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G E N D E R R E C O N C I L I A T I O N
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
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| Gender Equity and Reconciliation Workshops and Trainings |
Dear Friends,
2015 has been an expansive and fulfilling year for Gender Reconciliation International. As demand for our services continues to grow, we are delighted to share our year
'
s highlights below, and a glimpse of exciting developments on the horizon.
We hope you are moved to donate to this vital work as it continues to blossom in new ways. Your support will help us to bring the gifts of Gender Reconciliation to ever wider circles of people.
Deep thanks to each of you for your participation, and for your generous support of our work. We greatly honor our gifted and growing international network of active facilitators without whom this work would not be flourishing and touching the hearts of so many in the world.
May 2016 be an inspiring year for you!
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With gratitude and blessings,
Cynthia and Will
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UNITED STATES
"I commit to seeing each man I meet as an individual, and not judging them based on the actions of some men."
- Woman participant
GRI touched the lives of university students, religious/spiritual leaders, activists, therapists, and many others in Seattle, Dallas, St. Louis, Santa Fe, and Salt Lake City. GRI staff presented at the United Nations (UN) Commission on the Status of Women Beijing +20 NGO Forum in New York City. We had a magnificent showing at the Parliament of the World Religions in Salt Lake City. Introductory presentations were made at seven U.S. universities, and we conducted a successful three-day workshop at Pacific Lutheran University. Bioneers has invited GRI to partner with them in 2016.
(See full report)
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INDIA
"I have been deeply transformed with the space you have created for us and I can see how the organization is embracing gender reconciliation as an approach to transformation."
- Male participant
We are honored to be partnering with Dream a Dream, a dynamic NGO in Bangalore, to offer our Gender Reconciliation program in India. Over the past two years we conducted trainings for their entire staff of 76, mostly young professionals between ages 18-36. Dream a Dream is collaborating with GRI to host a year-long facilitator training, beginning in Feb, 2016. Professionals from Delhi and Mumbai are joining the training, plus several staff from the Maher interfaith ashram outside Pune.
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SOUTH AFRICA
The experiences of the past week taught me that men need to be liberated from their domination over women because it keeps them slaves of their own."
- Male participant
What an amazing year it has been for GRI in South Africa. Under the leadership of Judy Bekker, GRI Training Director in South Africa, our fourth Professional Facilitator Training in Cape Town was launched in March with 22 trainees. The first ever research projects on Gender Reconciliation got underway at two universities in South Africa (see below), and researchers are now analyzing a plethora of inspiring data. Workshops with Phaphama Initiatives, Chrysalis Academy, the Grail Centre, and NGO leaders were a major success. (See full report)
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Training in Gender Equity and Reconciliation
You are
invited to apply
for a unique training program for professionals and social leaders who wish to experience or facilitate profound transformation of gender relations between the sexes.
INDIA
(begins in February)
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BIG CONGRATULATIONS to our Australian GRI trainees, Esther Diplock, William Diplock, and Nina Springle for organizing and co-facilitating the second intensive Gender Reconciliation Workshop in Brisbane, Nov. 13-15, 2015. GRI Trainer Judy Bekker joined them to round out the facilitation team.
A woman participant learned that "Men have hearts that love; and, can be broken."
Another participant said "I was most impacted by being afforded the space to speak my truth about my experience as a queer person without compromise."
GRI was invited to give presentations to The Wrekin Trust in southwest England, and SPARK in London, an NGO addressing gender-based violence. Facilitators Judy Bekker and Rob McLeod will lead an introductory GRI Workshop in London, Feb 11-13, 2016, organized by SPARK founder Natalie Collins. Email
Natalie for further information.
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"It is truly a privilege to witness the spirit of change that the students are embracing, and the level of maturity and commitment through which they are approaching this work."
Dr. Samantha van Schalkwyk
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Research on Gender Reconciliation
University of the Free State, South Africa
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Today I woke up; reconstructed, restored, transformed and liberated more than ever and truly more emancipated in terms of my gender & sexuality. I woke up...with my faith and hope reformed that there's still a chance for me to prosper because a part of me has healed from the wounds I carried daily...
