Provide Spaces of Healing for 30 Women in Mexico

The workshop series for Mexico City is in its planning and development phase. Since the last reporting period, there was a major change. One of the workshop’s facilitators, Beth Lazroe, had to cancel her trip to Mexico due to health issues. Another colleague, who is experienced in therapeutic work, will replace Lazroe. Her name is Sonia Mackwani.

Below is a short biography of Mackwani:

Sonia Mackwani is an award-winning Psychologist Healer and an Intuitive Channel. With a Masters in Clinical Psychology and Hypnotherapy, she is also an author, having written for children and adults; both fiction and non-fiction. At the young age of 21, she founded a non-profit organization called Touching Lives offering learning and healing to the children and communities of the slums in Mumbai, India. Touching Lives is now in its 15th year of operation.

During the Report period January - April 2019, the following activities took place:

• Conference call. The main facilitator of the workshop, Dr. Masa Hilcisin met with the representatives of organization LaLleca in order to discuss further plans about the workshops
• Timeframe for all workshops. The following timeframe has been agreed with the representatives of LaLleca:

The first workshop will take place July 4-6, in collaboration with the Cultural Center for 10 female participants. Participants will be students and immigrants.

The second workshop will take place on July 10, for 20-30 participants for women in prison. This workshop will take only one day because access to the prison is not possible for a longer period of time. It will be designed and structured accordingly.

The third workshop will take place July 11-13, for 8-10 female activists.

• Skype meeting. Hilcisin met with the other facilitator, Sonia Mackwani. Mackwani is based in Bombay, she will arrive to Prague at the end of May. Mackwani will be working during the month of June with Hilcisin in preparation for the workshops in Mexico City. They will together run workshops for women and girls within WomenArts Festival,Prague, from June 14-16.
• Tools, techniques, and methods which will be used and applied during the workshops, include: storytelling, writing, group sharing, identification of individual themes, individual sessions, guidance, and creative process, which will involve use of visual tools such as video, or collage, or photography, in order to translate the personal story into visual language. Further methods might be added after work meetings of facilitators during the month of June.

Timeline for the next three-month period (April - May 2019):

• May: conference call with representatives of LaLleca organization in order to discuss the final details of the workshops (final structure and confirmation of the timeline)
• June: Facilitators’ series of work meetings in Prague
• June: Facilitators will deliver a workshop for women and girls in Prague (as an additional preparation for the workshops in Mexico City).