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FOUR WORLDS INTERNATIONAL

Situation Analysis and Goals

Seven Sacred Years of Healing

1994-2000

Acknowledgment

We gratefully acknowledge the prayers and guidance of the many wise elders who supported us and who continue to support us through this process of seven sacred years of healing. We also wish to express our sincere appreciation for the hundreds of men and women from the four directions who gave many hours of their time, their tears, their feelings their energy and their thinking to create this analysis and to arrive at these goals.

1. Children feel powerless and lacking a future.
2. Children are not given power or responsibilities.
3. Children have too much leisure without structure and/or guidance and/or direction and/or supervision.
4. Parent role (family role) has been taken over by the formal educational system and mass media in many cases.
5. Children’s need for safety is not being adequately addressed: children are victims of all kinds of abuse to exploitation.
6. Children are viewed as possessions, are not given a chance to be children, are not honoured or respected or seen as a distinct group.
7. Children have a lot of pain and anger and yet their full range of emotions are not recognized nor are they allowed to express those emotions in a healthy way.
8. Children have low self esteem.
9. Children’s mental needs are addressed for the most part but not their physical, emotional and spiritual needs.
10. Children are not challenged in school and we are not teaching traditional values like respect of self, life, and the world, or thinking skills like problem solving, self discipline and building trust and honour.
11. There is inter-generational breakdown; parents are not learning parenting skills and there is not enough support for or by extended family.
12. Our view of children is distorted by mass media as is the child’s view of the world.
13. Children need more time with adults who are healthy role models.
14. Our materialistic culture negatively effects children and their families.
15. Adults pain and the suffering of their inner child is reflected upon our children and needs to be addressed to support our ability to parent.
16. Children are parenting their parents.

1. Use the energy of anger and guide it to positive ends.
2. Return responsibility of raising child to parents, grandparents and community rather than placing responsibility on schools and other formal institutions.
3. Support parents in poverty by ensuring the opportunity to heal allowing them time to be with their children and encouraging them to pass on family/clan history.
4. Ensure the community accepts its responsibility for caring for and raising children.
5. Encourage formal systems to work in partnership with families and community be ensuring the teaching of parenting skills are readily available without stigma.
6. Allow children to assume the power that is within them while still allowing children to be children.
7. Children need to be respected, safe and valued, and have their physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs met and kept in balance.
8. Children are valued members of this world as are parents, extended family and community.
9. Aboriginal people are in a transitional state and we need to assess our history and role so that we may develop our own programs and services that would allow children to learn and live traditional values in peace and harmony.
10. We need to listen and learn from our Elders and our children and create an environment that strengthens children’s self esteem.
11. We need to understand our past in order to make good choices in the present and put things in their right perspective.

1. Children are the gifts of the Creator. They need to be safe, nurtured and to have all of their needs met - spiritual, emotional, physical and mental. We have a responsibility for our children and we need to be well and healed to meet that responsibility. Children need to be heard and they need our time and unconditional love. To do this:

2. Alcohol and drug abuse.
3. No guidance and direction.
4. Low self-esteem.
5. Loss of family traditions such as: daily ritual and bonding processes; rites of passage; lack of discipline; loss of connection with Mother Earth.
6. Lack of spirituality and balance.
7. Not leading healthy lifestyles: i.e. physically unfit, poor nutrition and STD’s.
8. Teen pregnancies.
9. Lack of positive role models.
10. Lack of key services for youth such as: education, caregivers; social services; recreation.
11. Lack of meaningful things to do resulting in boredom, violence and gang activity

 

 
 




WHAT WE HAVE TO BUILD ON

1.Families are beginning to heal themselves and then youth will heal and find empowerment.

2.There is more freedom to talk about abuse.

3.There is more sexual equality.

4.Youth today are more assertive, open and willing to challenge authority.

5.There is a reawakening of pride in cultural and spiritual traditions and values.

6.There is an increased cultural and environmental awareness.

CHANGES AND ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN

1. The adults around youth need to let go and heal.

2. Parents need to be more involved with their children.

3. Adults must listen to youth and take direction from them.

4. Adults must encourage cooperation rather than competition in all areas concerning youth.

5. Equal job opportunities must be available to all youth.

6. Youth rights must be established and protected, especially when adults separate, divorce or when children are taken from natural parents to foster care. The children’s needs and rights must come first.

7. As a community we must move away from patriarchy.

8. As a community we must get back to a spiritual orientation and encourage healing ceremonies, rituals and rites of passage for youth.

