On my first full day in Japan, I led a day-long training at the Asian
Rural Institute (ARI), for 25 people from 12 different countries in
Africa and Asia.
All of them them, as far as I know, spoke
English as a second language, and because there were so many different
languages among them -- and b
ecause ARI's programs are all in English -- there was no interpreter.
It
was quite challenging for me, as I had to speak VERY basic English in
order for them to understand me. I used about 20% of my normal
vocabulary, and spoke twice as slowly as I normally do... which was
quite an adjustment.
I was most struck by the personal stories
the participants shared, for example three people from Myanmar
(formerly known as Burma), who told of their encounters with the
military government police, who struck them and others they know with
the blunt end of their rifles, and who were punished for being on the
street after 10 p.m.
It was rather difficult for them to "take
in" the ideas of Nonviolent or Compassionate Communication, and my
guess is that it's because they need a ton of empathy for how painful
it is to live under these regimes.
Nonetheless,
in spite of this, as well as the language difficulty, the feedback
forms indicated that nearly everyone really enjoyed my presentation,
which included several role play examples with the giraffe and jackal
puppets, and plenty of empathy that I offered to the participants.
Again,
it was quite a challenge to offer verbal empathy, as I reduced my
available words by 80%, and yet I still enjoyed it and sensed that it
connected with some people.