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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Funda -- seems to me it always has to be a personal
decision and judgment as to how one may best contribute. It is quite true that
my resourses vastly exceed those of most people in the world. I therefore
have a special responsibility to use those resourses in the most judicious
fashion to do the best I can for the people who need it most. But then the
question arisies where and how do I make the maximum impact? I don't think there
is any easy or "right" answer to this -- but over the years I have come to the
conclusion that everytime I can help folks to do for themselves what might more
quickly be done by somebody else there is a double bonus. The situation gets
taken care of and the people are more effectively equiped to handle a similar
situation the next time around. I guess I have also seen too many disasterous
attempts to fix the world for people according to the "fixers" vision of what
needs to get done and how to do it. I have never found it possible to isolate
myself from the pain and misfortune of the people I have lived and worked
with, and hopefully I will never find armor thick enough to do that. I always
wish I could do more. But at the end of the day I have found that my most
effective contribution has been to create and hold the space/time so that the
people can find their own way. For an impatient, pragmatic, practical American
doing that can be a terrible burden. It is the "not doing" that really twists my
mind. And you will have to find your own way.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Harrison</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Harrison Owen<BR>7808 River Falls Dr.<BR>Potomac, MD
20854<BR>USA<BR>301-365-2093<BR>207-763-3261 (summer)<BR>website <A
href="http://www.openspaceworld.com">www.openspaceworld.com</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=fundaoral@ttnet.net.tr href="mailto:fundaoral@ttnet.net.tr">Funda
Oral</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, August 14, 2005 5:42
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Open Space - a
minimum?</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Michael writes :<BR>"There, I saw grand opportunities for open
space and talked about it<BR>to people."<BR><BR>That's what i do here,
although it is not heard so quickly. But i can not <BR>get detached<BR>so
quickly from people's struggle.<BR><BR>I agree that self organizing, local
resources, their lives and livelyhood<BR>(as Harrison mentions)...their
ability to create solutions are <BR>important...very important.<BR><BR>I still
think that we ( the ones having more to eat, a shelter, health, <BR>space; who
were lucky to get some education, travel, learn<BR>appreciate, enyoy
life, so on) can not say "them, their problems, their
<BR>struggle, their solutions".<BR><BR>I feel our responsibility is more then
that.<BR><BR>Funda<BR><BR>----- Original Message ----- <BR>From: "Pannwitz,
Michael M" <<A
href="mailto:mmpanne@boscop.de">mmpanne@boscop.de</A>><BR>To: <<A
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</A>><BR>Sent:
Sunday, August 14, 2005 11:00 AM<BR>Subject: Open Space - a
minimum?<BR><BR><BR>> Dear Funda,<BR>> I live in a rich city:
Berlin.<BR>> My colleagues and I have facilitated about 300 os-events since
1996<BR>> in this city alone.<BR>> The dark sides of this city have in
that same period grown:<BR>> unemployment, poverty, homelessness,
dismanteling of social services,<BR>> cuts in primary education and health
care, disentchantment with the<BR>> political process....along with the
widening gap between poor -<BR>> middle income and rich people.<BR>> So,
whats all this effort led to?<BR>> Heaven knows<BR>> and<BR>> almost
every day I get little signs<BR>> someone approaching me in a bus, on the
street, an email, a telephone<BR>> call,<BR>> characterized by a
smile.<BR>> As far as I am concerned, thats pretty much all I need to keep
going.<BR>> A few days ago I returned from Karachi, Pakistan,<BR>>
somewhere between 14 and 19 million people,<BR>> where Yaari and I lead a
training for 26 colleagues from Afghanistan,<BR>> Nepal, Pakistan and Sri
Lanka.<BR>> There, I saw grand opportunities for open space and talked
about it<BR>> to people.<BR>> That environment with its many challenges
invigorated me,<BR>> especially those thousands of people I saw while going
to the<BR>> railroad station, the harbor, the markets, along teeming
streets...<BR>> all of them, including the tenacious begging children,
rising to the<BR>> really difficult situation making a go of
things,<BR>> seemingly at a very high level of "muddling through".<BR>>
What splendid resources!<BR>> And: I dont need to understand their struggle
