FIFTH AVP INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

        A Scot's (AVP-Britain) View
        Who Becomes a Facilitator? - A workshop
        AVP-International Minutes, Houston, 6 to 8 Sept. 1998

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A Scot's (AVP-Britain) View of the 5th International Conference

The theme of this year's conference was diversity. As AVP approaches the millennium it is quite clear that AVP has become AVP International. This is the new name chosen by the International Network reflecting the fact that AVP consists of diverse cultures and groups in 23 countries.

The presence of participants from 'new ' AVP groups made quiet a difference to the conference.  People like Steve Angell, Janet Lugo, Ellen Flanders, Fred Feucht,  Bill and Rosemary McMechan and Tom Truitt were leading lights of the conference for me because they are the source of AVP.  It was a privilege to observe them in action and listen to them when they spoke - which in Steve Angell and Ellen Flander's case was not often - in true Quaker fashion it is what they do and how they do it that speaks volumes. It was equally educational to listen to and speak to the 'new' reps - 4 from Aotearoa (New Zealand ), 2 from Moscow and the rep. from Haiti, South Africa,  Cuba and Nicaragua. I particularly admired the patience of Oscar Torrez from Nicaragua and his voluntary interpreters.

The theme of the conference was diversity and it became clear that the contribution of new participants added new life to the conference. New groups have a lot to offer in terms of energy, new ideas and commitment but they also need to be nurtured. We need practical assistance and start up advice.  Scotland is also a new group!

An International support group is to be set up to provide initial support for new groups and individuals bringing AVP to new countries and revitalise flagging facilitators. Would AVP Britain like to nominate someone who will help support Bill McMechan  (the AVP International Co-ordinator ) and his new team?

Older, established groups seem to be reaching saturation point in prison work and are reaching out into the community. What 'old' and 'new' groups and individual facilitators have in common is a need for support. Feeling isolated produces frustration, doubts and fears which can be resolved by contact, communication and feedback. Technology helps. Mixed social and business gatherings are even better.

There was a lot of discussion around what is and is not AVP? How are individuals and groups recognised and invited to join AVP International? Are there discernible qualities, values and practices which 'make' a gathering an AVP gathering/workshop/group?

Some initial Community Commitments were offered.  Transforming Power and the 4 (but in some countries 5) 'pillars ' of affirmation, co-operation, conflict resolution, decision making by consensus should (explicitly or implicitly) be a core element of AVP.

AVP International added that diversity should be celebrated and can only be achieved if there is equality of access. The contribution of the individual in a workshop or the contribution of the individual participant in the organisation should be valued, welcome and positively encouraged.

Equality of access should be a working principle, evident in everything AVP does in a workshop and in the organisation. To reflect this diversity new people need to attend workshops, become  facilitators and come to conferences but there are practical matters like fund raising to be considered if equality of access is to become a Community Commitment.

Interestingly the entirely voluntary aspect of AVP was shown to be not entirely practical in poorer countries where people have to work to eat. As a compromise facilitators may be paid 'expenses' for a Friday and give their time freely on the week-end.

The AVP-International voted for England as the conference venue for the year 2000 as it is the 'mother country' of several participants.  Spring or autumn when fares are cheaper would be best. Aotearoa  (New Zealand) will be the venue in the year 2002.

Bill McMechan, the Co-ordinator for AVP International based in Canada will need an annual report from AVP Britain providing some information about what is happening on the AVP front.

Marjorie Kerr (the organiser of the Houston conference) and Bill McMechan have offered help and advice on the organisation of the conference in England. Both are available on the Internet and Email - their contact addresses including phone and fax numbers are in the conference booklet.

Email and Internet contact are essential from an organisational point of view due to time differences, cost of long distance calls etc. and both Marjorie and Bill recommend considering fund raising and organisational matters as soon as possible.  Hosting the next conference is a major task. Support needs to be enlisted.

One of the concerns expressed is the cost and how better off groups can help poorer groups sent reps. to conference.

Suggestions included collecting donations of air miles, asking airlines to donate free seats, asking for contributions from groups towards the costs of reps. from poorer countries to make it possible for as many people as possible from 'newer ' AVP groups to attend.

