Have you ever wondered about the topics covered during a Fluye week?
Here is great example in which Hana describes an excellent week with San Pedro Itzican girls:
The week “flowed” so gracefully and joyfully, I hardly felt any tiredness driving and executing the class. This group of girls were since day 1 absolutely respectful, receptive and willing to learn and live the experience fully. Of course they are San Pedro girls: shy and reserved. But still, they showed a lot of interest, just by being completely attentive to the class and with their energy focused in what I was saying and doing ALL the time. This is not very frequent, as usually, although girls are loving, happy and excited to receive us, there is a certain level of undiscipline and more or less a struggle to keep their attention during the whole class. But not here. These girls wouldn’t even blink. Of course they would laugh a lot with my silliness and the gags I’ve learned that works to connect with them, so I know they were involved at every moment, but I can hardly believe how easy-going (a real delight!) it was to be in front of this class. Plus, their teacher was there with us since day 2, and it was wonderful to have her presence and backup.
It was also very interesting what happened with the teacher, because on the first day she came she seemed a little rigid, I would say even suspicious. But by the time the class finished, she was smiling. This was day 2. Sexual anatomy, sex and consent day 🙂 As any of the girls didn’t actually share anything on the circle after the stories, the teacher said something like: “Girls, no one has ever come here to the school to talk about this. I’ve been in this school for many years and I know the struggles of the girls regarding this matter, in this town. Let’s listen deeply. Let’s take these lessons with us and think seriously about it. We can change things. You can! This is very valuable.” The girls said “yes” with their heads and looked at each other. It was a deep moment without words. Then we sang, and thats when all their voices were raised. The teacher sang too. Later she told me she will teach this song to every girl she could. It made me shiver!
So the teacher became the most enthusiastic singer, and she also participated a lot during the class on the next day. I kept looking at her in the eyes and commenting to her so she could feel confident enough to share her thoughts at any time, and so she did. It was day 3, menstrual cycle day; a joyous experience teaching this in such a favorable atmosphere. The class was 2:30 hours without any breaks, and so amazing. I blended the menstrual cycle map exercise with the cycle-altar that explains the physiology of the cycle and fertility awareness learnings. It was a complete success. After the class and the girls had gone, the teacher stayed with me and while helping me pick up everything, she shared many of her reflections about the class. She said it was so eye-opening for her, and she felt like most of us women feel when we learn all this: why didn’t I know this before? What are we going to do to teach this to everyone else? It was an amazing conversation that ended up in the very strong possibility that we do a Fluye cups in Poncitlan that she will organize with community leaders and her daughters.
And distribution day was a great final closing to this beautiful week. All the girls, except two, brought their drawings and put a lot of effort into them. They participated in the activity with enthusiasm and I was finally able to get words out of them in the final circle; asking them what was that they cherished more and liked more of the whole program. And they gave us their honest amazing answers. I’m 100% satisfied with his group. A happy distribution with a lot of joy. They wouldn’t leave the room! They wanted to continue singing… and so they did, as I was picking up all my things they didn’t stop, until it was over… Inspiring! Thank you DFGLC for making this happen!