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We talked about them in November in a detached way, from a distance. Here it was clear we had all experienced profoundly, been changed, touched deeply. We talked with more meaning. 3-3 The second visit After the second workshop, Frances and I wanted to continue moving the focus from description/ reflection/ action to discussion/ reflection/ documentation. Building on the momentum of the recent meeting, women found effective ways of documenting their experiences. They moved from the more private journal writing and one-on-one interviews to a more public interpretation of what had happened for them in their programs. We maintained fairly extensive telephone contact with most of the women, as they completed the "This is what happened" section of their program descriptions and decided how to develop what we called the program products. As these products went through their many versions, we provided feedback and editorial assistance. Much of this work was done during the second visit we made to the programs. Frances flew to Toronto in September, combining one of our planning sessions with visits to Beat the Street and Toronto ALFA Centre. I drove my van through the Maritimes to Toronto and then carried on across the country, stopping at each program in turn.
The year before, when I had flown in and out of each of these communities, I had developed an eagle eye's view of Canada and how, as women, we are connected by a complex technology. Our phones and faxes, planes and inter-city buses put us in touch with each other in a way that allows for immediate response, ongoing connection. This time around, I recognized how the geographic location of our communities shape our experience, just as we try to shape our surroundings with our sense of what we in the believe is possible in each particular place we inhabit. Driving through across mountains, over rivers and canyons, I began to believe it is a miracle that we can communicate at all. |
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