Baby!

The last week of the term was spent with my newborn son, Zeppelin. It has been wonderfully exciting and tiring. School, work, internship and a baby make for a busy dad. However, no matter how tired I am, I can't help but give thanks for the blessing of having the best distraction a guy could ask for, a happy and healthy baby.

Reading Week

This last week was more of a catch-up week as I was working on wrapping things up. I spent the majority of the week reading and going over the meeting summaries. It has been helpful and beneficial.

Looking Back

As I look back on this last semester and working with these practitioners, I can't help but feel so blessed. I feel as though I have been able to work with some of the best people in the field, and have been able to work with a group that was not only in need of help, but very willing to receive it. I think about the first meetings and how we talked for hours about this organization and what we could bring to the table to help them. It was in that meeting that I became really excited for the semester because my voice was heard. I wasn't just a fly on the wall, which would have been great with me to sit back and observe how the pro's do it, but I was able to speak and be heard. It was a nice reminder that everyone has something to offer, and to teach us. We need to remember to be patient and kind, and look for the good in what people share. You can never teach a bad lesson to a good student, and if we are good students we will constantly be learning.

I did my best to be a good student and to work hard to observe best practices from experienced practitioners of Conflict Resolution. I thoroughly enjoy the work, and love the principles found therein. I enjoy my current job, and what I have learned, but can't wait to be able to work more in the area that I am passionate about. Having been able to work with an organization for an extended period of time helped me to understand the complexity of it all, and to reaffirm my love for the field and all that it has to offer. I truly hope that someday I am able to provide similar services to the ones that I had the privilege to observe over the course of this semester.

Remembering Humanity

As I walked around the hotel getting ready for the meeting, I was reminded quickly of how easily we can forget the differences that make us human. I walked into the room and arranged some of the chairs, made sure that the glasses had water and that there were no wires or cords for people to trip on (after all, we are working with a group of visually impaired business people). In walked a couple of people from the group, and I said hello, while forgetting for a split second that they had only met me once before in person, and that my voice wasn't all that special to remember... and that they could only have seen me partially blurred at best. Thus, I was reminded that we can be too quick to forget the things that make us unique and different. I then reminded them who I was and what I was doing there, and asked if they needed anything.

After a while we started to go around the room, when working on the consensus process spoken of earlier, and were voicing our opinions and thoughts on the matters at hand. We had most of the people physically present, but had a few on the phone, and were having difficulties hearing them, and they us. We talked with the hotel and were able to acquire a microphone. I had the pleasure, as the intern, to go around the room and help people to use the microphone when it was their turn so that everyone could hear each other. Once again, as I approached the first person, I stretched forth the microphone to hand it to the person, but being visually impaired they did not see this. I felt so silly... but remembered my experience earlier and just thought that I was still learning the culture of this organization and people, and needed another reminder of that. After that I started to understand how to instruct people on when to speak, how close to hold it to their mouth, and when it was appropriate to hand it to them, in a manner that they could receive it.

While this wasn't the best day for me, and my lack of thoughtfulness and understanding for this group of people, I was very grateful for the reminder of the humanity of all of us, and that we need to remember how different and unique everyone is... and that THAT is what makes us human... and humanity.
                                           

Collaboration

Now that we have taught and worked on the ability to build consensus, I would like to now address the ability to collaborate. In the middle portion of the consensus process talked about in the last post, we saw that there is an opportunity to talk about the reservations that people have. It is in this process, or period, that relationships can be strengthened and collaboration can occur. 

The relationship is strengthened because there is an open and honest discussion about whatever the issues may be that are holding a person back from moving forward, or having the desire to move forward with a proposed idea. Typically the discussion would contain many questions that help to understand a person's point of view, such as: "why do you feel that way?", "what would help to change your mind?", "Is there anything else that is bothering you regarding this idea or process that you have not yet voiced?". These are just a few examples of questions that can be and are often used to be able to know how a person is feeling at this point in the process. The second question in those examples is where I think some of the most power comes from in the collaborative process. 

