1

Fourth World

People’s University

Theme: Facing Change May 30, 2020 Welcome and Introduction Virginie: You can see on screen the picture of the lilac bud, covered by armor. During the preparation meetings Marie Claire reminded us that nature is always changing and the lilac blossom is protected while it is changing. How can even the most difficult change be a learning experience, a growing experience?

It’s important to remind ourselves that we chose that theme back in September when we gathered together to choose the three themes to cover the year 2019-2020. One of us chose the theme Facing Change because she knew a really personal change was happening inside her, and needed support for that inner change. Others spoke about being homeless, or moving to a new community, and you need support for that too. How do we choose what supports are needed, what supports are missing, in order to face those changes and to make those changes a growth opportunity?

2

Introductions: Icebreaker time Marie Claire: Everyone get a piece of paper and a marker to write on this paper what does change mean to you? One word, you can mime it, or write the word or draw it or choose an emoji.

3

Guest Biography

In FWPU the Prep Team reflects on who to invite to FWPU, to have different perspectives from the community. The FWPU Prep Team invited both a pastor and a motivational consultant. Unfortunately, the pastor could not make the meeting. For this session we had one guest and nevertheless a lively discussion.

Jane Kendall is a leadership coach and organizational change consultant and facilitator who is ​ committed to helping individuals and organizations maximize their effectiveness. She has worked with UNICEF, the National Urban League, Children’s Village, New York Foundling Hospital, International House, the South African Partnership program (New School), and many corporations and nonprofits.

Her early career was in a large American corporation, building complex telecommunications computer systems as well as a large national training organization. Jane has researched and spoken internationally about individuals moving between cultures, and the impact of personality when addressing change, creativity, communications, problem-solving, and conflict resolution.

For 6 years, she lived in France, working with a French university, the Center for Creative Leadership, and many organizations. In NY, she built and was the director of the New School’s Leadership Center, focused on leadership and organizational development. While there, she was the director of a South African non-profit leadership program at the end of apartheid. She also taught in graduate school.

Today, Jane sits on several boards: one deals with challenges faced by people living in poverty, another is focused on supporting several overseas churches, and a third deals with environmental challenges. Jane is also a fine arts photographer and has been involved with ATD Fourth World for over 30 years.

Presentations of the groups’ preparation We met twice. On April 25, we exchanged very freely about the biggest changes in our lives. In the second meeting, on May 7, we each chose a change and talked about what supports were needed to get through that change and how the change was a learning experience. The groups’ preparation notes are in the appendix (and were shared with a PowerPoint slide show during the Zoom meeting).

Summaries for Group 1 and Group 2 workshops: Both groups chose a topic from the themes that emerged in the first workshop. Each group discussed their topic through a variety of lenses: what personal and institutional supports are or are not available, what could be improved, and what were the greatest learning experiences? To conclude, each small group answered the question: what keeps us open to change?

Group 1 chose technology as their theme and discussed the pros and cons of technology in our lives whether for learning a new subject, helping each other, or facing the challenges of online education and robotization of help. 4

Group 2 chose several related themes: moving to a new community and by contrast the stress of living in a shelter, unacceptable housing or homelessness. They also spoke about internal changes that were needed and also achieved.

Time of dialogue

Questions inspired by our guest’s bio: Jane: I am curious if any of you had looked at my background, if you had anything that you specifically would like me to talk about...anything you are curious about? a) Something that fascinates me in your journey in life is how you support positive change to happen, keyword innovation, transformation, supporting companies during leadership transitions—to go with the change, but also to encourage change. Around this word innovation, because we talked about new technologies, if you react from there that would be super helpful for me. b) You have a lot of experience in institutional and organizational change. How does all the knowledge you built around organizations relate to personal change? c) I am very interested in conflict management - especially in South Africa dealing with change, cultures coming together, sharing knowledge back and forth, working together, even in light of people moving to a new country or place. d) I am very interested in learning about overseas work with the churches. e) I see that you worked with NGO at the end of apartheid. A lot of the challenges and difficulties that people encounter have to do with structural problems. Structures often don’t help people to make changes. How to make appropriate changes at all levels, housing, education, acquiring new skills to survive. What was your experience addressing those structural situations, practical solutions that you saw and were part of that perhaps we can learn from and use and adapt to at this time?

