Thursday afternoon, the park where we prepared a small stage, chairs and tables is slowly filling with people. We invite them to write down their dreams on little coloured cards and hang them on the rose bushes, our “garden of dreams”. A group of OASIS participants has been out all day with a scoop, fishing for people’s dreams on the streets of Collado Mediano. Now, many people have come together in the park, curious and full of expectations. Lola, a woman from the village, introduces the event, with her son Eric in her arms. “The people of the OASIS have come here to instigate community action in our village. To find out about our dreams and help us realize them all together.” Out of the dreams that have already been collected, one thing keeps coming back: The desire for more connection amongst the people living here.
We divide into groups in order to share and discuss the dreams of the people present. An additional element to talk about: The council of Collado has given us permission to transform a green area situated on the other side of the railway, some 800meters away from the park. On three of the four tables there is a model of this space, as well as paper,
…, scissors, pens and other materials that we can use, exploring how this space could respond to our dreams. The fourth table is for the kids, who are also invited to draw, paint and model their dreams for the village.
The magic starts to happen: people of all different ages and backgrounds, people who have lived in Collado for their whole lives and those who came five, ten or twenty years ago sit together around the tables and discuss the challenges they encounter in the village. They share their dreams and try to find solutions about how those challenges can be transformed. A place for the youth to meet, a place for concerts and open-air cinema, a place for people to sit together and talk. They build little benches, a climbing wall, a notice board out of modelling clay and place them on the models.
After a moment, every group is called to present their ideas. A jury that has been formed out of people of the public chooses the most convincing elements of each model and puts them together. Et voila: After only one and a half hours we have a model for the pace that unites the dreams of Collado Mediano!
This blogpost is written by Mara, participant of the Rural Codes program in Collado Mediano. This post is a story based on the 3rd and 4th step of the Oasis Game: Dream and Care