JOHN ENGLE Blog

DEMOLISHING THE OLD, MAKING ROOM FOR THE NEW

2011-03-06T14:30:00.003-05:00

It's hard to imagine that 15 years have passed since I first moved to this piece of land several miles south (not north as I said in video) of Port au Prince, Haiti. I have many meaningful memories in this little house, which is where Merline and I lived during our first year of marriage.

Here in the video is the house that I had constructed in 1996 and where I lived for 8 years. Today it's being demolished to make room for parking and entrance to house where we now live--my wife Merline and our kids, Daniel and Leila along with extended family.

WHERE I FIND HOPE RIGHT NOW IN HAITI

2010-12-31T09:59:00.000-05:00

I have this daily discipline of identifying things that bring me hope. It’s not just a fun little exercise. It’s a tool to ward off despair and cynicism in the midst of witnessing heavy daily doses of human suffering, pain and destruction.

Haiti had unbelievable challenges before the earthquake and cholera. Now, it’s much worse. And, the legacy of violence, brutal exploitation, slavery, colonialism and the hatred that it all breeds, coats the fabric of this society. I know it. I live it. This is a place where giving one person a job and not another can lead to death. People develop unbelievably intricate ways to maintain safety for themselves and their families.

For 20 years, ever since I first moved to Haiti, I continue to ask the question; how is it that a society so ill, where fear, distrust and hatred thrive, can produce some of the most wonderful people? Gras a dye - perfect evidence of God's grace.

I am blessed every single day of my life to be with people—many who are Haitian—who inspire me, bring me joy, make me laugh, and encourage me. From my family and friends to co-workers and colleagues, there are people all around me fully engaged in doing what they can to improve themselves, their families, their communities and their country. It’s in good people in Haiti and elsewhere and in God's grace where I find my hope.

Joel JEAN CHARLES dies

2010-12-29T13:54:00.007-05:00

December 29, 2010

"Our Joel, is dead!" my wife Merline cried hysterically. "His body is laying in a canal of sewage and garbage. They shot him last night. No one helped him. He's still there."

"What are you talking about? What's going on?" Between sobs she continued, "Our Joel who was just here, who brought the goat to wish us happy holidays, they killed him last night."

Joel was born in Grand Goave, where Merline is from. He's a longtime friend of her family. He's a carpenter with a shop in a Port au Prince slum called Village de Dieu. He lived in a neighboring slum called Cite d'Eternel. His small home was destroyed in the earthquake. He along with his brother-in-law, Feny who lived with him, and two of his workers--their homes were also destroyed--came and lived with us after the earthquake.

We all took advantage of the situation: they set up shop and created furniture and finished kitchen cabinets for our home that were started before the earthquake.

No matter what obstacle Joel faced, he always seemed to have a smile and giggle. He worked like crazy but always found time for a joke and a laugh. He had a unique way of talking and my brother-in-law Alex and others would tease him relentlessly. Joel knew how to laugh at himself and sometimes we laughed until we cried.

His brother-in-law Fenye still lives with us.

We loved Joel and will miss him deeply. He left behind his wife Sylvette, and two daughters Alexandra, 10 months and Naicka, 5.

Among Joel's dreams was to marry Sylvette in a formal wedding ceremony. Many in Haiti never marry because they cannot afford a wedding. This past March Joel realized his dream. We had the ceremony at our house and Pastor Bryan Wenger of Indian River Presbyterian Church married them.

It was a joyous occasion. Click here for many beautiful photos taken by Deborah Silver with Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers.

Insecurity in many of Haiti's slums including Cite d'Eternel is getting worse. Joel and others had recently organized what's referred to in Haiti as a brigad - groups of men in the community who take shifts throughout the night to keep thieves and criminals out of their neighborhood.

As an entrepreneur, an employer and a nice guy with a good head, Joel's known as one of the community leaders.

Last evening at around 8:00 pm a group of armed guys in a truck raced into the community, chased him down, forced him into the truck and drove away. A couple of hours later a friend of Joel received a call from Joel's phone and an unfamiliar voice told him, "Come and get the cadaver. He's in the canal." His friends' and family's search for Joel ended at 1:00 am this morning. Merline talked with Sylvette this morning on the phone, "I left with nothing but my child. I can't let them find me."

HAITI PARTNERS

2009-08-22T05:57:00.002-04:00

Please go to Haiti Partners blog for updates about this work. Click here.

35 LAPTOPS TO HAITI

2009-07-23T09:07:00.008-04:00

A quick update on the 35 laptops project, a component of our 3-year Capacity Building program in Haiti.

7 of our Haitian colleagues have already received laptops and 5 more will in two weeks.

While the total on the Give Meaning website is about $3,500, the actual raised to-date is closer to $10,000. Hurray! You just can't imagine how excited my Haitian colleagues and I are about getting them laptops so that they can be more effective as educators and community leaders. A giant THANKS to everyone who has contributed!

Paulaine Presandieu, one of the people participating in the Capacity Building program just spent a week with my wife and I. She's picture above and in video (link below). She talked about these laptops as she's taking 2, one for her and her colleague, back to Haiti:

"Getting access to a computer and internet in Haiti is not easy. There are little cyber cafes here and there but they're normally packed full with people and the computers are in terrible condition. It's common to have to wait in line to use a computer and then it can take an hour to successfully respond to a couple of emails. The computers have viruses and are old and have to be shut down and restarted etc. It gets so discouraging. Getting a good laptop like this is wonderful!"

Click here to view a 55 second video update with a number of the laptops pictured.

Our group of 40 (35 do not have a computer) convened for training and exchange in April and again in June. Click here for photo gallery. The energy and enthusiasm for this training is high and the laptops play an important part of this. A very special thanks goes to Mark and Claire Dowds and Steve Walchek for spearheading fundraising for laptops.

Let's spread the word! Learn more and contribute at Give Meaning.

2009-07-06T15:37:00.004-04:00

During the last week of June I was in Haiti with a group of seventy people from all over the country. It was our 8th Annual Open Space meeting. They’re all impressive people—working hard for change in difficult circumstances. Click here to browse hundreds of great photos.

These meetings are a time of hope, joy and creativity, not to mention deep learning and trust building. Important work gets done. During the days small and large groups convene all around the guesthouse campus to address topics hot on people’s minds like “How Can Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) improve their/our impact” and “How we’re funding teachers’ salaries with social enterprises.” In the evenings we set up the projector and laptop and did Internet training, a session on self-evaluation, and viewed an exciting presentation about man-made lakes in Haiti that feed people (fish production) and reduce flooding.

Eric Graham, a retired Haitian and professional photographer has committed to participating in our meetings and taking pictures. In addition to having beautiful photographs his involvement also connects us to a wonderful initiative of Haiti’s private business sector called “Mwen Renmen Peyi m” (I Love My Country). Eric is a founding member and is making sure that there’s good cross-pollination between our networks.

There are so many exciting things happening. We couldn't be more grateful for the generous support and encouragement from so many.

2009-05-02T12:47:00.002-04:00

ARE ORGANIZATIONS IN HAITI WORKING TOGETHER?

Each week I talk with various people from throughout the US who are somehow involved in Haiti. They contact Beyond Borders or me specifically by telephone or email knowing of our long history in Haiti. So often I hear, especially from people who have recently visited Haiti, “There’s all these organizations doing different things but nobody seems to be working together.”

Thanks to the good folks supporting our work and that of others who are promoting collaboration and an alternative approach to leadership and education, there are all kinds of organizations throughout Haiti working together to stretch resources and increase impact.

The most recent concrete example of this is the 3-year learning program that we’re launching this month for 40 Haitian teachers, community leaders, several members of international organizations (example: Save The Children and Concern Worldwide) and even a representative from Haiti’s Ministry of Education.

Our 3-year learning program, made possible through a generous grant from Vista-Hermosa Foundation, will bring these folks together three times a year over three years for training and will also make it possible for them to do exchange visits to see first hand one another’s work. As part of the training, they’ll be equipped with collaboration skills and tools. Click here to download the grant proposal describing the training.

2009-05-02T12:17:00.005-04:00

APRIL HAITI TRIP

Click here to see photos from our time April trip.

2009-04-03T11:36:00.002-04:00

2009-04-02T10:40:00.002-04:00

The Facebook Generation vs. the Fortune 500

Gary Hamel, the old management guru, has published an impressive description of the net
generation and the philosophy of Web 2.0. Below are his 12 points. There's a link at bottom to see his entire article.

The concepts he articulates are consistent with those of Open Space. In fact, Open Space meeting format and principles provide a concrete way to live into this new way of leadership, just as web 2.0 tools and applications do. Open Space is a way to do it when it's face to face.

Our work in Haiti, which is primarily face to face but supported online with emails, list serves, wikis (in past) and now Google Sites is about leapfrogging Haiti from archaic to innovative leadership notions and practices.

1. All ideas compete on an equal footing.
2. Contribution counts for more than credentials.
3. Hierarchies are natural, not prescribed.
4. Leaders serve rather than preside.
5. Tasks are chosen, not assigned.
6. Groups are self-defining and -organizing.
7. Resources get attracted, not allocated.
8. Power comes from sharing information, not hoarding it.
9. Opinions compound and decisions are peer-reviewed.
10. Users can veto most policy decisions.
11. Intrinsic rewards matter most.
12. Hackers are heroes.

Click here to read article.

2009-03-06T17:07:00.005-05:00

LEARNING BY DOING

I stepped into a researcher's world this week and had the great opportunity to participate with Jim Engle-Warnick, PhD, in conducting a decision-making experiment with human subject volunteers that tests the affect of participation on social learning. Learning By Doing is the name of the experiment. In particular, we're looking at the affect of social learning in preferences toward risk and ambiguity.

With this laboratory study, people have the opportunity to discuss decision-making problems that reveal their preferences. In one case people participate in their social learning experience and in the other case people view a past social learning experience.

This experiment is being conducted at CIRANO, a Montreal-based think tank, where Jim is a VP.

2009-03-01T11:25:00.002-05:00

35 LAPTOPS TO HAITIAN EDUCATORS
An invitation to help us:

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE AND CONTRIBUTE

2009-02-27T07:24:00.004-05:00

INVITING YOUR HELP

Would you like to help us? We're trying to raise $30,000 for 35 or more laptops for key members of our network. These Haitians are teachers and community leaders who will go through a 3 year learning program with us. They come from parts throughout Haiti and are working with us to change the education and leadership paradigm in Haiti from one of extreme authoritarian to one of empowerment.

We're thankful to Mark Dowd and Steven Walchek of BrainPark for launching the fundraising effort for this critical project.

Click here to vote and to get involved haitiedu

2009-02-12T17:11:00.003-05:00

What a blessing it is during these trying economic times to have so many people maintain their support.

I’m happy to report that a family foundation has just awarded us a $180,000 grant to be disbursed over the next three years.
These funds are going to help us increase the capacity of 35 key leaders in our network. 28 of them who do not already have a computer will receive a laptop and all 35 will participate in a 3-year learning program. They will also work with other groups to share their new knowledge. In the short term, this will result in over 100 additional schools, churches and organizations integrating these participative and empowering methods. In the long run, this will be another bold step toward our goal of establishing a new leadership and teaching paradigm in Haiti.

We are grateful for all who are a part of this work. Thanks to many good people, we are making significant progress even during these difficult times.

2009-01-06T10:11:00.005-05:00

Happy New Year! Our country-wide network continues to grow and flourish in the midst of challenging circumstances—when 90% of people in Haiti are living on less than $2 a day.

My meetings with Haitian colleagues in late December were extremely productive. We are blessed to be working with such committed people.

Here are some photos of work being done in schools during the past several months.

In partnership with Concern Worldwide, our colleagues did open space meetings in 48 schools during the last two months. These meetings were organized so that parents could talk with teachers, which is very counterculture, about education of the students. It was an effort to integrate parents into the life of their children's school and to help them in the critical role they play in their children's formation. It was an opportunity to acknowledge and honor the parents as key stakeholders.

Virtually no schools in Haiti are free. Teachers are poorly paid and schools operate on shoestring budgets and are forced to close if fees are not paid. Often, parents failing to pay their children's school fees, which is very common, is more about feeling alienated by teachers and principal than it is about economic hardship.

Of the 48 schools, 29 are in remote areas. 19 are in a very poor neighborhood in Port au Prince, historically known for violence. There were more than 3,000 participants in all during the last two months. More than 12,000 children go to these schools. Thus far, the outcomes of these meetings are extremely positive. Some of the stories like parents feeling heard and paying past due fees on the spot are quite powerful.

Part of the strategy to integrate parents into the life of the school, encourage partnership between them and teachers and principal, and engage them more in their children's education also includes multiple sessions using our reflection circle method.

Here are pictures from one of the meetings that my co-worker Kent and I were a part of this past week.

In light of a multitude of hardships, our Haitian colleagues are playing an important role in shaping Haiti's future. Their work in hundreds of schools and organizations and with the involvement of many international organizations is rippling out. Without support from many good folks in the U.S. this wouldn't be possible.

2008-12-31T20:13:00.002-05:00

INTERVIEWED ON "ON THE ROAD WITH iV"

2008-12-06T18:42:00.003-05:00

HAITI CHILDREN'S CHOIR

They did a wonderful song and dance performance. The two American visitors accompanying me loved it and the exchange following the performance was rich. Requests for photos were not shy!

Photos of members of Haiti Children's Choir

I hope to have a video on youtube up on this performance soon.

2008-12-06T18:38:00.001-05:00

Written from home in Mariaman, Haiti December 4, 2008.

It’s 3:30 am and I can’t sleep. Tomorrow I’ll be back in Florida and I’m feeling deep gratitude for people who make our work possible.

This afternoon I met with an American woman who, like me, has been involved with Haiti for the last 17 years. But she’s been on Oprah, CNN, Good Morning America, etc. This exposure has funds pouring in for her schools and orphanages.

The organizational and local leadership challenges she shared have me feeling especially grateful for my Haitian colleagues. The abuse of power that is so typical is something that’s foreign to our network.

This week I was with a group of Haitians working in Cite Soleil, the largest most violent slum in Haiti. These folks grew up there. They’re tough and learned early on to do what it takes to survive. What inspires me and the American visitor traveling with me who met with them 10 years ago, is their personal growth. They are effectively managing more than $300,000 yearly to deliver food and a variety of services to people in Cite Soleil. What’s more is that they are receiving dozens of medical professionals from the US each year who consult thousands of patients. And this group is just one example of the fine people in our participatory leadership network doing extraordinary work year after year after year.

2008-11-04T04:33:00.002-05:00

OPEN SPACE IN MOZAMBIQUE

I had the wonderful opportunity of being invited by USAID (at friend Lisa Heft's recommendation) to facilitate a meeting of 300 plus US Government employees. Leadership needs to submit to headequarters in Washington, DC, their Country Assistance Strategy and they wanted to invite all their employees' input. There were people from USAID, the Embassy, Centers for Disease Control, Peace Corps, and Department of Defense. What a marvelous example of participatory and invitational leadership!

