Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Greetings from ROM in Fuzine

It is almost midnight here in Fuzine, Croatia and we just finished the second full day of this year’s project. This is the 10th meeting of the project, which began in 1999 while shots were still being fired in some parts of the former Yugoslavia. This year’s project is different in its focus. Almost all of the participants have experienced ROM before. They have been invited back to explore together how we can build on the foundation that has been laid and take our efforts to a new level with new initiatives in all of the countries of Southeast Europe.

On Monday morning I had the privilege of helping kick off this year’s workshop. I shared the importance of memories and of erecting memorials to significant experiences. We must remember the transformative experiences of the past for they will often sustain us when we face challenges in the present that could cause us to question our purpose and weaken our commitment to the vision of building sustainable peace. At the same time, dwelling on our memories and institutionalizing the experiences of the past can prevent us from clearly seeing and dealing with the needs of the present.

For the next two weeks while we celebrate the past we must also live in the question. Who am I? What is my work? What must I do to be a change agent for sustainable peace in my home region? What is sustainable peace? Is it merely the absence of violence or is it a positive and more active state of being and doing?

We heard a very clear challenge from Drazen Glavas this morning to become mindful of the mental maps or paradigms that must change if we are to make progress. Drazen held up two puzzle boxes. Most of us use the photograph on the front of the box to guide us as we put the puzzle pieces together. What would happen if we got mixed up and used the photograph on the box top of a puzzle different from the one we are trying to put together? Of course, we would be frustrated because it would be impossible to recreate that photo using the puzzle pieces before us. So what are our options? One option would be to try to change the pieces to make them fit the image. This is what all too many of us do everyday. We try to conform reality to our image of it instead of questioning whether we have the right image or paradigm.
This week we are challenging our paradigms or mental models of “the leader,” personal success and what makes a successful society. We are going to live in the question instead of assuming we already have all the answers. As Albert Einstein said, "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it."

Tonight we watched the movie, “Freedom Writers.” If you have not seen that movie, it is a true story about Erin Gruwell, a rookie teacher who chose to go to Wilson High School which had been integrated after the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. Faced with a classroom divided along ethnic lines and violently hostile, Erin challenged the stereotypes of the district administration, faculty at the high school and the students about each other and themselves. Through her efforts, a group of students who were essentially being warehoused until they dropped out found hope and a reason and means to excel.

After the movie, several of our young people, who had obviously been moved, thanked me for showing the movie. I could see in their eyes the realization that if these gang members in LA could make it, they can too. The movie was a fitting end to the day when the theme was motivation or as Drazen titled his talk: Motivaction!

On that new word in my vocabulary, I will say, Goodnight from Croatia.