Responding to participants’ questions: Jane: I am part of the American Foreign and Christian Union, founded in 1847 in France. A group of missionaries banded together and petitioned the emperor at that time to found an English-speaking Protestant church in France. That was the founding of the American Church in France and later in the US. This period of Covid made me think. I lived for many years in France. Today the COVID restrictions limit people to walking only 1 mile. People have been very isolated. Many people living in France were used to working and sending money to their families overseas. So this church is going through unbelievable amounts of change during Covid trying to figure out how to care for loved ones and nurture people when you can’t be with them. And, it’s become extraordinary, because when you tie this into technology, a church that would normally have 400-500 people going to it at last Sunday’s church service, there were people from 70 countries! So people from all over the world were looking for some sort of spiritual connection.

It’s very interesting that all three churches are dealing with refugees. The American Church in Berlin has a mother and a child who took a boat from Sicily and walked across Italy and Switzerland and came to 5

Germany. There are many challenges they are facing. The group that I am part of is trying to help them deal, figure out how to solve those problems. I have been involved for many years of my life, looking at different personalities, and how personalities affect how people communicate in the world. Some people speak, some prefer to write, some are nonverbal, you have to look at their faces. Young people are connected to their cell phones, and use body language.

I worked a lot with the work of Carl Jung, European psychologist. Not only individuals, but organizations and countries have personalities. For example, Switzerland is so organized; their trains are never late. In the US we can’t say that. In NYC on Saturday night, you can wait forever, and can’t depend on the time. All have personalities. Some of us have an easier time dealing with change. You mentioned that I seem to look outward with change and transformation, that’s my personality. No matter what country we come from, personalities like me look out at the world and possibilities. I didn’t plan to do this, but some, if you were to look at people like me—people who look outward and look at possibilities for people. That is how I evolved as a human being. I help people through change.

What changes are difficult for you, the personal ones? Jane: Challenges that are difficult for me are my body, being on a diet. I prefer to look outward to help people change, nurturing, but am not that good at doing that for me. A lot of how we deal with the world has to do with our personal framework. Some has to do with family upbringing. Most is how we deal ourselves, with the drive in human nature to try to be who we are meant to be. Families, organizations, culture, educational systems want to change the way people learn. We have a drive and human spirit that wants to be who we are and do what we want to do. One of you also asked about institutional change and how that impacts personal change. I think the opposite – that the personal transforms the organization.

Participant: You made a statement that it’s not so easy to deal with change for yourself. You help people but helping yourself is not as easy.

Jane: We have a twenty-four hour day, things capture our interests, we are lucky enough to do the work we want to do. I want to work with people, or read something, or try to solve problems. I don’t want to take time in the morning to exercise. For me that’s the challenge. I don’t listen to what’s happening in my body. Where is your focus? can we talk about more after this meeting? What do you notice, what are the obstacles, and do you need to worry about those things? Earlier today, I said to my husband, “I have to work on exercises for my knees!” So that’s what I’m saying, does that answer your question?

Participant: Yes, yes, what you are saying is that you are very perceptive about what you do. And you are very discerning about what you do and that’s a great quality. When you mentioned that, I wondered, because you do so well at what you choose to do for other people.

Jane: I think we all have things we do really well for each one of us. Then there are some things that are more difficult. So when I ran the leadership center at the New School which we built from scratch, we had to just negotiate every penny we got from the university to get started. When you start something, you do everything, you wash tables, you empty the waste paper baskets, you design curriculum, you try to find people who will come to your programs, you try to find people who will pay for that. There are some parts of it I liked, and some parts that I didn’t. But I think I find a lot of enjoyment and exhilaration 6

in doing new things for people and with people and in groups. That’s the pleasure in my life, the pleasure does not come from doing leg raises to strengthen my knee.

Experiences: change, or not, on institutional level Jane: Let me talk a little bit about our South African program and personality and institutions. Some of you may have been old enough to know that in 1994 South Africa abolished apartheid. [Before that] the ​ ​ South African government totally separated people of different colors, white, black, Indians, mixed race—everybody was separated. At this time, white people were in government. Although they were a small part of the population, they controlled the money and the resources. In 1994 they lifted the boundaries, and I worked with black South Africans who told me: ”We were leaders when nobody was with us. We know about leadership, but we don’t know about management.” So, at the end of apartheid, the president of our university, the New School, Jonathan Fanton, already had some South African graduate students and they invited him back to South Africa to see the state of affairs in that country. There were conference centers that were completely black, there were townships, as still continues, that were completely black, there were townships that were completely white. And, the New School being a very progressive school on the East Coast of the United States along with other very progressive schools in the US, committed to helping South Africans rebuild their confidence capacities. So, the New School established the South African Partnership program. It went to large foundations in the US, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Mott Foundation, who were very interested in helping South Africans to grow self-sufficiency, and our school helped develop the leadership program for nonprofit leaders. The first year, executive directors of South African black nonprofits came to the United States. They learned a lot about leadership, were exposed to a lot of fabulous people, went back to South Africa, and within a year they had gone into government.

