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<DIV>Hi Michael,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Just read your request. I've got a story that came to
mind. I'm not sure its relevant, but wanted to share it in case it is
of service.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>When I did the OS with 2,100 people in Colombia - 1,800 street
kids and 300 teachers - there was a potential for violence that I only
learned of during the event. On the first day, we observed many
sessions in which teachers were in the front controlling the sessions.
There were too many sessions and we were too spread out to try to change the
situation in more than minimal ways that day. So we invited the teachers
to convene on the second morning before the kids returned to find out what was
going on. Though we wanted to just tell the teachers to get out of
the way, we decided that rather than doing to them what they were doing to the
kids -- telling them to what to do -- we'd ask them how the OS
was going for them. They told us that it was their experience
that if the kids weren't kept in very structured situations, they got
violent. In fact, the teachers told us that it has highly likely
that all of the kids were carrying either a gun or a knife and
wouldn't hesitate to use them. After hearing this, we reminded the
teachers of how we had framed the Law of Two Feet: "take responsibility for
what you love". We pointed out that the idea of taking responsibility
for what they loved had surfaced as a theme among the kids in virtually every
session. We encouraged the teachers to give the kids a chance to practice
that discipline. If they REALLY felt they had to intervene, to do it
by asking a question. They reluctantly agreed.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>One teacher told us sometime during day two that she walked into a room
where kids were playing cards. She said she remembered our suggestion
about questions and rather than telling the kids to get to work, she asked if
they needed anything. They told her that they were doing just fine, taking
a break in their work. They did as they said - finished their game and got
back to work. The teacher found herself rethinking how she worked with
them.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>So, apparently the potential for violence was present throughout the
gathering because that was the way the kids often dealt with
their issues. During the OS, not only was there no sign of violence, but I
observed them treating every encounter with great respect.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>from an airplane between Chicago and Seattle,</DIV>
<DIV>Peggy</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>________________________________<BR>Peggy Holman<BR>The Open Circle
Company<BR>15347 SE 49th Place<BR>Bellevue, WA 98006<BR>(425) 746-6274
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.opencirclecompany.com">www.opencirclecompany.com</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>For the new edition of The Change Handbook, </DIV>
<DIV>go to: <BR><A
href="http://www.bkconnection.com/ChangeHandbook">www.bkconnection.com/ChangeHandbook</A>
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get
burnt, is to become <BR>the fire".<BR> -- Drew Dellinger</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Indigenous - intractable issue</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=mjwood@admin.uwa.edu.au href="mailto:mjwood@admin.uwa.edu.au">Michael
Wood</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> Thursday, November 29, 2007 9:31
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [OSLIST] Help! I need a couple
of good stories</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=193370905-30112007>I have had some conversations with a
potential sponsor (an NGO with links to Government, Indigenous Communities and
Mining Companies) about working with some indigenous communities in North West
Australia. The theme relates, in the short term, to the dynamics and
presssures of negotiating with mining companies and longer terms themes
of sustainability for aboriginal communities.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=193370905-30112007></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=193370905-30112007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>What
I am picking up from the sponsor is a huge (palpible) anxiety associated with
the potential for OS to get out of control. I've detected control anxiety with
other clients, but never with this intensity. There may also be some good
basis for their anxiety. They describe an emotional landscape in some of the
communities in question as being of extreme conflict. The conflict has roots
in the following areas a) anger at historic dispossesion of land by European
Settlement b) anger and powerlessness at current dispossesion by mining
companies (i.e. "the land will be taken anyway - so what does it mean to
"profit" from this?") c) anger between tribal family groups based on
historic tensions d) tensions associated with differences in law and custom e)
anger associated with "wedge politics", fuelled by the fact that HUGE amounts
of money are now up for graps from mining companies. The latter is
a really hot topic - the NorthWest of Australia is experiencing a "gold
rush" at present, except it's actually an "iron ore rush", as China sucks in
ore to make steel and f) the fact that in some of these communities it is not
uncommon to resort to physical violence to sort out
differences.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=193370905-30112007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=193370905-30112007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>One
of the key concerns of the sponsor is actually one of the physical safety of
participants. i.e. "if we opened up the kind of space you are describing, we
could actually just end up with a fight".</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=193370905-30112007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=193370905-30112007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>I
have given no commitments to the sponsor that such a possibilitity might not
exist. However, I have suggested that some of the safeguards of OS are a)
voluntary association b) a topic which is of common concern to whoever shows
up and c) the law of two feet.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=193370905-30112007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=193370905-30112007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>The
sponsor has asked if I have any stories of OS being used in indigenous
settings involving the kind of powder keg dynamics described above. I said
that I thought some work along these lines had been done in indigenous
communities in Canada and Nth America, but that I would ask around and get
back to them.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=193370905-30112007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=193370905-30112007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>So....I am asking around via this wonderful email
network.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=193370905-30112007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=193370905-30112007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Does
anyone have any stories (either of success or warning) in circumstances
similar to what I have described above, AND which you would be willing for me
to share with my potential sponsor AND whether you may be willing to be
contacted by email by the Sponsor to seek more detail if required. As you can
see - the stakes are high - related to potential risk to people's safety! (and
I don't discount my own anxiety in all this. At a head and experience level I
know that "OS always works", but at an emotional level, the context sounds
very challenging.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=193370905-30112007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=193370905-30112007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Many
thanks!!</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=193370905-30112007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=193370905-30112007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Michael Wood</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=193370905-30112007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Western Australia</FONT></SPAN></DIV>* *
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