Wonderful summary - thanks. juan t. Lopez
On Nov 25, 2011, at 11:45 AM, "Harrison Owen" <[email protected]> wrote: > Lori – Try these. All from Liberia – where there are lots of tough rows to > hoe and multiple NGOs. > > From: Susan Partnow <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Tue, March 29, 2011 1:34:58 AM > Subject: OS and World Cafe at a Community Meeting in Monrovia, Liberia > > > Last Saturday my partners and I hosted over 120 community leaders at an Open > Space Community Meeting here in Monrovia, Liberia. My small non profit, > Global Citizen Journey, in partnership with the Liberian organization, > Population Caring Organization, are launching the Liberia Peacebuilder > Initiative to help grow a network of leaders that cut across all of the many > divides here: traditional, Christian, Muslim; 16+ ethnic groups; men/women; > youth/elders; educated/illiterate; ex-combatants; returning refugees. We > have recruited 35 leaders from the Interfaith Council of Churches, Tribal > Elders Council, National Council of Tribal Governance, and several NGOs plus > the Kofi Annan Graduate school of Peace Studies. These 35 received a 5 day > training in Compassionate Listening, Restorative Circles, Trauma Healing, > Forgiveness & Reconciliation – and I will return in 2 months to continue this > train-the-trainer program. One of the components they will learn is how to > facilitate Open Space and World Café, so they will have these powerful tools > to share with their communities and bring their groups together in dialogue. > To introduce them to this practice, they were invited to attend with their > invited guests to a Community Meeting last Saturday with the convening > question, > “It’s up to us – you and me. We have challenges and opportunities. > What can we do now to begin to create the Liberia that works for all of us” > > For this first week, I was accompanied by a group of students and two > professors from Salem State University (in Massachusetts) – led by Dr. Greg > Carroll, chair of the Intercultural and Peace studies program there – and we > offered a 3 day training to the Salem students plus students from the Kofi > Annan School of Peace Studies at the University of Liberia. > For the community meeting, we started the morning with a World Café – to help > connect everyone across the diverse groups present in the room – and to begin > giving them the experience and skill of dialogue, i.e. each person having a > turn to have their voice heard, each person listening to one another, weaving > together thoughts into a dialogue – vs. their usual habit of orating, with > each speaker giving their own little speech without connection to the speaker > before or after. We had three rounds with these questions: > Round 1) What do you love about Liberia? > Round 2) What keeps us from making Liberia what we want it to be? > Round 3) How can we begin to work together to make these ‘better Liberia’ > dreams come true? > > Before we began the first round, we had everyone move around so they would be > in a circle that included men and women and people they didn’t know. This > took a while, but with help from the Salem students and PCO staff, we got > them into the small groups of 4. I introduced and explained the use of a > talking object (we had stones picked up at their beautiful beaches). After I > explained in my US English, a local party translated into the local > vernacular creole (“everybody talk small small time with ‘talking object-o’ > and listen each other-o”). Still, there was clear lack of understanding – > this was out of everyone’s experience – so we went around to each group to > help them get it: so someone would actually pick up their talking object and > begin – and pass it around, no cross talk… It was fascinating to see how –by > the third round—everyone in the room had caught on to the idea – and the > groups were fully engaged, one round with the talking object, then really > juicy and connected/coherent conversation… We had a great debrief and > discussion… Then we moved into a large double circle and I introduced Open > Space – so thrilled to tell them how it was really coming back home to them – > since Harrison Owen learned so much from Liberia (where he was the head of > Peace Corps) that he wove into the process… > They were very responsive to step right up and offer topics… After creating > the market place, we had lunch with some fabulous Liberian drumming and > dancing… and then moved into the first session. Again, it took a while for > them to really understand how they could move from session to session – and > how they could choose a session to attend – not just their own topic! But by > ~15-20 minutes into it, everyone was fully engaged in a topic of their choice… > > For the Open Space, 26 topics were generated: > How can we bring fair justice in Liberia to make peace > Living as an ambassador of genuine peace > How to resolve land dispute > Creating peace