Hi dearest friends,
Gas and I just came back from Papua New Guinea (PNG). We had an amazing stay there...
We visited 5 provinces (in mountains, coast and even small island east from Sydney)in 3 week (pfff it was intense). To have a good idea of what's happening there, you can have a look at some of these videos that I made :-)
Facilitators are personally transformed
Young people address their vulnerabilities
People now openly discuss the HIV issue
Leaders support our process and want to scale up the approach
We really connected as human beings with all of these communities. We talked about life, dreams and challenges they face. People in settlements (a bit like slums) have a very though life... unemployment, drug, alcohol, domestic violence, rape... all these issues came up... It's crazy how people open up if you are really present, listening, not judging them.
In Goroka, the team is composed of former criminal and gang members (see video of Kasure). They are personally transformed through the experience, amazing!I felt like I had 10 big brothers for 3 days, it was nice.
I really saw again that the Constellation's approach works. Creating a discussion and mutual understanding in the community, families and couples, is ESSENTIAL. Of course, if a woman is afraid to propose to use a condom or to do the HIV test because she'll get beaten up by her husband (who went out to drink with his friends and see sex workers) then HIV will spread. And I've seen more than one injured woman during this trip... All these women AND men are human beings. And we should never forget that. They have strengths and capacity to change their own life.
I'm thinking of you.
Je pense fort à vous, vous me manquez très fort.
Groetjes aan Gaston's lieve familie en vrienden :-)
Laurence