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Who Becomes a Facilitator? - A workshop

My workshop on Who Becomes a Facilitator was well attended despite stiff competition. It seems participants were as keen to learn how others do things as I was.

The workshops took the form of a discussion based on Madeline Church's consultation exercise.  The enclosed documents were distributed. Copies were left in the foyer and participants who were not able to join us in the workshop were invited to send their comments to Madeline by Email.

Participants from Aotearoa (New Zealand), Nevada, Canada, Louisiana, San Diego,  California and New Jersey told the group how facilitators are informally selected along the lines suggested by Madeline i.e. they put themselves forward as ready to become facilitators, some groups use a
questionnaire to help candidates decide if they are ready and candidates are 'vouched for' by experienced facilitators.

The discussion centred around the whether the process helped or hindered selection. At the one extreme it was thought to be restrictive, limiting and ineffective and at the other the process was thought to be impractical and unnecessary.

In New Jersey it was felt that the process becomes more important than the experience in AVP i.e. participants are encouraged to go through workshops and become a facilitators. They may not have sufficient experience as there are more facilitators than workshops in some areas. Some people may not be 'suitable' candidates and it is not easy to discourage them. The question was also raised as to whether or not some may become 'suitable' in time. Training in giving and receiving criticism was suggested. This type of training is offered to facilitators in New Zealand but at Team Leader level. It was thought that it might be introduced earlier.

In Louisiana some people do 3-25 workshops before becoming facilitators. Sometimes it is suggested that people retake T4F if they are not 'suitable'. They used to use a detailed questionnaire in prisons for facilitator candidates but stopped using it as it "did not feel right."

In California anyone can become a facilitators or join the facilitators' support team.  Diversity is welcome. There is an assumption that everyone can read the manuals without difficulty. This is not always the case in prisons or the community. In California everyone is encouraged to get involved, there is always something they can do.

In some areas facilitator candidates undertake a period of apprenticeship before they become facilitators. For 3 or more workshops they are part of the support team for facilitators, helping with practical arrangements, exercises and feedback so that they know what is involved in being a facilitator and can be coached accordingly.

The Conclusion

"What works in one place doesn't work in another."

"BLESSED ARE THE FLEXIBLE FOR THEY SHALL NOT BE BENT OUT OF SHAPE"

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AVP-INTERNATIONAL MINUTES, HOUSTON, TEXAS, 6 to 8 Sept. 1998

Representatives attending:  from Aotearoa/New Zealand:  Marie Dunlop,
Rere Stroud, Peter Watson, Ara Williamson, from Canada:  Ellie Brown,
Bill and Rosemarie McMechan, Liz Schroeder, representing Cuba:  Eduardo
Diaz of AVP-Miami, from Nicaragua:  Oscar Escobar,  from Scotland, also
representing AVP-Britain:  Eileen Schott, from South Africa:  Theresa
Edlman, from USA:  Steve Angell, Bob Barns, Peter Laughingwolf, Ellen
Flanders, Donn Kesselheim, Janet Lugo, Toby Riley,  George Sinnot.
Also attending later sessions representing Haiti:  Michelle Karshan, from
Russia:  Galina Orlova, Olga Tishina, from USA:  Edward Ducree, Fred
Feucht, Darrel Hefte.

Regrets sent by:  Elaine Dyer - Aotearoa/New Zealand, John Taplin -
Australia.

Greetings sent by:  All facilitators and co-ordinators from South Africa,
Hungary, Western Australia.

1.     Bill McMechan spoke to his AVP-International Network convener's report  on pages 15/16 on handout attachments.

2.     John Taplin's note was read:  "As secretary of AVP Western Australia (Inc) I often explain our organisation as part of an international network.  I would prefer to be able to say that we are        "recognized" by "AVP International" or by the "International AVP Conference".  He also indicated some criteria for the recognition  of AVP organisations and for co-ordination of effort in spreading AVP.

3.     It was agreed that the name be changed from AVP-International Network to AVP-International.

4.     International Directory - copies were handed out ($2.50 US, $3.50 CA), being as updated as they could possibly be.  Janet Lugo was commended for the amount of work she put into this.  Future copies are to be updated and corrected every 6 months, and especially before each International Conference. It was agreed that for ease of reference, future copies are to be put in
alphabetical order by country.