The second year we said, “We are not going to invite the executive directors - we are going to invite the people who work with the vice director because we want them to stay and help their organization.” In the fourth year we brought South African professors over to do the program. The fifth year, I went to the very northeast corner of South Africa and the most fabulous thing that happened was that there were two white people and one Indian, using this theory Carl Jung developed. A white person and black person shared the same personality preferences, and found out they were exactly like the other and realized that their race played no role. It became a powerful way to help people to cross boundaries. ATD talks about their work here like that. These people, who came from different backgrounds and felt 7

they knew each other, completely changed from initially looking at each other with skepticism. Amazing kind of learning.

The evolution of black South Africans in power, in the US and in Europe, it doesn’t always work. But people have learned from each other using the language of looking at the world, to live in harmony, and look beyond things that make us look different and find out what makes us the same.

Change from personal to systemic Participant: My question about relations to the world is related to our inner perception. How does that relate to structural change? Because of the systemic structures we are prevented from achieving goals. How to reconcile personal and structural?

Jane: You are right that what we believe and what we hope to do feels like it’s in a box and we are not able to achieve or express what we would like to. That’s a time when we have to think creatively with ourselves to see how to get around that blockage. How do we find a way to do things that are really important to us even though there are things that are working against us for a long time? There are examples of people in cultures in prison for years, who tried to continue to write, to create. Or people who don’t have resources to move ahead, it’s important for each of us to say, what can I do to feed my soul regardless of issues in family, work, society. Sometimes we have to find allies to help support us, who nourish our souls. Certainly being confined during COVID is a powerful example to really reach within ourselves to try to do that.

Participant: I am so highly offended to hear that white people do research on black people to find out they are human. I was reading about reparations in Haiti, and when you read what Colin Powell writes, how the US and others have just pillaged them to the brink of extinction and the Christian groups that go there and the sex and it’s just, ugh! So when I hear this stuff and I take into context my own country’s history with religion and what it has done to our people, you know, tie them to crosses and set them on fire, this is just too much for me. That’s just where I am right now, and considering where we are as a country [recent murder of George Floyd and protesting this weekend with Black Lives Matter], this is just ​ ​ ​ a hard thing to really listen to.

Jane: Have I said something that made you, that implied anything to you? I guess what I would say is that people I have been involved with in all my career have been from every color and every race and most cultures, from when I was a little girl. I don’t think I framed thinking like that. Our teams that went to South Africa were made up of people of all colors, with respect to help people to develop their competencies that were during apartheid. Since I was twelve to thirteen I was helping people.

Participant: I don’t think there is any answer needed. But if you look at our history and you said that, you developed our competency, I find it hard to take that.

Jane: It’s called capacity building. It has to do with giving people a skill base that they might not have had. COVID is like that. A team of 400 people helping people all over the world develop capacity, somebody may have known something or not known, like with COVID, we don’t know.

Participant: Chiming in on that, in university when I was researching nonprofits, several wanted to do retribution for taking diamonds. And they instilled an entrepreneurship program that was not well attended. A social worker asked the people why they didn’t attend the program. They replied we have 8

bartered and traded for generations, we don’t need someone to tell us about how to be entrepreneurs. It’s an interesting dialogue how capacity building works with the knowledge that is there, learning from the people’s experience. How do you mitigate that with education programs from outside?

Participant: Before you even do, let’s talk about healthcare to these countries. For instance, medical research in African countries where new drugs were tested on people and in places where they don’t have medical access. And what happens when the research is done and people are living with this terminal illness with American companies, they pick up and they leave those people who were in treatment and in care during the research. So we benefit from doing the research on them but they don’t benefit. I am not comfortable with it; I don’t know if other people are. I know when this whole COVID thing started they wanted to go over there and test the medicine over there before they bring it over to us. That’s just, well I don’t want to go on any more about it, I will leave it up to you guys.

