Hi Lisa, all, Great work you are doing with Open Space (or with the principles of Open Space). Thank you for sharing. The stories in this OSlist inspire me to go on with spreading the approach, because it realy works. In all sectors and with a wide range of questions. Like Harrison I am amazed about the richness of the experiences and the sources you all bring in. It is of great help to me in promoting the use of Open Space and other Large Scale change methods based on the same principles. I just linked our website to the OSliste and some stories, like that of Kenny Moore. Michael Pannwitz drawed my attention to the fact that in the Netherlands there is no stammtisch yet. Maybe we can start one next year? Tonnie -----Oorspronkelijk bericht----- Van: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] Namens Lisa Heft Verzonden: woensdag 9 november 2005 23:33 Aan: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Onderwerp: Talking Circle in Prison
Hi, all - I just wanted to share that last week I was working inside two women's prisons in Central California. One of the things I was doing was training inmates who are peer health educators - on a new curriculum I developed that teaches other inmates who are about to be released about HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, sexually transmitted diseases, how substance use affects disease transmission and progression, self-esteem, and communication in relationships. The other thing I did was the reason I was thinking of you all - I also attend the annual prison health fair at several prisons, where I set up a circle of chairs so people can just talk and converse and ask questions about absolutely anything that is important to them. Because that is health, too. So this last time I had the pleasure of hosting an all-day talking circle. Or maybe I should call it a listening circle? It's the closest thing to Open Space I can get - in prison you cannot do anything that an onlooker (say a guard looking down from a tower or across a prison yard) might interpret as chaos. Therefore, so far I cannot set up a delightful-chaos-of-Open Space situation. But I can do one circle, that lasts for a day, that goes wherever anyone wants it to go. As this was during the health fair (imagine a big gymnasium - along the walls are tables with community agency representatives offering brochures and information - Planned Parenthood, transitional houses, family support agencies); and in the center, a circle of chairs. With a sign that says "Join the conversation". In other prisons I have done this outside on the exercise yard. Yes, it's a health fair. And yes, I am there to answer any questions anyone has about health issues. I am also a health educator so I can share general health education about a cross-section of concerns. But it's mostly about listening. And inviting others to share their thoughts. And about affirmation, and about belief, and about support for people to take good care of themselves and each other. To treasure themselves. It's really a participant-led conversation, with me doing some deep listening and holding space for participants in the circle to share, support each other, listen, and just be in a safe space. Here are some of the topics that came up. The participants shifted and changed throughout the day. There had been some sort of fight the day before, so the institution was on a modified 'lock down' (lock down is when you must stay in your cell with the door locked and cannot leave for days - usually inmates can leave to go to their meals and prison jobs, as long as they have 'ducats' - papers that give them permission to move about the prison for a specific reason or appointment). So on this day, only one 'yard' at a time (one section of the prison) was allowed to come to the health fair, so the overall population did not mix. So we sort of had 3 sessions (though the law of 2 feet and butterflies and bumblebees were definitely in effect throughout the duration). Topics included: * Methamphetamines (serious drugs - this topic came up several times during the Talking Circle, as some are in prison because of it and some have seen their loved ones affected by it) * Fibroids (non-cancerous tumors in the uterus) * Cysts in breasts (they feel like lumps) * Inner peace (how to achieve peace amidst the chaos and constriction of being in prison - these are women who are housed 8 or 9 in a cell that was originally designed for 2 people) * Access to proper diagnosis and appropriate treatment (inside prison, doctors are often unable to access and prescribe certain medications, and may not have access to diverse tests and laboratory analysis; there may also be some communication issues with some inmates feeling listened to or not by some clinicians) * Drug use and self-esteem (how when you use drugs it erases your outline, in a way - the boundary between your self and the world / others, so that you may not care for or protect yourself during those times; but you may use drugs because you need to erase bad feelings or because you do not love yourself) * Relationships (speaking up for your needs, getting away from abuse, finding another someone who treats you as a treasure) * The oppression (my word) of the system (the experience of being in prison) * Menopause and hysterectomies * Meditation (how to start, how to practice, in a place where there is no quiet time or private space) Most of these women come from communities, families and lives where nobody ever told them anything about health, and they may not access healthcare due to lack of resources or mobility. They mostly come from lower income communities. Then they come into prison and sometimes they stay for decades, so health issues around aging and depression are added to their worries. There are also myths about health being shared as truths, because in most institutions there is no education regarding health. I thought you might like a little look into this rich setting for dialogue, conversation and holding space, Lisa ___________________________ L i s a H e f t Consultant, Facilitator, Educator O p e n i n g S p a c e 2325 Oregon Berkeley, California 94705-1106 USA +01 510 548-8449 <mailto:lisah...@openingspace.net> lisah...@openingspace.net <http://www.openingspace.net> www.openingspace.net * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist