Blue Dolphin Group on Monday

On Monday afternoon the Blue Dolphin Group made a SALT visit to the Chrysalide Rehabilitation Centre to meet with staff and residents of the female drug users’ rehabilitation centre. The visitors were Célicia, Nadine, Gloria, Autry, Annick, Pouba, Tricia and Rituu.

Chrysalide Rehabilitation Centre

Here is the AER for the visit:

What went well?

• • The team particularly the facilitator had prepared well for the visit.

  • The journey to the centre was long but sharing during the journey helped. the facilitation team to bond and get to know each other. “Now I feel a part of the team though yesterday I was invited as a participant.”- Puoba Therefore in facilitation the team spirit was visible and helped the process.

  • The community and the staff of the care home were very welcoming and willing to share what they had had gone through.

  • Our introduction as a human being put the community at ease, they begun to trust us, opened up to share their very intimate experiences. Both the staff and the residents appreciated the space we were able to create which made them comfortable.

  • We encouraged them to speak in their own language and by the end of the discussion some who knew English begun to speak the language.

  • Dividing into two groups helped in detailed discussions.

  • By pairing up Pouba with Annick who is more experienced in facilitation helped in the breakaway group discussion.

  • We were from different countries and cultures but we felt we were on the same wavelength.

  • They offered to change their Wednesday’s programme so that we could visit them for the knowledge assets.

What can we do better next time?

• • Sometimes we started speaking in English. We should have tried to speak more in French or their local language.

  • We started as one group and then divided into two groups. We should have finished off as a one group by bringing back everyone together.