Enjoy catching up with what is happening in ICAs across the globe..... If you wish to SEND a report... please send to: inform@ica-international.org

To view past issues of Global Buzz: Please see here
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 ICA International here

Global Buzz Report: July 2021

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The new Winds and Waves magazine

We are delighted to invite you to share your stories
via medium.com/winds-and-waves which is the public platform
we have moved to now, to publish Winds & Waves.
Please see the attachment which sets out how you can now
personally publish your stories for Winds and Waves magazine.


See here W&W@Medium PDF



GLOBAL CALENDAR of zoom events - We would encourage all of us to keep an eye on the Global Archive new initiative – hosting global conversations – book reviews, topical discussions, etc.

I have been on several very fine conversations. https://icaglobalarchives.org/social-research-center-events/  The aim is to make this a GLOBAL CALENDAR with a range of time zone options.

Do consider your participation as well as hosting an on line session some time!


Global Schedule of events!
icaglobalschedule@gmail.com.

July is here with a choice of studies, conversations and training events.

If you missed the inspiring “Miyawaki Approach to Reforestation” presentation hosted by Mary and Cyprian D’Souza, here is the link that will give you access to the recording:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yorr1nklVs-wac9ZRtS9gJnhnWvnzx3A/view?usp=sharing.

For JULY, click on this link: https://icaglobalarchives.org/social-research-center-events/.to see four types of events: studies, significant conversations, training and impactful global events.

Remember: YOU are invited to:
1.Offer a presentation you are interested in giving;
2.Recommend other people to present;
3.Participate in any of the events and encourage your friends to attend; and
4.Give feedback by emailing: icaglobalschedule@gmail.com.

The vision for the Global Calendar of events is to make this easily accessible/ globally friendly to all no matter where/what!

As you will be aware, ICAI – GA is in process of some re-structuring (with all ICAs represented) – a further opportunity for strengthening our global/regional communication and collaboration.

Robin           rjhutchinson48@gmail.com



NEPAL:

ICA Nepal

Brief June Activity Report 2021 PDF


Report prepared by:
Yunusha Kafle,            yunushakafle@gmail.com

Program Officer, ICA Nepal



Of Interest

I am a member of the United Nations Association (UNA) and former colleague at the Denver ICA office. I experienced the "Boulder Town Meeting Series" in the 1980's and experienced the transformational power firsthand.

The UNA is working to help the United Nations achieve its' 17 Sustainable Development Goals. There are a great many people, organizations, & projects going to secure a better future for mankind and the planet.

In a recent Skype presentation, we heard from Sister Norma Pimentel, a Catholic Nun with the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley. She spoke about the plight of the women & children, who are coming to our southern border from the distressed regions of Central America.

In their homelands, the women & girls are routinely raped. Street gangs operate Mafia-style. Starvation & corruption everywhere.

I recommended they hold Neighborhood Town Meetings in these distressed regions of Central America. No one had even heard of the ToP meeting process. I was asked to explain about it.

So . . . I wrote a letter to Sister Pimentel to explain it. Also sent copies to the meeting participants.

I am enclosing a copy of the letter for your information. Please forward copies to your national offices ~ in case they are contacted about it. Also, please publish it in the Winds & Waves so everyone can see it. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Dennis Boydstun

 

Jun 19, 2021
26262 County Rd. 21A #39 Esparto, CA, 95627

Sr. Norma Pimentel
Executive Director for Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley
700 N. Virgen de San Juan Blvd.
P.O. Box 1306
San Juan TX, 78589

Subj: Migrant Women ~ Central American Town Meetings

Dear Sister Pimentel,

I attended last week’s UNA presentation on Migrant Women at our Southern Border. I was very moved by your presentation of your work there. We are all very grateful to you.

The discussion of the plight of these women was very shocking. It told of a shattered society, where women are treated as property and neighborhoods subjected to mafia extortion.

