We talked many times of the statistics of women returning to violent marriages. This led to encouraging participants to know all the supports available and to have information ready in their offices. One participant told about having affirmations and positive quotes in her office for people to colour. She said that after adults get over thinking that colouring is child's work, they actually enjoyed it.

I sensed that some participants were fearful about someone disclosing experiences of violence to them and felt that they must be the ones to solve the problems and find solutions. There was a general feeling of not knowing how to respond. There was much head nodding when I encouraged participants to respond by being a "side" support—by believing the person and referring them on to other sources of support. Participants also shared ideas for responding. One suggested that if you don't know what to say during a disclosure, just repeat what the person has said. This sounds like a great way to have time to get your thoughts together.

Having specific strategies can help literacy workers respond, so they are not caught with their mouths open and nothing to say! People coming from violent situations can be very sensitive to the reactions of others. Perhaps some of the "silence" issues surrounding talking about violence are because of the helplessness tutors or teachers may feel in wanting to change situations. Talking about strategies may be a useful form of breaking the silence. I also stressed the importance of not having to know all the details of the violence in order to be helpful.

The Importance of Self-Care

The discussion about hope reminded me to encourage self-care and nurturing. I think we can send messages to others by embracing these practices. One participant commented "Think of recharging ourselves like a battery charger. We need to take time to be plugged in or we are of no use to others." I like that! But perhaps it was easier for me to give participants messages of what to do to encourage others, because I am not directly aware of the situations they face.

Visiting the topic of holistic learning and self-care can benefit literacy workers as well as students. It may be that we too often assume only students have issues of violence to deal with, when in fact violence, in some direct or indirect way, affects us all.