By Kristin Lietz | Project Director
"If they ask me to forgive them, I'm not going to do it," said a woman during the workshop. We were at the first women's meeting at the Healting Together Workshop with Gender Equity and Reconciliation International (GERI) and she was talking about men who attacked her. The women were sitting in a circle, while the men participating in the workshop were their own circle in another building. All were curious about what would happen in the workshop. What did Healing Together mean? We had spent an afternoon understanding better the damage that patriarchy does to women and men and it was now the time to begin to tell our stories in gender circles. The facilitator indicated that this was not the goal. It was not to forgive people from outside the workshop process, but sit, talk and listen to our stories as women, while the men did the same. Later we would have the opportunity to tell some of the stories in the presence of the men. The workshop was always focused on the people present, in personal experiences, speaking and being heard.
The workshop took place at the CDC facilities on weekend 25, 26 and 27 of March. A project together that was two years in the planning and postponed due to the pandemic. GERI is an international organization that is dedicated to providing forums and gathering people to tell their own stories, imagine a healthy world and honor each other for the work they have started. CDC has spent the past 17 years listening to the stories of women and men in our community, but more separately than together. We yearned for a time to bring men and women together to be in non-confrontational communion.
The large and public movements have their place and their purpose, but when we march in the street, shouting our truths, we never hear, "I hear your story and I honor you what you have lived and suffered." It is the small and personal movements that begin change in lives.
In a group of 20 people, we told our stories. We stood as witnesses for victims without a voice: the woman victim of domestic violence, the boy who was hit because he is crying, the girl who was not allowed to play soccer, the boy forced to fight at school, although he did not want to, the man without anyone tell of their pain at the end of a love relationship or the woman who cannot study because they are only going to be a mother. We listen and start to better understand the panorama of damage. And more importantly we begin to imagine a world with equity and reconciliation, a healthy world for all genders and an opportunity to meet allies along the way.
We understand that without men as allies it is harder for women to become leaders in their communities. This was a first step for our women's group in their walk with the men of our community. Thanks to generous donations from people like you, Centro de Compartimiento can bring these unique opportunities to our community. We hope you will share this story with other and continue tosupport our women as they grow into thier leadership potential.
By Kristin Lietz | Program Director
By Kristin Lietz | Project Director
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