Open Space - Cambodia - Street Children - Version 2 suitably inserted - long(ish)

funda oral fundaoral2003 at yahoo.com
Tue Aug 15 14:35:39 PDT 2006


Dear Nigel, Peggy and Romy,
   
  I am also very inspired by your examples. I had been thinking for long time but now, i am encouraged to take action and  prepare a similar project here, in Istanbul.
   
  Peggy, would it be possible to hear more about what happened after this meeting in Columbia? did the things change for the children? for how many of them? the children, are they happier ? 
   
  I am asking these questions because i often give this event as an example of ost event, it would be good to give further information about the follow up. 
   
  Thanks,
  Funda
  
Romy Shovelton <romys at compuserve.com> wrote:
  Dear Nigel, Father Brian and all in this roadshow of street children...

Thank you for this true inspiration.....
And Peggy for yours in Columbia too

It reminds me yet again of why I personally do this work and what calls me – so thank you. My heart is deeply moved.

My personal most treasured piece of work to date was in Cerro Navia – the poorest community in the city of Santiago, Chile, and often referred to as a slum. There I worked with the people on their significant issue – garbage. We worked individually with the 3 key groups involved – the ‘households’ who create the rubbish, the garbage collectors who remove it and the municipality who pay for the removal... And then brought everyone together in Open Space to see how to move forward. It was a delicious mix of people from the wonderful garbage collectors, to mayors, to people living in tin shacks with no floor, water etc and turning up deeply respectful and ready to work together, bringing their children to work together too in our creative young persons space.  I am again moved as I remember the courage of those people.

I would LOVE to do more of this work. Please know any of you can call on me to appear whenever there is such a need.

In huge respect for all who open space for our precious world and its people...
And deepest thanks once more to Harrison for starting all this and for always being there

Romy

  
---------------------------------
  From: Peggy Holman <peggy at opencirclecompany.com>
Reply-To: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2006 18:56:08 -0700
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: Open Space - Cambodia - Street Children - Version 2 suitably inserted - long(ish)

Dear Nigel,

I am so deeply, deeply touched by your story.  There are tears in my eyes as I type.  What incredible vision you have.  What courageous action you have taken.

I am sending this to Andres Agudelo, with whom I worked in Colombia, so that he can share it with the people with whom we worked.  

humbled and honored,
Peggy

  
----- Original Message ----- 
 
From:  NigelSeys-Phillips <mailto:nigel at fulcrum.com.sg>  
 
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU  
 
Sent: Monday, August 14, 2006 3:10  AM
 
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] Open Space -  Cambodia - Street Children - Version 2 suitably inserted - long(ish)
 

 
 

It’s now upside down but hopefully still  makes sense??

See lower down if  required!







“A Better Future for Us - The  Issues and Opportunities”

Phnom  Penh, Cambodia.







As part of the World Bank’s Asian  initiative to communicate and connect with marginalized and minority groups,  and in conjunction with the 2006 Annual Meeting being held in  Singapore this September, a  programme of Open Space meetings has been instigated from the Singapore regional  office.



Using Open Space, and inspired by Peggy  Holman’s piece from Columbia where she worked so successfully with 2000 street  children, we have explored the opportunity of working with street children  across Asia to really understand what is important for their  future.



The programme kicked off in Papua New  Guinea where the indomitable Father  Brian Bainbridge led a group of  some 100 children and young adults



My contribution to date – an amazing (to  me!!) meeting in Phnom Penh, the capital of  Cambodia, with some 150 street  children
but with a difference.



The children had all come from the  horrendous circumstances of working for a living on the Phnom Penh city garbage  dump – a literal mountain of fetid rubbish where garbage trucks arrive every  few minutes to dump their waste directly onto this pile. The children made a  living scrabbling for anything sellable the moment the back was opened,  running in front of the bulldozer set to plough it down. Plastic, material,  glass, food – anything sellable that might make them up to US$1 per day if  they were truly lucky



Taken in by an astounding NGO “Pour Un  Sourire D’Enfant” they now work at school six days a week. They are fed three  simple nutritious meals a day, given uniforms and books, and educated towards  a career and a productive life. The vocational side of the school has a  restaurant (teaches cooking but cooks all the meals) a laundry (teaching  skills for housekeeping jobs) a child care centre, a sewing school (who also  make the uniforms) a gardening section (who beautify the grounds) a  hairdressing school, a bakery (where everybody gets delicious fresh French  bread during the day) and a new mechanical school (which will ultimately  maintain their vehicles). The school has about 750 children on the vocational  side and almost 2000 on the general education side – and almost every single  child graduating with vocational qualifications goes into a job and has the  opportunity to break the grinding cycle of permanent  poverty.