To be able to talk about what might change a person's mind is key in the step of building ideas and new strategies to move forward as a group. In the group that we are working with, this was demonstrated with scheduling, and what day of the week would work best for some people to meet and talk about future actions of the group. They talked about what days would be best, and then asked the small percentage of people that couldn't do the day that most people could, why they could'nt do that day. After a few minutes, they were able to decide a day and a time that would fits nearly everybody's schedule, and were able to successfully collaborate on an issue for the betterment of the group as a whole. It was great to watch, and a great lession on collaboration. 

Consensus Building

We had a meeting with the group over the last weekend, and talked about how to build consensus. We first talked about how things had been going since the last meeting/training. It's important to check in to be able to feel out the environment as well as hear any important feedback or concerns since the last meeting. This is also a time where you can check on any assignments or tasks that were asked to be done at the last meeting. And so, we did this, we checked in with people and addressed any concerns that were raised. It went very well.

We then talked about how a group can work together to build consensus. The process that we used and explained to them was based on a number system. You used numbers 1-5, and each number represents a feeling or disposition for the item at hand. For example, if we were talking about making banana break for the neighbors down the street, and we were a family of four, we would go around to all four members of the family and asked how they felt about the idea. Mom says a 2, which would mean that she would be okay with it, but that it wouldn't be her first choice. Dad says he is a 1, which would mean that he was all for it and had no reservations. Susie says she is a 1, so she also has no reservations. Johnny says that he is a 4, meaning that he REALLY doesn't want to do it, and his reasoning is that the neighbor's little boy was picking on Johnny the other day at school and making fun of him.

The process would be to ask the numbers, and then go around again to see what the reservations are for each of the individuals. We would then discuss these reservations and look into possible other options and ways to address the concerns that exist. After coming up with ideas, and putting them into place, we would then go around again and ask the individuals what their NEW number is, now that the concerns have been addressed. Depending on how this goes, you may need to repeat this process, or decide that you will be operating on a majority vote basis.

This is only one way to build consensus. This is the way that we taught the group, and helped them to practice it with the real concerns that they had as an organization. Overall, I think that it went really well, but could tell that the directions could be slightly confusing. I think a part of that was that people weren't able to have directions in front of them because of their impairments with vision. Depending on the group, you would just need to figure out how to best explain the process to the group. The idea here is to help build the unity in the group and to then strengthen the organization.

               

Rocking Chair revisited

Maybe it was fate or maybe it was a sign from the universe, but the post on the Rocking Chair Syndrome has come full circle with an event during the week following the post. I know that I am a little late in writing about this, but better late than never.

The group that I have been working with has been very impressive, to say the least, at working together in group meetings and being able to articulate some of their needs and desires for the group. The group gatherings seem to be very productive, at least from what I have been able to see so far. However, what I have noticed is that the meetings are a front, and people will put on a good show for one another, in hopes that they might win over the majority vote in the public eye. What happens after the meetings is that some of the true wishes and desires surface, and some of the steps and progress that had been made at the previous meeting is then undermined and cut down. Please don't mistake my words for saying that there are people who lie and deceive and are only good people in meetings; that is not what I am saying here. All of these people are good people, and have the best intentions, but seem to not be completely open with one another in a group setting. This is not uncommon by any means as there are many people that would like to save face in the public eye and speak their peace in private.

Now, in terms of progress, this causes the work to move forward, and then back a couple of steps... just like a rocking chair. The ideas are shared and progress is made in the meetings,  but then afterward, the unspoken words and thoughts cause grounds for regression and more meetings because what appeared to have been resolved is really just beginning to surface. This is not all bad when looking at the big picture, so long as what's beneath the surface really does come out eventually, but if practiced for an extended period of time, the damage caused to the organization and group could become too much for worthwhile repair. Redemption is never completely out of reach for people, but for organizations that are trying to accomplish something, sometimes the time does indeed pass and it is no longer a viable option to continue together. Let us continually be aware of the Rocking Chair Syndrome.

Rocking Chair Syndrome

A few years ago I was getting ready to go and teach my religious values and principles to the wonderful people of Chile. As I was preparing and being taught how to be a missionary, I distinctly remember one lesson from our teacher, Chris, who taught us about what he called "The rocking chair syndrome". He talked about people, and how at times we can become like a rocking chair. We are trying to take on many things at one time and become very engaged in the daily habits that we feel as though we are moving forward. However, when we look closer, we see that we are actually pushing forward, and then riding back a bit every day, just as a rocking chair. We are not actually making much progress, because the design of the rocking chair is such that it physically takes much more energy to move it forward in a geographical way.