among learners > Conflict Resolution > How can we reconcile? > What is the future after 2011 elections? > How can we build peace in Liberia? > Peace begins with us > Culture into education > Improvement of education sector > Good working relationship > What you can do to bring above peace? > What it takes to be a community leader? > Peace brings unity > National reconciliation > Forgive one another > How to avoid bad governance > How can Salem State University help Liberia? > Methods of building peace > Promoting peacebuilding implementations @ workplaces/ schools & Universities/ > communities/ churches/ government & institutions > Democracy & good governance, leadership with integrity to have a peaceful > environment in Liberia > Peace in the family > Peace in 16 counties > How do we protect the peace we enjoy? > What Liberians stand to benefit should the peace process become successful? > > Since there were no computers available and many people do not write, we had > a helper in each group help create a flipchart with key points discussed and > any action steps identified. Our Liberian Partners will create a report that > contains much of this information and will disseminate it to each of the key > groups that sent participants. I’ll keep you posted on outcomes we hear of. > Though already we heard there was quite a buzz about what a successful and > engaging event it was – and how people are introducing the idea of circles > and talking objects to their communities. > > All for now, > Susan > Susan Partnow > > And From Blake Mills – also from Liberia— > > Dear Harrison, > > > > Just finished OS in an NGO office in Liberia that deals with malaria > > prevention, treatment and education. (25 people, 13 topics, 1 day) In > > the closing circle, I wished you had been there and thought of you > > everytime someone said "This is our heritage of how we use to do it > > and it feels good." " This is the first time we sit together in 4 > > years and it is because of our Liberian past ."" "It is how they do it > > in our villages and now it brings us closer together and we can be one > > team, one program." "This is the first time I have seen everyone smile > > in our office." "People were fully engaged in the room." Immense pride > > filled the room. (I was asked to go to this office to do some team > > building. I think it worked, wouldn't you say?) > > > > This team has gone through major transitions from working with > > malarial concerns in an emergency situation, just after the war to > > post emergency work; from one country director's style to an opposite > > country director's style; and a total change of expat management; all > > in the last 3 months. And, you know what the # 1 topic out of the 13, > > after they prioritized? LOVE, plain and simple and powerful. A > > committee is now in charge of finding ways to express it in the > > office. I think the country director was shocked at that choice but > > even more surprised that a quiet man who pushes the broom, convened the > > topic. > > > > I was a bit worried for the first hour as it was very slow moving and > > I thought I had made the wrong choice, so I left the room and worked > > on my laptop, to not control the group and close the space. Turns out, > > no one had ever asked them before for their opinions. That was the > > hesitancy. > > The ball started rolling after the first time period. > > > > So, my dear, Harrison...it all comes around and back to Liberia, you > > and your brillance at capturing the essence of the African culture and > > bottling it up for the rest of the world to sip. You have touched > > their hearts deeply. In the closing circle, they didn't thank me...at > > first I was...gee, no praise for me bringing it to them...HA! "When > > the best leader's work is done, the people say "We did it ourselves." Lao > > Tzu. > > > > > Harrison Owen > 7808 River Falls Dr. > Potomac, MD 20854 > USA > > 189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer) > Camden, Maine 20854 > > Phone 301-365-2093 > (summer) 207-763-3261 > > www.openspaceworld.com > www.ho-image.com (Personal Website) > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of OSLIST > Go to:http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Lori Palano > Sent: Friday, November 25, 2011 2:01 PM > To: Open Space Technology email list > Subject: [OSList] OST and funding crisis > > Hello all > > I have been lurking on this list for quite some time. I'm finally writing to > call upon your collective experience to find a couple of good stories for a > potential client. > > I am going to be discussing the possibility of using OST with an > international solidarity NGO who is in the middle of a funding crisis. Does > anyone have good success stories along this line that might inspire the > client to make an OST invitation? > > Thank you! > > Lori > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
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