to facilitate an open<BR>> space technology event.<BR>> And: I am
certainly not going to help them to get what they need not<BR>> really
knowing or being able to understand their need.<BR>> Neither in Berlin or
in Karachi.<BR>> What I can supply, is assistance in getting an os-event
set up and to<BR>> facilitate it (or, in the case of Karachi, train people
to do that)<BR>> which will definitely provide the best known framework
for<BR>> selforganization including the optimal use of whatever resources
are<BR>> available.<BR>><BR>> While I was in Karachi, I read the
"Dawn" every morning (in fact,<BR>> there is hardly a dawn or dusk in
Karachi, it seems to go from light<BR>> to dark to light within
minutes)<BR>> and a story about "Karachi 2020" caught my eye.<BR>> It
described in great detail all the stuff a huge staff of<BR>> consultants
(foreign) was hired for to "understand" the problem,<BR>> about 20 fields
of investigation, half a newspaper page full (census,<BR>> roads, income
distribution, migration patterns.....)<BR>> with side remarks about the
government scolding the local planners<BR>> for not being competent to
develope proper plans.<BR>> I read it all and at the very end I found a
note that after the plans<BR>> would all be drawn up,<BR>> citizens
would be invited to explain the plans to them,<BR>> with the possibility to
then fine tune them.<BR>><BR>> Well, what a neglect of local
resources!<BR>> What an upside down procedure, producing another set of
eventually<BR>> useless data under the ill fatet belief that this kind of
planning<BR>> will actually improve Karachi.<BR>> Lots of room for open
space, though.<BR>> Maybe some of my colleagues will get busy on those and
other areas<BR>> there.<BR>><BR>> Greetings from Berlin<BR>>
mmp<BR>><BR>><BR>><BR>> On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 13:40:56 +0300, Funda
Oral wrote:<BR>><BR>>>Dear John and
everybody,<BR>>><BR>>>I live in a city where one can see extreme
cases ( richness and poorness,<BR>>>joy and powerty so
on...)<BR>>>in a short distance from each
other.<BR>>><BR>>>One sees so big problems, and so strong struggle
for life<BR>>>that sometime the word "open space" looks funny, silly and
luxury.<BR>>><BR>>>I still believe that "opening space", inviting
people to<BR>>>exist, to talk, to express their needs and struggle
is<BR>>>"something", a very small step maybe, but still
helpful.<BR>>><BR>>>But it's not enough, the ultimate aim is to
understand their straggle<BR>>>and help them to get what they need...we
don't need to be poor with the<BR>>>poor;<BR>>>sick with the sick
( as Judi beautifully mentions)...the least we can do<BR>>>is to open
space to respect them.... but this is only the
minimum.<BR>>><BR>>>And i am very worried and sad to see that in
many cases all i could<BR>>>do would be to open space. I am not strong
or rich enough to end<BR>>>struggle.<BR>>><BR>>>I guess we
need more trembling hearts, more resources and better<BR>>>cooperation
for
that.<BR>>><BR>>>Funda<BR>>><BR>>><BR>>>-----
Original Message ----- <BR>>>From: "john engle" <<A
href="mailto:englejohn@hotmail.com">englejohn@hotmail.com</A>><BR>>>To:
<<A
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</A>><BR>>>Sent:
Thursday, August 11, 2005 10:17 PM<BR>>>Subject: powerful poem! help me
understand it.<BR>>><BR>>><BR>>>> hi brendan, kairi and
others.<BR>>>><BR>>>> i've never opened space in a prison
but i have participated in a<BR>>>> touchstones discussion (<A
href="http://touchstones.org">http://touchstones.org</A>) with about 25 men
<BR>>>> serving<BR>>>> life sentences. the discussion
centered around "power" and not<BR>>>> surprisingly, i learned a
great deal.<BR>>>><BR>>>> great that you are doing this! i
look forward to following developments <BR>>>> as<BR>>>> you
work toward opening space in prisons.<BR>>>><BR>>>> on
another subject, kairi, thank you for sharing that poem in
your<BR>>>> message. i love it! and, i loved being at OSonOS! Judi,
you and your <BR>>>> team<BR>>>> did a great job at
receiving us and making us feel at home.<BR>>>><BR>>>> while
i love the spirit of the poem, i just don't know what to do
with<BR>>>> "banish the word struggle from your vocabulary." how do
others see this?<BR>>>><BR>>>> removing the word struggle
from MY vocabulary seems like it could have<BR>>>> some positive
outcomes. at the same time, it's hard for me to think of a<BR>>>>
better word that describes daily life for so many people. and,
not<BR>>>> acknowledging this seems like i might be missing something
as i work <BR>>>> with<BR>>>> folks in circumstances so much
different from my own.<BR>>>><BR>>>> i'm in haiti as i write
and catching up with friends and colleagues. <BR>>>>
there<BR>>>> are at least hundreds of thousands of people here--some
estimate in the<BR>>>> millions--that don't consume a meal each day.
