Activity in Central Europe
Three weeks ago I went to Slovenia to lead the first-ever introductory RC workshop there. It was organized by friends I met in Beijing. We held it in a community library. There were nine people present; seven committed themselves to building a Community. Some plan to attend Dan Nickerson's workshop in July in Hungary. We made plans for further steps. One person took charge of the lending library and one of leadership and organization. I have done a good job and am pleased to have those new friends. Having to once again cross borders and experience passport control and the smell of the military, I remembered places I explored in my younger years. This gave me a lot to counsel on.
In the meantime, my non-RC women's organization started a project with women leaders from the former Yugoslavia. Due to the situation there, it is not safe for people considered to be on different sides of the "official" conflict to talk to one another or even appear in public in one another's company. Talking about the project in detail might ruin it all. So I'll just say that we have a growing number of people involved in Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Vojvodina, Croatia, and Kosovo (all former Yugoslavia) who are of all kinds of backgrounds.
I've learned a great deal about their lives. Some of them had no chance to talk to their sisters and brothers for four years because telephone lines between Croatia and Serbia were cut. Some are of mixed-heritage families where children don't know how to figure out an identity for themselves. The only thing they know is that whatever they choose puts them in danger somewhere. There is a music student in the group who has had no chance to play the piano for four years. Many of them have lost their homes. In almost every family there are members lost, killed, or disappeared. As restimulation grows, I teach more RC and we begin to have sessions. As a result, I've been invited to Vojvodina and to Croatia. In both places, my fellows work with refugees, are involved in politics, are influential leaders, and work with other leaders. Those trips are scheduled for the summer and fall. Since I am a war survivor and those will be places where people of different "ethnic" backgrounds are targets of state and sometimes military violence when just traveling in one another's company on the train, there is a lot for me to take sessions on.
I am looking forward to my next steps. Thanks to all of you who help me make them.
Molnár Gabriella
Budapest, Hungary