Malta launches the second phase

Last week, the Malta groups had the last sessions of the first phase of the project. Even though most of the sessions so far have included new games and exercises (other than the body shaking/waving goodbye that I improvised at the end of the first session in March which I since kept as the recogised closure of the session), last week most of the work was a development from exercises introduced earlier. It allowed for a recognition of the possibilities of continuation, as well as a feeling of comfort through working on the familiar whilst finding new things and new ways of doing an already experienced exercise. For example, I've introduced a big pink exercise ball into the sessions. In pairs, and sometimes also in groups of 4, I ask them to place their back to the ball and walk without letting the ball fall. It was amazing to see that even with a gap of two weeks, the second time round many participants could carry the ball a lot further than the first time round. So yes, in that sense of continuation and satisfaction from doing something again.
There was also a shift in energy last week as it seemed that participants had got used to the environment and group dynamics. I look forward to meeting weekly now as this will further encourage easy access into the session.

So, we're onto the second phase. After both the Thursday session and the Friday session last week we held meetings for the participants and their carers. This was to explain how the project is to continue. As we had announced at the beginning of the project there is not going to be a selection process, but rather participants are to select themselves by deciding from now on to fully commit to the project: to attend the sessions, which will now happen on a weekly basis, regularly; to increase in participation as we prepare for the visit of our partners in September; and to contribute to the organisation too by, for example, participating in meetings with journalists.

I think it will be a few sessions now before the groups resettle into new dynamics as a few participants might take leave of the project, and one or two exceptional cases change groups. So I think it will not be before the end of July that we begin working on building material for presentation in September. There's still a lot of exploratory work to be done!

In the meantime, here are a few pictures from last week's sessions.

Louise