They had a huge tent set up for the event. Click here to view photos.

2008-08-14T11:36:00.003-04:00

Friends and colleagues;

Here, downloadable, is the version of "Circles of Change: a quiet revolution in Haiti" with French subtitles.

https://rcpt.yousendit.com/597461491/76ddf496236d33d106ddfabd167c4201

It's 19 minutes long and in very good resolution. It's a large file (1,100 mb) and will require some time to download even with a high-speed internet connection. We have many DVD's of English subtitle version and have also distributed in Haiti many of the Haitian-Creole version, which has no subtitles.

We've received a number of requests in recent months for this French version and we're delighted to make it available in downloadable form. Perhaps you know of individuals and/or organizations in French speaking Canada or French speaking African countries who might appreciate viewing this. Please feel free to share the download link with anyone who might be interested.

Let me know if you have problems downloading, have questions, or if you would like to receive a DVD of this version. My cell number is 202-236-6532 and my email is john@johnengle.net.

Kind regards,

John Engle
www.circlesofchange.com

--------
Amis et collègues;

Ici, téléchargeable, est la version de »Cercles de changement: une révolution tranquille en Haïti» avec sous-titres français.

https://rcpt.yousendit.com/597461491/76ddf496236d33d106ddfabd167c4201

Il est 19 minutes et en très bonne résolution. C'est un gros fichier (1100 megabytes) et il faudra un certain temps à télécharger, même avec une connexion Internet highspeed. Nous avons de nombreux DVD de la version l'anglais ont également distribué en Haïti beaucoup de la version créole-haïtien, qui n'a pas de sous-titres.

Nous avons reçu un certain nombre de demandes au cours des derniers mois pour cette version française et nous sommes très heureux de le rendre disponible en téléchargement. Vous le savez peut-être des individus et / ou d'organisations en Canada ou les pays d'africains qui s'exprimant en français qui pourraient apprécier ce video. S’il vous plaît n'hésitez pas à partager le lien de téléchargement avec les gens qui pourraient être intéressés.

Permettez-moi savoir si vous avez des difficultés à télécharger, avez des questions, ou si vous souhaitez recevoir un DVD de cette version. Mon numero de portable est 202-236-6532 et mon email est john@johnengle.net.

Cordialement,

John Engle

2008-08-11T17:29:00.004-04:00

HAITI CHILDREN'S CHOIR

This group we sponsor of 22 kids are really making progress! Take a look at this 3 minute video:

In addition to discovering their talents in music and dance, these young people are also using Circles of Change participatory methods. We're developing young leaders who will use and spread these methods!

This is a Beyond Borders project and we invite you to consider supporting it through a financial contribution. Checks can be made out to Beyond Borders and sent to PO Box 2865 Vero Beach, FL, 32961. Please write "Children's Choir" on memo line. To make donation online go to beyondborders.net

To contribute by credit card or to learn more call me at 202-236-6532

2008-07-20T11:44:00.003-04:00

7TH ANNUAL HAITI OPEN SPACE MEETING

About 80 people from around Haiti, Dominican Republic and several from the US came together June 26th to 28th. It was engaging as usual as friendships were made and strengthened, new projects planned and lots of ideas discussed. Caroline Laborde, a first timer from Georgia had this to say, "John, Fremy, and Abelard, I wanted to let you know that in an entire career of workshops I don't know when I have enjoyed one more. You were all so hospitable and made me feel part of the group even through the language barrier. If my memory serves me then Fremy and Abelard are about to go to Cheridant to share this knowledge with the teachers there. If you are even half as powerful as you were last month it will be very successful."

Click her to view picture.

2008-05-26T00:35:00.001-04:00

How Could I Not Do It?

I’ve invested over 17 years of my life working for change in Haiti. Anyone paying attention to international news knows that the people of Haiti have suffered tremendously during the past two decades. Given the political instability, continual economic decline and hunger, combined with natural disasters, I shouldn’t be surprised when I’m frequently asked, in one form or another, “Doesn’t it feel like a lost cause?” Perhaps the version that feels more human and respectful is “Why do you do it?”

Alex Myril (pictured in back of photo with black t-shirt) is among the many friends who comes to mind during these moments. He’s 21 and the oldest of 6 children. While he lives in Port au Prince now so that he can go to school, he grew up in a poor family in the remote countryside. Alex is finishing his last year of high school. Less than 1% of students make it to this point given the innumerable obstacles. There are as many as 150 students in his classes and because there is not enough chairs and benches, he usually has to stand for hours on end. Imagine American high school students being expected to stand for class!

Just thinking about his daily commute tires me: heat, dust, smog, and traffic jams while crammed into subcompact cars or in the back of pick-up trucks. Most are ill repaired and breakdowns are common.

The oldest of 6, the family continues to rely on Alex to bring needed food and supplies home, a 7-8-hour roundtrip. With no modern appliances or money to pay a maid, Alex cooks for himself and washes his clothes by hand. On weekends, he stuffs himself into one taxi and pickup truck after another to make his way to Mariaman, a rural Port au Prince suburb, for choir practice on Saturdays and Sundays.

As Director of a children’s choir, in addition to writing songs about social change and teaching them to the children, he also meets with parents and has become involved in many more lives.

I witness the consistent and honorable choices that Alex makes with his time and limited resources. He works tirelessly and his grades are great. Whenever I see Alex, his smile and grace radiates a joy and faith that I can only aspire to.

Having lived in Haiti for nearly 15 years I have countless examples of Haitians who rise above incredible odds to develop their potential, help others and to improve their country. Any sacrifices that I’ve made or make pale in comparison.

I am indebted to Alex and so many others for their examples of courage, determination and long-suffering. So when it comes to investing my life toward positive change in Haiti, how could I not do it?

2008-04-21T08:42:00.003-04:00

I sat with Sister Fidelis Rubbo recently on a return flight from Haiti. I first met her six years ago as we frequented the same cybercafé in Port au Prince. An American with the Franciscan order, she lives in the remote countryside near a village called Pestel in the southwest and works with the local priest and representatives from 14 chapels. It was a great to reconnect with her and to learn how her work is evolving.

“I need to tell you something, John. Having your colleagues Fremy and Abelard come and do Circles of Change training with our leadership and Chapel representative was the best thing I’ve done since I moved to Haiti seven years ago.” She went on to say, “I’ve watched groups transform the way they function together. There’s much less conflict and the solutions that the groups come up with to problems regarding our cistern, water and micro-credit projects are effective because they take into consideration the wisdom and perspective of all the committee members. I see attitudes and practices changing and we’ve begun training more of the 10,000 people who are part of this parish network. Thank you for what you and your colleagues have done and are doing.”

Open Space Training

2008-03-29T21:44:00.007-04:00

Beautine, Pè Alphonse, Daphne, Abelard
Originally uploaded by John Engle

March 24-25, 2008
Villa Manrese
Port au Prince, Haiti

28 participants ranging from directors of schools, to teachers, to organizers working on child and environmental rights to an Episcopal priest. One concrete outcome of training is plans to do in July a two-day Open Space and Reflection Circle seminar with more than 200 teachers from 20 different schools.

Work group pictured above during the training. To see more photos click here.

Click below to watch 2-minute video.

View SEEDS OF CHANGE

2008-02-01T11:23:00.000-05:00

2007-12-28T15:20:00.000-05:00

BEYOND BORDERS 9TH ANNUAL OPEN MEETING

It's less than one month away. We'll have more than 20 people coming from Haiti and Dominican Republic.

To learn more about the annual meeting and to reserve your place go to www.beyondborders.net.

This year we've created a website called Beyond Borders Network to help people who are coming to the annual meeting and others who are interested in this work to communicate. We invite you to join! Here's the link: beyond borders network

2007-12-08T21:01:00.000-05:00

We’re so grateful for all the good people who are helping to make important work possible in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and elsewhere. We’re grateful for these friendships and partnerships.

So we’re inviting you to participate in Beyond Borders 9th Annual Open Meeting in Vero Beach, Florida, January 25-27, at the beautiful McKee Botanical Garden.

Each year Beyond Borders invites individuals and organizations to come together to think, pray, work, discern, laugh, break bread, and celebrate. These meetings are an opportunity to connect and reconnect. New ideas, initiatives, and partnerships are born. Existing relationships and efforts are strengthened. There will be at least 15 people coming from Haiti and dozens more from around the U.S.

We use the open space meeting format, which means that everyone present has the opportunity to propose topics and then people join the conversations that interest them. This simple, empowering approach is one of the ways that Beyond Borders cultivates “bottom-up” development and institution building in Haiti. Haiti will be a focus of many conversations, but not exclusively. It’s open to whatever topics people are interested in, usually around the theme of social justice.

We hope that you will come for the entire weekend starting with dinner at 6 p.m. on Friday evening, January 25, and concluding with a picnic by the beach at noon on Sunday, January 27..

But if you can’t come for all of it, come for any part you can! Space is limited, so register online now at www.beyondborders.net or call Beyond Borders at 1-866-424-8403. Registration and meals (Haitian cuisine for dinners) for Friday evening through Sunday lunch will be on a sliding scale from $100 to $190 (not including lodging). You can register online for individual meals if you can’t attend the whole event.

Contact Vero Beach Comfort Inn at 772-569-0900 if you need lodging. It’s less than a mile from the McKee Botanical Garden, where we’re meeting. Mention Beyond Borders to get a special rate.

It’s going to be a weekend rich with meaning and learning. Much work will get done, and we’ll have fun in the process. We look forward to seeing you in Vero Beach!

Learn more and register online at www.beyondborders.net.

2007-10-04T14:46:00.000-04:00

I just returned from spending ten days in Haiti.

Following Beyond Borders’ sister organization Limye Lavi’s annual meeting, we finished filming for the new Beyond Borders DVD. During four days, we met with hundreds of Haitians: students, teachers, community organizers and members of Haiti’s business elite. “Reflection Circles change the way teachers relate to us,” said tenth grader Dumaitre Esperancier. “We’re accustomed to teachers acting like dictators, as though they know everything. They’re mean. But, the teachers who use Reflection Circles treat us with respect. They’re interested in hearing what we have to say. They encourage us.”

Repeatedly we heard teachers and leaders say things like Moricet said, “Before I participated in these processes I was only concerned about my point of view. I was number one and had no interest in hearing anyone else. Now, I invite and listen to other’s perspectives, even when they’re different from mine. It’s completely changed the way I function with others including my own family. Consequently, there’s less conflict around me.”

All combined, the tiny staff of Beyond Borders and Limye Lavi alone will engage nearly 3,000 Haitians in Open Space meetings this year and nearly 1,000 in Reflection Circles training. This stuff is really spreading exponentially, as we hoped and prayed it would. These numbers don’t include other organizations doing Open Space and Reflection Circles. Thanks to the support of so many people, a culture of respect, tolerance and participation is spreading.

2007-07-21T01:06:00.000-04:00

World Bank
Youth Open House
June 11-12

A report about this event which convened 120 young leaders (ages 18-30) from around US and Canada is now available on World Bank's website. We used open space for a significant portion of the gathering.

2007-05-11T01:04:00.000-04:00

OPEN SPACE WITH WORLD BANK

May 7-9 I had the opportunity to facilitate open space for 350 people at World Bank in Washington, DC. It was the annual Communications Network gathering. They used open space last year and were pleased with the approach and the facilitator. But, the facilitator was from Australia and they decided that a round trip flight was one way to respond to budget constraints.

The meeting went well and allowed people to deal with some of the complex issues being faced by the Bank. Here are photos.

Open Space seminar

2007-04-21T14:55:00.000-04:00

Thirty-five organizational and community leaders and teachers convened in Carrefour, Haiti, April 9-11 for a seminar in Open Space Techonology. Fremy and I used open space format to facilitate the training which included participants who were quite experienced in open space and those who never previously participated in an open space meeting. The group self-organized and did an extraordinary job at making use of the space and time to accomplish what needed to be accomplished.

2007-03-20T08:14:00.000-04:00

Beyond Borders (Circles of Change is a program of Beyond Borders) is on World Blu's list of "Most Democratic Workplaces."
To read an article in Christian Science Monitor about this, click here. To learn more about World Blu, click here.

HAITI SALON

2007-01-21T09:08:00.001-05:00

HaitSalon
Originally uploaded by John Engle.

A Guestbook and online registration are now available for Haiti Salon, which will be held at Brooklyn College, May 5-6.

JANUARY UPDATE

2007-01-15T09:33:00.000-05:00

A new year is underway and it brings with it challenges and opportunities.

More people are finishing our formal training: A group of teachers and staff at a Haitian school and orphanage in Leogane (Lamb of God) finished a 6-month training January 7th and 22 with a Christian group in Les Cayes called Jerusalem Women completed their 6-month training December 31. They wrote Circles of Change coordinating committee a thank you letter. I found these words particularly meaningful: “We’re not the same people! We’ve learned things that help us have better relationships with our husbands, children and neighbors. This type of education is what Haitians need to change our society.”

Numbers of volunteers grows: December 18-19, I met with 15 leaders in our network (see photo below) who are involved with 52 groups with roughly 1,100 participants. These represent a portion of the groups that are meeting regularly using Reflection Circles and Open Space. The vast majority of these groups are lead by Haitians who are simply volunteering their time to help others grow personally and professionally.

Reaching more people: In December our Facing Our History photo-exhibition and community conversation project touched more than 500 in Haiti who visited exhibitions at The College of Human Sciences and the Estephan Alexi Center for Documentation.

There’s more exciting stuff in the works that I’ll share next month.

2007-01-14T11:24:00.001-05:00

A small group discussion during Circles of Change Committee meeting in Carrefour, Haiti, December 19-20.

Circles of Change Committee meeting
Originally uploaded by John Engle.

Harvest Time Haiti partners with Louis-Henri

2007-01-14T10:40:00.001-05:00

Discussing a potential Cite Soleil housing project during our Harvest Time Haiti Partners meeting December 14-16, in Jacmel.

Originally uploaded by John Engle.

2007-01-06T04:31:00.000-05:00

This column by friend and colleague Peggy Holman speaks to me in a profound way following the three weeks I just spent in Haiti and reflecting on the conversations and initiatives going on with my colleagues there.

This is published online and available at Co-Intelligence Newsletter

EVOLUTION, PROCESS, AND CONVERSATION:

A Foundation for Conscious Evolutionary Agentry

Why have a column on process in a newsletter devoted to evolution? What could process possibly have to do with evolution? In a word, everything.

We now know that our universe is not the static, clockwork mechanism scientists once believed it to be. Rather, we know that it is constantly changing. In fact, change through time is central to the definition of evolution.

A process is a naturally occurring or designed sequence of changes. Sound similar? You could say that evolution is the mother of all natural processes. And, as our mothers often do, evolution has much to teach us about the design of processes. Why do processes matter? The better we are at designing processes that are consonant with the patterns underlying the dynamics of evolution, the greater our likelihood of creating changes that serve us well.