Their parents are “paid” in rice for  every day they are in school – without this they could not afford to let the  children go to school because one less pair of working hands means one less  income opportunity, which is not something they can even think about  sparing.



Open Space proved (to me for the very  first time as facilitator, which is about as far away from a personal comfort  zone that you could possibly get, I think, but then I was “created” in Open  Space by Father Brian and Viv Walters – to whom I will be eternally grateful)  its power yet again.



My opening of the space was translated  into Khmer, and with the exception of scheduled interventions by me over the  two days all the other work was done in Khmer – a quite beautiful language to  see when they finally wrote it down. But when everybody around you is speaking  a totally foreign language (and where you haven’t even learnt the essential,  but probably deeply inappropriate, “Three beers please”) meaning that you have  absolutely no idea of the subject, the discussion or the questions being asked  there is only one solution – just be there and keep smiling!  



We tackled the theme -   

“A better future for  us – the Issues and Opportunities”



And within the two days allowed we  –



a) Posted about 110 topics on the  wall

b) Reviewed, discussed and wrote notes  for our Proceedings Book on 92 of those topics (which they proudly took home  with them, alongside their Certificate of  Attendance)

c) Prioritized down to 10 and discussed  and created action points





What came up – and remember these are  street children from approximately 12-18 years  old?

Well, some of it is still being  translated but major topics prioritized included –



1)       Corruption and how to reduce it  in Cambodia
 
2)       How to develop the economy in  Cambodia to give us greater work  opportunities
 
3)       How to export more products made  in Cambodia
 
4)       How to limit illegal immigration  so Cambodians aren’t disadvantaged
 
5)       How to use the results of the  Khmer Rouge trials to benefit the people of Cambodia
 


These, and the way the children came at  them, are a great tribute to the power of Open Space and its ability to  genuinely achieve openness and safety for those who would otherwise not have a  voice.



In our Closing Circle, where some very  good English was inserted as their “thank you”, the heart-warming physical  gestures, the hugs and the beaming smiles that had replaced a degree of  curiosity, the laughter and the absolute desire by so many to talk meant that,  actually, no translation had been needed all along. We all understood what we  had achieved, even if they had no real idea of the world I came from just 48  hours earlier and would soon go back to – and I can still not begin to  understand the pain and hardship they have endured to get as far today as they  have done, and the determination they have shown that will finally give them a  life they could previously never have imagined.





The “road show” continues and, amongst  us, Open Space meetings will be held in Mongolia, Laos, Timor,  Indonesia,  Vietnam,  Singapore,  Philippines and Thailand, and we hope to be able to  train others to take the programme deeper into the countries than we can ever  possibly penetrate ourselves.



As for the World Bank – they are learning  the true issues and opportunities first hand from those who will be the future  of their countries, and they will be able to positively impact on politicians  and leaders alike, addressing the issues that matter  





 

Nigel  Seys-Phillips

Fulcrum Business  Management Solutions

30 Mount Elizabeth

#04-34  Highpoint

Singapore  228519

Tel: +65 9639  2510

E-mail: nigel at fulcrum.com.sg





    
  
---------------------------------
    

From: OSLIST  [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On  Behalf Of NigelSeys-Phillips
Sent: Monday, 14 August 2006 6:04  PM
To:  OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Open Space - Cambodia -  Street Children



Dear All – and in  particular Peggy,





“A Better Future for Us - The  Issues and Opportunities”

Phnom  Penh, Cambodia.







I am afraid it is a  bit long so I have, hopefully, attached it which means you don’t have to read  it if you don’t want to
but I wanted, inspired by Peggy’s amazing story, to  recount how Open Space and the World Bank have started a series of meetings  around South East Asia working with street children, and to share my personal  experience with you. 

There is little to  add – it works!



All the  best

Nigel





 

Nigel  Seys-Phillips

Fulcrum Business  Management Solutions

30 Mount Elizabeth

#04-34  Highpoint

Singapore  228519

Tel: +65 9639  2510

E-mail: nigel at fulcrum.com.sg





    
  
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