Accompaniment with Apapacho

The Story:

Experiencing the healing potential of the expressive arts in this occasion, colleagues Ernesto and Marisol Bazán mobilized and organized a group of community leaders, pastoral counselors and university professors to offer long-term psychosocial-spiritual accompaniment to the families and the entire community of Holguín.   Mylinda and Shabrae were invited to help prepare this group for the significant task they were undertaking. The focus was on Artful Accompaniment with Apapacho.  Apapacho is a beautiful Mayan word that means to caress or embrace with the soul.

The common denominator for the week was the powerfully painful experience of collective grief and loss. The group explored questions like: “How can we accompany others in the way of grief when we are walking through the mud of it ourselves?” “How can we offer support instead of solutions with so many unanswered questions?” ”How do we get more comfortable in the discomfort of not knowing?” ”How can I offer healing to others before being healed myself?” “Can we find the way to hope together?”

A key component in the Expressive Arts approach is the expansion of the play range, the practice of presence and sensitive observation in the here and now.  Recognizing the transformative power of the arts to hold paradox, to practice skills of adaptation and adjustment as situations change, to rejoice in the uncommon and mysterious, and to discover beauty in broken bits and pieces is what this is all about.

The group was soon placed in a situation to practice what they had learned as Cuba went into the quarantine period.

Practicing the creative skills of adaptation, adjustment, and flexibility, the group continued online through WhatsApp sending messages of hope and encouragement.  Once a week a member would lead a short gathering through the messaging service as it was difficult for many to access Zoom.  Through messages, images and the recorded voice, the group remained connected.

As the lockdowns eased in Cuba, the group rallied and took the training that they received, made some small adaptations and used some of the content to help people in communities to re-emerge.  They created groups for children, youth, and adults, helping others to learn practices for wellbeing and to navigate stress and the unknown in the midst of the pandemic.  The group of trained members had a wide impact on their community and even across the country as a member of the group was also invited to speak on national television about stress and share a few practices for self-care.  Another member created a children visual story book with known tales from Cuba.  Children in certain regions could hear the stories through the phone line and could also visually receive a copy of the book.  This project is now being translated into Portuguese and is growing.  These were surprises and unknown outcomes to a 5-day training.  But what we know is that real change is always connected to a community based leader who knows their context and is creatively engaging it faithfully.