This column is devoted to processes used in human systems; processes that enable change to serve the needs of individuals, collectives, and the larger whole of which we are all a part. We offer such a column because we believe that we are all agents of evolution and that the more conscious of this we are, the greater the difference each of us can make. In the months ahead, we’ll share concepts, stories, and process skills that you can use with yourself, your family, your friends, and your colleagues.

Since conversation is a primary means for human interaction, it is central to how process happens in human systems. As such, conversation is as an evolutionary force of extraordinary potential.

Evolution and Conversation

Over the last 14 billion years, as western science currently understands it, the growing edge of evolution – the appearance of radically new forms of complexity – has moved from the cosmic to geologic to biologic to cultural. The universe itself learns and transforms, having made a variety of leaps through its billions of years. At every stage, single entities come together to organize themselves into more complex entities – from hydrogen gas to stars and planets; the molten earth into a habitable planet filled with mountains and oceans; from single celled entities to the wondrous array of plants and animals on the Earth today; and through humanity itself, from family groups to world-wide socio-economic systems.

At each stage of evolution, the interaction that enables these leaps occurs differently. In stellar and galactic evolution, gravitational and subatomic interactions dominate. In geologic evolution, basic chemistry and Newtonian physics are central. In biology, interactions are biochemical, physiological and ecological -- and DNA becomes fundamental in mediating them. And for humans, perhaps the most significant and ubiquitous form of interaction happens through conversation, which mediates most other forms of human interaction (such as conflicts and economic interactions). It is an intriguing concept, that conversations are for the evolution of social systems what DNA is for the evolution of life and gravity is for the evolution of galaxies and stars!

There is something vital and hopeful about the central role of conversation for the survival of our species. With its primary role in interaction among humans, conversation has the potential to do the work that interaction always does in evolution: enable distinct organisms (like singe cells) to self-organize, cohering into novel, more complex organisms (like us). What are the implications for humans? What do self-organizing differentiated humans become when they converse with each other?

We already know humans create tribes, nation-states and other collective bodies. I believe there is something of vastly more creative potential available to us. It involves another gift on the emerging edge of evolution: consciousness.

What’s Consciousness Got to Do with It?

Cosmologist, Brian Swimme, compared consciousness “to the emergence of oxygen within Earth’s early communities of life, a development that carried both the destructive and the creative significance of that earlier event.”[1] When life first began generating oxygen with photosynthesis, the earth had no way to use it creatively, and it accumulated as a toxic waste product, oxidizing rocks and bacteria everywhere. It sparked the first environmental crisis, almost eliminating all life on earth. Instead, life mutated, inventing respiration – a new means to interact, perfect for the times – thus finding a new stability through increased complexity.

Could it be that consciousness is the latest evolutionary innovation that, when applied to conversation, catalyzes a new form of social system, the conscious co-creative collective, the radiant network of deep community? I believe that conscious conversation is the path to what Thich Nhat Hanh imagined when he said: “It is possible that the next Buddha will not take the form of an individual. The next Buddha may take the form of a community, a community practicing understanding and lovingkindness, a community practicing mindful living. And the practice can be carried out as a group, as a city, as a nation.”[2]

The practice of conscious conversation has the potential to help us creatively engage with the overwhelming natural and human-generated crises we face today. In fact, it may be the only thing that can.

What is conscious conversation and how might it be our salvation?

A conscious conversation continually increases our awareness of ourselves, others, and the whole in relation to each other and our environment. There is a growing body of experience, research, philosophies, principles, and practices that teach us about the power of conversations to create breakthroughs. Where conscious conversation happens, violence disappears.

Individual practices, such as nonviolent communication, and projects, such as the Compassionate Listening Project, are examples of what is possible. Processes that engage hundreds, even thousands in creating the communities and organizations they want, are just beginning to demonstrate their potential for creating forms of being together that benefit and serve the needs of both individual and the collective. These processes that consciously engage people in conversation are at their best when dealing with diversity, conflict, and complexity. Processes, such as Open Space, Appreciative Inquiry, and The World Café are making a difference around the globe with thousands of people.

In the coming months, we’ll share stories of the powerful force of conscious conversation.

What does it mean for you?

Become conscious of the power of conversation to change the world. Learn how the dynamics of conversation matter and use them. By learning to converse well and helping others converse well, you become a conscious agent of evolution.

What are the conversations that matter to you? Who are the people who care, as you do? How can you engage them?

Explore the process websites above -- and other more general conversation-supporting websites like the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation and the Co-Intelligence Institute -- and try out some simple conversational hints and processes in your own life and community. Conversations that have heart and meaning can change the world -- and you can convene them!

Send any questions you have to me at peggy @ opencirclecompany.com.

1. Swimme, Brian and Thomas Berry. The Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era, HarperCollins Publishers, NY, 1992, p. 143. [return to text]
2. Thich Nhat Hanh, "The Next Buddha May Be A Sangha" in Inquiring Mind, Vol 10, No. 2, Spring 1994 [return to text]

St. Thomas School, Cite Soleil

2006-12-08T12:52:00.000-05:00

St. Thomas School, Cite Soleil
Originally uploaded by John Engle.

The three story nicely painted school stands out.

Staff and leadership at St. Thomas School, which is funded and supported by Harvest Time, use Reflection Circles and Open Space. Typically, this school is a bit of an oasis, if there is such a thing, in the slum of Cite Soleil, where gangs frequently clash with UN troops.
The 120-130 students receive an education from committed teachers and they also eat a hot meal each day. Recently, the school was sprayed by gunfire. See photos below.

Harvest Time Partners

2006-12-08T12:41:00.000-05:00

Harvest Time partners Open Space training
Originally uploaded by John Engle.

Leaders and teachers of St. Thomas School, SPARE, and Boston (Cite Soleil) Youth Association pictured here during Open Space session, October 2006.

Welcome to St. Thomas School, Cite Soleil

2006-12-08T12:39:00.000-05:00

Guy & St. Thomas School 3rd grading class 06-07
Originally uploaded by John Engle.

Guy Theodore, who grew up in Cite Soleil and is one of school leaders, pictured here with 3rd grade class.

Life in Cite Soleil where even schools are shot at.

2006-12-08T12:35:00.000-05:00

UN troops shoot up school, Nov 2006
Originally uploaded by John Engle.

Students at St. Thomas School

2006-12-08T12:34:00.000-05:00

UN troops shoot up school, Nov 2006
Originally uploaded by John Engle.

Fortunately, these students were not in class when the school came under UN troop fire. Notice where bullets penetrated walls.

UN bullets penetrate St. Thomas School

2006-12-08T12:32:00.001-05:00

UN bullets penetrate St. Thomas School
Originally uploaded by John Engle.

UN bullets penetrate St. Thomas School

2006-12-08T12:32:00.000-05:00

UN bullets penetrate St. Thomas School
Originally uploaded by John Engle.

St. Thomas school underfire by UN troops

2006-12-08T12:31:00.000-05:00

St. Thomas school underfire by UN troops
Originally uploaded by John Engle.

In November there were several clashes between UN troops and gangs. St. Thomas School was not spared from a shower of bullets, which allegedly came from guns of UN troops. Fortunately, this happened late in the afternoon when the school was empty.

2006-10-21T13:46:00.000-04:00

CIRCLES OF CHANGE ON YOUTUBE!

In this clip Enel Angerville explains how Reflection Circles and Open Space work and why approaches like this are so needed in Haiti.

2006-10-07T21:57:00.000-04:00

OCTOBER UPDATE

I shared in last month’s update how our new Haitian friend Louis-Henri Mars made it possible for my colleagues and I to meet with Haiti’s Minister of Education and his key staff.

Louis-Henri came up for our annual open meeting last month. It's great to see how we've become involved in his ministry and he in ours. He has been helping us expand our work in some of the highest levels of Haitian society. Several people told me that their meeting and talking with him was among the gathering’s highlights for them.

Louis-Henri has been organizing meetings between materially poor Haitian women in our network who are victims of rape with people from the elite class. During one meeting last month, 9 of his friends, one in an armored car, participated in a Reflection Circle with these women. Louis-Henri told us later, “This was an Aha! experience for my friends. They were amazed by the women’s profound reflections and their skill in facilitating such an interesting meeting that produced such rich dialogue. The Spirit of God works through these methods to help people on both sides of the tracks to be moved by love.”

We are grateful to have people like Louis-Henri along with all the others in Haiti, the U.S. and other places who are helping to make this work possible.

2006-09-01T10:25:00.000-04:00

SEPTEMBER UPDATE

I just got back from a ten-day Haiti trip and am excited.

My colleagues and I were graced with the opportunity we’ve longed for. We presented a power-point type presentation about our work to Haiti’s Minister of Education and key staff and followed it with an hour and a half open space meeting.

Our theme: “Education: Improvement through transformation...How can we do it?”

The Minister himself, Mr. Gabriel Bien-Aime, proposed for a small group discussion: “Why we need transformation”

There were 20 of us. The meeting was filmed by the Ministry’s video-grapher. They also interviewed Fremy Cesar and me the following morning for the Ministry’s weekly television program, which is aired nationally.

I participated in a rich discussion proposed by a Ministry of Education staff member: “What steps do we take to engage all sectors of society toward improving Haiti’s educational system?”

“These are the types of approaches that we need to help us re-think our work and to create curriculum and experiences that cultivate community. It all comes down to love and we need to discover ways to help students, teachers and others in our system to understand this,” Mr. Bien-Aime shared during the closing circle.

We are grateful to Louis-Henri Mars, the Haitian man who participated in the Annual Haiti Open Space Meeting this past June, for making this opportunity possible. We are also grateful to the people who support us financially for staying with us in this work.

2006-08-15T21:03:00.000-04:00

AUGUST UPDATE

July began our new fiscal year and we’re pleased that two new groups of 25 (50 total) are already underway in our six-month training program.

“Jerusalem Women” is a Christian women’s group made up of teachers, community organizers, health agents and entrepreneurs. “We need skills that help us to strengthen our organizations and become more effective individually,” they told practitioners, Frantzie Cyril and Jocelyn Claircidor, who have begun meeting weekly with them using Reflection Circles and Open Space.

The second group receiving training is Lamb of God School and Orphanage. Their director, teachers and other staff are all participating in the training, which will be led by practitioners Johny St. Louis and Abelard Xavier.

What an honor it is for me to work with so many talented and skilled Haitians who are committed to cultivating new mentalities and practices that lead to better institutions and a more peaceful and just society. And, how grateful we are to the people who make all this work possible through their financial contributions.

A new fiscal year is an opportunity to evaluate and plan. Let me know if you would like to receive our two page updated program summary for Circles of Change.

Don't forget about our upcoming 8th Annual Open Meeting, September 22-24, and our “Dinner with Tony Campolo Haiti Benefit” October 17th. Learn more about both at www.beyondborders.net

Success!

2006-07-09T11:33:00.000-04:00

Marc Orel and Cledor
Originally uploaded by John Engle.

Cledor Myril (right) met Marc Orel (left) at last year's Annual Open Space meeting and recruited him as campaign director. Cledor was recently elected into Parliament as a "Depite" of Port-au-Prince, which is equivelant to member of Congress. To see more photos from Annual Open Space 2006, go to Photos of Haiti Annual Open Space 2006

2006-07-04T09:02:00.000-04:00

July Update

I am writing this letter the day before my departure. These past two weeks in Haiti have been incredibly encouraging.

70 people from regions and organizations throughout the country convened last week for the Fifth Annual Haiti Open Space. Teachers, community organizers, and leaders skilled in Circles of Change methods, were joined by others wanting to learn more.

The rich dialogue, relationship building, and fun during these two and a half day gatherings keeps people coming back. Exciting new projects always emerge. This year we launched Facing Our History with Haitian award-winning photographer, Daniel Morel, which is a photo exhibition and booklet as part of a community conversation project. We also celebrated Cledor Myril’s being elected into the parliament. Marc Orel, who Cledor met at last year’s meeting, served as his campaign director.

It was Louis Henry’s first time with us. He was so excited by the people and ideas that he invited a number of us to his monthly prayer breakfast the following week. Attendees included the Ministers of Education and Commerce along with 20 other interesting people. Louis spoke publicly about his experience at the Open Space gathering and how eager he is to learn more about these methods and to collaborate with us. He distributed the Living Words participatory Bible study guide.

This work is touching thousands of people. It feels like we’re on the verge of touching tens of thousands more and we’re excited.

johnengle.net
circlesofchange.com
john@johnengle.net

2006-07-04T08:59:00.000-04:00

June update

Nearly every day one Haitian colleague or another shares with me something exciting. I called Fremy this past Saturday and discovered that he was facilitating an Open Space meeting with 60 women who convened to deal with the subject of rape, domestic violence and aids.

Today I received a report from Jude which included these words from Magalie Calixte’s, (26) who recently learned to read and write in a Beyond Borders literacy center on the island of Lagonav: “This experience has changed my life. I never had the opportunity to go to school. In addition to learning to read and write, we used methods like Reflection Circles and Living Words, which have helped me to develop new attitudes and to show people greater respect. I have so much more self-confidence.”

I have enclosed an article that recently appeared on front page of Hershey Chronicle. Abner Sauveur, who is pictured, is a highly motivated teacher and leader. Like others in our network, he has touched thousands of lives using Reflection Circles and Open Space.

You will also find a two-page evaluation of students at Oklahoma University who used Reflection Circles (referred to as Touchstones Discussions in US). It provides a great summary of outcomes.

johnengle.net
circlesofchange.com
john@johnengle.net

2006-07-04T08:56:00.000-04:00

May Update

I want to share some recent experiences of my colleague, Jude Apollon. Jude works with groups and trains people in literacy instruction, Reflection Circles, Open Space, and the Lectio Divina participatory approach to Bible study.

“People were shocked last week to see how Voudouizan (people who are part of Voudou religion,) Catholics and Protestants could engage together in Biblical reflection and dialogue without offending one another. They’ve begun calling the method ‘Manje a kwit, chak moun pran.’” [This is a slight variation of a popular Haitian proverb that means, “When the food is cooked, EVERYONE shares in eating it together.”]

Another participant expressed to the group how fascinated he is by the habit of self-assesment that these sessions develop. “While no one criticized me in the meeting, I go away evaluating myself and discovering behavior that I want to change.”

One participant pulled Jude aside immediately following a Reflection Circle session and said, “Here’s the question I want to discuss with the group next time we meet: ‘How is it that in these session each one of us is sharing different opinions on the issues, often in disagreement of one another, yet when the session is over, we leave without being frustrated?’ ”

Haiti is known for division and conflict. Thus, when you multiply these experiences by the hundreds and even thousands--there are thousands using these methods--you’ll see why we’re so committed to this work and so hopeful.

johnengle.net
circlesofchange.com
john@johnengle.net

2006-07-04T08:51:00.000-04:00

April Update

Here are just three among countless positive initiatives:

• Colleague Jude Apollon beginning a new Circles of Change training with “Hands Together” community organization toward, in their words, “gaining knowledge which will help us take control of our destiny.”