9. Discipline and self-discipline for youth will be the result of strong family bonds.

10. The media must be truthful and it must promote healthful products and behaviour.

11.Youth must be included in the affairs of the community in meaningful ways.

12.Youth need meaningful employment and recreation.

13.Adults and youth need to come out of denial regarding their pain and abuse.

14.Each individual adult must learn to create family values and teach it to their children.

The following needs of youth must be met:

1. healing and personal development,
2. recreation,
3. positive role models,
4. education and training,
5. family and community support,
6. healthy peer support,
7. economic opportunity,
8. spiritual development,
9. cultural bonding.

1. Youth who are respected, respectful and respecting (i.e. have a role in the community and positive values).

2. Youth who have the freedom to grow and develop to their full potential (i.e. education, make their own choices).

3. The existence of a lot of love and support (i.e. healthy families)

4. Youth would be free from all forms of abuse.

5. Visible role models for youth (i.e. communities that work, elders).

6. Supportive communities for youth such as parents, agencies, role models, teachers and elders, funding and support groups.

7. Individual youth who have healthy self-esteem.

8. Youth who are role models for young children.

9. Connection between elders and youth.

10.Youth would be bonded to families, culture and community. They would be needed, important and responsible.

11.Youth would have vision and hope.

Healthy, happy youth, free from all forms of abuse, who are bonded with family, culture and community and who develop to their full potential as human and spiritual beings.

1.Connection with spiritual values, history and traditions has been lost resulting in the following problems:

• loss of self worth,
• lack of supportive loving relationships,
• loss of respect,
• discrimination and oppression,
• abuse of many forms,
• lack of role models,
• lack of education,
• lack of autonomy,
• lack of employment,
• lack of expression,
• co-dependence,
• addictions and compulsive behaviours,
• lack of parenting support.

1. Power sharing with men in all areas of society, at all levels (relationships, family, community life, etc),
2. Women need healthy, supportive, committed relationships,
3. Economic self-sufficiency needs to be attained,
4. Women need to take responsibility for their healing, growth and development,
5. Women need community support and acceptance of their transformation and self-improvement.

The following assets are available to women:

1.Strong role models. In many places women are the ones who have started the journey of healing and development, often at great personal risk, inspiring and leading their families and communities.

2.The wisdom of the grandmothers.

3.Improving access to economic and educational resources.

4.Safe houses.

5. A growing number of program efforts, lead by powerful women, addressing issues such as sexual abuse, family violence and addictions.

1.Women need community support and acceptance for their transformation and self improvement.

2. A broad based educational process needs to be developed for women and men to work on their own healing.

3. Men have to become involved in their own healing process.

4. Women need equal access to educational and economic opportunities.

1.Women living according to spiritual values, free from oppression and abuse.

2.Women are respected and share spiritual, economic, and cultural leadership and power in their communities.

1. Identity crisis.

Men do not know who they are as men, as human beings, as members of families, communities and cultures. As a consequence, some men do not know how to act out their roles as fathers, husbands, grandfathers, brothers, uncles and friends.

2. Self-defeating cycles.

Men are caught in a cycle of self-defeating (learned) behaviours. Examples include feelings of inadequacy, unhealthy self-esteem, shame, addiction, guilt, despair and illegal activities. As a result for many men these behaviours can lead to depression, anger, frustration, violence, abuse and sometimes suicide.
 
 

3. Addictive behaviours.

Once trapped in the cycle, a sense of hopelessness and despair takes over, leading to active and chronic addictions, such as alcohol and drug abuse, gambling, sexual issues, co-dependency and abusing. In the addiction cycle, denial is a barrier to change and recovery, disabling the addict from communication or expressing feelings within the family and community.

4. Assets and resources.

1. many men have already begun their healing journeys and can help others,
2. women have much experience and wisdom from their healing efforts to share,
3. men can draw on their own inner strength gained from centuries of struggles and pain.

Communities will require financial and technical assistance to design and implement wellness programs specific to the needs of men. Within the program structure, there will be a need to provide initial and ongoing training and technical support. Some programs will be required to be mobile. Examples of programs are:

Issues Method

Addiction Inpatient/outpatient/mobile community based

Anger Anger management/treatment/conflict resolution

Suicide Intervention, education, prevention, peer support

Co-Dependency Family counseling, 12 step

Self-esteem Assessment by motivational interviewing, counseling, re-connecting with cultural beliefs and behaviours

Identify Sweats, ceremonies, elder counseling

It is important to implement a tracking system to evaluate outcomes of our program efforts.