I made a recommendation to hold Neighborhood Town Meetings in the distressed regions of Central America to help resolve these problems. I stated they must use the modern “Technology of Participation” (ToP) meeting process to enable all participants to voice their concerns and join in planning for a better future. No one had heard about the meeting method, so I was asked to explain about it. So . . . here goes: It is a 5-Step Strategic Planning process, which was developed by the “Institute of Cultural Affairs” (a branch of the Ecumenical Institute) to help with their Community Redevelopment Projects. (See www.ica-usa.org and www.ica-international.org.)

VISION BRAINSTORM: It begins with a brainstorming session. The meeting facilitator calls on the meeting participants to identify all the things they want to see happen in their neighborhood. The participants write their ideas on large cards in 3-to-5-word phrases, then hand the cards in to the meeting facilitator. The facilitator posts them up onto a bulletin board and arranges them into “Idea Clusters” ~ groupings of similar thoughts.

Usually, there will be six Clusters. One of them will be the “Economic” one. (“How do we make some money?”) Others might be “Child Care”, “Community Care”, “Social Activities”, “Neighborhood Safety & Conflict Resolution”, “The Environment”, etc.

The facilitator will assign a name (which encodes the essence of the Cluster) to each of the Clusters. In a matter of only 20 minutes, there is the full vision of what the people of the neighborhood want to happen in their future.

This method gives the women and teenagers an equal voice in expressing their needs & desires. It also bypasses the usual conflicts and male intimidation, which normally erupt when people are speaking orally.

But . . . dreams need to meet reality.

OBSTACLES: Then the participants are asked to identify the Obstacles, which are standing in the way of achieving each of the elements of their Vision. They use the same system of writing on cards, handing them in, and Clustering them. The facilitator places the Obstacles with the Vision Clusters, which they pertain to.

GOALS: Then the participants write out Goals, which ~ when achieved ~ will overcome each Obstacle and result in winning each of the elements of their Vision.

ACTION PLANS: Then there is a Breakout session. The facilitators take each stack of Visions, Obstacles, & Goals to a different table. They ask the participants to go to the table, where their greatest passion is. The people divide up into these separate interest groups. They lay out Action Steps ~ with Timelines ~ to achieve each of their Team Goals.

TEAM ASSIGNMENTS: At each table, the team members take on the identities as “Action Teams”. By coordinated team efforts, they are going to do the things necessary to win their Goals and achieve their ultimate Visions. Each person volunteers to take on one or more Team Assignments to carry out each of these Steps. They always work as teams ~ never as individuals. They have team assistance and accountability. They decide on appropriate “Rewards & Celebrations” to give to themselves for making significant milestones in their work. (“We’ll go to Disneyland when . . .”)

At the end of the meeting, everyone is on a team, has a Quest, and has teammates. In the days and weeks ahead, they go out into the neighborhood to actually do these actions . . . as volunteers. Normally, they need only some approvals & coordination from the city government. By coordinated teamwork, they get things done and they make the great changes necessary to convert their destructed lives into community care & prosperity. The teenage boys have money and community identity. They have a moral awareness, which they did not have before.

The Republicans and the Democrats can actually work together. The Republicans all go to the Economic Table. The Democrats handle the Community Care issues. They pretty much stay out of each other’s way.

It is vitally important to include the teenage boys in these planning sessions. They have to face ~ in public ~ the voices of the girls, who they have abused. They hear the cries of the mothers.

This is the moment of transformation for them. They are drawn into community life and become the defenders of the neighborhood, instead of the predators. They help design a “Neighborhood Economics Plan”. They will imagine the need for a Village Marketplace in the neighborhood, where they can set up local businesses and greenhouses. They can start their own businesses or find apprenticeships. They will have legal & moral ways to make money.

These meetings need to be repeated monthly, so the teams can report their progress & discuss the problems they encounter. The gathering can cast a “Revised Vision” of their future ~ based on these reports and other reports of the changing reality around them.

Meetings should be held in the neighborhood schools. They should be complete social occasions, rather than just dry political meetings . . . so they will attract the full range of citizens in the neighborhoods. Recommend they be held on the “Second Saturday” of each month. (Poetic and easy to remember date.) Recommend the following schedule:

6:00 PM ~ Potluck Dinner and Children’s Forum (Forum held in a separate classroom to get the children’s viewpoints. The older children will present these at the general meeting to follow.)

