2016 Fall workshops at AVP: a recap
we are approaching the winter solstice and i just wanted to make note of some of the exciting things that have been happening on the education side of avp.
this year we added another workshop on Supporting Survivors. this workshop provides some basic skills to support someone in your life who has experienced violence. this is the type of work i get really excited for, because it is an element to building communities where we can support each other, where survivors feel believed, and where we can (hopefully) start healing collectively. like the Consent Workshop, it’s a two hour workshop and has run once or twice a month all fall.
on a logistical note… since the heating situation has been figured out in the basement of the SUB (where we run our workshops) things have been a lot more comfortable! so, high-fives to that.
the year’s not over yet though. we have a couple of workshops left in december. we’ve also been keeping busing with some in-house workshops for organizations that have reached out to us. over the last couple of weeks we’ve delivered workshops to folks at AVI, Reynolds High School, and Brentwood Bay College.
our attendance is up this fall and there have been many beautiful moments. i am continually in awe of the vulnerability and openness that folks bring to this work. the beauty of workshops is that they rest on the collective knowledge in the room, and discussions have been so enriched by peoples’ bravery to share and think out loud. this fall has been full of folks showing up with willingness to say “wow, i didn’t know this”. so many good questions. so many good reflections. i have learned a lot, and have really been pushed in my own understandings.
all of this is to say thank you. i’m grateful for everyone that has come out and worked to work on themselves and expand our culture of anti-violence.
and, finally, i want give a big shout out to avp’s volunteers, who have finished their training and have started shadowing in workshops. these folks will be starting to take on more lead facilitation roles in 2017. rad rad rad. it’s been so amazingly energizing to work with new facilitators and i’m so stoked that our team is growing.
we have some tentative dates booked for 2017. we’re still sorting out the room bookings and will post the new dates and locations within the next week.
warmly,
meg.