• The convening of more than 50 teachers to learn and explore ways to discipline students without using corporal punishment.

• A community wide day-long open space convening over 100 people toward fostering dialogue and trust and gaining clarity about their collective needs and priorities. Below is an excerpt from the message Kathy Gross, who is with Richmond Diocese, sent my colleague, Fremy Cesar, who facilitated the meeting:

Thank you so much for all you did in Cerca Carvajal. It was all very wonderful. And I think it also helped to bring the village of Cerca Carvajal together. One young man who spoke some English approached me and told me that he was a Seventh Day Adventist. He wondered, "Will you still talk to me?" This told me that there are major barriers between people who are parishioners at Holy Family and those who are not. We would love to do what we can to break through those barriers. Open Spaces is certainly a way to do that.

johnengle.net
circlesofchange.com
john@johnengle.net

2006-03-02T07:39:00.000-05:00

People who contribute to Circles of Change receive a receipt along with a brief update. Here is my update for March.

Thank you for your recent gift. Anyone who spends any time in Haiti knows the saying, “Piti piti,” which means “little by little we’ll get it done.”

On one hand, our work is so subtle. In light of Haiti’s dire poverty, at quick glance one could deem Circles of Change work as frivolous. On the other hand, learning to assess oneself and modify our behavior is absolutely critical to individual and organizational improvement. This developing skill is reflective in comments from two of the 26 members of Christian Action for New Life community group during the final session of their 6-month training:

“I’m not timid in groups the way I used to be, thanks to this training. I’ve gained self-confidence. This training has been a success because I’ve observed how I and other participants have developed the participatory leadership skills used by our trainers Ulrick and Heguel.” Esther Randich

“This training has meant a great deal to me. I’ve become aware of how domineering I can be and how I monopolize discussions. I’ve learned to make sure that all voices are being heard.” Rood Denis

Fortunately, you and an increasing number of organizations working in Haiti see the profoundness of this subtle, long-term approach. Here’s what Karen Carr with a US-based nonprofit funding work in Haiti recently wrote: “Beyond Borders has been such a wonderful discovery and it is a joy for us to work with you!”

Your contributions along with comments like Karen’s encourage us more than you can know. Piti piti… and together, we’ll get this done.

With Deep Gratitude,

John Engle

2006-02-12T11:37:00.000-05:00

by friend and colleague, Steven Werlin

Voting in Zetwa

I spent a long day on Tuesday accompanying a group of voters from Matènwa as they went to cast their ballots at the voting place they had been assigned to in Zetwa, a two-hour walk away. We gathered across from the Matènwa school at 4:00AM. Everyone was anxious to get in line in time for the scheduled opening of the voting at 6:00 AM. On the right in this first photo is Benaja, the fourth-grade teacher at the Matènwa Community Learning Center. On the left is Beguens, a candidate for depite, the Haitan equivalent of a congressperson. (view photos and continue)

2006-02-11T12:53:00.000-05:00

An essay by friend and colleague, Steven Werlin

An Election After All
Over the course of the last weeks in January, it began to seem increasingly likely that there would be an election in Haiti. This is an odd claim for an American to make. The regularity of our own democratic processes means that the question as to whether they’ll be an election never arises. We can tend to be apathetic as election season rolls around. We might be happy or unhappy with the way elections go. Our candidates might win or they might lose. We can distrust an election’s results; we can even doubt the democracy of our democracy. But no one ever has to wonder whether an election will take place. On Tuesday, November 4, 2036 – just to pick an example – I’m pretty sure that Americans will be voting for a president, a set of representatives, and some senators. Nothing like that is really certain this far in advance, but it is pretty likely. There’s even a chance that I’ll participate. read more

2006-02-04T22:51:00.000-05:00

People who contribute to Circles of Change receive a receipt along with a brief update. Here is my update for February.

Thank you for your recent contribution to our work. Haiti needs us and the fact that you’re standing with us in this work encourages us more than you can know.

There are so many exciting things happening.

Practitioners Heguel and Ulrick are finishing a six-month training this month with a grassroots organization of 24 teachers and community organizers. They’re concluding with a community-wide Open Space. Their theme: What’s the role of organizations in Haiti’s development?

Gerald, Dorlys and their colleagues just started doing weekly reflection circle sessions with 5th and 6th graders in five 5 additional schools.

Three new US-based organizations funding Haiti educational initiatives have contacted us to organize training for their teachers.

Haiti Innovation www.haitiinnovation.com, a new DC-based initiative has decided to list “Circles of Change” on their website as a Featured Project.

Haiti Salon, our initiative to convene a two-and-a-half day Open Space event with Haitian-Americans and others committeed to democracy, justice, and peace in Haiti, has a strong start. Learn more at www.haitisalon.com.

Please stay with us. We will put participatory learning and leadership concepts and practices on the map in Haiti. These practices are key to building and developing effective institutions.

Again, thank you for opening your heart to Haitians and for contributing to our work. You’re making an intelligent investment in Haiti’s future.

With deep gratitude,

John Engle

2005-12-31T18:06:00.000-05:00

Haiti: Pre-Election Observations and Reflections

Since I lived in Haiti for most of the past 15 years, friends here in the States often ask for my thoughts about the country’s political situation: “So what’s happening in Haiti, John, and what’s your take on it? What do you expect will happen in the upcoming elections? What about Aristide—was he really kidnapped by the U.S government as he says?” People are eager for news, but often feel uncertain whom they can trust.

I recently returned to Haiti from December 18-22, less than a month before elections are scheduled to begin. I spent part of my time in a rural community six miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, where I lived from 1995 to 2004. I also visited Carrefour, a sprawling poor suburb of Port-au-Prince. There, I was one of 26 people—22 Haitians and 4 North Americans, including 2 living in Haiti—who convened at a guesthouse to plan and evaluate our work promoting participatory learning and leadership development. (To learn more about our work, visit www.circlesofchange.com.)

The threat of violence hangs in the air as the presidential elections draws closer. My wife and I had cancelled our June 2005 trip to Haiti due to the escalation of kidnappings and general insecurity. During April, May, and June, an average of 10 kidnappings had been reported in Port-au-Prince each day. But the rate went down considerably in the months that followed, and I was able to travel to Haiti in August and September without incident.

Unfortunately, kidnappings and violence are back up as the January 8 elections approach. Much of the violence is attributed to drug trafficking. Sheer poverty and politics also play a part. It’s estimated that 8 percent of the Colombian cocaine that enters the United States passes through Haiti, and Haiti has recently surpassed Colombia in kidnappings. Despite the presence in Haiti of 8,000 U.N. peacekeepers deployed after the rebellion that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004, the arrival of cocaine is “essentially unimpeded” according to the U.S. State Department’s 2005 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report.

Analysts fear that traffickers are quietly working to subvert any return to an elected democracy in Haiti, either by backing candidates they can control or sowing chaos on the streets to delay the balloting. “At this point the entire transition is at risk,” says Mark Schneider of the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit that analyzes conflict around the world. “Drug traffickers don’t want a functioning, effective government with a functioning, effective police force and customs. They have their hooks in the police, and they have their hooks in parts of the transitional government.”

During my recent visit, I spoke with some long-time friends, a Canadian couple who have lived in Haiti for more than 15 years. They told me about the recent kidnapping of the 16-year-old son of a family they know well. The parents are from Holland, but their son was born and raised in Haiti. When the parents contacted the United Nations for assistance, they learned the UN has three teams of experts that do nothing but negotiate with kidnappers. At least five new kidnappings are reported each day. The ransom was set at $300,000 but the kidnappers accepted just $9,000 after three days of negotiating. Their son reported that he was treated well, and given three meals a day and a bed to sleep in. Not all are as fortunate. Horrific accounts of torture, rape and murder abound. The kidnappers told him white people had taken their president, and they were going to start a revolution, funding it with kidnapping money.

Whether Aristide’s 2004 departure was forced or voluntary depends on whose account you believe. Years of experience in Haiti taught me not to trust the claims of U.S. embassy nor of Aristide.

Aristide was clearly the people’s choice when he was elected president in both 1990 and 2000. I first visited Haiti in February 1991—just days after Aristide was inaugurated—and moved there three months later to work with a small nonprofit that supported Haitian-run schools and literacy programs. I remember well the enthusiasm and hope for a better future shared by Haiti’s masses. They were in love with their new president.

But after just seven months in office, Aristide was overthrown by a violent coup d’état financed and/or supported by members of Haiti’s elite and right-wing U.S. groups including the CIA. He spent nearly three years in exile in Washington, D.C., before being restored to power in 1994 with the support of some 20,000 U.S. Marines. Aristide completed the remainder of his five-year term, before being succeeded in 1996 by his friend and close colleague, René Préval. The Haitian constitution does not allow a president to serve two consecutive terms.

René Préval served his five-year term, and Aristide was elected to a second term as president in 2000. There is no question that there was substantial corruption in Aristide’s administration during his second term. Numerous high-level government officials are now serving prison terms in the U.S. for their involvement in drug trafficking, and many who spoke out against Aristide and his government were subject to violent repression.

Aristide’s success was virtually impossible considering what he was up against. His messianic personality and tendency to compare himself with Toussaint L’Ouverture (who led the slave rebellion that gave way to Haiti’s independence) helped to raise unrealistic expectations for quick improvement among Haiti’s masses. Yet he faced an overwhelming combination of grinding poverty, a financially strapped government forced to borrow and agree to a structural adjustment program that limits spending on social improvements, and unrelenting pressures from the international community and Haiti’s elite. It’s no wonder Aristide couldn’t live up to the people’s hopes. Yet it’s also clear that his enemies—in Haiti, the United States, and elsewhere—used illegal and non-democratic measures to strip him of his power.

Many would argue that the interim government—which most Haitians believe was imposed by the United States, Canada, and other countries—has failed worse than Aristide. It is responsible for death, injury, or imprisonment of thousands of innocent Haitians.

René Préval, now running under a new political party called Lespwa (which translates “hope”), is the leading candidate for the presidency in 2006. Pictures of Préval and other presidential hopefuls are posted throughout Port-au-Prince, with each candidate’s picture accompanied by a corresponding number, which is intended to make it easier for illiterate people to vote. Between 60 and 80 percent of Haiti’s eight million people do not read or write. In a televised lottery process, representatives drew numbers that would be assigned to the 35 candidates for the election. As fate would have it, the elderly gentleman representing Préval picked the piece of paper numbered “1.”

There’s talk that the elections—which have already been postponed three times—may be delayed again. There’s also controversy around the candidacy of a Haitian-American businessman from Texas, Dumarsais Siméus. The C.E.P. (Provisional Electoral Council) disqualified Siméus from running, basing their decision on Haiti’s Constitution, which states that a foreigner is not eligible to run. However, Siméus’ appealed the decision to Haiti’s Supreme Court, which overruled C.E.P.’s decision. Consequently, Prime Minister Gerard Latortue has ordered that five members of the Supreme Court be removed and replaced by others who support C.E.P.s ruling against Siméus. The five judges have refused to accept the president’s decision to replace them, and the numbers of people standing in support of the judges and protesting their ouster is growing. Latortue was chosen by a council of elders after Aristide went into exile 22 months ago.

Out of curiosity, I asked various friends, “What if Aristide were running for president?”

“Aristide talks, Préval works. I’d be voting for Préval,” declared my neighbor, a community leader who has long supported Aristide.

I asked the same question of another long-time Aristide supporter who is now running for a Parliament seat on the same ticket as Préval. “Aristide would win an election right now if voting were limited to people who are illiterate,” he reflected. “But he would not win if voting were restricted to people who are literate. He charms people who are uneducated.”

Mario Joseph, an unemployed mason living outside Port-au-Prince, captured what I heard from many others: “The people are hungry. There are no jobs. The person who convinces the people that he’s the key to their finding work and food will win. The people were for Aristide. But he failed us.”

2005-11-08T18:05:00.000-05:00

A NEW NONPROFIT?

Colleagues and I have been batting around for a long time the idea of creating a new non-religious organization that focuses on promoting participatory learning and leadership. Circles of Change is a program of the Christian organization, Beyond Borders. While Circles of Change has Beyond Borders to thank along with countless Christians who have generously supported the creation and development of this program, there have been many times when it's not been helpful to be the program of a "religious organization." For instance, there are foundations who have policies that restrict them from funding religious organizations.

Establishing a separate organization would also allow us to convene a group of experienced and committed people that focused on one thing: promoting education and leadership characterized by shared authority and responsibility. Our activities would not need to be limited to Haiti as they are now.

The board and staff of Beyond Borders and sister organization Limyè Lavi support the idea of creating a new organization as described above. Some with Beyond Borders believe that the new organization could be called Circles of Change and simply become a partner of Beyond Borders rather than a program. Thus, it would be seamlesss to current supporters: they would continue to write checks to Beyond Borders, writing "Circles" in the memo area and this money would go to Circles of Change Haiti activities,

What do you think about all this? What do you see as the issues and opportunities related to the Circles of Change program becoming a nonprofit organization?

2005-11-06T10:44:00.000-05:00

HAITI SALON

My colleagues in Beyond Borders and I are proposing a new idea and we're inviting others to engage with us.

Learn more at Haiti Salon

Haiti Salon assumes that efforts to improve Haiti by US-based people and organizations will benefit from face to face meetings designed for optimum exchange and mutual learning. Haiti Salon uses the Open Space method, which contributes to creating a culture of democracy, openness, horizontal learning and collaboration. This experience, which we hope will become habit, will impact initiatives and actions of people coming from a plethora of diverse views and backgrounds.

Read on and share your comments

2005-10-05T10:06:00.000-04:00

FAITH: CERTAINTY ON WHAT WE HOPE FOR

Freda, my longtime Haitian friend and colleague, gasps, “It’s not true!” She’s sitting in the passenger seat beside me speaking on my cell phone to her cousin. We’re on our way home from a fundraising event in Philadelphia. My immediate thought is quickly confirmed: someone close to her has died.

Freda’s cousin died. She was a single mother of six children, living on the island of La Gonave, Haiti, which is also home to Freda. The husband died last year. While desperately poor, they’ve been making ends meet thanks to a sister living in Miami who sends support. However, the sister in Miami has cancer and is having a mastectomy in three days. Having no health insurance, she’s forced to pay for the operation out of pocket. Everyone involved has been wondering how these 6 children will fare now that their provider is strapped by medical expenses. “Now this,” Freda says with a heavy sigh and a blank stare. “Morgue charges and costs for the simplest of funerals will exceed $1,000. How will they do it? (pause, sigh) Se Bondye ki konnen.” (Only God knows).

