[OSList] Open Space development in Egypt 2011

[Harrison Owen]

Claudia - Great year indeed! And no matter what happens next (Good, bad,
indifferent) the year was magnificent and thank you for sharing. The truly
interesting thing to me is how the simple act of opening space wherever,
however, with whomever, about whatever - effects the overall environment.
When the times become tumultuous people naturally withdraw. Totally
understandable response, but lethal over time. Just at the instant when
being open to new and different possibilities, seizing opportunities,
dreaming impossible dreams are critical for the renewal of a living society
- blinders are put on and options are reduced simply because people do not
or cannot perceive them. In such a context, relatively safe space and open
eyes are truly revolutionary. I guess we tend to get hung up on the "hard
outcomes" - plans made, projects initiated, etc - but for me the ripple-on
effects are even more impressive. I will never forget my young friend Carol
Daniels saying in the midst of such a moment, "You have reborned my hope." I
know, and I am sure she did too, that my role was limited at best - but the
re-emergence of hope was powerful. I believe you and your friends have
called forth a lot of hope. Thank you all for that!

 

Harrison

 

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)

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From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
[mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Dr. Claudia
Gross
Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2011 8:49 AM
To: oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
Subject: [OSList] Open Space development in Egypt 2011

 

Dear All!

A great year is about to be over soon - and another wonder-ful year is ready
to start.
In Germany, we call this period between Christmas and New Year "between the
years" and this is exactly how I feel right now:
Having a look back on the TaDa's of 2011 (its high points, successes, joys)
and dreaming about 2012  ;-)

It's the perfect time to have a look back on the development of Open Space
in Egypt.
As you already have seen in Eslam Erman's post, the short movie about one of
the OS events documents our work "live and in colour":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l7iZ955QH8
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l7iZ955QH8&feature=share> &feature=share .
It was so fantastic and encouraging to receive your great comments and
feedback - highly appreciated! :-)

In total, 10 Open Spaces were facilitated (+ 1 happening on Dec 31st -
insha'allah) on topics as diverse as "Egypt at the Crossroads", "Unity in
Diversity"/ interfaith dialogues, refugees in Egypt, voluntarism, effective
citizenship - just to name a few. Over 400 women and men from over 20
Egyptian governorates have participated in the events. They are still in
contact by closed fb groups and are now working on the next steps
initiatives they have identified.

Additionally, the website Open Space Egypt was created by Eslam
(http://www.openspaceegypt.com/) and has its own fb group
(http://www.facebook.com/groups/257887974253169/). Thanks to Ramy Mortada we
have new great posters with the five OS principles, the law, butterflies &
bumblebees and the final admonition in Arabic and English. We are currently
in the process of translating more material as Arabic resources for the
coming Open Space events. 

To respond to the need of having Arabic speaking Open Space facilitators, I
have trained a group of 13 who are now able to facilitate their own events.
Right after this training, I was asked by others to repeat the training, so
the basis of Arabic speaking facilitators will increase in 2012 again. The
weekend after this training, the new facilitators already run their first
Open Space on Informal Areas: two of them facilitated it and five were
assisting them as a core team. Can't tell you how proud I was when I saw all
of them making this event happen - it was a big and inspiring success! :-)

The development of Open Space in Egypt has gained momentum: The new
facilitators are planning to organize more Open Spaces, we all want to
increase the PR to attract more sponsors and interested participants, we
continue our OSLEX meetings to have an exchange on our learning, and we keep
on translating and developing useful materials to support the facilitators
regarding their important work. 
I personally believe it's just a matter of time until we start supporting
other countries in the Arab world in facilitating their own Open Spaces  ;-)

Wish you all a great year 2012 filled with health, love, joy and peace!

Warm regards from Cairo,

Claudia

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