Some "brief" stories

[Lisa Heft]

Larry -

Larry --

Your "brief" stories were marvelous.  Thanks for taking the time to post
them online.

Our Siberian colleague Elena Marchuk is visiting California right now -
a great opportunity for me posting a bit about our work together
yesterday.  Well...Elena did all the work - I held space!

I'm sure when she's able she'll tell a better story, but I just wanted
to let you know just a bit.  Of course I'm not the "brief"est
storyteller...

She is currently at a several-day conference on Rotary in Russia - for
those of you who are not familiar with Rotary clubs, they are clubs of
business and professional people around the world who provide
humanitarian service and help build goodwill and peace in the world.
They are also great communities of like-minded people, such as our
delightful OSLIST community.  Elena and her husband Alexandrei are
co-organizers of their group for their region of Siberia.

So: the conference she is currently at includes Russians who have
traveled to the States and also local and national Rotarians with a
passion for Russian Rotary.

The Russians came early to gather in the afternoon before the conference
opening to meet (speaking Russian) on their specific issues and
opportunities.  Elena facilitated the afternoon in Open Space, of
course.

So I don't speak a word of Russian.  But I know how to move chairs, pick
up coffee cups, draw butterflies and bumblebees and tape up signs in any
language.  And I can hold space in any language, too!

And as you may well guess, even if you don't know the language, you can
tell where the passion is.

There was time for two sessions of one hour each.  And at closing Elena
said that the comments regarding the process were overwhelmingly
positive.

I will let her tell you how she observes this democratic process as a
really new feeling for people historically living under an oppressive
regime where literally your life and liberty would have been threatened
if you had a new idea or wished to speak out.  And what "freedom" looks
like when nobody knows the new rules or the processes and networks of a
market economy.  Amazing.

So there you go.  I took some photos and as my website develops (the
birthing process - they always say the first baby is the one with the
longest labor period...) I shall post for you some of the materials so
you can see and use them in Russian.


Cheers from sunny Berkeley, California,

Lisa

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