7:30 ~ Town Meeting

10:00 ~ Adjourn to dancing and games in various classrooms

12:00 ~ Cinderella Time

Meetings must be facilitated by teams of certified ToP meeting facilitators. They are assisted by local ~ partially trained ~ “Facilitator Assistants”.

Perhaps the relief agencies at the border can find funds to establish a “Central American Town Meeting Program”? They can then train some of the refugees ~ who exhibit leadership qualities ~ to be Facilitator Assistants. These migrant women would have a salary and could help to set up & stage the Town Meetings in their old communities. The United States government would surely offer to fund such a solution ~ if one existed.

These neighborhood meetings will likely result in complete neighborhood makeovers. An important aspect is to realize that most city neighborhoods are designed to prohibit community life. The teams might need to work with the city governments to rezone an area in the center of their neighborhood as a “Village Mall” to allow “Village Business” to set up there.

They will need to construct or revamp buildings to be “Shared Community Workshops” ~ where production equipment will be installed: (woodworking equipment, sewing & weaving machines, etc.) to make a variety of products for daily use. Personal business owners can use them on a time-share basis.

They will need large “Community Greenhouses” to grow enough food to feed the people of the neighborhood. They will need a “Village Market”, where Mom & Pop businesses can sell the products & food produced in the workshops & greenhouses . . . and to export some.

They will also probably cooperate in setting up Backyard Workshops & Gardens in the neighborhood. If a non-gardening person owns a large & unused backyard, the gardeners in the neighborhood might cut a deal to set up and tend to a garden there. If there is water, there should be no reason for anyone to go hungry.

And . . . they will need “Village Clubhouses” to be the social gathering (and child care) places for the people in the local residential areas (of a few dozen families). They will also need a large “Neighborhood Community Center” in the center of the larger general neighborhood area of the city. Volunteer senior ladies of the neighborhood would need to run these facilities ~ as they would their own homes. The senior men would maintain them.

Ideally; a Community Center would be a large building or grouping of houses. It should have separate rooms for Children, Teens, Adults, and Seniors ~ plus a large Dining Hall, Exercise Facility, Nurse’s Station, Coffee Shop, Laundry, Free Library, Police Desk (so the police will be present to guide and make friends with the teenage boys), & Safe Shelter (so victims of domestic & street abuse will have a place of refuge in the middle of the night).

The Community Center should have a wrap-around covered porch to provide a semi-outdoors leisure environment. In the Teen area, the porch should widen out into a large deck ~ where groups of teenage girls can gather in safety.

The area surrounding the building should have Playgrounds for children & teens, Sport Courts, Flower Gardens, and a Spirit Garden (Garden of Tranquility).

The basement would be made into an Emergency Shelter. There should be a cistern or well beneath it to provide an emergency water supply.

These are the basics of the concept. There are lots of details.

This community arrangement provides the foundation for effective child-raising, citizen responsibility, economic self-sufficiency, and neighborhood safety. When the people of all neighborhoods of all cities are united, they will have the political influence to control the corruption & incompetence of their governments.

We do have to recognize that the Central American communities are also facing the droughts brought on by the global warming. They will need to work together to ration their water supplies and perhaps do desalination of ocean waters. Or . . . they may need to consider mass migration. Whatever they do, they can do it better as a team.

I am enclosing a donation for $100.00 to start a “Central America Town Meeting Fund”. If you can gather more contributions, you can transform the cultures of Central America . . . and show the entire world the way to live in harmony.

Sincerely,

Dennis Boydstun

(dennyboydstun@gmail.com)

P.S. ~ Jesus said we are supposed to teach the poor how to fish, so they can feed themselves. This is how we do that.

Thank you again for your tireless work. Your kindness is everything. And . . . Happy Birthday!

PS Again ~ Her website lists her birthday as July 1.


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