed? What's next? (30 minutes)

6) A tree exists as part of a larger ecology . Add animals, insects, weather, and other elements of nature that cohabitate or interconnect with the tree. Forexample, a person who is a terrific listener and collects the stories of thecommunity might be drawn as a spider creating a web in which they "catch" the history and stories of the community. The thunder and lightening might beobstacles that threaten the tree's survival and growth. What are the tree's sources of nutrition and support? Represent this living ecology,visually. (30 minutes)

Assignment 3: community story and reflection

7) Take a step back and look at the metaphorical map you created together. Create a story or myth using the visual imagery from theroots all the way to the branches and then the seeds carried in the wind to fall on fertile ground, and keep in mind the larger eco-system. Co-create thisstory taking turns, or individually write and share your stories. (45 minutes)

8) Thank the group for their help in teaching you about the community. After they have left and while the conversation is stillfresh in your mind, take some time to view the metaphorical map and think about all of what was shared. Write a 1-2 page Reflection giving as muchdetail as possible about each element of the metaphor - the roots, the trunk, the branches, the seeds, the larger ecology of the system.