Dear supporters, Some of you may know that we have been receiving requests to offer dialogue support and nonviolence/empathy training to various groups related to the Occupy movements, especially those in Wall Street, Washington D.C., and Chapel Hill/ Durham. We’re writing to you to let you know how we’re responding and because some of you
To our supporters, We are posting this to support two of our mentors, Stephen and Ondrea Levine, as they are needing assistance financially, due to unexpected health issues. We invite your generous donations to their cause, as you have so generously supported us.
Blessings, Jesse and Catherine
Dear Catherine, Jesse, and Jiva,
Here is a letter I’ve been meaning to write for a long time. Some of these thoughts and phrases have been with me since Afghanistan. Others are offspring of hindsight; slowly forming in the womb of my soul as I took my time to fathom the true extends to which my experience with you has impacted on me. In essence, this letter is an attempt at acknowledging what each of you, in your uniqueness as a person, have meant to my experience.
I would not want to paint Afghanistan to be any different than another place where the domination culture has suppressed women. So hear my words and understand this is speaking to one of the toughest conflicts we face…gender.
Standing at the outside gate being told our plane had left 2 hours before what we had been told was the scheduled time stimulated more than just an annoyance of miscommunication. As I stood surrounded by at least 50 men (including the two I am traveling with), completely aware I am the only woman in sight I felt my legs take root. I could not move when Jesse and Jiva and Said began to return to the car. And I was the only one to notice. With attention to each cell of my being I focused my energy so I could remove myself from that spot to follow them back to the car. I notice my field of energy quite large as the groupings of men parted like the red sea to let me through. Traveling as much as I do I am completely aware and quite use to changes, cancellations, delays of flights and even sleeping in airports. And somehow this news of not getting our expected flight was quite different in my body’s response.
“If everyone here implements their projects, we will have peace in Afghanistan“
– participant in our 5-Day training (after our session on creating ‘needs-based’ projects)
Today we completed our training and the fullness I feel in my heart is hard to explain. I am already dreaming of returning to Afghanistan and what it possibly would be like to help implement a certification process in this region for NVC Trainers.