The reason for the lesson was to teach us that we need to be more aware of what we are doing in our daily lives, and if we are actually progressing and covering ground or if we are moving back and forth like the rocking chair.

The reason that I bring this up is because I have seen the same thing happen in organizations. An organization will focus much effort on the daily grind of tasks, and lose focus of the bigger picture. No progress is made. Until we are able to look at the bigger picture, and determine how we can actually progress and cover ground, we won't be able to promote positive change or produce healthy results of conflict. It is helpful for many organizations to have a mission that they periodically review and see if they are indeed making progress to achieve the mission, or if they are just filling their days with busy work. Hopefully we are not like the rocking chair, whether that is in our personal life or whether that is in our organizational environment.

The role of Compassion

As I have been thinking about my experiences with people that are dealing with different types of conflict, I can't help but think about the role that compassion MUST play in order for something to get resolved. By "compassion" I mean the love and mercy that comes with treating another person as they wish to be treated, with equality and meaning. We are all human, and have an innate desire to be recognized and validated as a person of value and significance. This doesn't mean that we all wish to become great symbols of excellence or success, although some do, but rather to be important to another person (at least one).

We need to have compassion on ourselves in order to be humble enough to seek forgiveness of ourselves and others. We need to have compassion to give and offer forgiveness to another. We need to have compassion for those that may be passing through hard times. We need to have compassion for those with whom we are having conflict, in order to overcome our differences and to be able to once again see each other as validated human beings of importance and worth.

We all pass through times in our lives that we are also in need of compassion from others. We need compassion for the hard times we pass. We need to receive compassion when seeking forgiveness. We need to receive compassion when in conflict with another, to be able to be seen by another, and to see another, as a human being of worth and value.

In my opinion, we are all important, valuable and human beings of great worth. We all serve a purpose and are to help one another in those times of need. We need to have compassion for each other, because we are not perfect, and after all, we are human.

The blind leading the Blind

This semester I am working on a new style of internship in the sense that I am not working with one single organization. Rather, I am trying to work with a consortium of practitioners in the greater Portland area, to be able to further understand the capacity of the field and how it can be applied in a variety of sub-fields. As such I am hoping that my blogs will be experiences from different opportunities and that I can develop a great awareness of how one can help in a variety of ways, given my area of studies. This came about after talking with one of my professors, who practices in a variety of different arenas, and who has a group of friends doing the same thing, who all get together and talk about it once a month or so. She pitched the idea to the group, and a few of them decided to accept me as a quasi-intern for the group. I am very grateful for her and being willing to talk with her friends in practice.

The first opportunity is with an organization that helps blind business men and women in the state of Oregon. There has been a lot of prep in the front end of trying to understand the organization and how it works, its strengths and its weaknesses. There is a meeting with them in which all of these findings of the organization are discussed, which went great, and caused reflection (resulting in the title of this post). However, before getting to that I just want to say that this experience has been great so far, and has been similar to what I would actually like to do when I graduate. I would love to go into an organization, study its culture and the needs that it has, and then work to coordinate the implementation of those needs into the culture, to create a new and strengthened organizational culture. This would mix my passion for culture, business and conflict resolution into one amazing job... here is to wishing and hoping!!

Okay, back to the lesson and observation of the day's meeting with the blind. First off, this was a very entertaining and fun group of people, even while talking about serious matters. They poked fun at each other for not being able to read or see, and had a number of jokes about being blind. It was fascinating to me, because the group was just like every other cultural group, when it is together. They are comfortable and understanding of the life of each other, including the good times and hardships. They joke from a point of love and understanding. The tease from a place of equality and compassion. This was a unique glimpse into a culture and world that I have had seldom opportunity to interact with. Especially in the setting of working together with them, to strengthen their organization. A glimpse into a world that is seldom seen, due to the minority of the population in which we live can help to provide grounding and understanding to those that live adjacent to that world, and what an experience and gift it can be.

As I sat in the room with blind leaders (organizational leaders and people who own and operate businesses, who are blind), I thought to myself, whoever uses the phrase "The blind leading the blind", in a demeaning or belittling way, has clearly never spent a few hours with the blind.

