Malekulas

Description of the tool

* the story: A team of engineers goes to another country to teach the people there how to build a bridge.

Depending on the size of your group, have 4-8 people play a team of engineers, who will teach the Malekulas how to build the bridge. They receive the instructions for the engineers and are brought to a separate room.
The rest of the group will be Malekulas. They receive the Malekula instructions. If you have too many people, you can also make a team of observers, who just watch and take notes. These observers should not be introduced to the Malekula culture beforehand, so keep them with the engineers in the beginning.

Debriefing: After the game the two groups of participants take a piece of flipchart and note their comments on the following three points:
Facts
Feelings
Interpretations
The following points should be discussed in plenary: " We have a tendency to think that others think the way we do. We often interpret things right away, without being aware of the differences in cultural behaviour. How were the roles distributed? What role did I take? What does that reveal about my identity? Did I feel comfortable with my role? Was the image I had the same as that perceived by the others? What influence did my cultural background have on the role I took on?”