5.     We agreed to use the International  Web Page as the vehicle for information of what is happening around the world in AVP.  AVP- Haiti offered to distribute a hard copy of the web page to the countries who  have no access to the Internet.  All national AVPs are strongly
encouraged to send information about their activities to Bill McMechan.

6.     There was much discussion about minimum standards required to be calling a program AVP, and how best to nurture and encourage AVP programs everywhere.  There was agreement that we need to be very flexible in terms of requirements when approaching new groups or individuals.  We decided to send out formal invitations to AVP groups around the world to come to the next International Conference, and also invite them to join AVP - International, if they are willing to subscribe to the following community commitments:

a)  To hold workshops within the framework of AVP manuals, based on the
philosophy of Transforming Power and incorporating the five basic pillars
of Affirmation, Communication, Co-operation, community building and
Creative Conflict Resolution.

b)  Equality of Access and Celebration of Diversity.

c)  Consensus Decision Making.

7.     A council of support to the International Co-ordinator was appointed, consisting of :  Michelle Karshan (Haiti) subject to consent., Theresa Edlman (South Africa),  Ara Williams (Aotearoa/New Zealand), Steve Angell (USA), Oscar Escobar (Nicaragua), Istvan Fedor (Hungary) stc. and  one
person from AVP-Britain to be a announced.

8.     Bill McMechan was confirmed as International Co-ordinator and thanked for his work to this time.

9.     Finances:   We agree to the principle of an international travel pool.  The account for AVP-International is currently located in Canada.  We encourage each area to work on
raising funds for sending at least one representative to the next International Conference.

10.  Country Reports:

a) Britain will send a report

b) Aotearoa/New Zealand will send a report.

c) South Africa will send a report.

d) Michelle Karshan reported for Haiti, where she works with English speaking deportees from the USA and Canada.  They have now 12 apprentice facilitators who need practice.  They  require two experienced facilitators from outside the country.  They hope to move into the community in 1999, but require manuals translated into Creole.  Funding will be needed for this.

e) Galina Orlova reported for AVP-Moscow.  They have worked mainly with teachers, psychologists  and students who  have gone out and used the skills and information in their work.
What needs to be done?  Move the program into the wider community, translate the Second Level and T4T Manuals into Russian.  They also need an international team to come and facilitate  Second Level and T4F workshops.  They have one connection with a woman in Georgia who took her training in England.  Because wages are so low, most people have to work at two or three jobs, and it is now important to find funding for some facilitators. Facilitators meet regularly in Friends House, Moscow.

11.  The following report from Istvan Fedor re Hungary and Croatia was passed around.

"News from AVP Hungary: Susanna Eveson has been in Hungary for a month from mid-July.
She held a second level and a T4F in the prison of Debrecen. It was the first T4F in Hungarian prisons. We also had further week-end  training for the facilitators and a workshop for a group of
parents of physically and mentally  challenged children. The trainings were all successful and the
participants were deeply moved and motivated to continue and spread the AVP process. We are also planning to translate the second level manual and T4F manual in this Fall.

News from AVP Croatia: We continue our assistance in establishing AVP Croatia. There
is a group of facilitators who are dedicated to the programme, some of them had other
peace-trainings before and work as "peace makers" on the resilience after the civil war. We have monthly facilitator meetings (the last was on 29th August in Osijek), which are good opportunities for continuous training as most of them are not speaking English. There is a strong need to train one or two lead trainers who have good English skills too through our next trainings with translation. It would be really useful if the international AVP community could give possibility and funding for one or two English speaking Croatian facilitators to gain experience in facilitating in English speaking countries.

Thanks for the invitation to attend the conference but it is not possible to go to Houston at this time. We planned to go there, reserved airplane tickets, but finally financing the next prison workshops and  co-operation with AVP Croatia seemed the most important steps at this stage of development for the  Board of AVP Hungary. Unfortunately Houston is too far away.

Please be kind enough to convey this message to the gathering and our regret. Wishing you a good fruitful sharing and we are looking forward to all the good news.

Best wishes,

Istvan Fedor, Board Member."

12.   Reports from USA and Canada are requested.

(Minutes were taken by Liz Schroeder and Rosemarie McMechan.)