Learning a New Dance – A story from Venezuela Told by Veronica Pelicaric and Leonor Andrade
Veronica: I had been invited to facilitate a three-day workshop on nonviolence in Caracas by a group of “anti-Chavistas,” the nickname given to those who strongly oppose Hugo Chavez, the controversial Venezuelan president. When I arrived, I found that not only were 60 anti-Chavistas, mostly professionals and well-to-do citizens, participating, but that 15 staunch and active supporters of the president had also been invited. These were mostly young, intense, and poor people who were engaged in a struggle to be seen and heard after decades of indifference and serfdom. They brought with them many stories of injustices and rancor.
For the first day and a half, the workshop ran smoothly and without major clashes. Late on the second day, we moved to an expanded process of an exercise called “The Two Hands of Nonviolence.” The expanded version of the exercise is worked in dyads, and I suggested that, when possible, people from opposing “factions” pair together. Leonor, a staunch anti-Chavista, sat in front of a Chavista woman. The exercise involves raising both hands straight out in front of our bodies to say, “Stop! I will not be part of your violence” to the aggressor, and then slowly lowering one hand in a gesture which says “I say stop! But I extend one hand to signify that I will not exclude you from my heart and I trust we will find a way of working out our differences.” When it came to Leonor’s turn to lower her hand, she just could not do it. She began to tremble, almost convulsively, and just could not bring herself to lower her hand to the Chavista. The whole room was seemingly mesmerized and glued to her execution of the exercise; a sense of expectation mixed with allowing her the space she needed prevailed, adding to the intensity of the moment. Leonor’s face was flush and her body contracted while the other woman just sat there and waited. Suddenly, Leonor found in herself the strength to lower her hand, shakily and obviously with enormous effort of spirit. She broke down and the room was filled with her sobbing. Many more people started crying too and most of us honored the moment by lowering our heads and going into our hearts to honor her struggle and to extend a moment of oneness.
To be continued on Thursday, day 72...
From Engage: Exploring Nonviolent Living (Session 6: Seeing What's Hidden) page 100-101.
