The Space Bangkok Story
It went on for years. I accompanied peacebuilders through their times of transition, struggle, crisis, realization, and healing. And all along I was dealing with my own struggles - the aftermath of harassment, grief, and my own burnout. The forces that paved this road we walked gradually became clearer, as did the realization of their prevalence, not only in the peacebuilding field, but beyond. And echoing around it all was a single thought: this is wrong and it doesn't have to be this way.
All the while, I was doing work that regularly required creativity and innovative ideas for problem solving and program development and improvement. And I increasingly found it impossible to meet this demand. The spark of creativity inside me was dead, thus there was no creative energy to feed innovation. And I had no idea where to find it, how to restart it, or where to even start looking for answers.
My experience is in no way unique. Far too many of us unnecessarily find ourselves where I did.
As with many journeys, mine included a crucial turning point. It was the moment I refused to accept this reality and, at the same time, rejected the most often shared advice - that healing myself would mean changing my situation in ways that were not possible for me at the time. It was the moment I became determined to find some other way out.
As I forged my way, accompanied by friends, an idea that had lingered for years finally began to gain purpose and take shape. Something could most certainly be done about the unwellness of peacebuilders and others. Both individual and structural forces were at work, and both levels could be engaged. The gap of the inadequacy of the existing resources I had access to could be filled. We could do better at supporting people and organizations towards resilience.
Ultimately, the pursuit of this mission led to starting Space Bangkok, a social enterprise working to promote resilience and innovation by changing the how of what we do individually and organizationally through encouraging ongoing reflective practice and incorporating reflective elements in leadership, capacity building, facilitation, problem solving, and other work. For me, Space Bangkok brings together an absorbing need to delve more deeply into reflective practice and ways to nurture inner creativity with a passion for peacebuilding, training, and facilitation. In blending these elements, we are working to equip and accompany for resilience, growth, transformation, and peace.
"I really thought that the retreat was excellent. It provided the space for peace workers to better connect with their own inner thoughts and feelings regarding their own personal peace. This I thought was excellent, too often we focus on our trauma, rather than our own inner places of peace." - advocate
The Creative Reflective Retreat Story
In 2014, future founding members of the Humanity’s Thread group began a conversation about the value and importance of holistic retreat spaces for people working on the front lines of cultivating peace and social change. The first retreat brought together ten inspiring people, all of whom are both trying to make the world a more peaceful place and felt the deep need to step back from the pressures of their everyday work and reflect on where they've been, where they were, and where they wanted to go.
It was not a training workshop. They were not invited to sharpen the skills they use on a day-to-day basis as practitioners. They were not invited to sit and listen to the latest peace building theories. The ‘classroom’ was the places where conversations unfolded. It was the woods and mountains walked together or alone. It was around the table as both food and experiences were shared. It was the quiet spaces of reflection as they heard the journeys of others and perhaps listened to their own stories in ways they hadn’t anticipated. It was in the wisdom of pressing pause on the constant chatter in their minds and observing what emerged from the silence. It was through new ways of exploring the paths they’d been on and the paths that may lie ahead. They kept things simple, and left the mountains feeling renewed and inspired.
Three years later, two founding members of the Humanity's Thread group continue in partnership to pursue this goal through convening regular creative reflective retreats in Australia and Thailand. Previous retreats have seen gatherings of grass roots community builders, security sector personnel, local mediators, lawyers and advocates, educators, international aid workers, and government officers from around the world.
"I am trusting that the sparks of creativity and innovation that were ignited in the retreat will expand and spread in unexpected and wonderful ways. I feel such a connection with everyone in the group and so honoured to have heard your stories and your profound experiences." - lawyer
How You Can Help
Our goal is that everyone wanting to join a creative reflective retreat will be able to do so. To that end, we strive to price the retreats at cost and well below market. Even so, we realize that the costs can be prohibitive for a variety of reasons. To bridge this gap, we are seeking to raise funds to help offset the retreat costs for some participants in order to enable their attendance.
To continue to offer these and other activities seeking to address issues of resilience and build sustainability, Space Bangkok, a startup social enterprise, has need for seed funding to expand the reach of its initiatives to support resilience and innovation. Your contribution is an investment in the long term impact and sustainability of our efforts.
"I am still sitting with it and allowing thoughts to just bubble up when they are ready. To me that just confirms how the [facilitators] were able to create a safe place for some very deep work. Their presence and direction with the program was always there even with all our little eccentricities. I thought the love they expressed in the food they prepared for us was a constant throughout the retreat. Their service to us was given generously withholding (with us and holding us) any ego on their part." - mediator
Who We Are
Jenn Weidman is founder and Managing Director/CEO of Space Bangkok. She is a facilitation, training, and peacebuilding professional with over 14 years' experience working on capacity building programs in Thailand. Her areas of specialty include facilitation and training design and delivery, reflective practice, current issues of Thailand and Southeast Asia, cultural competency, concepts of peace and conflict resolution, conflict analysis/assessment, creativity and peacebuilding, and other peace and conflict studies issues. An anthropologist by training, she is fluent in Thai. The Space Bangkok story is her story.
Policing has been Charles Allen's career for 34 years and a lifetime of policing has not tarnished his want to serve the community. Changing the practice model within policing so police identify and execute their role as important social capital, leading change in partnership with community and other agencies, has been his focus. Not only with his home agency, Victoria Police, but also by influencing the policing agenda nationally and internationally.
Charles has personally felt the fatiguing impact of his years of serving people. To retreat forward he looks to his connection to the environment, the healing arts, and fellowship with fellow peace workers. Also, his work with the Aboriginal community of his country, Australia, has given him the opportunity to think differently about self-management and recovery from trauma. Through his association with Humanity's Thread, he has pulled these aspects of self-management together and shifted his thinking from considering reflective practice as an indulgence to essential. He wants to create the same experience for fellow peace practitioners. Charles is founder of Illoura Peace Retreats.
Tania Militec is a committed peace and conflict studies academic and practitioner with over a decade of experience focused in Southeast Asia and China. She has always tried to balance her research and teaching in peace studies with applied peacebuilding initiatives. She previously worked with the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies in Cambodia. She has also worked on a conflict resolution program in mainland China and has a PhD on understanding Chinese perspectives on contemporary conflicts in China. Tania is currently with the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne. She also keeps up consultancies, including with the Foundation for Survivors of Torture Inc. (Foundation House) and the Australian Multicultural Foundation supporting leadership initiatives.