Centro Reflection and Progress

    Wow, the term is completely over now. It has been a great experience for me to be able to work with Centro Latinoamericano in Eugene. They are such a wonderful non-profit and are doing great work for the Latin community. As the term wrapped up, I was working on trying to get some next steps figured out a bit more. I was able to talk with some Oregon based organizations that are working in Intercultural Conflict Resolution, to be able to get an idea of what training might cost for the resource center of mediation here at Centro. The conversation with the organizations went well. I was able to get a rough idea of what some places would charge for an intercultural training, to work within multiple cultures performing conflict resolution services, namely mediation. The cost of training in such a capacity, at least from what I have found, has been more than we expected. The good thing is that for me, if I were to continue down this path and could train in this capacity I would be able to make a decent living. The bad thing, is that for those that are trying to do a public service for low costs, the amount of money required to receive sufficient training is almost impossible to find the funds.
    Even though the internship is technically over, I will continue to submit proposals to organizations that might be able to help with the training, at some more slightly cost beneficial prices. We are also working to develop relationships with the school, community, and CRES program to further the progress that we have made in the attempts to provide a mediation resource center to the Latina Community. I will miss being so close to the organization (as I am moving to another city) but will continue to keep in touch and help out in any way that I can. Like I said, it has been a wonderful experience and I have learned a great deal about myself and the capacity that I would like to develop to be able to work interculturally in the world of Conflict Resolution, especially with the Cultura Latina.
     My progress in Conflict Resolution will continue... Thanks for reading!
-David

Week Off

I did take the second to last week off of the term from doing the internship. This was a time that offered some great reflection that will be talked about more in depth in the next post. Obviously I have continued to put in the hours of the internship as if I hadn't taken that week off, but didn't want to leave everyone (all three people that read this) in the dark.

Supervisor Meeting

    I met with my supervisor, M, at Centro this last week. At the meeting we discussed the ideas that I had, of the staff being trained and the need to decide and choose who might be able to fill the role of mediators. M agreed with me that the training would be a good idea. We talked about the possibility of doing the training with either the Portland organization or the Beaverton center, to which we both agreed would be of great benefit. So I am going to contact those centers and look into the possibility of them providing training for the staff, and compare that to what it might look like if the local center were to provide the training.
   We also talked about how the next little bit of time would look like, and that it is imperative that M start looking for people to assume the role of mediators and be trained, and set up a mentoring period with the local dispute resolution center. I am planning on moving away from the area, but will continue to help from afar as best as possible, and to provide any services I can so that Centro can have a mediation resource for the Latin community here in Lane County. M also talked about networking with other centers in the county to help one another out with providing sufficient resources to the Latin population. Everything just might start to be coming together, and I hope to be able to get things scheduled for training, or at the very minimum find out if these two centers would be able to provide such a service. The work continues...

Help from CRES

    This past week I received some help from a fellow CRES student, whom I will refer to as L, and for all intents and purposes refer to L as a she. I went to L's presentation on the thesis that she had done regarding Latin culture and mediation. During the course of her project she went around to the majority of the community dispute resolution centers in Oregon and interviewed people regarding their capacity to work with members of the Latin community. I had met with L before regarding her work, and was really curious to see what she had to say in the presentation, and how everything had been wrapping up for her with the thesis.
    After the presentation I spoke with L about my internship and asked if there were any dispute resolution centers in Oregon that she interviewed, showed or displayed a capacity to work with the Latin community. She informed me that there were two that stood out to her, and that she felt would be best suited or able to have cultural understanding with that particular population. The two centers were the Beaverton community resolution center, and an organization in Portland called Resolutions Northwest. She said that these two organizations by far seemed to not only provide more resources for the Latin community in regards to mediation, but also displayed a higher capacity to train and build capacity in others. This was exactly what I was looking for, and will incorporate this into my plans, and hopefully everything will work out.

