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Colleagues:
<p>Ran the second of three public legal information workshops today on
issues relating to Aboriginal children and families in Vancouver (see <A HREF="http://www.chriscorrigan.com/vacfss1.html">http://www.chriscorrigan.com/vacfss1.html</A>
for a report on the first one). This time we were focussing on family
support services for families who have either had their kids apprehended
by the provincial government or are trying to prevent the same.
<p>We used the same format as the first workshop:
<p>Opened with a prayer for our Elder
<br>1. Transfer in exercise
<br>2. Presentations on family support legislation and
practice
<br>3. Lunch
<br>4. Open Space on designing better supports for our
families
<br>Closed with a prayer
<p>The transfer in exercise went like this:
<ul>
<li>
All participants in a circle: no introductions</li>
<li>
Facilitator asks folks to think of an animal</li>
<li>
Think quietly for a moment about what that animal is telling you about
"family support"</li>
<li>
Share you thoughts with one or two others. introduce yourselves and
talk to each other for ten minutes.</li>
<li>
Facilitator then invites catch words or phrases that have arisen and writes
them on a flip chart.</li>
</ul>
The purpose of the transfer in exercise is to get the whole brain into
the room, get folks centered on the task at hand and get some meaningful
introductions.
<p>We had 45 people (social workers, parents, grandparents, advocates,
kids) in the OST portion of the meeting and 15 issues came forward.
One issue was proposed by a young woman who couldn't read or write on her
own, She lay on the floor with a friend telling her which letter
came next and reminding her of the shapes. She painstakingly wrote
out her issue. If she made a mistake in one letter, she crossed out
the whole word and started over. It took her about ten minutes and
when she was finally done, she stood up with a big smile on her face, said
her name, announced her issue and put it on the wall. Don't ever
let anyone tell you that this process is too intimidating for shy or illiterate
people. Passion conquers fear in this case.
<p>In a related story, an impromptu session occurred during the afternoon
on sexual abuse. A woman who was too scared(? shy? nervous?
-- I don't really know) to propose an issue to the whole group (because
it dealt with abuse she had suffered) waited until the small groups were
underway, found a woman who seemed open to listening, and proposed a session
on sexual abuse. The two of them met for 30 minutes, filled out a
report form and her piece was said. Appropriate structure.
<p>This was a consultation OST, so we did not do convergence and the givens
around the information was that ideas that are raised will be used by the
agencies that are present to improve services wherever possible.
There was no expectation that our discussion would have any effect on how
government delivers services. And there was no commitment that things
WOULD change as a result of the sessions. We were after ideas.
As a result, the meeting became a powerful articulation of the potential
of our community. In summing up, it was noted that "we are the community,
and what we have done was to take control and power and responsibility
for the state of our community." A couple of people took up the ball
and committed to finding a way for all of our agencies to come together
to do a big OST meeting with no involvement from government around these
issues...like a REALLY big meetings, with dozens of agencies, hundreds
of workers and clients and two days of OST. It may yet happen.
<p>i think for those of us who are "community developers" OST provides
the first real genuine development tool. instead of delivering tools
and expertise to a community, we use OST and simply hold the space for
the community to empower itself, take responsibility and do it's own development.
It sounds so obvious, but it is a real "AH HA!" for people. "You
mean this is about us? We only have ourselves to look to?"
It has always been so. I think some community development efforts
I have seen are as destructive and disempowering as the government interventions
they seek to replace. It's time to get out of the way and let people
design their own futures. The most we can do is hold the space.
The least we can do is hold the space.
<p>Our Elder, in the closing, said she was proud of us. Said we should
be proud of ourselves and be proud to be Native people dedicating ourselves
to the welfare of our children. She said we HAVE to use the circle
more, we need these processes back in our communities, for the healing
and for the power.
<p>Chris
<p>--
<br>CHRIS CORRIGAN
<br>Consultation - Facilitation
<br>Open Space Technology
<p><A HREF="http://www.chriscorrigan.com">http://www.chriscorrigan.com</A>
<p>108-1035 Pacific Street
<br>Vancouver BC
<br>V6E 4G7
<p>Phone: 604.683.3080
<br>Fax: 604.683.3036
<br>corcom@interchange.ubc.ca
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