Motorcycles in Resistencia

Today, Ricky from the church came to pick me up to take me out with another youth from the church for afternoon coffee at a coffee shop on the main square.  He picked me up on his motorcycle and off we went - without helmets, zipping the wrong way up a one way street and on through the streets of Resistencia.  Here the motorcycles rule the road.  Don't worry, we arrived fine and had a great time.  But, I have never seen so many motorcyles breaking every possible traffic law and the laws of prudence and self preservation.  For them there are no red lights, no speed limits, no yield signs.  It has been another cultural experience.  Thanks to all of you who have been praying for me!

Transformational learning model

At the Shalom Center, the programs will focus on education and the holistic development of people.  The central axis of the organizational and programmatic strategy will be Transformational Learning, which, according to our Theoretical Framework is the conjunction of the methodology, relationships, and the time needed to achieve the desired changes.

A. Three learning processes

Transformational Learning is made up of three learning processes as described by Merardo Arriola  Socol in his book  Buscando la vida (Searching for Life).  These are:

A.  Experiential learning:  “A process whose departure point is the rich and complex experiences of people, where the individual seeks, through action - reflection, the full development of his or her physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual potential.   Hence, experiential learning allows us to see learning as a process in which 1) the departure point is a person's experience and 2) the arrival point is the integration and the learning achieved from the experience. (Arriola Socol 15)."

B. Significant learning:  “Is a process whose departure point is a significant and marking experience where the learner seeks personal transformation. The meaning of this transformation invades the person completely and incites him or her to search for other significant learning.  Significant learning makes us aware of the fact that 1) the departure point of the learning is a significant and marking experience, and 2) the integration and learning achieved are significant, marking, and durable. (Arriola Socol 15).”

C. Corporal learning: Also known as "total learning”, is that which the departure point is a bodily experience in which each person seeks to develop, in harmony and unity, his or her physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual aspects.  Corporal learning makes us aware of the fact that 1) the departure point for significant experiential learning is corporal where our whole self is committed; 2) the integration and the learning are eminently corporal. (Arriola Socol 15).”

“In synthesis, we can say that experiential learning is always a significant and corporal learning.  As in all learning, it has a common objective: personal transformation in all of its dimensions (Arriola Socol 15).”

Transformation

Transformation

Once the process of reconciliation has begun, the doors are opened to the transformation of violence, alienation, and destruction converting situations of conflict into spaces for potential growth.

In nature, ecosystems function on the basis of the interdependence of living organisms and the environment.  These complex systems composed of cycles, such as that of water or life and death, are thrown out of balance when internal or external forces alter the normal interactions. Under these circumstances, a system can enter into a crisis, a decisive period in its survival.  The crisis is the junction of two paths: one that leads toward growth and transformation and the other toward destruction.  Human beings also form relational and societal systems.  "In the human experience there are social systems with patterns of interaction (communication, relational rules, distribution of power, etc.) that are also essential to the nutrition and growth of human life. [. . .] The patterns of interaction in these emotional relational systems help determine the well being of individuals, communities, and the whole of society.  Healthy relational systems nourish.  Toxic relational systems, destroy. (Smucker 235)."

The mission statement of the Shalom Center welcomes the creative potential of crisis or conflict where people, in a safe and respectful environment, can face the reality of these relational systems and the challenges of creating a society where truth, mercy, justice, and peace are balanced. It is in the moments of crisis, be it a personal or group crisis, that the opportunities to choose the path of transformation are determined. The intent is to contribute to the formation of agents of this transformation who will have the responsibility of carrying into practice the theories and educational experiences that they will investigate and experiment with in the various programs at the Center.

The vision of the Shalom Center comes from a profound commitment with the Biblical vision for human relationships, social structures, and the original intent of God for all creation.  The third frame, which completes the framework, presents the Biblical model of Shalom; a vision born out of humanity’s relationship with God and that encompasses personal, relational, and structural reconciliation.

Creativity out of conflict workshop at the Fundación Tierranuestra, Asunción, Paraguay

Participants at the Conflict Transformation workshop at the Jack Norment Camp, Caacupe, Paraguay.

Participants at the Conflict Transformation workshop at the Jack Norment Camp, Caacupe, Paraguay.

Afraid of a mosquito bite??

Yes, I am.  Over 58000 people in Paraguay have had Dengue Fever this season and around 50 have died from the disease.  I lather on the bug repellent three times a day, but while working at the Jack Norment Camp, I still can count the mosquitos that made it past the repellent and have stuck me with their needling bite.  I can only pray that the one that got to me did not get to someone else first, someone with the fever.  In these parts of the world, even the smallest challenges can turn into major issues.  Yes, I am afraid of a mosquito bite.

Time and space at the Shalom Center

            The axis of time and space creates the limits or the framework in the Learning for Transformation model.  Time refers to “chronos” or the temporal measurement in the programming of schedules and the appropriate distribution of activities, rest, meals, hygiene, free time or other designated moments.  But it also refers to “timing” or the recognition of individual or group rhythms which values the diversity of human processes.  As a camp song says, “Everything in life has its right place; everything has a time to become reality.”  We seek to maximize time not through activism, but through each one of the aspects of the educational strategy.  “Space” refers not only to the physical area where activities are carried out, but also to the emotional, spiritual, intellectual or relational “spaces” that are the framework of the human experience.  For example, of vital importance to full and effective learning is the “safe space” where a person trusts enough to unfold his or her personality or talents without fear of embarrassment, rejection, or teasing.  “Safe space” insures an educational opportunity where the participants can risk trying new learnings or behaviors with the support of the other participants as well as the facilitators.

            The consideration of time and space in the processes of change includes such practical, biological or mechanical issues as schedules and location but goes beyond these to probe into communicational, relational, emotional, and spiritual dimensions. “Both time and space are based on physical aspects of the world, but, through culture, they have become much more than that.  They are used to mark individual and group status and territories.  Without realizing it, we use time and space to indicate what we feel about another person” (Okun, Fried, and Okun 228).   “Time” becomes not only the minutes and hours ticked off by a clock but also “timing,” that elusive “right moment” that we intuit, and “space” becomes more than just a room or a clearing in the forest, but the stage on which learning unfolds.  Schirch in her book Ritual and Symbol in Peacebuilding speaks of liminal spaces as “thresholds or places in limbo that are symbolically separated from other social settings” (69).   Liminal space, which might also be called sacred space or holy ground, is the nexus of that “right place at the right moment.”   It sometimes happens that all of the optimum conditions are present and yet an activity, a ritual, or a story will not open the door to the transformational.  Other times, when it seems that a situation is the least appropriate, a group suddenly crosses the threshold into that place where lasting and significant learning takes place.  There is still much to be explored and discovered in the understanding of the role time and space have in learning that is transformational.