My cell phone rings and I see a familiar number on the display. I take the call. A dear friend is calling to see how our events are going and expresses regrets for not being able to join us. “But,” he explains, “my accountant has informed me that I should be generous with my preferred charity and I want you to know that I’m putting a check for $3,500 in the mail for your work and you should count this toward your fundraising event contributions.”
read more

johnengle.net
circlesofchange.com
john@johnengle.net

HAITI ON PBS & OTHER SEPTEMBER EVENTS

2005-08-22T13:51:00.000-04:00

HAITI ON PBS & OTHER SEPTEMBER EVENTS

BEYOND BORDERS EVENTS
ANNUAL OPEN MEETING, SEPTEMBER 9-11
"HAITI HOPES"
September 16, BRYN MAWR, PA
September 17, HERSHEY, PA click here to RSVP for HERSHEY event
click on circlesofchange.com & download invitations

-------

SEPTEMBER 6 at 9 PM on PBS:

Haiti: Unfinished Country

A film by Whitney Dow, Daniel Morel and Jane Regan

(Daniel & Jane created CIRCLES OF CHANGE: A QUIET REVOLUTION IN HAITI)

UNFINISHED COUNTRY, premiering Tuesday, September 6 at 9 pm on the PBS series Wide Angle, examines Haiti's struggle to create democracy. As the western hemisphere's poorest country tries to organize for November presidential elections, hardened veterans of its endless cycle of uprisings and downfalls are trading guns for voter registration cards, warily giving the election process their support. But not everyone agrees, and the country's apathy, protests and violence put the entire process at risk. Through unfettered access to reformed gangsters,presidential hopefuls, election workers, and potential voters, this co-production by Haiti's Wozo Productions ( http://www.wozoproductions.org) and New York's Two Tone Productions reveals life on the streets, in the mountains and among its power brokers as the country attempts to fashion a true representative government out of a volatile failed state. Featuring music from innovative Haitian groups Freedom and Masters.

Tuesday, September 6 at 9 p.m. on PBS
Check your local station for listings

read more Haiti: Unfinished Country

johnengle.net
circlesofchange.com
john@johnengle.net

The Experiment gets a new name

2005-07-31T10:17:00.000-04:00

The Experiment in Alternative Leadership has expanded and we've renamed it Circles of Change which better communicates what we're about. It's also an opportunity to rethink the work I do with US-based organizations.

johnengle.net
circlesofchange.com
john@johnengle.net

2005-07-01T13:56:00.000-04:00

Friend and colleage, Steven Werlin writes about his experiences.

LIFE GOES ON: PART 2
by Steven Werlin

Life goes on in the midst of the current difficulties in Haiti, for better and for worse. Last weekend, I got a heavy dose of the better and it seems worth sharing.

I spent most of the weekend at the Villa Ormiso. It’s a guesthouse run by conservative Protestant missionaries, here in Haiti to convert the masses. They would not normally be my cup of tea, but the guesthouse they run is valuable to us as a pleasant and accessible place where we can organize inexpensive meetings that last several days. Last weekend, more than forty of us gathered there for the fourth annual meeting of the Haitian Open Space Institute. I missed last year’s meeting, but had attended the others, so I was anxious to attend this year’s as well.

Open Space meetings are something special. They were designed around the notion that the most productive time that groups spend together is often the unscheduled time: the coffee breaks, the lunches, the unforeseen delays in otherwise tight agendas. Those are the times during which meeting participants talk with the people they want to talk with, and talk to them about the things that are important to them.

At an Open Space gathering, the participants create an agenda for the a meeting – ours was to be two-and-a-half days long – during its first few minutes. The agenda consists of a schedule of group discussions running parallel to one another on themes chosen by the participants who propose them. Each participant then chooses the small group discussions he or she wants to attend. The guiding principle is that you should not be part of anything you’re not interested in. The underlying assumption is that, given the freedom to do so, people will make good decisions about how to use their time.

For me, the most important thing about the structure of these meetings is that it allows me to find time to meet individually with various people I want to talk with. I find that I don’t often attend many of the scheduled conversations, but that I get a lot accomplished nonetheless, much more than I could accomplish if we were all following a carefully planned schedule.

I was especially grateful this year for the opportunity to meet with people on the edge of the meeting because I was actually able to attend rather little of it. Life goes on here in Haiti even as the political situation seems to spin into chaos, and that means work goes on as well. I had a busy schedule of meetings to attend in various places as the large Open Space meeting at the Villa Ormiso was going on.

We arrived at the Ormiso on Thursday afternoon. It’s located in Bizoton, a neighborhood on the road from Pòtoprens into Kafou, its overcrowded southern suburb. The opening ceremony was Thursday evening, and it was unforgettable. My partner Frémy used the meeting as the occasion to get married.

click here to continue: Life Goes on cont

JohnEngle.net
TheExperiment.info
john@johnengle.net

2005-05-16T14:28:00.000-04:00

THEY JUST DON'T KNOW ANY HUNGRY PEOPLE
(letter that announced Beyond Borders Spring 2005 newsletter)

It’s been a year since my wife and I left Haiti—where Merline had lived her entire life and I’d spent ten of the last fourteen years. Given the radical change, we’re frequently asked, “How’s the adjustment going?”

Recently my wife and I were running errands in Hershey, Pennsylvania, where we live now. The blue sky was beautiful behind rolling farmland. Taking all this in each morning as we drive through town provides an inspirational charge, something like a morning coffee buzz.

“I talked with Colette today,” Merline says. Now I feel a sudden heaviness. It’s always heavy when we talk about Colette, as it is when we discuss any of the dozen other close friends or family in Haiti with whom we’re in touch weekly via telephone or email. “She’s not too well. She’s hungry. She told me how she misses me. She remembers how I would always make sure she had a little something to eat every morning.”

“Is she still with her boyfriend?” I ask, hoping Colette has left the man who had been beating her.

“Yes. He pays for her school. She feels like she doesn’t have a choice.” Colette is twenty-three and hasn’t given up on trying to get a good education, though she wasn’t given much of a foundation; at fourteen she ran away from a home of persistent hunger and an abusive stepfather. But like two-thirds of Port-au-Prince, she is unemployed. And no school is free in Haiti. She’s way behind, now in the equivalent of 7th grade, which isn’t bad considering only one in four children completes primary school.

“I need to send her another check,” Merline says. “That would be good,” I say. The fifty dollars we send Colette from time to time is not insignificant to us; our expenses have tripled since leaving Haiti. But I know it will be a lifesaver for her.

A horn honks. “Look, there’s Jim and Deb!” We enthusiastically return waves to friends in the car across the intersection from us. The light turns and we pull out. How can we not notice their SUV, a model that sells for about $60,000? We can’t get over the how much money many Americans spend on fancy cars, children’s birthday parties, a night out, clothes… Merline’s words sum up what I’m feeling: “They’re good people. They just don’t know anyone who’s hungry.”

When Merline and I were living in Haiti, we sometimes felt our poor Haitian neighbors scrutinizing some of our purchases. At times I felt judged by this—but more often, I was grateful. It helped steer our money decisions. I know some folks feel judged by me (especially when I write letters like this). But we “haves” cannot escape history’s judgment for living amid unprecedented wealth while more than a billion people live in squalor.

If Merline and I lose our regular contact with people like Colette, we know we’ll be swept away by this materialistic culture. And I believe we’ll also lose a part of our humanity. We’ll lose the respect of our friends in Haiti, as well as some self-respect. We’ll find it harder to honor the image of God that is in every person, no matter their race or salary, citizenship or education level.

The theme of this newsletter is “honor and respect.” We exchanged these two words frequently with our neighbors in Haiti as a traditional Haitian greeting. Living up to these words in our relationships with our needier neighbors was always a challenge. The challenge is even greater now that we live so far away and are surrounded by such wealth. We’re grateful to be part of the Beyond Borders community, which helps us to keep our perspective and to continue our struggle to show all our neighbors—neighbors like Jim and Deb and Colette—the honor and respect they deserve as God’s children.

Thank you for being part of this community. We are so grateful for your generosity that makes possible the work highlighted in this newsletter. We also invite your gifts so that we can continue this work.

With honor and respect,

JohnEngle.info
TheExperiment.info
John@TheExperiment.info

The New Name Game

2005-03-30T16:52:00.000-05:00

Here's the invitation we're circulating
among our networks:

-----------------------------------------------

Will you help us find a new name?

No, Beyond Borders is not changing its name. But we do need a new name for
something important we are promoting in Haiti. Can you help us brainstorm?
It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, and it could be fun playing our
new name brainstorming game. If you give us the winning name you'll have the
satisfaction of knowing you are contributing to a really vital effort in
Haiti. The deadline for giving us your suggestions is next Wednesday, April
6. So, don't delay!

Click Here To Play The New Name Game

JohnEngle.info
TheExperiment.info
John@TheExperiment.info

2005-03-16T09:00:00.000-05:00

EXPERIMENTING IN LOCAL DEMOCRACY

It's been fun working with people in Lynchburg Virginia who are organizing a community wide series on the theme:

MOVING FROM CHARITY TO JUSTICE
addressing poverty in our community

The dates are March 31, April 1 & 2

I commend them for believing that leadership means engaging community members in dialogue about important issues. Toward this end, they've invited me to facilitate an Open Space meeting on Saturday April 2nd.

They're providing a wonderful example on how to invite the collective wisdom, talent and commitment of citizens--all types--toward improving their community.

Further info: Charity to Justice

At this link you'll find a 20 second radio spot
promoting the event.

Here's a link to a newspaper story about the event (Sunday, March 20)

Go Lynchburg! Thanks for your example!

JohnEngle.info
TheExperiment.info
John@TheExperiment.info

Faith/Works Global Gallery

2005-02-21T18:37:00.000-05:00

FAITH/WORKS GLOBAL GALLERY

My friends Jeff & Beth Rogers inspire me. They allow their convictions the liberty of leading them even when it means taking significant risks and making big sacrifices.

They left their life in the US and moved to Haiti with Beyond Borders several years ago. I had the good fortune of getting to know them as they decided to do some language learning with Haitian families in my neighborhood. Jeff stayed with neighbors Rosias and Chantal. Beth stayed with the Talamas family. There are no English speakers in these families. Moving in with a family who speaks a different language, in a setting where there is no running water and rarely electricity, in a community with an abundance of hungry people, is no easy task. Why would middle-age established Americans do something like this? You'll have to ask Jeff and Beth. They have an amazing story and I feel privileged to have crossed paths with them.

Since their return to the US, they've been up to something new. They've created Faith/Works Global Gallery, which brings beautiful handmade items from around the world into the homes of Americans. And in so doing, they are providing meaningful work to countless artists and crafts people, many of them Haitians. And if that's not enough, they're making it possible for nonprofit organizations they believe in to also benefit from this initiative. When you go to TheExperiment.info and click on the link to their site--you'll see it--The Experiment automatically receives 10% of your purchase.

Beth and Jeff, thank you! In addition to inspiring people like me, you help countless people who are desperately poor by providing them with meaningful work. And, you do it in a way that supports nonprofits that are cultivating social change. Hats off to you! Thank you for your example.

PLEASE, VISIT FAITH/WORKS GLOBAL GALLERY. GO TO TheExperiment.info CLICK ON THEIR LINK, SHOP AND BUY. YOU WILL BE PROVIDING TALENTED PEOPLE WHO ARE DESPERATELY POOR WITH MEANINGFUL WORK, AND 10% OF YOUR PURCHASES WILL BE CONTRIBUTED TO THE EXPERIMENT.

JohnEngle.info
TheExperiment.info
John@TheExperiment.info

What American Know-How Has To Learn

2004-12-10T13:11:00.000-05:00

WHAT AMERICAN KNOW-HOW HAS TO LEARN

How can Haitians and Americans work together to respond constructively to address the problems that face Haiti? Amid Haiti's great poverty and political strife, there is much work to be done. The country's problems are immense, complex, and intertwined. There are no easy solutions. But if well-intentioned Americans equipped with relevant know-how want to partner with our Haitian brothers and sisters working to better their country, we must first learn to listen.

For the past several years, the two of us have been involved in a variety of efforts to improve Haiti's educational system. John, an American, moved to Haiti in 1991 to serve as field director for a US-based nonprofit organization that was funding Haitian schools and literacy programs. He soon discovered that the authoritarian approach to education and leadership most popular in Haiti was largely failing to empower students to take responsibility for their learning. As John and his colleagues searched for alternative methods, he encountered Steven, an American university professor who had more than ten years experience in discussion-based education with Touchstones Discussion Project.
Read more

JohnEngle.info
TheExperiment.info
John@TheExperiment.info

2004-12-07T01:00:00.000-05:00

SCHOOLS ALIVE!

I just received a report from friend/colleague, Coleen Hedglin. She and colleagues, Jude Apollon, Samson Joseph and Ulrick Denis, have cooked up a very cool initiative called SCHOOLS ALIVE!

They are convening teachers, students and others interested in education in small open space gatherings all around Port-au-Prince on the theme:

“How can we achieve a type of teaching in the classroom which will produce non-violent, self-motivated, and eager learners?”

To read more, go to:

Schools Alive Second Open Space Meeting

JohnEngle.info
TheExperiment.info
John@TheExperiment.info

2004-11-14T16:11:00.000-05:00

Appreciating What is Good

My short seven-day trip to Haiti is almost finished. While this marks my third trip back since my wife, Merline, and I left on February 24, it’s her first time back. Merline, who is Haitian, and I have been celebrating reconnecting with members of her family. And, we’re enjoying reconnecting with neighbors and our three dogs and the beautiful area called Mariaman, which is located in the mountains about 7 miles south of Port-au-Prince and where I’ve lived for the eight years before leaving Haiti. In Haiti, we stay with dear friends, Kent and Shelly, who built a house on our one-third-acre wooded plot in Mariaman.

I’ve come for work reasons as well. Board and staff meetings and meetings to explore opportunities with colleagues and partners are squeezed into this week. I organized a two-half-day informal seminar on a method called Appreciative Inquiry, which I’ve begun using in my work with US-based organizations. My Haitian colleagues will determine, now that they’ve been introduced to the method and have had a mini experience with it, if and how they might wish to continue to experiment with it in the work they do with their respective groups.

There were nine of us during the two days, mostly Haitian men between the age of 27 and 35, all of who come from extremely poor families. Their level of formal education ranges from some university to several who have Bachelors’ degrees and one who has a masters degree. Their monthly earnings range between US$50 and US$1,000 with the average being roughly US$450. With the exception of one, who lives in Darbonne, which is 25 miles away, all live in poor neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince or within 5 miles from city limits. Heguel, who is currently unemployed and who normally lives in Cite Soleil, the slum plagued by gang warfare, is sleeping in different homes of friends each night with the hope that things will eventually calm down and he’ll return home. Or better, he’ll find work and have the means to rent a house in another neighborhood.

Merline and I didn’t know what to expect on this trip and tried to prepare for the instability and lack of security with plans to have her accompanied by a colleague wherever she would go. We would also avoid travel that was not absolutely necessary, etc. We’ve been pleasantly surprised to see tens of thousands of people going about their normal lives. True, each day various friends and family share stories of how they or someone close to them was robbed or nearly robbed. And, Heguel, shared how he witnessed a grizzly killing on a recent return to Cite Soleil. According to his account, the assassin shot and killed a man and his child on their way to church and then beheaded the man and ran away with the head.

