I’m very excited that my wife Toni and I are heading to Thailand this coming Monday, October 22. It is our long overdue honeymoon – we’ve been married two and a half years now. We are also taking half the trip to assist in the conducting grassroots peacemaking workshops.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been studying the work of Virginia Satir for many years. My wife has also been studying the work, and recently graduated with her M.A. in Somatic PsychoTherapy from Naropa University in Boulder. Laura Dodson will be the primary facilitator of the workshops, and we will also be joined by Tipawadee Emavardhana and Maureen Graves. Laura, Tipa, and Maureen have been teaching workshops in Thailand for many years now.
The first workshop is in Bangkok, and will last five days. There will be participants from many walks of life – teachers, nurses, psychologists, business people, etc… The second workshop will be in the southern province of Hat Yai. The three provinces between Hat Yai and Malaysia see a lot of violence – since 2004 over 5,000 people have died (for a good overview, see here). Some years ago, Thailand took over rule of those provinces. There are muslims who want to be a part of Malaysia, and some protest being a part of Thailand with killings and suicide bombings. The workshop participants will be mostly Muslim families that have lost loved ones in this religious violence.
I am grateful to have a wife who shares a passion in doing good in the world, and for having friends that have helped us get connected to this opportunity. I am planning to take some time to write blog posts while on the trip, and you can also follow my tweets at @joshuajforman. I am going to use the #thaipeace hashtag.