Tai Chi, Pressure Points, and a Revolving Population
Wednesday, Aug 16 (Published one day late)
The comings and goings, departures and arrivals, have ceased for a short while. We have been given the news that Milton and his family arrived safely in Texas, a great loss to Colombia but a huge relief for those of us concerned about his security. The delegations have all boarded their trains and busses for their continuing adventures in group educational travel. Tracy, my predecessor here who had been Christine´s accompaniment partner since late June, has gone home for a month and will return in September. In fact, the office here will be closed for long weekend as compensation to the staff, who have worked like “trabajolicos” (our invented word for the American concept of a work a holic) over the past few weeks. I am glad for them, and the chance to relax…
Christine (the accompanier who´s staying) and I have spent the last two days sitting in on a seminar entitled “Psycho Social Support for Victims of Violence.” When assigned to attend, I expect another three days of struggling with academic terms in a foreign language, and frantically translating for Christine what I could catch. While I understand nearly all of the words used in these meetings over the last two weeks, the use of very poor microphones, the speed of the speakers, and the lack of written outlines for most presentations has seriously tested my ability to comprehend.
However, Christine and I soon discovered that this was not to be another mentally exhausting sojourn into sitting in the corner and trying to catch on. Two sisters had come in from El Salvador from a group named Capacitar. They were teaching us, along side the ministers, elders, community leaders, and human rights lawyers beside us, some very basic techniques in the use of healing touch in order to calm ourselves and those we work with, relieve stress, and bring emotional relief. We´ve been learning about the differences between Eastern and Western Medicine, and how to apply those understandings in a holistic manner while working in communities where we may not have ready access to pharmaceuticals and other miracles of the modern world. The workshop has been fascinating, useful, and surprising. We´ve already begun using some of the self treatment techniques in order to maintain our own health and stress levels here as accompaniers as culture shock and the massive heat begin to affect us.
I´m now off to dinner with Christine, and then running errands at the Latin American version of K Mart, right down our street. I´ll write more soon!
Emy
The comings and goings, departures and arrivals, have ceased for a short while. We have been given the news that Milton and his family arrived safely in Texas, a great loss to Colombia but a huge relief for those of us concerned about his security. The delegations have all boarded their trains and busses for their continuing adventures in group educational travel. Tracy, my predecessor here who had been Christine´s accompaniment partner since late June, has gone home for a month and will return in September. In fact, the office here will be closed for long weekend as compensation to the staff, who have worked like “trabajolicos” (our invented word for the American concept of a work a holic) over the past few weeks. I am glad for them, and the chance to relax…
Christine (the accompanier who´s staying) and I have spent the last two days sitting in on a seminar entitled “Psycho Social Support for Victims of Violence.” When assigned to attend, I expect another three days of struggling with academic terms in a foreign language, and frantically translating for Christine what I could catch. While I understand nearly all of the words used in these meetings over the last two weeks, the use of very poor microphones, the speed of the speakers, and the lack of written outlines for most presentations has seriously tested my ability to comprehend.
However, Christine and I soon discovered that this was not to be another mentally exhausting sojourn into sitting in the corner and trying to catch on. Two sisters had come in from El Salvador from a group named Capacitar. They were teaching us, along side the ministers, elders, community leaders, and human rights lawyers beside us, some very basic techniques in the use of healing touch in order to calm ourselves and those we work with, relieve stress, and bring emotional relief. We´ve been learning about the differences between Eastern and Western Medicine, and how to apply those understandings in a holistic manner while working in communities where we may not have ready access to pharmaceuticals and other miracles of the modern world. The workshop has been fascinating, useful, and surprising. We´ve already begun using some of the self treatment techniques in order to maintain our own health and stress levels here as accompaniers as culture shock and the massive heat begin to affect us.
I´m now off to dinner with Christine, and then running errands at the Latin American version of K Mart, right down our street. I´ll write more soon!
Emy
posted by Amy at 8:35 PM
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