Some Ideas

    Here are some of the ideas that I have for the next steps of developing a mediation resource for the organization that I am working with. I think that the first step would be to have all of the staff that will be referring people to, or working with, the mediation resource center to ALL be trained in basic mediation. I think that this would help to not only provide a support system for which the resource center can thrive, but also help the staff to understand how mediation works, as well as how they can best utilize its help for their clients. With any resource, it is important to understand first what it is and how it can help, before being able and feeling comfortable to refer others to its services. Included in this training would be the element of cultural understanding and capacity building that I have been thinking about lately, and blogging about most recently.
    I also think that it would be a good idea to then have the few people that will be providing the resource of mediation to the clients to continue working with local mediation centers and practitioners to be able to further understand mediation and know how to progress in its usefulness. In some recent meetings, one of the local centers here in Lane County has said that they might be able to provide a type of mentoring to the people that will be mediating for Centro, which we are grateful for, and I think that this will be a key piece in the resources development. From here, I think that it would be good to then develop hours, once the mediators are ready, for the center so that people can know when they are able to receive the needed help. I think that this is a good starting point. I will continue to kick these thoughts around in my head, and see what else I can think of in the mean time.

Where to go... finding capacity

    Of course the idea of capacity building for cultural understanding is something that I have been focusing on, after all my internship is with Centro Latinoamericano. As I consider what might be some of the next steps for the internship, I am curious to see if there are certain places that do trainings which would have a higher capacity of cultural understanding, to be able to incorporate that more into the training, more than what I received in my basic training. I don't want to show or give the idea that the basic mediation training provided to me by the local community center and faculty of the school was insufficient, or bad. The training itself was great, and provided a great opportunity to not only meet other practitioners and faculty, but a needed time to practice and further understand how mediation works in the typical setting here in the U.S. My only feedback would be that we might have learned more to build our cultural capacity.
    And so, in my search to see where to go with the resource center building for Centro, I am curious to know if there are some community dispute centers that might have a higher capacity for teaching cultural understanding and capacity building opportunities than others. I wonder if there isn't a couple of organizations that might be a better fit for training a Latino staff than others, even if others might be closer. In my opinion, the capacity building portion is far more important than simply trying to find the closest place for which you can be taught and trained in mediation principles. I guess the place to go from here will be to try and find any information that I can regarding who might be a better fit for the capacity building training for cultural understanding... the search begins.

Capacity Continued

    Continuing on the topic of Cultural Capacity. In my undergrad, I was taught about how to understand other cultures, and how to objectively look at the influences upon me and my culture as well as others and their cultures. It was an incredibly enriching experience that has helped me immensely in my studies of peacebuilding and conflict resolution. While still in my undergrad, I also received a certificate in Intercultural Peacebuilding, which helped me to understand how the principles of conflict resolution might transfer, or not, to other cultures based upon the style that we were being taught.
    My teacher of the Intercultural Peacebuilding certificate (Dr. Chad Ford) did an amazing job of helping us to understand that we need to always work on learning more of other cultures and how these concepts would work with whatever culture we were interested in. By continuing to learn about other cultures and what influences these cultures, we are strengthening and working on our cultural capacity.
    When I started my graduate studies, I was required to go through a basic mediation training. The training was 40 hours or so, and was much of a review for me, having already received some mediation training through the certificate. One of the differences that I noticed however was the section that was dedicated to cultural sensitivity. With my first experience the class was called Intercultural Mediation, and was dedicated to understanding how to not only learn a classic style of mediation but to incorporate cultural sensitivity at its core. The second training was like adding a couple of decorative pieces of cultural sensitivity. Needless to say, I was slightly frustrated with the lack of capacity building that the second training provided to the students of my graduate class. I think that this is key to being able to work in the world of mediation, because we are all influenced by different things in our lives, and thus all have and hold a slightly different culture that we call our own.

Intercultural Capacity

    With the idea of a person being able to work cross-culturally, it is important to understand that the capacity to be able to do this is something that can be learned and improved upon. Thinking about the training that I have received in Intercultural Studies and Peacebuilding, I can't help but think about the learning process. I was taught about my own culture, Western/American, first to be able to understand how I viewed the world around me. Then the readings and teachings went to the understanding of other cultures and how they viewed the world. Reflecting upon these two examples, I would like to talk a little about why it might be set up the way that it was. It isn't easy to understand how another views the world without first being able to understand how we view the world ourselves. The process of introspectively understanding our world is a delicate one. The reason I say that it is delicate is because it is hard for us to allow ourselves to be vulnerable enough to reflect upon our world in an objective manner. We don't like to feel vulnerable, ever, and when you begin to look at your life and the reasoning of why you do the things that you do it can be difficult to grapple with.

