In this activity, participants trail the signs of multiculturalism and take a new look at the social environment around them.

The “footprints” of other cultures are so common that very often we don't even notice them.
 

Issues addressed

• We live in an interdependent world; our countries are dependent on each other.
• In every society, we find clues to the presence of other cultures.
• The recognition that their mutual influence enriches both cultures.

Aims

• To enable participants to identify the influences of other cultures on their own society and contributions they make
• To value the influences and diversity
• To encourage curiosity about other cultures

Preparation / Materials

• For part A: Paper, pens and flip chart, and markers of different colours. A map of the local area.
• For part B: Mobile phones. However, if these are not available, participants may simply use pen and paper to list the "footprints" that they find.
• For part C: A monitor with a large screen to show the groups’ pictures and videos. Also, a flip chart and pen.

Instructions

Part A: Planning

1. Introduce the activity and split the participants into small groups with a maximum of 6 people per group.
2. Tell each group that they are to seek out "footprints" of other countries and cultures and to document them on their mobile phones, or simply make a list, if the groups do not have phones.
3. Brainstorm where participants might look for the "footprints”.
4. Agree the area to be explored by each small group.

Part B: Trailing

1. Give the groups 2-2½ hours to go out and look for "footprints" from other countries and cultures. Alternatively, ask the groups to plan a time during the following week when they can spend the time exploring the area.

Part C: Presentation

1. Ask each group to give a brief summary of the things they found and the cultures they came from, by sharing their pictures and videos.
2. List the different cultures on a flip chart as an aid to the debriefing and evaluation.

Debriefing and evaluation

The presentations should finish with a discussion. You can facilitate the evaluation with questions such as the following:

• Did you enjoy the activity? Why? Why not?
• Were there any surprises?
• How many different countries and cultures have you discovered? Were they of European origin or from other parts of the world?
• Were there any patterns in the types of “footprints”? Do any of these conform to stereotypes?
• Do you know if these the “footprints” are of people who have lived here for a long time, or are they of newcomers?
• Have some footprints now become so common that they are part of the local identity (e.g. pizza all over the world)?
• Are some countries or cultures represented more than others? Why could that be?
• To what extent is a country’s historical past reflected in the footprints?
• Are the “foreigners” valued for themselves, their culture or their contribution to society? For instance, are they seen as “exotic”, as part of the locality, or are they resented because they are seen as “competition”?
• Every country has some notion about its own national identity. What does this activity tell you about this concept of national identity?
• Can we also think about a universal identity common to all human beings? What are the features? Is it a useful concept? How and why?
• If the small groups covered different areas of town, were there any differences between the areas in terms of what “footprints” there were? Why might there be differences?
• How much do we really know about other cultures from these footprints? Would it be useful to learn more? How could we do that?

Tips for the facilitators

To introduce the activity and arouse participants’ curiosity, you could ask them a riddle about something that they use every day, for instance, if they know where tomatoes (or rice, chocolate and coffee) originate from, or you could ask them to imagine that they are detectives or explorers. Remind participants that the research is supposed to be a collective effort.

The brainstorming activity of some of the places where people might look for the "footprints” could include the following:

• Gastronomy: foods and spices from other cultures which are now used in their own cooking, restaurants from abroad, drinks
• Garments and fashion: clothes which originally came from other countries and cultures, shoes or clothes made abroad and imported
• Music: music played on FM radio stations. What music is played in coffee bars, pubs and discos?
• Technology: Where are our mobile phones made? Where was the technology developed? Who repairs them locally?
• Mass media: foreign programmes, reportage, films incorporated into the TV schedules
• Language: words from the other countries which we use in our daily lives
• Architecture: buildings, monuments

In the discussion, try to draw out the following:

• That we live in an interdependent world and that our countries are dependent on each other. In every society, we always find evidence of the presence of different cultures, for instance, Turkish food in Germany, couscous in France, or pizza all over the world.
• The technological and communication revolution provides us with enormous possibilities for mutual exchange and knowledge.
• The relationship between different cultures and their mutual influence on each other enriches both.

You may find someone asks a question about cultural appropriation, which is when a dominant culture uses the cultural customs of a non-dominant culture in an exploitative way. You might like to consider whether an example of cultural appropriation could be when the waiters in an Indian restaurant are white Europeans and the cooks and those washing up are from the Indian sub-continent. There is information about cultural appropriation in relation to music with the activity ‘Knysna Blue’.

Suggestions for follow-up

Take action: Why not make a public exhibition of the group’s findings? You will need to have printing facilities and display boards for the photos, and a monitor or screen and loudspeakers for playing videos. You’ll also need a space, and time for the exhibition.

Move on to another activity: It is easy to accept the things we like from other cultures, such as food and drink, but often the people who come are not so welcome. What happens when your neighbours have different customs and habits and are not so easy to get on with? You can explore some of these issues in ‘In our block’.