In light of the country’s continued turmoil and her citizens wondering when they will have a stable government and improved economy, my colleagues and I discovered there are things to be thankful for and that will not likely make it to headline news in Haiti nor in the U.S. Here’s the list we came up with during the conclusion of our Appreciative Inquiry seminar:

1. A number of famous Haitian artists are spending time with gangs and encouraging them to make peace.
2. While Port-au-Prince and Haiti don’t have a fraction of the numbers of police necessary for a population of 2 million and 8 million respectively, there are countless neighborhoods and villages untouched by political and gang violence.
3. There are Human Rights organizations actively and effectively engaged in monitoring, reporting and denouncing abuses.
4. There is more dialogue among political parties now than there was six months ago.
5. The current government is implementing measures to make it much harder for government officials to steal government property.
6. Haitians from around the country came to the aid of their compatriots in extraordinary ways in the Gonaive area, which was devastated by flooding.
7. With the exception of Cite Soleil and Gonaive area, schools are functioning regularly. The fact that parents are comfortable sending their children off to school is a significant sign of trust.
8. Our colleague who stays in the office during the weekends (houses and offices are normally occupied by someone, even off hours) had a dispute with someone who came to the office two hours before our seminar started. He called the police to have the person removed from the premises. The police arrived within ten minutes of his call and effectively dealt with the situation.

JohnEngle.info
TheExperiment.info
John@TheExperiment.info

2004-10-14T11:40:00.000-04:00

Haitian Colleagues Reflect on Power and Leadership

Here are some of the nuggets of wisdom my Haitian colleagues have shared in recent weeks. I took them from our list serve (105 people) translating them from Haitian Creole to English.

The element that gives leadership force is the capacity to help individuals use their knowledge to help themselves and the collective as well.

This force becomes stronger than the traditional form of power, because it makes people feel responsible, which enables them to use their power and act on the responsibilities they’ve taken up for themselves.
Xavier Abelard

Leadership is the capacity in each of us to question ourselves: what scares me and what enables me to rise above my fears, overcome my bad habits and not be carried away by ego? We question and we grow into visionaries and discover our own self in all others. Others advance on their path to self-discovery when they encounter a person who has reached this level. They see that this person knows him or herself. They trust and listen when s/he speaks. A good leader acts and decides based on the good of the collective and is not driven by personal interests.

Power is the capacity in each of us to transform ourselves. The more we master our thoughts, words and deeds, the more we develop the capacity to transform ourselves.
Bayyinah Bello

You choose to use your power with respect or with arrogance. If you choose respect, respect brings forth relationships. Relationships bring forth knowledge. Knowledge brings forth Inner Power (non apparent) and reverence.

If you choose arrogance instead, arrogance brings forth separation. Separation brings forth ignorance. Ignorance brings forth fear. Fear brings forth more separation, along with lies and violence. Lies and violence bring forth outer power (apparent).

Leadership, in its essence, which is void of violence, rests on an Inner Power. This leadership needs not to be big in title, money, or arms. It knows its strengths and weaknesses, its rights and responsibilities, its territory and limits. Leadership knows where it starts and finishes. People who follow a person possessing such leadership don’t contest his/her power. On the contrary, they support and encourage him/her. The key word describing this type of leadership is respect.
Djalòki

Leadership is the power that a person develops in him/herself to serve well those around him/her. This power can convene people and get things done.
Prophete Charlotin

Leadership is the capacity to accompany others in helping them to discover and realize their dreams. A leader needs to serve and to know how to open space and create an environment of mutual respect.
Jude Appolon

JohnEngle.info
TheExperiment.info
John@TheExperiment.info

2004-10-12T09:00:00.000-04:00

Fellow CPTers are being attacked by Jewish Settlers.

HEBRON DISTRICT: Israeli settlers continue attacks on CPTers escorting Palestinian school children

CPTnet October 9, 2004
By Maia Williams

On Saturday, October 9, 2004 at around 3p.m., on the road from Tuba to Tuwani, eight Israeli settlers with wooden sticks and sling shots attacked CPTers Diana Zimmerman and Diane Janzen, an Operation Dove member (name withheld by request), one resident from Tuwani, two residents from Tuba, and two fieldworkers from Amnesty International, Donatella Rovera and Maartje Houbrechts. When the accompaniment team saw the settlers, dressed in blue jeans, t-shirts, and masks walking toward them they called the Israeli police immediately and began walking quickly away from the settlers. Three of the settlers with sling shots ran after the Palestinians hurling stones at them. The other five settlers attacked the accompaniment team....

URGENT ACTION:

Tell Israeli government to stop settler attacks on Palestinian schoolchildren, CPTers and other international accompaniers....

Learn more about what you can do Christian Peacemaker Teams

JohnEngle.info
TheExperiment.info
John@TheExperiment.info

2004-10-11T21:50:00.000-04:00

"Dialogue for Development"

While my Haitian and expatriat colleagues and I feel convinced that sustainable change in Haiti requires new approaches to leadership and new practices in how groups and communities work together, it's not an easy concept to explain to funders.

It can be discouraging when the very strategy that you've developed after years of listening, analysis, and experimentation makes little to no sense to many of the people funding your work.

Today I read Ramon Daubon's article, "Dialogue for Development" in the Kettering Review and am inspired. Mr. Daubon is VP of Programs at the reputable Inter American Foundation. He's held high posts in US Agency for International Development and the Ford Foundation. And, everything he's saying reinforces the lessons my colleagues and I have learned which have pointed us to initiating The Experiment in Alternative Leadership.

Daubon writes, "The sad truth is that in most community development processes the possibility of outside expert help--or worse, of outside funds--have annulled the need for a careful convening, a laborious discovery of the underlying concern, and a deliberative choice of direction. Paricipants have rushed instead to design a "fundable project" based on the perceptions of a few. This is why development assistance has failed."

Daubon also writes, "More than a methodology to manage conflictive situations, sustained dialogue is a way of thinking based on two fundamental insights: 1) Conflict is the manifestation of extreme dysfunctionality in relationships. The issue in conflict emerges from the destructive relationship; so, rather than dealing with the issue, "sustained dialogue" is designed to deal with the relationship, which once restructured will allow dealing with the issue. 2) The restructuring of relationships happens through sequences of recognizable phases, not sharply delineated but evanescing gradually from one to the next--movement along those phases being neither predetermined nor unidirectional. It doesn't take a great conceptual leap to see underdevelopment as dysfunctionality in communities and apply these same insights. All human groups are capable of bonding in intimate circles or trust, but these are limited to relatively small circles of people who know each other personally. To carry out broader exchanges and transact with strangers in other circles, even beyond one's own community, requires a mediating mechanism, a habitual practice, a covenant of acceptable behavior that operationalizes the relationship between strangers, perhaps what I have called above, "bridging social capital."

The practice of Open Space and Reflection Circles does exactly what Mr. Daubon states needs to happen.

JohnEngle.info
TheExperiment.info
John@TheExperiment.info

2004-10-08T08:15:00.000-04:00

Estimates of Haitians' Lives Lost Exceed 3,000

Here is a message I've received from a friend who just returned from flood zone:

Dear Friends of the Office of Social Advocacy,

Richard Turcotte, CEO of Catholic Charities, and I returned from our visit
to Haiti. While there, we met with the staff of Catholic Relief Services
in Port-au-Prince and presented them with an initial check for $10,000 to
support their emergency relief efforts. On Saturday I traveled with CRS to
the hardest-hit region of Gonaives, where we met with CRS and Caritas staff
and the Bishop of Gonaives. The stories of destruction and survival were
moving. The head of Caritas Gonaives spoke of how he personally spent the
day of the floods collecting bodies and delivering them to the local
morgue. By his own count he collected 96 bodies. The Bishop of Gonaives
is housing 250 people in his chancery office who are now homeless after the
floods. Thousands are dead and hundreds of thousands are now hungry and
homeless after losing their loved ones, the homes and their livelihoods to
the flood waters.

Cut and paste the link below into your internet explore or other browser
for a 3 minute streaming video update on our trip, including pictures we
took in Gonaives, comments from the Archbishop and his letter to President
Bush regarding the Haiti catastrophe. Most importantly, please share this
link with others.

http://www.miamiarch.org/video/media.cfm

Catholic Charities is committed to collecting as much as possible to
support the relief efforts of CRS and Caritas. With your help, we can make
a difference in the lives of people in Haiti now.

Thanks and God bless,
Brian

Brian Stevens
Director of Social Advocacy
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami
9401 Biscayne Blvd.
Miami Shores FL 33138
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2004-10-02T11:59:00.000-04:00

Good Leadership’s Use of Power

The Experiment in Alternative Leadership and John Engle Associates were created on the belief that all people can benefit from a more egalitarian approach to leadership.

While Lord Acton’s (1834-1902) words are commonplace in our society—Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely—our culture, like most, includes an unhealthy fascination toward obtaining power over others. Too often we seek to control the behavior of others over focusing our energy on mastering our own behavior.

A person possessing leadership qualities does well to develop clarity of purpose and allow this self-knowledge to appropriately align his/her behavior. S/he helps others to do the same. And, s/he uses the power, which she possesses over others to create structures and establish habits that help people to identify and engage their collective wisdom, talent and commitment.

Using Open Space, Reflection Circles, Lexio Divina, Appreciative Inquiry and other means, we help people in positions of authority to share their power in productive ways. Jesus modeled this approach to leadership, where respect for others and the act of serving guides our behavior.

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2004-09-24T12:20:00.000-04:00

I Just Don't Get It

Over the years, countless Haitians have asked me, "Why do Haitians have to suffer so?" "Is God punishing us?"

I find myself asking,

#1. Is it God?

#2. Is it corrupt leaders and the abuse of power at virtually every level of Haitian society?

#3. Is it discrimination and exploitation from non-Haitians, past and present?

When the second storm comes within the last six months and potentially claims 2,000 lives, one is tempted to point to #1. How could Haitians not interpret these storms as God imposed.

When we see the desperate condition of infrastructure, which gives way to so many people dying during a natural disaster and the inability of society to respond quickly and efficiently, I see how #2 is at play. Haitian society simply has not evolved to meet changing needs such as increased population. I blame a culture where leaders and people with any form of power over others behave as dictators for this.

And, when we see the way self-interest drives the world I point to #3. While just driving my wife to work, and passing through the Hershey upscale development which starts about 1/4 mile from our apartment, I learn on NPR that unidentified Haitian bodies are being loaded into dumptrucks and buried in mass graves. Tens of thousands don't have access to food nor clean drinking water. Experts anticipate the break out of epidemics. But, the U.S. government has allocated 2 million dollars for emergency relief. The combined value of the three houses that I drove past while hearing the report exceeds $2,000,000. Last week, when my Haitian colleagues Samson and Jude visited the U.S. for their first time, they were shocked to learn that families of 5 or 6 people lived in these 3,000-5,000 square foot monstrosities.

And, three centuries ago, France colonized Haiti and imported over a half a million Africans as slaves so that they (French) could live more comfortable, secure lives. We learn from history that the violence used by some 30,000 expatriates to maintain control of an estimated 500,000 -1,000,000 slaves is beyond belief: regular public torture and executions of the most demented kind. How could a population growing up in such terror not be effected?

God, I just don't get it. Fellow brothers and sisters, I just don't get it.

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2004-09-13T14:59:00.000-04:00

The Hershey Chronicle did a story last week about Merline and I moving to Hershey. Todd Thatcher did a great job at describing my work.

Hershey Chronicle Article about Merline and John Engle

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2004-08-11T16:30:00.000-04:00

I've been encouraged more than I expected during this past week in Haiti. People are out and about on major Port-au-Prince streets from 6 am into the night. My daily conversations with folks ranging from kids living on the street to an advisor for the provisional president to taxi drivers and professionals in Non-Governmental Organizations indicate that people are hopeful for the future, relieved that the impasse of January and February is behind us but also not convinced that the provisional government is going to pull things off.

One business owner who cashes checks for me, Nicolas, on a regular basis has been particularly optimistic. "There is now security, kidnappings have stopped, and we're hopeful that we're on the way to a better country." I just stopped by his business a half an hour ago and learned from his brother-in-law, that Nicolas' younger brother, owner of another business, was kidnapped last night.

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2004-07-19T08:50:00.000-04:00

FAITH - CERTAINTY ON WHAT WE HOPE FOR

the theme of Bart Campolo's message last Sunday plays over and over in my mind. 75 of us came together for the weekend as part of Mission Year Fest, 2004. i was invited to facilitate open space. Mission Year, started by Bart Campolo (son of speaker/author Tony Campolo) places college age people in the innercities--atlanta, chicago, oakland, philly--for one year so that they can work alongside local churches. it's a great organization with great people.

those present were alums--people who had participated in the one year program in one of the above-mentioned cities--as well as Mission Year staff and several friends. mission year is a profound experience for all who participate. how can it be anything but this? kids who grew up in suburbia go live in an apartment with four to six other mission year volunteers in communities plagued with poverty, violence, crime and substance abuse. more often than not, the pillars of their belief systems are shaken. they find themselves asking questions that i've been asking ever since i moved to haiti in 1991, "how can there be a loving god with so much suffering? what is life all about? how can i ever enjoy life's blessings when i'm so acutely aware of extreme suffering of innocent people who have become my friends?" i discovered during the weekend that christians in mission year, like me, wonder if we have faith. bart ministered to us, beautifully articulating a message that helped us re-think faith.

over the years, people ask me if i have hope for haiti, or for the israel/palestinian conflict, (i make yearly visits to the middle east as a reservist with Christian Peacemaker Teams. after years of trying, i've finally discovered a way to respond: "i don't expect profound change to happen quickly or even in my lifetime. i do hope for change and sincerely believe that my colleagues and my efforts to spread open space and reflection circle methods will lead to less suffering." if i have more time, i might add something like, "these methods cultivate peace and self-determination. without changing cultural norms around leadership and authority, there can be no peace. as long as society tolerates and even encourages the abuse of power, there will always be an abundance of extreme suffering."

my wife, merline, and i recently moved to hershey, pennsylvania. the new 2,800 square foot house we're 'sitting' for two weeks is much different than the 200 square foot house three of us shared in haiti. the abundance in every direction is overwhelming. yet regular telephone calls from friends and family in haiti are constant reminders that hershey and places like it are islands in a world of need and suffering.

bart, i know what i hope for: a world where all children have enough to eat, an opportunity to learn and develop their minds, a place where they are safe and not in threat of violence and abuse. a world where every person has the opportunity for a life befitting of his/her dignity. this is what i hope for. i have faith, tons of it. thanks again, bart.