Virginie: I think this whole exchange was an interesting exercise to try to understand each other and understand the words we use and the contexts we’re coming from.

Who is ‘supposed to’ change? Virginie: I would like to go back to the preparation the groups did. During all this process what stayed with me was what one of us said: “I had to change my attitude so I could prove I would be a good mother.” I remember a mother in a shelter who was very angry because her life was so hard. In the same room where we were doing the Story Garden, there was a meeting between the social workers and the residents. This mother shared that she was told: “As long as you won’t change your attitude, you will never get out of here.” In this conversation it was not mentioned that the social worker would change their way of helping. Those two examples make me wonder who has to change: the people living in poverty or the community? Or both? You know that ATD Fourth world was created in a slum that years later was transformed into a housing project with a lot of support. Thirty years later, the mayor told the people living there that he’s so happy how they changed themselves and can now be part of the community. But the real question to the mayor was how did the community change to integrate people living in the housing project? There is a lot of expectation that people struggling the most are the ones expected to change. I am wondering how society, at the institutional and city level, is also changing to give a role, a place, to the ones that are most excluded.

Virginie: Thank you. Who else would like to share, react?

Participant: Society, the social worker and the person who went to the social worker, who would not receive help if she did not change their ways. That’s on both parties, because if someone comes to me and says, like for me, I could be angry and one of the kids says where the dishes are and I say, over there! It’s not every situation. Both parties have to change, you know, I don’t really go with society, everyone knows we are all grown people, tune in and listen, in my opinion, that’s society. Now if you have to change for the better, make sure that it’s for yourself.

Participant: It’s for yourself or your babies. You don’t change for society. Hell NO! You don’t change for society, that will have you losing your mind. We don’t do it for society; help yourself to change. If I need change in this area, then that’s the area you get your change in. If you go to someone, anyone who goes to a social worker, I don’t know if you had a bad day. I might ask you, “Is everything OK?” Why can’t we do that with each other? If you come at me screaming, then damn, something is wrong! I’m going to say, let’s give it a second, let’s sit down and let’s talk. OK, take a breath and we can start over again. This 9

is the thing we don’t do with each other in this world and it’s so sad. Someone says, ”She needs to change her attitude!” Do you know why she has an attitude? Why don’t you find out why she has an attitude! Then, maybe you could help her with that, and then she won’t have that attitude. But we don’t do these things with each other.

We just want to point fingers, call each other this, call each other that there’s too much going on in … this world for anybody to have a finger pointing at anybody. There’s too much going on for society to say to us, “Change.” Change for what? This is so off topic. You have these children out here, these black and brown children, they have to change the way they live and life because of society. That is disgusting, what they are doing to our young black and brown children. They can’t even have fun anymore, without worrying about them getting killed in the streets! Because of society, what they are allowing people to do to other people. My opinion, F society; if you have to change, people I beg you, change for yourself. If you go to a job and have to change for that job, then dammit, you don’t need that job. Money is not the job, it’s about yourself. I’ve been at jobs; I took it because I had to feed my kids. But I was miserable every day. I came home from work, went into my room, cried, then came out to say, “How are you doing?” If I need to change, then I do not belong there at all. Let me decide what I am changing for! Am ​ ​ I going to be unhappy with my change? I may be unhappy in a situation where I don’t want to do this, but I have to. I don’t want to live like that anymore.

Jane: That’s really fabulous because it says you are really in touch with your values. And, that’s what we all need to do: to be more in touch with our values and have integrity when dealing with other human beings. We are all equal human beings and if we don’t treat people like that, our world is going to be in worse chaos.

Participant: It’s going to be terrible chaos, because it’s not going to happen, just see people got up on the wrong side of the bed. Like calling the cops because of the check, killing each other over this. I would have said get out of the store with this check [reference to what happened in Minneapolis]. If another planet opens up, I am out of here.

From fear to change Participant: My question is that you’ve travelled around the world with many organizations, many groups. For me, fear motivates me. I was wondering in all of your work did fear ever stop you? Did the challenge of the feeling of fear ever stop you from something?

