Starting anew,2012

View of the waterfront in Hong Kong

It’s has been a while since I lasted posted, hard to believe that a year ago, I was in India.

This is a brief post to let you all know I am here, alive, well and traveling! Much has happened in the last year-  teaching, printing, doing healing work on so many levels- Taking on new roles (Chair of Board of the Centre for Playback Theatre) , including another trip in November to Hong Kong and Germany (yes, you read that right, both countries, two continents-one trip in 13 days!!:~)

I have spent much of the year here – teaching at the college, working at our therapy practice which has swelled and dipped, dipped and swelled…, Gardening, Grandparenting- A new little one arrived on July 4rth – and staying in touch with all my friends and colleagues around the world. A very full year indeed.

My trip to Hong Kong was very wonderful, and exciting, and FAST. It was very different from any of the other trips I’ve written about in this blog, in that the infrastructure in Hong Kong is very very good. I even managed on my first day to use the train system there, for which I was very proud of myself! I was hired by ADA Hong Kong to lead a 3 day  training for their “Training the Trainer” series.  Nineteen people,  from varied backgrounds including social workers,teachers, artists, corporate workers, and teachers, participated. I was very impressed, from beginning to end, by the amazing organization and care that all the staff took in prepping for the workshop; such attention to detail .  I was taken out to wonderful restaurants and I had one evening in which I went down to the waterfront and saw the absolutely amazing (albeit, rainy) view of Hong Kong from the water. Another morning I had the chance to walk to the open air market.

Walking in the open air market. Hong Kong

The other thing different from India and/or Bangladesh relates to the infrastructure. There is clear thought given to people with disabilities in Hong Kong. First off, there are evenly paved streets, sidewalks that don’t drift…off… so there are curb cuts, ramps (every where!) The elevators work consistently… I was very impressed. What was amazing to me was that one person commented that, “It could be much better. There are still many issues for people with disabilities.” That is probably true – especially in the more subtle areas of understanding disability – but considering what I’m accustomed to when I travel to Asia, I was very impressed. In fact, even compared to what we have in the States, I think we could look to Hong Kong for how to improve.

From Hong Kong, I flew to Frankfurt Germany to attend the 10th International Playback Theatre Conference. Over 400 people came from 33 countries. It was an amazing week of networking, connecting, Playbacking, and also working- As the very recently elected Chair of the Board of Directors of the Centre for Playback Theatre, I was also in many meetings, adjusting to this new role as I did so. It truly is amazing what can happen when 400 people from so many backgrounds come together with a common purpose. Also exciting was that the Cuban Playback Theatre troupe received visas and so were present and able to perform.

Creating a group poem through story, movement and art

And now I plan my next trip to Asia. I leave in March to go back to Bangladesh and India. Included in this trip is working with a community near Chittagong that experienced a deep tragedy when 43 children were killed in a school bus accident. It has left the community in deep grief and pain, and I will be spending at least 3 days working with a team of Playbackers, psychodramatists, and clinical psychologists to support the community, and hopefully give them tools to continuing to heal after we leave.  I also will be working again at the Clinical Psychology program at Dhaka University.

And then I go on to India. I will be again working with the Your’s Truly Treatre Company  in Bangalore (see their website at http://www.yourstruly.org), followed by more work with  friend and colleague Magdalene Jeyarathnam, of the East West Counseling Centre in Chennai (www.centreforcounselling.org). Magdalene has worked very hard in the last year to organize a certificate program in the Expressive Arts, and the Centre for Counseling is collaborating with the Women’s Christian College to present this fantastic program. Starting last December, with different faculty, the students in the program have worked together learning Psychodrama, Sociodrama and Sociometry, and Music Therapy. I will be offering a 5 day core training in Playback Theatre (students will receive hours from the Center for Playback Theatre in recognition of this), and following that, an art therapist from Pondicherry will be offering a 5 day training in Art Therapy. I am happy to continue my collaborations with the Centre for Counseling through this new certificate program.

One new thing for me – a renewed attempt to fundraise for my trips to Bangladesh and India.  It is near impossible (and definitely impossible for my colleagues in Bangladesh) to have all my expenses paid for. It is hard for me to ask for money and yet, to keep this work going, it is impossible not to. But with 9 years of these amazing moments, and with more yet to come, for the work to continue I need to look at this challenging place in my life.

And then…. we are beginning to plan for a trip in Spring 2013.  I will let you know more when I have the details.

I hope that 2012 brings peace and a positive shift.  Certainly, the world can really use all the positive energy it can get.  Blessings to you all.

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