Hi dear OS-list members! I started to write down a letter to my dearest friend Jan Secor in Seattle who is waiting our Report of FSC "Women-Leaders of Siberia: Strategies for Collaboration" with OS on the 3-rd day, which worked perfectly well as I've already write you - and closing session which I translate now in English, probably will be interesting for you as well,
but meanwhile, being all out of life with great influenza around, we still had to work on our annual workshop for House Communal Service in the city of Novosibirsk (1,5 mln people), where we for the first time (during last 5 years) decided to try OS method. Marina Tyasto and me had different groups of 30 and 40 people with different topics: Planning and financing of HCS and working with Territorial Counsils of selfregulation - that's mine topic. and Marina's was close to my last direction - working with people in the district, whose questions were - parking cars in the yards and streets (as people has no special places for parkings - it was not planned in Soviet time) and problems of dogs - who have no special places to go out....but also some others, which I'm not much (sorry) listened....in the other day report. I was much interested in a process which we discussed with Marina at the end of the first day, when we had 3 hours of working with our groups. Her group refused to follow OS at once, and said that they prepared reports, when Marina asked how many of them wanted to make reports, there were 5 people with the reports, so Marina decided, that it will be honest to give them 3-5 minutes for their topics, and asked meanwhile the others to think of their questions, which they want to discuss... so there were several groups working - THOUGH SOME ASKED, IF THEY HAVE ALTERNATIVES TO OS? AS there WERE NO ALTERNATIVES, they somehow managed to work on the topics and made some ideas ready my group did not want to write topics, (and I have a collegue, which proposed to write for them on a blackboard, and whom I adked to let me let people to write them down themselves with their names on it...) they did not want to stand up and write down their names on topics which they choose to discuss, as they say they are interested in all topics and they don't want to be devided in groups. so it was not easy to move them on, So below is an extract of my letter to Jan Secor, probably it will be interesting for you as well. I'm not sure that it is the best for OS, but as I've already spoke with Birgitt, that we need to start with the democratic styles of working. Espesially, when there is a "socialist" type of industry inside the marketing developing economy, as I would say to do the same as to start to embed the rightdriving system on the road little by little having leftside driving like on many islands as Great Britain and Australia and so on. It is impossible to do gradually, we need to do at once, but there are a lot of surcumstances like low incomes of a half of population...... and autoritarian system in Housing Service.... so they are not in a market and a mayor is saing = YES, YOU DON'T HAVE SALARY PAID IN TIME and at all during some monthes...AND YOU ARE FINANCED only 70% BUT YOU NEED TO DO all 100% OF SERVICE AND .... TO SMILE TO YOUR CLIENTS.... THAT WOULD BE ENOUGH TO START AND SAY - NO OS IS POSSIBLE, NO MOTIVATION, NO VOLUNTEERLY COMING... AND SO ON... BUT PEOPLE NEED TO START TALKING AND DO IT IN A DEMOCRATIC WAY. THE SPEAKER I HAD IN A GROUP - NOBODY OF THE AUTHORITIES KNEW. THEY ASKED ME - WHERE THIS WOMEN IS WORKING? AND SHE MADE A GREAT SPEACH, THOUGH TRYIED TO ESCAPE AND FELT HERSELF IN SOME OTHERS PLATE, BUT ONLY AT THE BEGINNING, SO It was - 30 C outside ( that was our Tuesday) and the whole this week - and the same prognose for the weekend) People were cold and did not want to move.... and that was the first day of every-year House-comunal Service Workshop we worked with Marina every year, so she was brave enough to come (still struggling with her influenza) and provide 3 hours OS - as we decided to do - in her group, and me - in mine... my group was working OK, though it was not easy for me to move them to write down the topic, as I worked in pair with one of the SAPA (Siberian Academy for Public Administration) professors - Soloviev, so he proposed just to write down the questions, they want to descuss. I asked him to help me and to let me move people to write down topics them selves and their names ! with them, so very slow they did it, and on my asking to put the others names on topics they want to discuss.... they did not like the idea to be devided into groups, to put their names, and when I asked them - How should I think about them: they don't want to work? or they are afraid of responsibility, - they say - Yes, you've heard, what a mayor (major) of the Novosibirsk said on the initiative.... just do it. no matter that there is no financiang!....And that is true.... and still we have to do something to stop lying, to start discussing, to start moving forward and not letting as it is in Vladivostok area now, that people stay in a house with no water, no electricity, no heating.... and they have just 0 C - and they are crying of couse, .... and what it could be in Siberia as we have our fuel supply for only one week every week? sorry that is our business just the way we work with housing service system So Marina could not came to the Report Session as she went to doctor, but her group was OK, though there were 5 people who wanted to make report first and some asked: do they have alternative to what is proposed, and if they don't want any OS? so it was 5 reports first and other people worked on some important for them topics as Parking in the yards and streets and dogs problems but still that was there choice which was not probably the first level problems to House Service System. But the Report was OK. as one of the responsible persons from the side of house service system took it.... So everything is fine, and we are working on a Report of Women-Leaders of Siberia. and the results are great, as we got a good team of women-leaders, really leaders, doing much work, and they were surprised, that women-leaders can work together, concretly and in love....to each other.... let me put all this in words and in something more constructive, so I could do the sort of an article and hope Marina will write her words too. I gave her some time limits - to move her... as there really will be Happy New Year celebrations soon. She has too many things to do at once , but hope, we can do it soon. Best wishes to all of you who care for my writing and to those who is not, Elena Marchuk Ph.D. Director of the Regional Development Center "Ceres" * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html =========================================================== osl...@egroups.com To subscribe, 1. Visit: http://www.egroups.com/group/oslist 2. Sign up -- provide an email address, and choose a login ID and password 3. Click on "Subscribe" and follow the instructions To unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@egroups.com: 1. Visit: http://www.egroups.com/group/oslist 2. Sign in and Proceed