Spiritually healthy men, free from addiction and a need to abuse, empowered with a healthy sense of self-esteem, respected and loved as members of their families and communities and positive role models for children.

1. Many are dysfunctional and in denial so are elderly but not Elders in the sense of being mentally, physically and emotionally whole. This is one of the reasons for being disrespectful of them.

2. Many have suffered, and continue to suffer, from all the effects of poverty, causing all the associated problems of lack of housing, transportation, medical services. Thus their physical needs are not met. They are alienated.

3. Through lack of communication across the generations they are left out of the life of their families and communities, so that they intellectual and emotional needs are unmet.

4. Through oppressive rigid spiritual/religious persons/organizations their spirit has been crushed and much of the old spiritual traditions lost.

5. They abuse by nepotism and get abused by political and power climbers. In all cultures and races, families and communities they are used, abused, given lip service honour and love but are not involved in the life of the community and are discarded into dying places. They need respect and honour for their wisdom, life experiences and vision and their assets as carriers of customs, language and traditions. The consequence of these neglects are the false cures of all addictions and physical, mental, emotional and mental.

1. We need to change our attitudes by healing ourselves and encouraging our elders to participate in our healing. We need to ensure that our elders are physically provided for, mentally stimulated and included in our daily lives, shown respect and love even if they seem unloving and unworthy of respect. Who are we to judge them? Our loving attitude will promote trust and change. We must honour them by inviting them to be on-going resource persons to all our learning, social and service organizations. We need to be open to change and encourage them to be open, especially to respect equality between the sexes and the rights of children and enjoy healthy parenting.

2. We need help to continue promoting healing wholistic interracial workshops. We need all aspects of society to involve themselves in these positive cooperative learning, healing, talking circles.

3. We need to promote a real community for everyone within our community to start with self/family, friends, community, and the world by being actively hope filled in this activity.

4. We must make it possible for a list of healthy elders to cooperatively exchange their skills and knowledge and their own healing journeys to provide us with healthy role model Elders, so that the following generations can prepare themselves to work in their footsteps and add their new learning.

Healthy, liberated Elders living in supported families and communities free from dysfunctional patterns, providing guidance to and sharing the journey of healing and development with the younger generation.

1. A long history of oppression in society has led to loss of mental, emotional, physical and spiritual balance. This has led to dysfunctional family systems. Most families are not healthy in their relationships. The symptoms of this crisis in our families include:

• alcoholism,
• abuse of many forms including physical, emotional and sexual addictive behaviours including gambling, bingo and co-dependent family patterns,
• kids are having kids,
• family members do not know their roles anymore,
• there is poor communication within families.

• foster care,
• single parents,
• inter-racial,
• geographically separated,
• blended,
• elders raising grandchildren,
• extended families,
• childless couples,
• "normal families",
• homeless,
• gangs/street youth,
• adopted,
• ½ siblings,
• cultural separation.

4. The interdependence of the traditional family that was vital for survival and support, is being replaced by individuality and materialism.

1. Programs that help families to learn how to communicate, to care for and respect each other in a healthy way.

2. Families must become safe havens within which all members can heal and grown. Some of the qualities of these families will include love, commitement, nurturing and respect.

3. Families have to heal together.

4. Families need a support system:

• Internal: the family must be a haven of mutual support for all its members.
• External: support systems around the family must be geared to provide a safety net and reinforce family healing and development efforts.

1. Strong healthy families, free from all forms of addictions and abuse, and supportive of the continued growth and development of all its members.

1. The economy is strictly motivated through a structure of short term profits, greed and competition. It is governed by nepotism, emotional and financial bribery resulting in a polluted environment, high unemployment, hopelessness and lack of vision for the future.

2. One of the many challenges is to eliminate the dependency of government financial assistance. A reduction of dependence and creation of self-reliance will reduce the overwhelming deficit and allow for more creative funding opportunities.

1. A return to moral and traditional values within the economic structure will move towards satisfying the needs of the people.

2. We need to reduce government involvement in business and community affairs while encouraging individual participation. Joint efforts between business and community leaders with vision for short and long term goals, environmentally conscious and responsive to the people and will produce a cohesive economic climate.

3. Leaders must be role models exercising responsibility, fairness, spirituality and morality. The help must come from our present leaders with the above qualities while urging participation from individuals and organizations with these qualities.

1. Providing financial, technical, training and ongoing support to design, implement and promote educational programs addressing spiritual, traditional, economic and environmental issues.

1. To create a healthy people centered economy based in life sustainable values and practices that promotes financial self-reliance and ethical accountability.