os and literacy: promoting human dignity

[Pannwitz, Michael M]

John Webb is on an assignment in Berlin and is giving us the honor of
staying with us for his two week stint. I showed him this message
this morning before leaving for Bonn together with Yaari to
facilitate os for a group of 75 African women and their families
(they know about os from their ancestors, some call it baraza which
translates into: sitting under a shady tree)....well, John Webbs
response was:
there you go, he is not fighting illiteracy.
This struck me to be a key element as I am now reading the whole mail
travelling south to Bonn and something that I would consider to be
relevant independent of culture:
appreciative spirit.
love and peace
mmp


On Wed, 26 Mar 2003 17:15:32 -0500, john engle wrote:

>ROTARY CLUBS OF HAITI OPEN SPACE TO PROMOTE LITERACY
>
>There were 43 of us that came together--literacy instructers/Reflection
>Circle practitioners and Rotarians--on Saturday March 22 for an Open Space
>meeting. Our theme was: "How do we make our centers (literacy) and groups
>(Reflection Circles) more dynamic, and, how do we improve communication
>between ourselves?"
>
>12 subjects emerged from among the participants for small group discussions
>during morning sessions: 10-11 and 11-12. We reconvened from noon to 12:30,
>inviting participants to propose subjects for the afternoon session which
>would allow them to get specific about action plans. 7 new subjects emerged.
>We took a break for lunch from 12:30 to 1:30 and the afternoon session went
>from 1:30 to 2:30.
>
>While this was the first experience in Open Space for some, the majority of
>the group has participated in numerous Open Space events. It is very clear
>to me that Open Space is impacting the way that the groups and literacy
>centers are functioning.
>
>During our 1 and a half hours together during report back and discussion as
>a group, at the end of the day, a literacy teacher/high school student from
>Louverture Cleary School commented, "Our work is all about helping
>participants to discover their value as human beings. Itºs all about helping
>them to realize that each and every one of them is an important part of
>society and that we all share the responsibility for improving our society.
>Sometimes participants in my center talk about their objective of becoming
>comfortable speaking in public --'in society.' To them, society is the
>President; people in parliament or the Director of the school«well-known
>people like Mme Bello, etc. I tell them, ºYou are society! We are the
>public! And, you are speaking in public when you are expressing your ideas
>in this group.º"
>
>Another literacy teacher shared, "I meet with each of my participants
>individually when beginning a new cycle. I need to get to know them and to
>learn what their individual objectives are for learning to read and write.
>They need to know that I care about them. After all, helping people learn
>how to read and write is all about love made concrete."
>
>I have been involved in promoting literacy in Haiti since 1991. Today, I
>notice that much more than before, literacy teachers understand that there
>work is about serving participants needs. We heard from one after another,
>"I invite participants to identify their objectives in learning to read and
>write and to share them with everyone." "If we are not tolerant and
>patient--helpful--participants become discouraged and don't return. If they
>don't return, they won't learn how to read and write."
>
>I believe this notion of passion and responsibility is óinfectingó literacy
>teachersº attitudes. In addition to this, literacy teachers and group
>leaders recognize that people learning to read and write do not hesitate to
>use the law of two feet when they discover that they are in a space where
>they feel they are neither learning or contributing.
>
>Itºs important to note that virtually everyone who attends these meetings
>pays a sliding scale fee. While we have grants to subsidize expenses¡so many
>of the literacy teachers and Reflection Circle practitioners are desperately
>poor¡we believe it to be critically important that people are investing
>something more than their time along, to be present.
>
>
>http://www.beyondborders.net/experiment.htm
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>MSN Messenger : discutez en direct avec vos amis !
>http://www.msn.fr/msger/default.asp
>
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Michael M Pannwitz
boscop
Draisweg 1
12209 Berlin, Germany
FON +49 - 30-772 8000     FAX +49 - 30-773 92 464
www.michaelmpannwitz.de

An der E-Gruppe "openspacedeutsch" für deutschsprechende open space-PraktikerInnen interessiert? Enfach eine mail an mich.


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