I now believe more than ever that the society I reside in still has a chance to work towards peace and mutual healing for all.
" ~ UFS student
For the past nine months, 25 students at the University of the Free State (UFS) have been participating in a new research project to study the intricate dynamics of gender transformation, applying the methodology of Gender Reconciliation International.
Extensive data have been gathered in two initial workshops conducted by GRI facilitators, plus monthly follow-up sessions overseen by chief researcher Dr. Samantha van Schalkwyk. "The data is really very rich, and we already have important themes jumping out at us," she said. The first scholarly journal articles from this research will be published in 2016.
This research project in Gender Reconciliation was initiated and is supervised by Professor Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, an internationally renowned expert on trauma and forgiveness, who served on South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
University of the Western Cape, South Africa ~ Research Project
A second research project at the University of the Western Cape had its inaugural 3-day introductory workshop, June 24-26. This project is led by Professor Michele Andipatin, Chair of the Psychology Department, and research assistants.
Eighteen students engaged earnestly in the process with compassion, understanding and mutual respect. "I
t is an inspiring journey and a once in a lifetime opportunity,
"
reported one of the male students.
Pacific Lutheran University, United States ~ Intensive Workshop
GRI held a three-day introductory Gender Reconciliation workshop at Pacific  Lutheran University (PLU) in Tacoma, Washington, in collaboration with Dr. Jennifer Smith, Director of PLU Women's Center. A lively group of 28 students, staff and faculty stepped whole-heartedly into the Gender Reconciliation process with honesty, courage and enthusiasm, led by GRI's multicultural facilitators including Zanele Khumalo, Shell Goldman, Antonia Porter, and John Tsungme Guy.
Dr. Smith said the workshop could not have gone better and she is excited to have GRI back again next year.
"The workshop helped me get in touch with myself and express my emotions. I have always struggled to express my feelings, and at times, to even know how I was feeling," said one male PLU participant after the workshop.
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 GRI is developing regular follow-up programs, dubbed Self Organizing Ubuntu Learning (S.O.U.L.) groups, as a means to expand the Gender Reconciliation process beyond the workshop and training context to become an integral part of participants' lives. These groups provide on-going communities of practice, accountability, and mutual support that assist participants to work within their own lives and spheres of influence to reduce, eliminate, or call attention to gender injustices - thereby establishing the foundation for a new gender healed community. Over the past year, S.O.U.L. groups have been meeting regularly in Dallas, Seattle, St. Louis (USA), and in Soweto and Bloemfontein in South Africa, and now beginning in Brisbane, Australia.
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Bioneers and GRI partnership
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| GRI Breakout Session at Bioneers 2013 |
Bio
neers has invited GRI into a strategic partnership to implement Gender Equity and Reconciliation training and programs widely within their extensive networks across the United States. Bioneers is a large network of visionary scientific and social innovators that highlight breakthrough solutions for restoring people and planet. The initial focus of the collaboration is a new professional GRI facilitator training, which begins at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, April 23-28, 2016.
At the Bioneers 2016 conference, GRI founders Keepin and Brix will give a Keynote presentation and lead a daylong workshop with GRI international staff.
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CIIS Honorary Doctorates
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From left to right: CIIS President Joseph Subbiondo, Cynthia Brix, William Keepin, Robert McDermott, President Emeritus and
Chair, Philosophy and Religion
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Cynthia Brix and William Keepin, founding directors of GRI and the Satyana Institute, were joyfully surprised and honored to receive honorary doctorates from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco on May 17, 2015. They were each awarded an honorary doctoral degree in Humane Letters in Spirituality and Social Justice, in recognition of their work in gender reconciliation, and in bridging major spiritual traditions.
The Third International
Leah Tutu Symposium
The Symposium in 2016 will focus on the theme of gender reconciliation, August 18-19, 2016 at Stellenbosch University. GRI founders and staff will present at the Symposium.
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Your support is deeply appreciated and helps make this work possible.
If you would like to make a tax-deducible donation to our 501(c)3 educational non-profit, please click the donate button below.
Checks will also be warmly received and may be sent to our non-profit:
Satyana Institute, P.O. Box 1324, Freeland WA 98249
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