Haiti OS stories

Sun Apr 19 14:09:40 PDT 2009

Dear Open Space Collegues,
Below, there are some stories collected after the annual Open Space in Haiti in 2008. 

It is with great pleasure that I’m writing
this report on the seventh annual Open Space meeting in Haiti.  In Haiti, Open Space has become a
crucial tool in helping organizations or any other group change their practices
in order to achieve more participation and shared responsibility.

The seventh annual Open Space meeting in
Haiti took place on June 26-29, 2008. 
79 of the 87 participants stayed at Villa Ormiso, which hosted the
event, and the remaining participants commuted every day.  For most of the participants, the fees
related to their participation in that meeting were covered by the
organizations with which they are working. The Haiti Open Space Institute
sponsored 17 of them.

Theme:

The Practice of Open Space: How are we
using this approach to increase organizational effectiveness?

Below are several of the topics proposed
in the village market:

 How can we use OS to help handicapped people, to make them feel
     they also belong in society?
 How can OS be used to raise youth’s awareness about HIV/AIDS?
 How can we use OS to get Haitian and Dominican organizations to
     work together?
 How can we help OS become a tool used in schools?
 How can OS help us in teaching people their rights and duties?
 The advantages and disadvantages of gay and lesbians in
     society.

Below are reflections from some of the
participants who had their lodging and meals covered thanks to the generous
gift from OSI, USA. All of them are active members in our network.

“For me, open space is a method, which can
play an important role within the Haitian society.  Haiti has been in slavery for a great number of years; it
takes a lot of time for such a nation to become educated in the right way and I
think the OS method can do much in helping to achieve that goal.  I know that a lot of people have
already been trained in OS and I hope it will continue.  I take advantage of the opportunity to
give many thanks to the OS Institute, which sponsored my participation in the
OS this year; I must say I benefited a lot from that method.

In the past, I used to think that what I
did was always right and I always wanted others to see things the same way I
did, which usually created a lot of frustration and disappointment in me.  When I started participating in OS, I
realized that was not realistic; I started showing more tolerance toward people
and their ideas. Thus, I feel I have relieved myself of taking on other
people’s responsibilities and personal objectives.  I really benefited from that space, which was really open in
order to share my knowledge with others and to also learn from what others were
sharing with us.”

(Marie Kerline Janvier) 

“I’m Mauricette Jean Lucien ; I’m one
of those whose participation in the Open Space at Villa Ormiso has been
sponsored.  My experience there and
what I learned will help me practice that method better; it will help me do my
work of managing my organization better, in an effective manner and in a way
that respects one another’s opinions”

(Mauricette Jean Lucien)

“Open Space is a suitable name for what it
means.  I can say it is an
activity, which can transform society. 
I see it already in myself, Open Space brought a lot of change for me in
my organization. Every time I participate in the Open Space, I feel like I have
moved into a higher level.

Having my participation in the Open Space
sponsored is for me the greatest gift I could have received in my life.  Open Space has brought a lot of change
in my life and in the organization of which I’m the leader.

It helps me grow better in life. Every time
I participate in the Open Space, I learn a lot from the other participants. I
used to see things differently before.

In the Open Space, I learned how to reflect
and to plan ahead of time everything I need to do.  The three biggest things I learned from Open Space are:  shared power, building a culture of
tolerance in me, building a culture of peace.”

(Delva Marie Eramithe)     

“We went to the training, which took place
at Villa Ormiso, in June, 2008.  It
brought a lot of changes through one workshop on education in which I
participated.  The ideas shared
have brought a lot of change in me. 
I always had that thought, which was : why was I making all those
sacrifices for my children when my parents did not do anything for me; I always
said that if they had provided me a high enough level of education, I would not
have gone through certain hardships. 
When I got home, I reflected about everything that has been said and I
immediately freed myself from that thought.

Open Space taught me to plan what I need to
do today and tomorrow ; Open Space made it so that today my children go to
school without any difficulty, they can eat, they have a home; I plan
everything based on what comes into my hands. There is not enough time for me
to say all the things this method has done for me.”

(Villard Malya)   

“I’m Theophile ANTOINE, I had the chance of
being introduced to the Open Space method since the year 2003.  But, it is the first time that I have
the opportunity to participate in the Open Space on Open Space at Villa Ormiso.

It was a very enriching experience for
me.  Not only did it help me meet
many other people, but also it helped me build my skills even more in order to
be tolerant toward others even when I do not agree with their ideas, which is
something I think many people in our country are missing.

Now, I also feel capable of leading an open
space, after having participated in a workshop on that.

With respect to the welcome, it was very
good because as soon as you enter the yard, there was always someone to help
you either with registration or to show you to your room.

With respect to workshop discussions, it
went very well.  Because the rules
of the Reflection Circles method were followed almost 100%. (Listen with care
to others and don’t cut them off. Speak clearly so that others can hear you and
in a way that they can understand you.) The meals were very good and they were
always served on time.

I would like to thank you very much for
your sponsorship this year and I hope the next Space will be even nicer and
more interesting than this year.”

(Theophile ANTOINE) 

“I would like to greet the members of the
Open Space Institute in Haiti and those from the Open Space Institute in USA
and I take advantage of this opportunity to thank them for working together to
sponsor my participation in the latest Open Space on Open Space, which took
place at Villa Ormiso, in June, 2008. 
It is with great pleasure that I will talk about my work after having
gone through this meeting where I learned a lot in order to go further.

With respect to the promise we had made to
go back and work in order to get more people in Haiti to practice open space, I
did not lose any time ; I led an open space meeting with the organization
I usually work with, which is the Social and Sports Association of
Marie-Therese (ASSMATH) and the theme was : how can we start bringing a
social and economic response within Marie-Therese.  I did the planning for that space, which took place on
Sunday, July 6, 2008, from 8 am to 1 pm (Marie-Therese is a poor neighborhood
located on Route de Freres, in the commune of Petion-Ville).  Children, youth, and adults
participated in that open space. 
As a result, they were all satisfied and they expressed how much they
appreciated that meeting and asked the association to hold another one in a
short while; it was a successful initiative for the members of the association
and especially for me who initiated that movement within the association.

My work did not stop there although it has
not become concrete yet, but I started sharing and spreading that initiative,
which started in the neighborhood of Marie-Therese, with other association
leaders from other neighborhoods of Route de Freres, with the goal to expand
the Route de Freres network.  And I
am considering holding open space in many churches and other institutions,
which have a need for it.  
Therefore, I’ve already started working on a project to implement
everything I’ve just said.

I support the work that the Haiti Open
Space Institute and the USA Open Space Institute are doing to promote the
practice of open space everywhere through sponsoring participants from several
sectors of activities and taking the initiative to train and have everyone
participate.”

(Mario Merancien)

I would like for all OSI, USA members to
know how grateful we are and how much respect we have for you.  We’ll always be ready to support
activities, which will take place in Haiti and we have a lot of gratitude for
that.

Great appreciation and respect for all of
you.

Fremy Cesar 

For the Haiti Open Space Institute

2008 OS/OS Report for the OSI, USASubmitted November 16, 2008Translation by Myriam Narcisse 

_____________________Fremy Cesar
Co-directeur Fondation Limyè Lavi 
Haiti: BP.15812 Petion-Ville Tel: 509. 3705.3395 

Guadeloupe: Rue Charlery Bance 97160 LE MOULE Tel: 0590 818762        0690 862654 www.eksperyansla.info

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