Jane: That’s such an interesting concept. Because what I think is fear for one person is not fear for another. Most of my work has been with, an example, working with people or groups that have a lot of problems. I don’t feel fear about something like that. I had a job once where I had to deal with a lot of financial ideas and data, I didn’t understand what the issues or challenges were, there I had a lot of fear because it was such an unknown that I didn’t know what questions to ask. I try not to be in those jobs, because fear makes me not do well. Some groups might be more effective if they were honest with each other, or if a boss were more understanding, and I fear that that won’t happen. Those are the fears in the work that I like to do, that the change won’t come fast enough or that people will be damaged. 10

What is good leadership? Participant: Jane, you visited many countries and saw many different people. What is the best way to build confidence and to build the capacity for good leadership? Now you mention connect to your values, is it that or something else?

Jane: People who are in power are not necessarily leaders. We have a good example in this country now. Leadership starts with morality and personal values. When Obama was president we felt that. Leaders - nonprofit or country - leaders listen, one of the most important things. Being committed to serving others, as biblical reference, washing feet, down on your knees, shows respect and dignity to others. That’s what leadership is about. Leading across multiple cultures, letting every voice be heard and accepting that we all express in different ways. All the leadership in the world would come up with the same tenets, respect and treating people as equals. It may be packaged differently, warm country less clothes, cold country wearing a jacket.

Virginie: Thank you for bringing the idea of confidence. Trust, we discovered, is essential to building confidence with people for a positive experience.

Guest Take-a-ways Jane: In this conversation, we all came with different life experiences. Often when looking at organizational experiences, we say the tip of the iceberg is what we see. It’s true as individuals. When I came here, I didn't know you, and you didn’t know about me. My dad left when I was two, I never knew what it was to have a father, or, you didn’t know that I grew up in a dysfunctional family later in life in NYC. But, that frames the way, when I hear voices in a certain way, it affects the way I think. You can’t know that about me. You can only know what I am able to share with you. So we have to be patient with one another, listen to one another and ask questions — just like everybody here is asking, e.g. “Please can you clarify that for me?” Because in that way we will be able to become closer and more intimate with one another and that kind of intimacy will help us to be able to support each other. That’s what I come away with. That’s what I hear everybody on this call yearning for. More understanding and ability to be supportive to one another. Gain strength from one another.

Virginie: Thank you so much, Jane. What you said is beautiful about what we try to live during our people’s university. I feel that it was a deep conversation, that being in the same room (instead of Zoom) might have been much easier. But, we did as we had to do and hope that we will have many other opportunities to get to know each other. Thanks a lot Jane and everybody for being with us, for sharing your experience.

11

Appendix

FWPU Prep Workshop small group 1

Marie Claire, Guillaume, Rosa, Cristina, Kim (facilitated by Marcia)

What changes did we face? Choose a category. We chose how the aspects of technology affect our lives, at different ages, situations, and in moving to a new place.

New Technologies--Relationship supports ​ Family Professional During life change Decisions we make

Younger generations: our Without being computer I was born in a pen and kids literate there is very little paper generation we can do (on our own)

Our kids supporting us More experienced Technology can help, for Technology can also be a through the changes teachers are challenged by example to learn a new distraction and takes away very young teachers that language real interaction, engaging, ● Kids are teaching have a good they lose ability to adults understanding of communicate without

technology technology

A person in the family (the Today, big challenge for Technology facilitates Technology allows us to one that feels more teachers that are forced to communication with change notions of time comfortable or learn to teach online family when you move and space adventurous) pulls the rest away of the family

● Being able to stay Robotization of work with Sharing photos with loved Technology helps with in touch the loss of job positions ones new challenges, for example advances in medicine, access to a wide range of information and prevention …

With time the possibility Dangers of social media — Get information about the to stay in touch has grown privacy place we are moving to

12

What were the obstacles to having access to relationship supports? Give an example when ​ relationship supports were not available: ​ ​ ● Having no access to internet

What other relationship supports might have been provided (or available)? ● Very challenging for children that have disabilities, difficulties concentrating. It is very difficult for children to sit all day in front of the computer.

Institutional supports

Family Work Crisis Decisions we made

Resources and money can Technology helps with Consulate sending A lot of paperwork can be be sent to our families in new challenges, for messages to citizens to done from home our countries of origin example advances in make sure they don’t lack medicine, access to a wide important things range of information and prevention …

What were the obstacles to having access to institutional support?

Here are examples of when institutional supports were not available: ​ ​ ● Unemployment website crash ● Disconnect with the person on the other line ● Robots answering and calling ● Calls can be recorded and information used against you ● Lack of access to internet ● Need to use websites for paperwork, no more people working to take calls, make appointments … ● Lack of water and heating on a regular basis, lack of electricity in public housing

What other institutional supports might have been provided (or available)?