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2004-06-23T10:13:00.000-04:00

HAITIANS EMBRACING PEACE

my haitian colleagues held the third annual haitian OSonOS (Open Space on Open Space) this past weekend, convening 46 people over two and a half days on the theme "embracing peace." this was the first year that i was absent. thus, i'm reading from the 16 reports which folks have already placed on wiki.

what excites me the most is that three practitioners (some of you know fremy who is a ring leader:)) initiated the creation of open space institute (OSI), Haiti and took on the organization of this regional OSonOS as the institute's first project. while i'm not a founding member of the OSI haiti, and do not plan to be on the board, colleagues have asked me to share what i know about OSI's in other countries. thus, you who are involved in an OSI and who are sharing of your work are having an impact on haiti. thank you!

fremy cesar, jude apollon and samson joseph convened a session on OSI Haiti and invited others to become involved.

one participant of the gathering just posted a message on the haitian creole listserve (about 100 people on this list serve):

Dear colleagues,

I want to share my story with Open Space. This is a great method. It makes my work easier and puts people at ease so that they can address things in as much or little detail as they wish to. OS helps us learn to be better listeners and to ask better questions.

This method brings me great satisfaction and helps me to know when to enter into a conversation and when to avoid a conversation. I'm learning how to better manage myself and to take responsibility for that which I undertake.

Gerald

also, i received these generous words from friend/colleague, Kent Annan, who was present:

The Open Space meeting went really well. You should be proud. It ran as
smoothly as if you were there--but they didn't need you, which is, I think, a huge compliment to you. Fremy did a great job organizing. The discussions were
interesting. We introduced Refleksyon Bib la (Living Words) to some more people and had a few invitations from people to come and do seminars. In short, you
should be encouraged that you've equipped people with a tool--and they're fully capable.

One thing that I thought was cool, too, was that at the "gwo wonn" (closing circle) on Saturday night, they initiated telling "blags" (jokes & funny stories). People told blags for about forty-five minutes; everyone was laughing, and it felt like Open Space was adapting to the Haitian context!
Bon kouraj and chapo ba (have good strength and hats off to you).

Kent

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2004-06-06T09:58:00.000-04:00

Bottom-up Development

I recently received a report from my colleague, Fremy Cesar, who is a skilled practitioner of Open Space and Reflection Circles. He coordinated a three-day training of nine Haitians who wished to learn the CLE (Concentrated Learning Encounter) method for teaching literacy. While everyone—adults and children—possess the right to learn to read and write and thus we’re encouraged whenever and however literacy happens, my heart sings when I learn how Fremy and his colleagues organized this seminar.

It started because a number of people in Fremy’s village wanted to do something about literacy, yet lacked skills. They contacted Fremy because they knew he was an effective organizer with lots of contacts. Fremy recruited three friends from Port-au- Prince who are skilled in the CLE method to come and do the training. He got permission to hold the training in the local school when class was not in session. Rotalpah, the literacy initiative of Rotary Clubs of Haiti was delighted to supply books and materials. The cost of breakfast and lunches for all involved during the three days was covered by Fremy’s friend in California.

Voila, an important community initiative is conceived and carried out by local people, which is business as usual for our network of Open Space and Reflection Circle practitioners. Those who learned the CLE method are now teaching people to read and write. They are integrating Reflection Circles and Open Space into their curriculem as well.

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2004-06-02T09:31:00.000-04:00

Today's Sorrows and Opportunities

I just typed these words to my friend who is a journalist in Haiti (Wozo Productions) when she shared of Haiti's most recent calamity:

"we seek to make sense of life's suffering.

my friend's 20 year old daughter hung herself yesterday. another dear friend/cousin who i was with this past weekend has a 24 year old daughter who is addicted to crack, has two kids and her life is falling to pieces. the kids are now living with him.

another close friend deals with alcoholism and has just been diagnosed with cancer.

yes, to push on, focusing on that which brings life and to acknowledge that there's so much we don't understand.

to find peace in the midst of it all, to radiate it and sow love while we work hard for justice, this is our task. may we draw strength, one from another."

We all are touched by deep suffering either directly or through a loved one.

I'm drawing strength from loved ones around me, from examples of courage and determination, and from ideas and initiatives that can make our world more loving. We need institutions and cultural habits that help us meet more effectively the challenges we're confronting.

I spoke with Rachel, a friend since childhood, last night, who's confronting violence and intense conflict in the Philadelphia schools. "People need to learn to talk to one another in constructive ways. We need to help people find tools to deal with conflict and anger and grief." Rachel and I will meet next week to explore ways we can collaborate to Open Space for dialogue and collaborative community efforts toward improving education in these inner cities.

Last week during the monthly conference call of Open Space Institute's Board, Kerry Napuk of Scottland, (OpenFutures) declared, "What we're talking about is participatory democracy. Open Space is a way to cultivate this and we need to be creating opportunities for institutions and communities, whether they have budgets or not, to experience Open Space."

Yesterday I met with Joe Peiffer and learned how he's using his skills to help nonprofit organizations get better at doing good by strengthening their board of directors. Learn more at DiscountLearning

Each one of us has a role to play in fostering healing in a world which is ill. How very fortunate I am to be surrounded by people who are making extraordinary contributions.

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2004-05-16T18:15:00.000-04:00

Adapting to The Reality
John Engle
May 13, 2004

“I’m hopeful because my work is bearing fruit,” shared my close colleague Samson, when I asked how things were going for him. I’ve just returned to Haiti after leaving abruptly two and a half months ago.

“If you go to Madam Evelyn’s classroom on any Thursday between 10:00 and 11:00 am, you will find her sitting in a circle with all her students doing a Reflection Circle. She is among more than a dozen teachers who completed my training program last December and who are doing weekly Reflection Circles.” Samson’s radiant enthusiasm was an oasis for me. He goes on, sharing with me highlights of a recent training of literacy instructors and details of groups he’s helping to become more vibrant using the open space method.

I’m still adjusting from Washington, D.C.’s cosmopolitan scenery—beautiful buildings, flashy cars, sheik human beings—to the landscape here in Port au Prince: garbage piled in streets, junkyard looking vehicles transporting people packed like sardines, children in rags begging. I recall my friend, years ago, articulating her feelings during her first visit to Haiti, “Port au Prince is an assault to my senses.” It feels much worse now than how I remember it then.

Somehow, Samson’s smile with the twinkle in his eyes is as beautiful as ever. Even as I’m drawing energy from it, a seriousness comes over him. He has something else to share. “The challenge before me is to have my documents and identification restored. It’s going to cost me 7000 gourds (US$200) assuming that bribes and charges are within reason. Its hard to estimate how much time it will take given the government’s state of disorder.” Samson had been robbed at gunpoint three days earlier.

Two thieves got away with about US$100, three cell phones, some personal items including his ID and other important documents. The sting of his loss is intensified given that his work contract—a couple hundred dollars per month--ended less than a week ago and that it could be another month or more before he is able to secure a new contract.

The ache I’m feeling for my friend is showing. Samson doesn’t want me to be sad. It’s as though he flips a switch. His beautiful smile returns. Once again he’s radiating energy and determination. He’s not going to let us wallow in his misfortune. He wants me to be reassured and declares, “One must adapt to the reality.”

View 'Haiti: the eroding nation'

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2004-03-16T16:55:00.000-05:00

I would like to invite you to an Open Space event in Washington D.C. April 30 & May 1, 2004. Click here for the invitation: Do-Gooders Exchange: How can we do a better job?

My wife, Merline, and I are now in the U.S. Click here to learn more about the evolution of my work: Update letter for people supportering The Experiment

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2004-03-06T10:10:00.000-05:00

The "expert opinions" are pouring from articles and interviews regarding Haiti. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these "experts" live in the U.S. and don't seem to be all that concerned with voices from Haitian grassroots sector.

These days I am receiving a multitude of statements from organizations in Haiti, written in Haitian Creole and/or French. Most of what I am receiving speaks out against Aristide and also against a foreign occupation.

Here are two recent articles-in English-written by American colleagues of mine who LIVE in Haiti. They offer important insights.

"U.S. Soldiers' Boots Follow Footprints From the Past" by Jane Regan

"Haiti Crisis: Beyond The Headlines" by Kent Annan and Shelly Satran

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2004-03-04T08:24:00.000-05:00

I am distraught by all the manupulation happening around Haiti's crisis. Aristide's claim that he was "kidnapped" necessitates a full investigation. We all need to know what really happened at his home during the hours leading up to his departure. While I personally doubt the validity of his claim and feel that he is, yet again, acting on self-interest and not on the interest of Haiti, the investigation needs to take place.

The issue of Aristide's claim of being kidnapped aside, there are pressing issues in Port-au-Prince as armed factions struggle for power. These deserve our attention. For more, go to Eyes On Haiti

It has been clear to me, based on statements from a wide range of grassroots and non-governmental organizations, and on my knowledge of repression of peaceful opposition, that Aristide needed to go. There has been widespread corruption in his government along with clear violations of human rights. Mechanism which could have lead to his removal democratically simply did not exist.

The fact that members of U.S. congress defending Aristide seem relatively uninterested in the voices of legitimate grassroots organizations and leaders of Haitian institutions such as the Haitian State University, is disgraceful. This needs to be questioned. I am curious as to why, when these members are demanding investigations of the U.S. role in Aristide's leaving Haiti, they are not also requesting investigations into the multitude of allegations from reliable sources, of Aristide's implication in drug trafficing and assisinations of people opposing him.

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2004-03-01T11:13:00.000-05:00

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE
1 March 2004

Haiti: Lessons must be learned from past mistakes

Only by learning from the mistakes of the multinational intervention of 10 in years ago can the international community effectively protect human rights in Haiti today, Amnesty International said, calling on the UN Security Council to heed five key human rights lessons from the 1994 multinational intervention in Haiti and its aftermath as the Multinational Interim Force is deployed.

The UN Security Council has mandated the force to assist Haitian security forces "to establish and maintain public safety and law and order and to promote and protect human rights". Significantly, the resolution also states that "there will be individual accountability and no impunity for violators." On the basis of these commitments, Amnesty International urgently calls for the following:

1. that the Multinational Interim Force (MIF) commit to ensuring the disarmament of both the rebel forces and the pro-Aristide militias. The failure to disarm the disbanded Haitian military and paramilitary in 1994 has been one of the root causes of ongoing political violence in Haiti.

for more, go to Amnesty International Press Release on Haiti

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2004-03-01T10:06:00.000-05:00

I support Grassroots International recommendations.

Sunday, February 29, 2004
Aristide Leaves...The Challenges Mount
Jean-Bertrand Aristide is no longer the issue in Haiti. Under intense international pressure and threat of a rebel attack on the capital, Aristide left Haiti today. While many will celebrate his departure, the failure of the Aristide experiment cannot be cause for celebration for any supporter of the Haitian people. There will be ample time to debate his legacy, but now is not that time.

To read more Grassroots International: Aristide Leaves...The Challenge Mounts

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2004-02-28T17:04:00.000-05:00

I invite you to read PAX CHRISTI USA STATEMENT ON HAITI and to consider taking actions which they have proposed.

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2004-02-26T21:16:00.000-05:00

My wife and I and our friends, Kent and Shelly, left Haiti on Tuesday afternoon. We decided to do so on Monday afternoon as we were hearing an increasing number of reports about chime (pronounced sheemair) setting up roadblocks in Port-au-Prince and steeling cars and looting. We knew that American Airlines, the primary airlines for flying to and from the U.S., would likely suspend service at some point.

I feel relief that we are not in Haiti right now. We are mourning for our Haitian friends and Haitians in general as they receive yet another blow: a terrible economy that continues to spiral downward as a result of this conflict, the political uncertainty and increased insecurity, discouragement because of being let down by people who you trusted to help you...

Yesterday, Kathy Kern with Christian Peacemaker Teams, who lived in Haiti during the coup years in 1993-94, telephoned me. Below is the article she wrote for Mennonite Weekly Review, a national Mennonite newspaper based in Newton, Kansas:

By the time this column appears, the government of Jean Bertrand Aristide may have fallen. In 1993 and 1994, I served with CPT in Haiti and remember the disinformation campaign the CIA propagated against Aristide, accusing him of mental illness and the advocacy of violence. I remember anti-Aristide journalists and congresspeople magnifying the violence of Aristide supporters while playing down the exponentially greater body-count racked up by the leaders of the coup that deposed Aristide in 1991. I remember the armed paramilitaries of the coup regime swaggering through the streets of Jeremie, where I was stationed, casually dispensing death threats. I remember of the joy on the faces of Haitians I knew when Aristide finally returned, on a U.S. helicopter, to Haiti.

Currently, I am having difficulty knowing what to think about Aristide as I watch news reports of the carnage in northern Haiti. I have been reading wildly irreconcilable analyses about his leadership written by journalists and representatives of organizations working in Haiti that I respect.

On February 25, after weeks of effort, I was finally able to contact John Engle, a CPT reservist who recently returned to the States from his home in rural Haiti. Engle lives in poor community but also has many connections to Haitian intellectuals and bourgeoisie who were once ardent Aristide supporters. Both poor and affluent former supporters say that Aristide must resign, because his government has become hopelessly corrupt, according to Engle.

He cites Camille Chalmers as an example. Chalmers served as Aristide's chief of staff from 1993-1994 while Aristide was in exile, and resigned when Aristide agreed to comply with the development mandates of international donors. He then became the executive secretary of PAPDA, an organization that advocates development policies that will not further impoverish Haiti's people. Engle sent me a draft of PAPDA's statement calling for Aristide's immediate resignation. The statement further stipulates that a new provisional government must make a complete break with the current corrupt system and its enslavement to international monetary interests, and that the change should not occur with the help of foreign militaries.

When I asked Engle about whether U.S. pressure on Aristide to put the Haitian economy in the hands of private corporations might have transformed him from a populist to an authoritarian ruler, he agreed that the economic pressures compromised Aristide. But Engle also believes that some U.S. progressives are too quick to absolve Aristide of his anti-democratic actions by blaming them on the mandates of globalization and a racist U.S. foreign policy.

I told Engle that removing a democratically-elected president through non-democratic means does not seem to bode well for Haiti. He said that since a new parliament has not replaced the one that has expired and since Aristide's forces have put the press under attack, the necessary structures for removing him democratically do not exist. However, he made a clear distinction between progressive Haitians who are calling for Aristide's resignation through nonviolent means, e.g., strikes and boycotts, and the paramilitaries that are currently conducting murderous rampages in the north of the country.

After speaking with Engle and reading his weblog (http://JohnEngle.blogspot.com ) I am uneasy. He freely admitted that other people I know and respect in Haiti might give me a different perspective on Aristide and recent events. I still think it can't be good that the armed factions of Aristide's opposition include army and paramilitary officials known for their past brutality. It can't be good that Otto Reich at the National Security Council and Robert Noriega at the U.S. State Department‹both involved in efforts to destabilize the Nicaraguan government in the 1980s are directing current Haiti policy.

More than uneasiness, though, I feel grief for the Haitians I knew in 1994 who longed for a democratic government. They deserved better than what they got.

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2004-02-20T15:04:00.000-05:00

While many Americans have left Haiti, there are many who are still here. My colleagues and I feel relatively safe. We know the situation is ever so fragile, our biggest concern being the breakdown of civil society: poor and hungry people take advantage of the chaos to steal, kidnap, etc.

