On the Road to Marrakech

May 15th the adventure began. Joy Rigberg (joy@consciousjoycoaching) and I were off to Marrakech Morocco to teach at the 2010 International Play Therapy World Congress. www.playtherapy.org.uk/.   After boarding British Airlines in Phoenix, we landed in London, transferred to Royal Air Morac and took off for Marrakech, landing in Casablanca first, with instructions to stay on the plane and continue on. That didn’t happen. The flight was cancelled and ten hours later we arrived by bus in Marrakesh. In good humor, I kept saying that I knew this was an adventure.  As the metaphor queen, I knew there was a story in all of this somewhere.

With little sleep I went to the Palais des Congress where the World Congress was being held.   I was greeted by Monika Jepkott, President of Play Therapy International (PTI) with a gift of a Moroccan drum and warm hugs. I told her I was surprised to see such a low participant count, knowing that distinguished presenters were coming from all over the world.   I knew she’d tell me when the time was right. That night was a Gala dinner with music and the finest of food and joyful celebration.  

After the Gala I learned more. It seems Monika and PTI were promised support from such agencies as UNICEF and Play Therapy Africa. But something went wrong and these groups did not follow through with their initial commitment. Monika had been hoping to bring healing and educational support through Play Therapy to the children in Ethiopia. She had traveled with her husband Jeff to far reaching regions, witnessing what was called “Child Friendly” schools and programs, only to see for herself they were anything but. Monika cried as she recounted what she saw. Joy and I listened with rapt attention to what she thought she’d find and to what she actually found.   I’ve known Monika and Jeff since 1999 and only knew them and their work to be dedicated to training professionals who work with children through Play Therapy world-wide.   Joy and I felt compelled to share a bit of this story in some way. Others would be able to find out more if they so desired.

My workshop began on Wednesday, May 19th titled “Inspiring Children to Soar: Planting the Seeds and Reaping the Harvest.”  On Thursday Joy taught my model of StoryPlay in the Classroom, which she had been studying and brilliantly implementing as an Educational Coach for two years.  May 20th-24th I taught a four-day intensive titled “StoryPlay for Developing Emotinal Literacy with Children.”  In the evenings, we headed out for the Medina, a marketplace filled with snake charmers, monkeys, shops, food, music, and crafts. We played, bargained, and laughed.

One of the Story-Crafts we use in our training is what I call “Creating Your Pathway to Success Map.” In it participants are asked to create their goal, obstacles, and resources to overcome obstacles and reach success. As I think about it, from the beginning, this trip was what I call a “Living Metaphor,” showing  that in life we make plans to reach a particular destination. But as it is in all of life, they are just plans. Along the way we encounter obstacles in one form or another.  However, success comes from harnessing our inner resources with the determination of our spirit to overcome the obstacles and reach our destination.