Greetings and Happy Midweek!
In these turbulent times, as refugees flood roadways around the world fleeing conflicts and impossible living situations which are destroying their homes and homelands, this week I thought we would spend a few moments together reflecting on some of the dynamics of being in exile.
As an integral part of the perspectives our Global SKILLs training explores, we focus on what we call the Harbor which is the 3rd Dimension of our 3D Dynamics model.* ‘Harbor thinking’ speaks clearly into the realities of going into and being in exile. Like a real life harbor, this 3rd dimension of cross-cultural interaction involves people (like exiles this very day in Asia and Africa and central Europe) from different places and cultural spaces coming together - living, working and yes, even playing.
The Harbor dimension integrates two basic facts - that everyone brings something to contribute and everyone also has needs to be met. Finding common ground, setting mutual goals, welcoming expertise, being flexible, learning needed skills - all these and so much more are happening every minute. Basically, it’s all about being sure everyone has a chance to offer what they can, and being sure everyone benefits in some way.
And so in refugee camps and homes welcoming a family in exile and conflict zones and on the roads to a safer place, amidst the pain and loss and extremely difficult conditions…children can be found playing together - pretending, laughing, singing. Young people and adults are working hard, serving one another, meeting needs, seeking ways to help, being taken care of. Never wanting to diminish the hardships and tragedy of exile, I personally also must look for light…at the end of the tunnel, yes - but also inside the tunnel and I often find it in this Harbor dimension.
How about you? What is one Harbor moment for exiles you have seen or experienced?
Share about that with a friend or note it here. And check out the Global SKILLs LINKs below for some additional examples of the Harbor dimension.
Thanks for being part of this Connect community. Until next week,
Betsy
* Global SKILLs 3 Dimensional Dynamics Model: 1st dimension = HOME ; 2nd dimension = HOST; 3rd dimension = HARBOR (which we looked at today)
~ contact me for more information on this model and how you might use it in your current programming
Global SKILLs LINKs
~ an awesome example of agricultural communities from 2 sides of the globe coming together, to garden - and find healing: https://www.inquirer.com/news/south-philadelphia-growing-home-gardens-refugees-immigrants-myanmar-burma-china
+ The science behind garden therapy & refugee communities: https://theconversation.com/how-gardening-can-improve-the-mental-health-of-refugees-98700
~ a bread maker doing his thing in the Harbor dimension: https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/11/europe/kherson-baker-supplying-bread-ukraine-war
2022 ~ Celebrating 40+ years of working in
intercultural communications and global community building
“It takes a community to build a community”
Please Note: this is copyrighted content.
Please do not reproduce or share without my permission (betsy.barbour@gmail.com)