    I remember sitting in my first culture theory class, with one of the best professors I have ever had (Dr. McArthur). He assigned readings from Marx, DeSaussure (spelling?), Hall, Gramsci, Hegel and others. All of the readings addressed different parts of the culture in which we lived, whether it was the symbols and signs that we use to describe things (languages) or the hegemony and how it came to be in power, where the influence of it all comes from. You begin to realize that you have been influenced your entire life by others and that you are a product of society. Depending on what society you live in at any given point in time, you will be influenced by that society. For people that have been born, raised, and stay in one society and culture, the influence of those have more of an impact. Once, and only once in my opinion, we are able to understand why we are the way we are, we can then begin to look at other cultures and try to understand the influences that they have been introduced to or "had" by (the controlling influences are in power).

Intercultural on the mind...

Continuing with the topic of Intercultural Conflict Resolution, I have Lederach on my mind. Lederach is a peace studies scholar that has a lot to say regarding the understanding a use of culture in the models that are currently used in the world of conflict resolution. One of the things that he talks about is the idea of using the culture as the base for which to base the principles of conflict resolution. Instead of taking the principles and then tailoring them to the culture, you would take the culture and see how the principles can fit into that culture, based on the ideas and cultural understandings of peace that are already in existence within that culture. I love this idea. I also love the idea of Intercultural conflict resolution because in my opinion, we are always dealing with other cultures, and every interaction that we have is one of at least two cultures coming together at a moment in time to have a conversation or an interaction.

With this in mind, I am hoping to continue to better understand the Latino Culture and see how the principles of conflict resolution can then be implemented into the existing cultural understandings of peace and conflict resolution. Obviously as a "gringo" there is only so much that I am able to do, and so much that I can learn without having grown up in the culture, but that WILL NOT prevent me from trying to know and learn as much as possible... because, let's face it, I love la gente latina and I always will. Ideally we will create a program that will be operated by Latinos, which will fill a gap that I may be unable to fill, which is why it is so critical that I do all I can now to prepare the way and make the transition a positive one and a smoother one.

Another term... continuing to learn

Another term, another few internship credits and another great opportunity to continue my learning on peace and conflict resolution. Before talking about some of the things I hope to learn this next term, I would like to reflect a little on the last term and what it meant to me. As I think back upon the work that we were doing last term, I can't help but get excited about the world of conflict resolution, and especially the world of cross-cultural conflict resolution (also known as Intercultural Conflict Resolution). For me it's not the idea that everyone would be hippies and singing kumbaya, or leaving their pantry open for whoever happens to stop by the home; rather, the idea of peace for me is knowing that I don't have to worry when I go outside with my family, and knowing that those around me are cared for on all fundamental levels (emotionally, mentally, cognitively, physically, spiritually). Animosity toward those around would be diminished, and we would work with each other to meet our different interests. The idea of peace is something that every person and every culture define differently. Isn't there a way that we can begin to understand the meaning of peace to others? I don't mean, or want, that every person would have the same definition, but more that a desire to meet the needs of peace that people have would be something that everyone wants (hopefully that makes sense). Obviously, the idea of peace is something that I have had on my mind lately, and continue to understand how I would define it for myself... still working through this one.

In looking at how this would play out in other cultures is something that interests me, and is something that I hope to understand more about through the continuation of this internship. I know and feel that there is a balance for cultures to use methodology of other cultures in the search for peace (mediation methods as practiced in the U.S., and the Latino Culture). It seems like this is a good place to start for the next term.

Silver Lining

    We met back with the couple, and they have come to an agreement, one that they will test out and evaluate in a short little while. Although they still have their difference, that's okay, and it's great that they were able to work together to try and achieve a common goal. That is the silver lining of these mediations, is that there is a glimmer of hope for their relationship to be better than it was when they came in for mediation the first day. I also love that it doesn't have to do with our abilities as mediators, although it is a factor, but it has more to do with the desire of the people to come together and find solutions together to their problems.
    We had another couple come in for mediation, and the same thing seemed to occur, there was a glimmer of hope, that silver lining, even though not EVERYTHING was worked out completely and made anew. Overall, the experience with Centro has been very fulfilling and satisfying for me as a learning mediator. I have enjoyed being able to help the comunidad Latina here in Eugene, because they have a special place in my heart. I hope that the people we meet with can tell that I really care for them and their well-being, and that I sincerely hope that they can leave in a better place than when they came in. Like I said, even though everything isn't perfect, and may never be, there is still that silver lining that keeps me going, to try and be a better mediator and practitioner of conflict resolution.

