[psych-hr] Joanie Connors comments on IPEDEHP case study

Hello All,

My apologies for turning this in past the deadline. I have been
incredibly busy, as I'm sure all of you have been. 

It is hard to find anything to criticize in IPEDEHP's report. There are
so many positive and noteworthy things in the study of IPEDEHP's project
and Marcy has described them well. Unfortunately, Marcy has done her job
so well that once I had read her description of the program, it was hard
to find things to say that has not been said better before. 

As described, the program seems to be very affirmative, works to empower
individuals and communities, validates the individual experiences of those
who attend, provides experiential exercises that they are able to relate
to, and it provides them with tools that they are able to use in their
families and communities. I am fairly certain that it is this positive,
practical approach which assures its effectiveness. 

Unfortunately I lack any knowledge of how to deal with funding and
resource problems that are noted. My only thought along those lines is
that in our culture, we find that people gain more from training if they
have to contribute something towards it, however small. If that is the
case in Peruvian culture also, then perhaps the attendees could make a
small contribution or trade something to help in IPEDEHP's resource gap. 

It is extremely admirable that IPEDEHP's staff could have created such an
empowering and healing program amidst the turmoil and threat in Peru's
recent history. What would be very valuable for me would be to know how
they accomplished this incredible task. I would love to see the actual
exercises they use, their strategies, and some announcements and schedules
of their trainings. What is their follow-up program? 

In my human rights work in Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico, it seemed like
we had to struggle with so many issues that hampered our effectiveness.
This included, language barriers (many indigenous peoples there do not
speak Spanish, or their Spanish is 2nd grade level and does not include
many human rights terms), lack of reading and writing skills,
transportation and scheduling problems in remote areas with poor roads or
foot access and few phones, cultural barriers to accepting women's rights
(women are less likely to attend school, women are less likely to have a
voice in community issues), and, the rivalries, fear and anger between
different subgroups because of present or past roles during times of
violence. 

It appears that IPEDEHP has dealt successfully with issues such as these
over the years. I would love to know how they overcame the problems
endemic in Bolivia's human rights situation to accomplished this,
especially if they had to deal with similar types of issues (e.g.
machismo) to those that exist in Central America. 

IPEDEHP has accomplished an incredible feat in a difficult environment. I
believe other embattled groups could benefit from their work if they would
be willing to share their tools and decision-making process. 

Joanie Connors, Ph.D.
CNED-ELCF
GRAD 237
Univ. of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701
(501) 575-3582 or 582-0078
FAX (501) 575-2492