My wife, Merline, and I are scheduled to come to the U.S. on March 15 to live for the indefinite future. It has been our plan for more than a year to move to the U.S. during March or April. I will continue to promote Open Space and Reflection Circles in Haiti part time, spending three months a year (cummulative) in Haiti and investing considerable amounts of time in the U.S. raising funds to support our work. Merline will pursue her dream of being a nurse.

I was in Haiti during the coup d'etat in 1991 when an estimated 500 civilians were killed in one day in Port au Prince. The horrific violence that U.S. viewers might be seeing on the television is about a three to four hour drive away from Port au Prince. While the rebels are threatening to come to the capital, we don't anticipate this anytime soon.

The conflict is incredibly complex. The rebels for the most part, are baddies. In my opinion, Aristide and his regime are also baddies. True, he was democratically elected twice and I had hope like millions others that he was going to bring about vast improvements. The reality is that he has not and that his government is very corrupt. And, unfortunately, there is not the necessary structures in place to impeach him.

The legitimate opposition, who are not aligned with the armed rebels, is committed to using peaceful means to push Aristide to resign: demonstrations, strikes, boycotts, etc. There are a lot of good people in the opposition but, they do not have significant support from the grassroots sector.

And, in the midst of all the uncertainty and strife, my Haitian colleagues who practice Open Space and Reflection Circles push onward. Yesterday I received an invitation from Fremy Cesar and several other colleagues for an Open Space meeting March 15 on: Creating a Haiti Open Space Institute: challenges and opportunities.

In terms of the situation here, to get a balanced perspective, click here
Friend and colleague Steven Werlin's Haiti political analysis

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2004-02-10T15:33:00.000-05:00

I'm receiving lots of emails these days from caring friends and family.

My wife, Merline, and I, and our friends and colleagues are well. We are very aware of the terrible things that are happening in different pockets of the country. But, the impact this is having on our lives is still relatively minimal. There have been a number of moments during my ten years in Haiti when my personal security felt much more in jeopardy. The violence that folks from around the world are hearing about is a distant grief for us--deep grief. We are aware of how fragile things are and that the relative stability in Port-au-Prince could take a change for the worse.

Yesterday, I received these words from my good friend, an American journalist and film-maker, who has been in Haiti for about as long as I have:

"Hi John - I have been thinking about your work and our movie as I
witness horrific things. Burning and dismembering, etc."

To learn more about their work and reporting, go to wozoproductions.org

Jane and her Haitian colleague Daniel are creating a 20 minute documentary about our experience in Haiti with Open Space and Reflection Circles. On countless occasions she's shared with me--throughout the past year and a half--that working on this documentary nourishes and inspires her. I can't imagine being a journalist in places like Haiti, Palestine, Colombia...

Merline and I witness daily the violence of grinding poverty: hungry people on one's path, children living on the streets, people who are seriously ill but have no money for treatment or pain relievers, the majority of the population living from hand to mouth. The violence that is making the news right now stems from the grinding violence of poverty, which rarely make the news.

And, in the midst of it all, our lives are full with friends and rich moments. The construction of Kent and Shelly's house was recently completed. Our neighbor Rosias, oversaw the construction of a simple, well-built house on Merline's and my land. We decided it was a moment to celebrate: fried plantain covered with picklees (spicy coleslaw), chicken, rice and beans, cake, wine, rhum punch, soda and beer...not to mention chocolate cake. We sang and danced and pretended to be possessed by 'lwa' spirits, and then to be converted and possessed by the holy spirit. The jokes and laughter flowed as freely as the wine.

There is a time to be sad. There is a time to be joyful.

Pictures of
celebrating Kent and Shelly's new home

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2004-01-16T15:55:00.000-05:00

Not the Democracy for which we prayed and fasted

I’m struggling right now to be positive. Haiti’s political juncture discourages me. In particular, I am disgusted and infuriated by crimes of the chime--poor men paid and armed by President Aristide’s government to intimidate outspoken non-Aristide supporters--and this structure of chime, which President Aristide created and which, by convincing accounts, he continues to nourish.

I remember the joyous optimism back in 1990/91 when 67% of voters elected Jean Bertrand Aristide to be their president. He represented the hope of the people for all that is good: economic improvement, justice, opportunity for those willing to work instead of just those born into the right families, etc. For the first time in Haiti’s history, Haitians felt that they had a leader committed to the betterment of the masses, not just to enriching a few. Then, there was a major setback to democracy when forces opposing the social change President Aristide pushed for, ousted him in a violent coup d’etat less than eight months after his inauguration.

From September 30, 1991 until October 15, 1994 the military and those from whom they received their orders terrorized Haiti’s civilian population and exploited every opportunity to further enrich themselves. Trafficking drugs between Colombia and the U.S. was among their core activities

But the cries and prayers of the people were heard. With the support of 20,000 American troops, President Jean Bertrand Aristide returned to Haiti on October 15, 1994 to finish his mandate. People in Beyond Borders network were among those who worked hard during those dark days for democracy to be restored. More than 2,500 of you fasted and prayed each month with faith that truth and justice would win out, and that those who stole power would be obliged to return it to the democratically elected president.

Now, once again, we’re watching power being abused. Last week my colleague, Michlet, was downtown Port-au-Prince and unable to find public transportation back to our office due to political unrest. Those calling for President Aristide’s resignation were demonstrating and Aristide supporters were terrorizing. Not having any other option, Michlet walked the 5 miles to our office. He recounted to us his experience, shaking his head with disbelief; “There were armed men and women—chime--right and left throughout the streets of Port-au-Prince. They stopped me and other passersby at gunpoint asking, ‘What party are you for?’ They told us we’d be as good as dead if we were have to said we oppose the president.”

Our dear friend Job, a university student, was much less fortunate. The very next day, he loaded a bus along with his colleagues just outside the university. Within 10 minutes of taking off, the bus was forced to a stop and surrounded by heavily armed men—chimè, reportedly--from two cars. They fired into the air and ordered the students out of the bus and to leave all their belongings on board. They frisked all them taking personal items of value. One of the thieves punched the face several times of the one student who protested. Before loading back into their cars and also taking off with the bus itself, thieves ordered the students to raise their opened hands (showing 5 fingers) and chant, “Five years, Five years, Five years,” signifying that Aristide is finishing his 5 year term. Frequently, this chanting of “Five years” is sprinkled with words like, “Ten Years” of “For Life.”

According to the Aristide Administration, the opposition is far from innocent, which likely contains at least some truth. The general sense among the many and diverse networks in which I circulate is that the Aristide Administration has become totally corrupt and that Aristide is not unlike previous dictators in his pursuit of power.

My colleagues and I work under the assumption that the practice of Open Space and Reflection Circles are two very concrete ways to help people better understand power--its danger to do harm and its capacity to do good—and to use this understanding to do good.

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2004-01-02T13:25:00.000-05:00

Honoring, More than Celebrating
by John Engle

January 1, 2004, marked 200 years since Haiti gained its independence. On that day, half-a-dozen Haitian friends gathered with my wife and me around the table on our back porch to celebrate while eating the traditional Independence Day meal of pumpkin soup. (Before independence, French colonists obliged slaves to make it for them, but forbid them from eating it. Since then pumpkin soup has come to symbolize freedom.)

Earlier that day, when we had electricity, we heard news on the radio that violence broke out at several of the many independence celebrations, a result of the increasingly intense clash between the government and opposition groups. Our little two-room house is situated in the mountains just four miles from Port-au-Prince. Our sense of peace in this tropical beauty, under the umbrella of trees in our rural neighborhood, feels fragile. We’re aware that the chief of state and others wielding power are prepared for “civil war,” at least in word.

None of us felt compelled to join the demonstrations today, yet we each know people who are. An underlying tension and sadness accompanied our enjoyment of soup and the fellowship of friends. Jean Louis, 46, who lives up the trail, summarized the thoughts of many when he said, “For me, liberty means being free to do what you want, to say what you want, and to live in peace. Today has monumental importance because it’s the day that marks slaves winning their independence from the French colonists. But the reality is, we don’t have liberty. We can’t freely express ourselves in public. If we criticize the current government while riding in a bus and the wrong person hears us, our lives could be in danger. Furthermore, to live in peace, one needs to have enough to eat. Countless Haitians are hungry. While eating pumpkin soup symbolizes freedom, there are so many Haitians who are not eating it because they don’t have money to buy the ingredients. Better we say that today we’re honoring Louverture, Dessaline, and all the soldiers who invested their lives for freedom. We aren’t yet celebrating, because the liberty we long for is not yet here.”

JohnEngle.info
TheExperiment.info
john@theexperiment.info

2003-12-31T16:21:00.000-05:00

I receive weekly stories via email from Rich Foss with Evergreen Leaders. They are always good but I found this one particularly meaningful. If you wish to be added to Rich's list, you can reach him at: richfoss@plowcreek.org

Brutal reality

After the shuttle Colombia was launched last January several engineers in the lower levels of NASA suspected that the shuttle had been badly damaged by a piece of foam during lift off.

But they couldn’t be sure because bits of foam had broken off during other launches without severely damaging the other shuttles.

They didn’t think they could get a damage assessment through NASA’s leadership channels so they went backdoor to ask the Department of Defense to use their satellite or ground cameras to look for damage on the shuttle’s left wing.

Defense agreed with the request but before they could complete the task one of NASA’s leaders discovered the engineers request and cancelled it without fully understanding the fears that led the engineers to make the backdoor request.

No one knew the foam, when it hit the left wing at 500 mph, had knocked a hole in the membrane. During the re-entry the hole grew, destroying the shuttle, and killing all seven astronauts.

During the subsequent investigation an investigator asked the leader who had cancelled the engineers’ request to the Department of Defense, “As a manager, how do you seek out dissenting opinions?”

According to him she answered, “Well, when I hear about them…”

“But Linda, what techniques do you use to get them?”

According to an Atlantic Monthly article by William Langewiesche*the manager had no answer.

It’s human nature not to want to hear bad news. ...(Rich's story continues)

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John Engle: john@theexperiment.info

2003-12-15T12:16:00.000-05:00

The Practice of Peace Gathering
Whidbey Island, Washington

Here's an article from New Times about the Practice of Peace event that my wife and I participated in last month along with Haitian colleagues Fremy Cesar and Ulrick Denis.

--------------------------

The conference started in earnest on a recent Monday morning at the Whidbey Institute in Clinton. Many participants took the ferry over from Mukilteo while others went many journey legs beyond that. There were representatives from Burundi, Haiti, Israel, Palestinian territories, Kashmir and Colombia.

They were gathered to discuss "the practice of peace," a term that embraces learning peacemaking lessons and applying them to any country, region, town or neighborhood. The conference proceedings can be reviewed at practiceofpeace.com

"What’s amazing is how similar the stories can be," says Mary Ella Keblusek, one of the conference organizers and a member of the Spirited Work group at Whidbey Institute (check out spiritedwork.org). "People feel more understood when they share their successes and frustrations with peace movements."

The 100-plus participants used "open space technology" to effectively design their own three-day conference. It is a self-organizing practice that invites people into a circle and encourages them to take responsibility for covering topics that matter most to them.

By mid-morning Monday, the conference "agenda" was posted on the meeting room walls on handwritten sheets. People volunteered to host sessions. For instance, on Tuesday at 3 p.m. people chose between such group participation as "Weaving a Light-Net for Heavy Grief to Run Through" or "Dancing, Singing and Breathing for Peace" or "Stories for Peace: Reclaiming the Media to Tell Them."

The singing group stood in a circle, harmonizing without any help of music or song sheets.

"Listen inside yourself," said the leader. "You will know what sound to make."

Within seconds, the 13 singers produced a wonderful piece of spontaneous music, complete with a lead voice (people effortlessly exchanged lead and backup roles), chants and a choo-choo sort of whisper.

The walls of the meeting room had provocative placards: "The Law of Two Feet: Motion and Responsibility"; "Whatever happens is the only that
could happen"; "Be prepared to be surprised"; Whoever comes is the right person"; "When it’s over, it’s over."

In the Whidbey’s Institute newly restored farmhouse, 15 people were discussing the media. One woman explained she was losing faith in peace protests.

"First, they are not covered," said the woman. "Second, the protests don’t change people’s minds. Third, it doesn’t change politicians minds; millions of people protested before [U.S. armed forces entered Iraq] and it didn’t matter."

Another woman who lives on Whidbey Island responded. She and a few friends just recently renewed their peace protest at a local park-and-ride facility. They hold "honk for peace" signs.

"There were about 40 of us doing it before Iraq last year," said the woman. "Only three of us were left last fall. We all went on trips and it stopped. I decided to start again because I want to look people in the
eyes and show them I care about peace in this world. I still want to be seen and counted."

As it turns out, the woman says she "thinks at least Whidbey Island is against our involvement in Iraq" if car horn honking is any indicator.

The woman finished her thoughts: "You never know what effect you might have on people."

Those are good words to keep in mind this month as we anticipate the holidays. We can make a difference...

Website: theexperiment.info
Our collectively created wiki website: eksperyansla.info
John Engle: john@theexperiment.info

2003-11-27T16:01:00.000-05:00

Out beyond the ideas of right doing and wrongdoing is a field. I will meet you there.
Rumi

November 25, 2003
Hebron

I am practicing peace in the West Bank.

Israeli soldiers circulated on the streets of Hebron today requesting IDs of young to middle-age Palestinian men. This is business as usual. At about noon, they had 21 Palestinians in civilian clothes standing up against the wall for over an hour while they researched their IDs.

They told us they were looking for terrorists.

I grieved, imagining myself in the shoes of people on both sides. The soldiers, in addition to feeling their own safety threatened, fear for their families who live on edge anticipating the horror of the next suicide bomber. The Palestinians, most of whom are innocent, live in a humiliating captivity, and are subject to terrible violence as well.

Eventually, the Israeli soldiers motioned the Palestinian men, one by one, to collect their IDs and be on their way. Two Palestinians remained. Soldiers handcuffed and blindfolded them, and then loaded them into the back of their jeep and took them away.

An elderly Palestinian man, like many others passing by, stopped to observe. His sadness was evident when he said to me. “We’re stuck. Our problem is going on and on. It is not good for the Palestinians, nor is it good for the Israelis. I grew up here in Hebron hearing my grandfather tell and retell the story of receiving 27 gifts from different Jewish Israeli friends when he married. It has not always been the way it is now.”

Together, we stood there holding the space for peace. There was no anger, just longing for the possibility of reconciliation. His story captured my imagination. “That is the prize,” I thought to myself. “May we stay focused on the prize - nurturing respectful coexistence - and not grow weary in the process.”

I am here with CPT (www.cpt.org), supporting the long-term team of peacekeepers. In addition, I am re-connecting and learning from friends native to this region, who, like me, use the Open Space method with groups to cultivate peace and self-determination.

Peace starts with each one of us. May we hold space for peace, longing for reconciliation, imagining and staying focused on the prize of nurturing respectful co-existence.

Website: theexperiment.info
Our collectively created wiki website: eksperyansla.info
John Engle: john@theexperiment.info