Following up with help

Obviously I can't go into too many details about mediations that take place at Centro with J (the fellow cohort member) and M (the lawyer volunteering with us), but I am happy to say that I think progress is being made. During the break that we had from the first and second mediation with the parties, they were really trying to make things better. This in and of itself is great, but there is more that goes with it. The couple we were trying to help had some friends that were willing to help as well, and after talking on the phone with their friend for sometime, she thanked us for being willing to help out her friends. I of course thanked her for being willing to help us. This is one of the things that I love most about mediation, is that it more often than not is a collaboration of people that come together for a common goal.
We were also able to meet up as co-mediators and talk about how things went and how we thought the next mediation should start, and where to go from the ending point. This is the debrief of the mediation, to do a reflective evaluation of the mediation and see what we can improve upon, and seek feedback and help from your fellow mediators. It can be very helpful. Something else that I have been enjoying about this process is the spark that has started with a desire to learn more about family mediation. I signed up for a class next term, because I love the idea of trying to help families in any way that I can. Hopefully I am able to help someone, that is why I started studying conflict resolution.

Not too bad...

We had our first official mediation in Spanish at Centro Latinoamericano. We all three met with a couple that has sought services of Centro. Luckily we all three speak Spanish, so the actual translation portion of things was able to be kept to a minimum (which for time sake was probably really beneficial). I personally feel that we were able to leave the mediation on a better foot than what we started on, which is always a good thing... hopefully in the long run the couple feels the same way too. It's also very good to bring three different styles of mediation together and see how you can best work together for the benefit of the parties for whom you are mediating. We set up another appointment with the couple for mid march, so we will see how things go then as well.

On another good note, we met with Community Mediation Services (CMS) and Centro to discuss future work together. We talked about what we envision for Centro and their resource of mediation services for the Latino community. We also talked about training, mentoring and referring of clients from CMS to Centro, when it gets to that point. It was great to see that this is really something that everybody wants, and feels that the community could benefit from immensely. We will continue to work, do research, and collaborate with each other to help the community. Overall, this week was not too bad.

First Mediation soon!

This was definitely a successful week as we are preparing to get our first clients to come in for mediation this upcoming week. We have two couples that are wanting and willing to come in to give it a try, and hopefully we will be able to help them with any issues that they may have. In my honest opinion, I feel that mediation can almost never hurt, because it is still making a step in the direction of trying to better a relationship. This being the case, I think that mediation is a great opportunity for people to come together and try to work on their problems, with a person (or people) that have been trained in facilitating dialogue. One of the things that I like best about mediation and the process/concept is that the mediator(s) isn't there to resolve the issue for the parties, but rather to help empower the parties to resolve the issue through creative and facilitated conversation or exchange. Obviously this is a simplified explanation and concept of mediation, but the idea at its core is what can really help bring people together.
I know that the parties coming in to Centro this week will be preferring Spanish, so it will be a great opportunity for us (cohort member and myself) to use the skills that we have learned in language and mediation. I am really looking forward to it, and hope that all will work out well. Wish us luck...

Patiently pursueing

Projects are fun, challenging, worthwhile and sometimes require patience as things move forward. While I feel as though we have been making progress and moving in a positive direction, I also recognize that this is a time where we need to wait patiently to see how certain aspects of the project unfold (cases, program development). I have to admit that sometimes I am great with having patience, but with projects and plans I like to see things moving along rapidly (admittedly something that I need to work on). Right now we are waiting to see how some cases are developing to be able to work with mediation for the clients of Centro, and hopefully we will be hearing about the progress shortly. This past week in the internship we were able to meet with one of our teachers, he teachers our mediation skills course, and talk about his work in Central America and mediation. We talked about how some cultures and countries would deal with disputes, some of them being along the lines of a mediative process, and how others were more holistic in nature (standing along the banks of the river and talking, not specifically to any one person). It was very helpful to get his insight and suggestions on places to look for good models and concepts that have incorporated the Latino community and culture into the mediation process. And so, we will continue to patiently pursue the various avenues to make this a successful project.

