I attended the Mozilla Retreat -2019 (MozRetreat)

From 7th-9th May, 2019, a group of people brought together by the Mozilla Foundation gathered in Barcelona(Catalonia), Spain to brainstorm and set pace for the journey towards Mozfest 2019. Mozfest, is the annual internet festival organized by Mozilla, that brings together collaborators of the open web from all over the globe.

I was delighted to have been nominated to take part in the retreat as a wrangler. It is my second time participating as a wrangler and the experience still felt fresh and new. Perhaps for me it’s always the lovely surprise that Mozilla is always pushing the margins, bringing on board minoritized groups as a norm rather than an exception. It’s also the experience of being in a new city and country. The first time I participated in 2018, the retreat was in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Eindhoven as I discovered then, is the birth city of Philips Electronics.

Gathered together with people from at least 16 countries, across different disciplines, with a shared commonality to champion for a better, open and more accessible internet to all, this felt powerful and special. See, this is a noble cause in so far as my interaction with the magnificence of the internet. Every time I discover one more thing about what the internet has made possible, I am in awe. But even more it nudges me towards programs or projects that are geared towards defending the web and make it a better experience for all.

Barcelona, La Sagrera

We made Sokotech, our home for the 3 days of the retreat. We occupied ourselves with collaborating and bonding over the internet health issues including web literacy, digital inclusion, privacy and security, queering mozfest, decentralization, openness, neurodiversity and many more. Even more the retreat program was curated to allow us to talk about our personal journeys on defending the web. These conversations were very enriching and eye opening. I listened to a journalist’s experience covering “horror” stories that involve technology, I listened to a culturalist and museum enthusiast who would like to trace back the history of machines, I listened to a financial analyst whose day to day work has heart wrenching stories of how systems have made people’s lives miserable. I listened…

On of the greatest lessons of this curation process, is learning to listen and immerse yourself in other people’s journeys.

We built on these conversations, and weaved them through the internet health issues and this year’s Mozilla Foundation theme “better machine decision making”. We imagined the journey to Mozfest 2019 and what we would like the facilitators and participants to experience. We formed teams and made friends. On top of all the important work, we found time to immerse ourselves in the culture and history of Barcelona.

Barcelona is beautiful

I went for a history tour alongside Ashlyn, Sarah W and Kristina to the Gothic Square where we learnt tonnes about the Catalan people,their political stances, the magnificent architecture of their churches and many more. I also managed to go for a bus tour around some parts of the city including a drop off at Camp Nou, the Barcelona Football club stadium. A Barcelona trip would not be complete without a beach visit and so I had a short walk along the port and beach; and of course in between we ate a lot of tapas, pizzeria, yummy pastry, and drunk beer and wine.

I look forward to the next 5 months of wrangling Mozfest.

PS: Watch out for the Mozfest call for proposal on 1st June, 2019.