Learning experiences: Technology

When does change become an enriching experience?

● Change can become an enriching experience when you have the means to embrace it. But when you can not keep up with it, it is hard.

When does change become a bigger challenge?

13

● Software and hardware market access is expensive, not everybody has the resources, making gaps in access, possibilities to learn … ● The more complex the technology the less choice you have if you don’t master it ● Difficulties in measuring risks, when things can become dangerous. Fake news, access to our information, difficult to protect your privacy. ● Cyberbullying ● I am a paper and pen person and I haven’t made the change to technology yet, I don’t like it.

How do we stay open to change?

● While we are alive, we need to be open to change, we are changing everyday in our bodies, minds, and world. ● To stay open, you have to close the door. Discern what change is good and meaningful for us and what change that is not good for us. ● Staying connected to nature, there is a constant change in nature, the change in seasons, but it is cyclical and then reassuring, you know what you can expect. Important to know that all the changes in nature are connected. ● Helping other people to accept change. Others help us to change. ● We need some stability, things that are important to us, this doesn’t change so much but the technology we use to achieve these important things may change and we can be open to change.

///

14

FWPU Prep 2 – May 9, 2020 –

Group 2: Rosetta, Patrick, Stacy, Josiane, Monica, Elodie (facilitated by Virginie)

What changes did we face? Family change: Professional changes: Changes imposed by Physical change ● loss of a parent ● new technologies harshness of life ● becoming a ● finding your (crisis): ● Surgery parent calling ● Homelessness ● taking charge of ● lower ● Cold ● Moving to a new your family professional ● Having to change community (new ● getting divorced responsibilities your attitude and country, new city, ● getting married ● new job or new prove you’re a new responsibilities good mother neighborhood)

Relationship supports The relationship supports available that we identified are: - Myself - Colleagues - Family (husband, parents ) … - Best friends - God and faith

What were the obstacles to having access to relationship supports?

- Different backgrounds, different ways of living, different language - If the relationships within a family are bad, you won’t have some support during a time of change. Here’s an example when relationship supports were not available. What other relationship supports should have been provided? - Having to learn new technologies: It’s very relevant now, in the context of Covid-19. How to connect to Zoom, work on Google Docs, etc. It can prevent some people from participating in certain meetings. - How can we help? With some personal voluntary support and also with some training sessions. - Moving to a new community: There are places that welcome you in your new community - local library or community center, for example. 15

The role of neighbors: - In the context of Covid-19, we don’t feel some support from our neighbors. They don’t allow kids to play together anymore. In some places, a lot of neighbors left NYC and we feel alone. - If you don’t take time to build the relationship, to say hi to your neighbors, when we need each other, we won’t have each other. A long-term relationship-building is needed. - If it comes to something serious, we don’t know if we’ll still have the support of our neighbors. We talked about the difference between unconditional support (nothing in return) and conditional support (on the condition I’ll get something from you).

Institutional supports The institutional supports available we identified are: - Therapist - Nurse and doctors - Education, books - Art and music classes

What were the obstacles to having access to institutional support? - No choice given when you’re placed to shelter Here’s an example when institutional supports were not available: - Not having decent living conditions or becoming homeless There are some supports available but it’s sometimes difficult to have access to them: - Agencies that guide you to find a place (a safe and healthy shelter) - Homebase, hospital - City of New York (NYC Housing Authority - NYCHA) - Common Ground (helps homeless people)

What is needed is a higher power of authority: state level, government that gives means and direction. The same way there’s a task force created for COVID-19 crisis, there should be one for housing crises.

Learning experience: When does change become an enriching experience? 16

“It’s when I can trust myself, I have a family, I have a voice.” “When we’re able to figure out how to go through it with our own resources, we feel stronger.” “When I know who to trust or not.” “When you can see growth in yourself: I can express myself through proper words and not get angry and frustrated.” “A positive mindset makes you stronger.” “Discovering ATD and meeting people from different backgrounds.”

When does change become a bigger challenge? “I expected my attitude to change overnight. But it took time.” “When you’re afraid to talk.” “When you don’t find a way to survive.”

How do we stay open to change? “To feel safe and prepared for another change, with all the resources I need, and supported enough.” “I don’t like change, it gives me anxiety, I have to know what’s going to happen. But I stay open to support.” “To stay open to change is to challenge yourself to change.” “Accept the change and go with the flow.” “If you can trust yourself again.”

////