Coninuing forward...

This week was a good one, just like every other week has been so far. We have been waiting patiently to see if any of the clients at Centro would be interested in Mediation... and we might just have our first one coming up, hopefully. The staff is now aware of what they might look for regarding which cases might benefit from mediation, and they are starting to refer clients on to the resources that are currently in place (me, cohort member J, and local lawyer M). While I was en camino (en route) to meet up with my fellow cohort member, I received a call from a contact at Community Mediation Services (CMS). She informed me that she had received my email and was hoping to move forward with the project, and that she was willing to help makes things work for Centro. I pulled the car over, seeing as it was hard to talk and drive a manual car, and we chatted for a few minutes. We came up with some ideas, which I then brought up in my meeting with J (cohort member). We talked about some more opportunities that we might have, as well as what our next steps might be to move forward. We have some good ideas, and hopefully they all start to fall into place. I am hopeful that as we continue forward, the thing that need to fall into place will. Maybe that is just the naive faith that I typically have, or the solid foundational faith that has cause things to always work out the way they are supposed to; either way, I still have faith moving forward.

Collaborating

It is always a great thing when people begin to collaborate and work together toward a common goal. This week we met together to discuss the various ways that we could get the ball rolling on the mediation resource project. We (fellow cohort member and myself) met with another grad student on campus who helped us in understanding our possibilities with grants and the seeking of funds for such a project. It was very helpful and informative. We then decided on a couple of foundations to look into and we will see where things go (hopefully on the up and up). We also met with a local lawyer/mediator who will be volunteering time at Centro with us to offer mediation resources for the Latino community. It was good to be able to see the various styles that we all have with mediation and the many skills that we bring. Once we all were able to get on the same page (which wasn't all that difficult), we met with Centro and staff to discuss the opportunities that mediation can give to their clients, and how they can help understand what cases might be good, and which ones may not be the right fit, for mediation. Overall, this week was pretty successful with everybody collaborating to make a great resource available for the Latino community here in Eugene.

Meeting and eMeeting

One of the things that I love about projects, the physically demanding and call for action to be done type of projects, is that you can see the progress more tangibly as you move forward. That is how I feel at least. My compañero and I have been meeting and e-meeting people this week to try and develop relationships that will be beneficial for the Centro, as well as the specific project we are working on with the mediation resource center. We have set up a few different appointments for the coming week and hope that we can continue to make progress in finding a way for this to all come together and work. While these projects can at times be frustrating for some, for me they allow my brain to run free and think of the crazy things that makes things work. My brain is very entrepreneurial in that it has ideas, crazy ideas at times, that need some direction and development. When put together on a team of people that I trust, these ideas usually turn into a great product and help as we work to refine the ideas and invite more ideas to the process. I’m hoping that this is what will happen this week as we continue to meet and e-meet people that are all wanting to help the Latino community here in Eugene. Vámonos!

Hope...

In the past week of the internship we have been making some progress of making something happen with a mediation center/resource at the Centro Latinoamericano. We went to the library and did a couple hours of research for foundations in Oregon that donate grant resources and money to organizations of culture and human services. We ended with a fairly lengthy list, which we hope will be beneficial for us in the future as we try and get something off the ground for Centro. We will look further in to these and see about submitting grant proposals. Hopefully we can get through to some people of the need that the Latino community has for something so valuable as mediation. Aside from this, while we were working on this we heard from our supervisor that there is a man willing to donate time to help with mediation for people at the Centro... there is hope yet. HAY ESPERANZA!

Internship Winter '13

A fellow Cohorcho (cohort 8) in the CRES program at the University of Oregon and I have been given an amazing opportunity. We have scored a great internship with the Centro Latino Americano here in Eugene. The Centro is a great organization trying to help serve the Latino community here in the Eugene area. They have many resources available for people, such as counseling, youth mentoring and substance abuse resources (just to name a few). We were introduced to the director from another grad student on campus. We met with the director and talked about the possibility of working together to continue on the dream of another student, which is to have a mediation center for the Latino community at Centro. We will be working with them to try and set up a mediation resource center. Needless to say, I am very excited for his opportunity to combine my interest in mediation with my love of the Latin culture.