World Cafe Community

Community for the 21st Century

We finally have the story of weDialogue's first session of the "Conversations for the 21st Century" series up in StoryNet! Here's an added enhancement you will only see here: an audio recording of the round table of conversation starters with Peter Block, Sarah Whiteley and Maria Scordialos, and Nancy White:

Just to get you to want to see more, here's a sneak peak of Susan Kelly's graphic recording of the conversation starters (click to see it full size):

Letter to Daisuke and Our World Cafe Friends in Japan

Paper Whites, photograph taken/donated by Stephen Goldblatt

Dear friends in Japan,
 
We in the World Café community want you to know that our hearts are with you in this time of devastating loss and heartbreak.  At the same time, to see the way your citizens have come together to help and support one another in the midst of this tragedy is very inspiring. We can all learn from you about how we can come together as caring human communities in times of trouble.
 
Please let us know if there are ways the World Café community can be of support and we will be sure to let our global friends know.  And, we’d be grateful to learn more of the conversations you are having in Japan in the face of this crisis and how the World Café process can be of service in some small way.
 
We send you our prayers and the wish that these challenging times can strengthen us all to meet adversity with the grace and courage that Japan is showing to the whole world.
 
With warmest regards and best wishes,
 
Juanita Brown and David Isaacs
& the World Cafe Community Foundation
on behalf of our global community

Our Friends in Japan

We at the World Cafe Community Foundation have been feeling the concern and empathy that the rest of the world feels for our brothers and sisters in Japan during this challenging time. Our prayers and thoughts have been with the entire nation as it goes through this difficult re-adjustment period, and especially with our many dear friends in the Japanese World Cafe community.

We got this beautiful letter from our friend and colleague Daisuke Kawaguchi that reveals the invincible charachter of his countrymen and women, even during this time of tragedy, and the courage and valor in his own heart. His words inspire me, as I know they will you:

As you know, Japan has been facing a severe tragedy of Tsunami.

Fortunately, my family and acquaintance were safe, however, we are spending a sad moment to recognize the fact that estimated 20,000 people have died.

Still, we see a good sign in this tough situation.

Although there are a lot of problems to solve, this experience has reminded us of the importance of social capital and the beautiful human dignity at the same time.

People are helping with each other more than ever here in Japan, and we are relearning the spirit of sharing and volunteering. (Some impressive twitters are on this site)

Foreign media surprisingly reported that there was almost no robbery even in this severe situation.

A lot of courageous people in a self-defense force rescued tens of thousands of people (Yesterday an 80-year-old woman and her grandchild were rescued from the rubble after 9 days!).

Lack of electricity in Tokyo has changed our life totally. We are saving the electricity as much as we can. There are no neon lights even in the downtown. Now I go back home from my office earlier than before, which enables me to spend more time with my family.

All of this might be opportunities to think about energy savings and what is important to us in global level.

In addition, we are encouraged by billions of prayers and support from all over the world every day. I just want to say thank you, thank you for letting us know that we never walk alone!

I believe that when we get over this situation, we can be stronger, more gentle to the people and environment, and create the better society which we can be proud of. In order to realize this, conversational leadership will play the most significant role.

I am determined to dedicate myself to the recovery of our society by creating space for reflective and generative dialogue such as the World Cafe offers with our networks of practitioners!