Participants in the Cultural Transformation team building event learned about Asian Pacific culture through a hula presentation.
By Latawnya Dia, FSA public affairs specialist
Foods from around the world, games shows and entertainment flowed out of the third floor, sixth wing of the USDA South Building last week as the FSA direct loan and funds management branch held a week-long team building activity centered around Cultural Transformation.
The brainchild of Connie Holman, a supervisor in the branch, the event was designed to instill a greater sense of teamwork while taking employees out of their comfort zone.
“I wanted it to be more than a day of activities that encourage people to work cooperatively,” said Holman. “It seemed like the perfect opportunity to combine this challenge with the Secretary’s Cultural Transformation initiative.”
The week kicked off on Monday with the group viewing videos of labor and civil rights, as well as the rights of disabled, gay and lesbian individuals, Native Americans and women. Following the video, the group took a field trip to “The Struggle for Justice” exhibit at the Smithsonian, sampled foods from around the world and ended the day playing “Who Wants to Be a Winner?”
Activities picked up on Tuesday afternoon with the staff watching a video on diversity and playing a game of Directors Jeopardy, starring Bob Bonnet, Mike Hinton and Sharilynn Hashimoto. Shanita Staten gave a presentation on African American heritage and showed a video featuring Soul in Motion, an African dance group. Guest speaker Tyresee Robinson closed the day speaking to the staff about being disabled and how people can be more sensitive to the disabilities of others.
Wednesday’s activities had the staff playing a game of Family Feud followed by a Native American presentation by the Navajo code-talkers who explained how they formed codes for the alphabet during WWII and wrote short hand.
The last day — Thursday — the staff participated in hula dancing hosted by the Hawaiian Entertainment Company as part of learning Asian and Pacific Islander culture. The day couldn’t be complete without the staff playing one more group game – The DAFLP No Money Pyramid. The theme was selected in keeping with the current budget restraints felt across government agencies. Participants also learned about the piñata, which originated in China. Breaking it was a religious-related event. Eventually Mexico adopted the piñata and it has spread throughout the region. Everyone had an opportunity to break a piñata that was filled with authentic candy from Central and South America.
“Every team member was involved, and I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised how each team member embraced the idea and contributed in their own significant way,” said Holman.
