Journal Entry #1

Week 5

On week five, the project was introduced to us and it was the initiation stage of groups forming
and the interaction with new people who were in the group. Members interacted and there was a
very subtle atmosphere due to the fact most of the people weren’t familiar with each other. As
the tutorial went on we sat in a circle which aided for certain people became more sociable such
as Chelsi and Sapphire but there were still people reserved such me and Crista just to name a few
which may have created noise barriers such as physical discomfort for the others. As the tutorial
went along we all started to contribute and we all expressed a certain desire of confusion about
the project but we all took to it with a positive mind.

Journal Entry 2
Week 6

During week six, we were tasked with coming up with definitions for the following Security,
Transparency, Inclusiveness, Equity and Government. We all split up into different groups of
two to research and come up with definitions of the terms. Victoria and I were tasked to conduct
research on the term Equity where we decided on simply stating is as “members of the society
are equally able to access opportunities”. The other definitions were researched by the others and
they came up with security being “the state of being free from danger or threat, the security of
the people, defense of people and people from crimes and attacks”. Transparency being
“openness, accountability and honesty with regards to the intentions of what want to do and how
we want to rule our entity and how we use funds”. Inclusiveness being “Including or making
provisions for all people regardless of any distinguishing factors”. Lastly Government “The
ability to sustain order through effective monitoring and the proper implementation of balanced
and inclusive policies. We all coined together and discussed these definitions and how we would
move forward together forming a transparent proposal as NEFER.
Journal entry #3
Week 7

During our tutorial on week 7 members from NEFER explored the various other groups such as
MAAT, JEED and the ALSI. Also during this tutorial our group discussed various questions and
policies to carry to the other groups who would also be occupying planet X. Unfortunately I was
not tasked with the duty to go out and ask questions and gather information from the other units.
However my colleagues came back with responses from the other groups and I was personally
anxious to hear their thoughts and policies they would be focusing on. Also in relation to what
our lecture entailed on week 7, the importance of human relationship development as a
foundation, this exercise showed me the formation of relationship with the different groups
which then showed me and widened my knowledge on how NEFER can create systematic
policies to ensure that our ideas of government, transparency, equity, security and inclusiveness
that will in turn prove to be beneficial to our humans going to Planet X.

Journal entry 4
Week 8

This tutorial posits of all the Units discussing their position papers. NEFER created their paper
based on our terms and our positions that we had in mind for our settlement that we discussed in
our groups. Everyone came together and worked on the sections of the paper in which I was one
of the editors who edited section three of the paper. During the tutorial session each unit
discussed their position papers and their proposals and plans for the settlement on planet X.
There was a lot of tension and interpersonal conflict during the tutorial where I felt like the other
missions kept on going back and forth and was somewhat unfair in understanding NEFER’s
position on us humans needing to have some sort of governance in play for our wellbeing on
planet X. Each group had their own views and was somewhat unwilling to compromise to reach
to a consensus due to cultural preferences. The ALISI proposed the notion of a strictly vegetarian
diet on their planet which raised confusion amongst the other missions as due to their cultural
beliefs meat is used to celebrate in certain cultures. The constant back and forth and
disagreements showed that effective intercultural communication amongst all the missions did
not take place during this first general meeting.
Journal entry 5
Week 9
This week was filled with challenges as we all grouped together in our sub units to discuss the
main points for our proposal in the upcoming meetings with the ALISI. It was very confusing at
first because the ALSI did not give much information for us to work with. Being a part of the
new systems unit, it was challenging for me to discuss proposals as I was unsure of what the unit
had to entail. However after listening to the other members of the unit such as Rushell and Judah,
I quickly understood our objective which was to manage and formulate new systems which will
be formed to facilitate the human settle. In bringing this back to all the sub units groups of
NEFER there was the challenge of intercultural listening mainly because each subunit group had
different view because we all came from different cultures. Even between the ALISI there were
challenges due to the ALSI and the other groups not agreeing on measures in which we thought
would be suitable for the settlement on planet X.

Journal entry 6
Week 10
In week 10 coming down close to our final meeting with the ALISI, we got into our sub units
again and discussed our final proposal in which we would propose to the ALISI for settlement on
planet X. The new system unit agreed on a proposal which stated that we understand their
proposal on the usage of resources and water however we would like to negotiate the use of these
resources in and ALSI designate area on planet X following the six month initiation process.
This will in turn give the humans a chance to feel like equal being on the planet. The sub unit
also suggested the implementation of a human run immigration assistance program. Upon
discussing all of this the sub unit group showed great communication skills where everyone
agreed and listened to each point of view and worked on the proposal as a team.
Journal entry 7
Week 11
This week was where the all the groups sat down with the ALISI to discuss our proposals upon
settling on planet X. This honestly was a very difficult process and a very frustrating process.
During the class there were constant back and forth of talking which lead to members being
unaware of what was being said even though there was a chairperson. Upon discussing the
various propositions there was a lot of disagreements especially on the notion where the ALISI
said that the consuming of meat is prohibited on the planet. The ALSI gave alternative resources
to replace the meat which I clearly understood but the other members disagreed to this. This first
meeting was not a big success although we did get some points across and came to compromise
on some. However due the fact of people coming from different culture which they share their
opinions it was hard to reach an agreement on the point of meat which showed a lack of
understanding and effective communication.

Journal entry 8
Week 12
At the end of week 11, due the fact that negotiations did not go so well, we decided to set and
agenda for this week so we would not get side tracked in our discussions. When the ALISI
entered the room, a representative on behalf of the human gave a formal apology for the way
discussions went on week 11. Everyone then sat down and started to discuss proposals that were
on the agenda such security topics, communication discussions on the “MIROW” and our social
contract proposal. There was a bit of back and forth on the social contract in which the ALISI
disagreed to sign, however we respected their decision and moved forward in our negotiations. In
my opinion discussions on this week went so much better and it showed effective
communication skills by both the humans and the ALISI. We closed discussions whereby the
ALISI welcomed us to planet X. This assignment was very difficult for me, however it showed
me that communication is key and things may not always go in your favor but its pivotal to move
past it for the bigger picture which was us getting to Planet X.