and when they do, they <BR>>>> don't<BR>>>> know when
they'll eat next. i can't begin to imagine what living with so<BR>>>>
much uncertainty and discomfort must be like. and i've also learned
that<BR>>>> far too often we who live in financially prosperous
countries romance<BR>>>> poverty, saying that poor people are
happier.<BR>>>><BR>>>> it serves us (people who live in
financially prosperous countries) well <BR>>>> to<BR>>>> see
things this way and it pains me when i have US American visitors
<BR>>>> with<BR>>>> me in Haiti and conclude after a week
here that the people are "so <BR>>>> happy."<BR>>>> in many
cultures, those in the southern countries included, it is<BR>>>>
appropriate to put one's best face forward especially when
meeting<BR>>>> visitors. those same Haitians who looked so happy to
the visitor might <BR>>>> be<BR>>>> totally stressed out
because they're worrying about how they're going to<BR>>>> pay school
fees for their kids and get a meal together, etc. when they<BR>>>>
speak in their own language to me, "struggle" projects from their
facial<BR>>>> expressions, body movement and
words.<BR>>>><BR>>>> i would not feel comfortable asking
folks who live such realities to<BR>>>> remove "struggle" from their
vocabulary.<BR>>>><BR>>>> thanks for your patience as i vent
and live emotions connected to being<BR>>>> with friends in extremely
difficult situations.<BR>>>><BR>>>>
john<BR>>>><BR>>>><BR>>>> <A
href="http://JohnEngle.net">http://JohnEngle.net</A><BR>>>> email: <A
href="mailto:john@johnengle.net">john@johnengle.net</A><BR>>>> P.O.
Box 337<BR>>>> Hershey, Pennsylvania 17033<BR>>>> tel.
202-236-6532<BR>>>><BR>>>><BR>>>><BR>>>><BR>>>>>From:
Brendan McKeague <<A
href="mailto:mckeague@iprimus.com.au">mckeague@iprimus.com.au</A>><BR>>>>>Reply-To:
OSLIST <<A
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</A>><BR>>>>>To:
<A
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</A><BR>>>>>Subject:
Re: There is a river flowing now very fast<BR>>>>>Date: Thu, 11
Aug 2005 08:26:54
+0800<BR>>>>><BR>>>>><BR>>>>>"Banish the
word 'struggle' from your attitude and your vocabulary.<BR>>>>>All
that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in
celebration.<BR>>>>>aahhh....thank you so much
Kairi<BR>>>>><BR>>>>>What a moment to receive this
gift - the start of a brand new<BR>>>>>day...beautiful and
inspiring...today I will let go a wee bit more...<BR>>>>>I am
about to depart for a day's 'space-making' in a maximum
security<BR>>>>>prison with long-term
offenders..<BR>>>>>I will be present and holding space with
individual men - my dream is <BR>>>>>that<BR>>>>>one
day there may be more collective open space within such
<BR>>>>>confinement...<BR>>>>>.<BR>>>>>Anyone
ever opened space in a prison?<BR>>>>><BR>>>>>peace to
all<BR>>>>>Brendan<BR>>>>><BR>>>>>*<BR>>>>>*<BR>>>>>==========================================================<BR>>>>>OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<BR>>>>>------------------------------<BR>>>>>To
subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,<BR>>>>>view the
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href="mailto:oslist@listserv.boisestate.edu">oslist@listserv.boisestate.edu</A>:<BR>>>>>http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html<BR>>>>><BR>>>>>To
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_________________________________________________________________<BR>>>>
MSN Messenger : discutez en direct avec vos amis !<BR>>>> <A
href="http://www.msn.fr/msger/default.asp">http://www.msn.fr/msger/default.asp</A><BR>>>><BR>>>>
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To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:<BR>>>> <A
href="http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist">http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist</A><BR>>><BR>>>*<BR>>>*<BR>>>==========================================================<BR>>>OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<BR>>>------------------------------<BR>>>To
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Michael M Pannwitz, boscop eg<BR>> Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin,
Germany<BR>> ++49-30-772 8000<BR>> <A
href="http://www.boscop.de">www.boscop.de</A> <A
href="http://www.michaelmpannwitz.de">www.michaelmpannwitz.de</A><BR>><BR>>
Check out the new Open Space World Map now with 309 resident Open Space
<BR>> Workers in 57 countries (working in a total of 115 countries
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