Blue Dolphin Group on Tuesday

On Tuesday the Blue Dolphin Group made a SALT to the volunteers and children at Le Pont du Tamarinier. The visitors were(Annick, Celicia, Gloria, Tricia, Kiran, Rituu, Rafique, Nadine, Paul, and Marlou)

Le Pont du Tamarinier

AER of SALT visit

What went well:

• • In the team everyone was facilitating (voluntarily).

  • We changed the plan, but the flow was so good.

  • We worked as a team.

  • Celicia and Annick found good ways to keep looking for strengths - creative

  • Morning session: the stories were strong. The volunteers are used to SALT and took the questions further. “They are what they are doing”

  • Aniele expressed: we want to learn from you!

  • The noise and disruptive behavior was drifted subtle in positive.

  • Children were seduced into participating.

  • Every team member asked the question that was prepared.

  • Our body language: we put ourselves at same height as children.

  • One boy who did not want to participate in the start was flourishing when he was playing the drums.

  • Children: they were not disruptive, but rather feeling their instinct.

  • Team spirit between team and community was present the whole day.

  • Facilitation with children: we were all calm and able to calm down the children and to encourage them to demonstrate their strengths and talents.

  • We were ONE group with LPDT – group here was already waiting and excited, we just needed to meet as two balls of energy.

  • The ladies asked ‘how did you do that, we want to learn from you’ and said after the conversations: “I did not know I had those strengths”.

  • The walk through the village was a definite plus: helped us see what the people had created for themselves despite their harsh reality (very low income but people are building larger houses for themselves, creating vegetable gardens, stimulated and supported so that they may buy their own land and become owners). Community-led initiatives: if they truly own these changes, then they are more likely to continue.

  • Great entrepreneurial spirit, and supported by the whole village (eg. the person who wanted to start their hairdresser’s saloon, etc.).

  • The capacity of one woman (Aniele) to inspire so many individual and collective transformations! The strength of SALT , when it is truly lived and embodied, to inspire others was really felt here. And in fact, that’s how we’re here to (inspiration transferred from Singapore to LPDT).

  • The way the women entrepreneurs were brought together and supported: started with asking what they loved doing, then seeing whether there was a market there, building a common dream for the initiative, bringing in more women together, and then building up their skills. True vocational training.

  • The person who started the entrepreneurs group has a “green pen approach”: rather than telling the women off when they do a model differently or “wrong”, she sees as a creation in its own right, and allows herself to appreciate it and even learn from their creativity for herself.

  • Heard a lot about SALT being used to conflict resolution! Something was wrong, and we did “a SALT” which helped us express tensions and therefore resolve them. “From a storm to a storm in a teacup” (Kiran).

What could have gone even better :

• • We could have brought all the groups together at the end to share, together, what we had learned from the visit.

  • Really leave some time at the end to listen to what the community has learned/appreciated from the visit (here we left it at what we had appreciated from the community, but they didn’t have a chance to give us their feedback).

  • Go deeper into the story of the group, the individual stories took so long (because they were rich and infused with SALT!) that we never really got around to learning more about the group itself.

"Three nice things that happened"

• • The children brought so much love and joy through their spontaneity! They made us dance! This came also because we treated them as equals.

  • We learned the power of trust “this [the children being rowdy] is not my responsibility”

  • The morning’s sharing amongst us made things a lot clearer, specifically about what SALT is and what it can be.

  • Learned the importance of applying SALT to ourselves, too.

  • “Before I was a reactor, now I’m a listener”

  • The atmosphere with both communities was incredible!