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they are aware of what else is happening

they share their experiences

they notice things

All of these attributes require us to walk in another's shoes.

This isn't a new concept, but a timeless and universal idea that emerges in every age. Wayne McCashen emphasised this in his opening address to The Gathering in New Zealand in 2003:

The strengths approach is not only important, it is essential. It is a philosophy that captures the essence of justice, the essence of people and their possibilities.These ideas don't change...let's remember Francis of Assisi, Gandhi, Jesus, Nelson Mandela, Oodgeroo Noonuccal, the Buddha, Martin Luther King...

We should talk about it. We should keep it in our hearts and try to live it so that it can grow.

 'You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.'

The Harveys

... and other people's shoes

'I was intrigued to know why people are as they are, make the choices they make, and what encourages them to seek changes in their lives... my hope for this book is that people across all human service disciplines will see the value of storytelling as a reflective learning tool.'

Jennifer Lehmann

The beautiful blackline illustrations of shoes that accompany The Harveys and other stories are more than just a pretty motif. These eight powerful stories invite us to step into the shoes of diverse Australians as they approach the heart-rending, often traumatic challenges of living and relating.

Drawn from Jennifer Lehmann's many years experience in social work, these insightful stories explore the whole human muddle and place us, as readers, in the midst of each situation. What choices would we make? How would our values effect our decision making? Could we make the leap to step into these character's shoes?

The second part of the book provides a framework for exploring the stories and addressing these questions. Social justice issues predominate as the author encourages those in the business of helping others to engage in reflective practice.

While The Harveys is a valuable learning tool for social work education, it is just as important as a reflection for those of us who walk in other's shoes as part of our daily life.

'This ability to reflect, and to improve our practice from this reflection, is rapidly becoming recognised as an integral skill in the people-helping business. This involves the ability to respond to people and situations both as a professional and as a person. Jennifer's stories allow us to do just that.'

Professor Jan Fook, Centre for Professional Development, La Trobe University

View this resource on our website

Honouring lives - making a difference

A unique artifact made a visit to Bendigo recently as part of its journey around the State of Victoria.

The Rememberance Quilt is a project of Work Related Grief Support (WGS), a support service provided by Creative Ministries Network. The service provides support for people bereaved by the work-related death of a family member.

Each of the 47 squares on the quilt were created by family members as a way of honouring the lives of those who have died, but also in an effort to make a difference to workplace health and safety. The people honoured by the quilt represent a wide variety of workplace deaths including farm deaths, suicide, Mesothelioma, falls and other accidents, and those who have died serving in the armed forces.

Bette Phillips, the Family Support Service Coordinator at WGS, accompanied the quilt to Bendigo and spoke at its welcoming ceremony.

'Because work plays such a large part in people's lives, when it impacts on a someones death, it's so important for us to honour the life and the family. For the families who have contributed to the quilt, they can know that their loved one is making a difference to the issues of health and safety in the workplace.'

Lee Gerrish, the Regional Group Manager of Workplace Victoria, echoed Bette's thoughts saying that he hoped the quilt and the current promotional campaign would send a message to employers.

'The real tragedy is that these are preventable deaths, yet the numbers are growing. Everybody can make a difference to workplace safety simply by having a good look, noticing the hazards and letting someone know.'

For more information about the Rememberance Quilt or Work Related Grief Support contact Bette Phillips on (03)9827-8322

Or visit the Creative Ministries Network website

click here

New on Our Shelf List...

• What is the best thing about you? Can you flip pancakes? Notice things other people don't? Count backwards from 1,000 in threes?

• What is the best thing about where you live? Where do you like to sit? Where do you like to walk from your house?

• Could you cheer someone up if they were feeling sad? Would you talk or go for a walk?

This intimate little journal will open up a world of strengths-based conversation or creative activities. For anyone who works with people, Could You? Would You? is a fun and gentle way to get people noticing strengths and exploring feelings.

Trudy White likes to draw pictures and ask lots of questions. She would like a miniature lemur that could swing around the branches of a pot plant in her studio, a polar bear to cuddle when she's cold, a team of sled dogs to help her think, and a barn owl that would sharpen pencils with its beak.

John Holton

Illuminations

Shedding light on abuse and control tactics in relationships

In 2004 the Kyabra Community Association in Brisbane, Queensland, offered its first 'Ladies Lounge' group. It brought together six women and provided a space for them to share and try to make sense of their experience of living with domestic violence. It was here, with an island metaphor for inspiration, that the women began to name some of the tactics of control they were experiencing at home. From these meetings such tactics as 'The Sweet Talking Candy Cane' and 'The Palm Tree of Possessiveness' emerged. What also emerged were many stories about women's resistance to control, and holding on to what they valued.

In 2005, the Ladies Lounge group was inspired by a garden metaphor. The women in this group were invited to offer up images in response to each others stories and knowledge. From this, such tactics as 'The Hourglass of Restrictions' and 'The Rotten Branch of Consequence'  were born. At the end of this group the women mentioned how easy it was to become separated from this knowledge of control tactics. They were keen to find a way to hold onto this knowledge and to make it available to other women who lived with domestic violence and control.

Illuminations is the result. A set of 24 cards featuring the stunningly evocative images of Carla Gottgens. Using the names, definitions and stories that emerged from the 'Ladies Lounge', she built and photographed 'little worlds' in her back garden that became the images featured on the cards and within the booklet.

The set is made up of 12 'control tactic' cards and 12 corresponding 'women's responses' cards. Each 'control tactic' card features a definition that seeks to:

• externalise the tactic and expose how it operates
• show how it can affect a woman's life
• identify what it can separate a woman from
• expose alliances with other tactics.

Each card also features some questions that invite women to reflect on their own experiences. They also encourage women to name what is important to them that may have been violated or trampled on by the abuse.

The booklet includes glimpses of women's stories; of the control tactics they've experienced and the ways they've responded to them.

Ladies Lounge Project Officer, Kath Muller, hopes the Illuminations kit will help to make control tactics more visible.

'Abuse and control do their best work in the dark and in isolation. By sharing their collective knowledge, the contributors to Illuminations will help other women to feel empowered, and choose the life they want.'

View this resource on our website

From my favourite seat in the café I have a picture-framed view of the courthouse steps. Sipping my coffee, I watch the people come and go, see silent mini-dramas unfolding in strange, cafe time.

Today my attention is captured by a young boy - four, maybe five years old - playing with a Slinky. He is squatting on the top step, trying his darnedest to make the mess of wire march down the steps like the advertisements promise. Above him a couple are arguing. The woman is crying hysterically and as the man tries to restrain her with tattooed forearms that look incongruous in crisp shirt sleeves, she lashes out, slapping at his chest, pushing him away with drained force - a helpless final gesture.

All the while the boy is oblivious to the adult world above, his frustration rising with each failed attempt to tame the Slinky.

But then it happens. The Slinky finds momentum - one step, two steps - obeying the laws of physics, slinking end to end like an acrobatic earthworm. The boy's face is alight. Four steps, five steps - he raises his arms in a victory salute and turns to the adults so they can share in his joy.

But the couple are wrapped in a Klimt-like embrace - a sobbing, shuddering organism at the top of the courthouse steps. And as the boy turns back to see his lifeless Slinky on the footpath below, the look on his face could fill a coffee cup with tears.

© JH 2007