“Listening to the men and their stories helped me see their inner child and their wounds. This helped me to forgive and have hope that people can see and make a paradigm shift.
I had lost faith in the male gender and its capacity for acceptance and change.
Today is different.”
~ Woman Participant
“I was able to retrace my own path and see where there were trips, falls and injuries. I feel that it removed places sealed by my conscience and that I was able to bring to light so as to have fewer dark places.
My admiration for the opposite gender already existed but I also feel that I was able to reaffirm it strongly.”
~ Man Participant
This has been a special year for the GERI Spanish project centered in Latin America and Spain, with the team completing two in-person workshops, two full online courses, and many more introductory sessions, interviews, and community events.
In March, we convened our first in-person workshop in Oaxaca, Mexico, in collaboration with Centro de Compartimiento and Vista Hermosa Foundation. Deep thanks to Kristin Lietz and Adela Toledo for their invitation and organizational support. Click below to see an inspiring video reflections from the participants in Spanish and English.
We also convened our inaugural workshop in Valencia, Spain in July, bringing together an inspiring group of women and men for three days of deep truth-telling and healing. The many stories shared — of anger and loss at childhood abuse, of pain and heartbreak in relationships and marriages, of the struggles and challenges of parenthood — we received and held so caringly by the rest of the group. As one woman participant reflected afterwards, “Listening to each other from the heart and also speaking from the heart makes a big difference. All of the stories have led me to a loving resilience in the face of the pain of others. The caring, respectful environment and simplicity and love of the process made it possible.” Thank you to Jacob Garcia Rueda, Yolanda Lucas, and Valentin Oller for the invitation and organization of this workshop.
In addition to these in-person workshops, we also completed two online courses, one focused for people in Costa Rica, and the other focused on people from Argentina and Chile. The team has continued to deepen and expand, with each program giving opportunity for new intern facilitators to step into their practice and learning in new ways.
In the work we do, every course and program is different, however, some stories stay with us forever. GERI trainer Silvia Araya shares this story from this year’s workshop in Mexico, and a precious moment there from just after the men offered their Honoring Ceremony:
Tears were rolling down some of the women’s faces when the ceremonies were completed, and the facilitators invited everyone to take a few minutes break. As I was walking outside for some air, I noticed one of the young women, sitting all alone at one of the external corners of the building. She was crying, and I felt a bit concerned if she was okay.
As I approached her and gently asked what was happening, she turned around holding a flower that the men handed her just a few minutes earlier, “I’m crying, because never before has a man seen me so deeply; this is the first time in my life that a man has told me that I am as beautiful as a flower. . .”
I sat with her a little longer in this tender space as she continued to gently cry and take in this offering of love and reverence from the men. Truly, it is these precious moments that make everything worth it.
Looking forward into 2023, we hope to continue to grow in countries like Brazil and Spain, to host more in-person workshops, and finally, we to have the first GERI Training completely in Spanish.
~ Silvia Araya, GERI Trainer and Latin America Lead