Eight years ago this week, the week of Labor Day, I could never have imagined how far the Octaband would travel nor how much wonderful good it would bring to the world. From last Labor Day to this, Octabands have traveled from the Netherlands to Singapore, Australia to Japan and back, Hawaii to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Belgrade, Serbia. Octabands have gone to Finland, UK, Australia, Germany, Canada, Greece, New Zealand, Argentina, Hong Kong, and Thailand, and throughout the U.S. and wherever they go, they are bringing people together, helping people who may be disenfranchised feel a sense of belonging.
Margy Grosswendt's is one particularly inspiring story I would like to share.
Margy has been volunteering in Bosnia since October 2012 where she spent a month teaching dance/movement to kids and staff in an orphanage in Sarajevo. She returned for a month in June 2013 and is going back for a month this October. In a self-funded Peace Corps type project set up with the help of forensic anthropologist Eva Klonowski, Margy is helping children and adults recover from PTSD as the result of the 1992 – 1995 war. Conditions in Bosnia are quite terrible with high unemployment, the fractured government and bureaucracy, and underfunding of orphanages.
Building on training in creative movement in college, a lifelong love and practice of dance, Pilates, Gyrotonics, and her life experience, she improvised her curriculum. Margie
"was told by the director that I was the best volunteer he'd had in 17 years, the psychologist concurred, and said I'd broken all roadmaps of holding attention for the 3-5 year olds in my 50-60 minute lessons; these kids had not been able to sustain attention longer than 15 minutes. I was floored" (from Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's Blog).
Margy found that saying goodbye was especially difficult. She promised them she would return in 6 months. In May 2013, Margy returned to Sarajevo with more research and ideas, playlists, and the Octaband.
Many of the children have special needs including developmental disabilities and attention deficit disorder and Margie tells me that the women, not surprisingly, are depressed and prior to her arrival did no exercise at all. The teens felt discouraged, with little hope for a better life. Initially, again no surprise, the teens were reluctant to join in. The Octaband was what first drew them in as well as Margy having them help her with the younger children.In her groups with young children, teens and widowed mothers, Margy is providing some tools to deal with life in Bosnia 18 years after war. Margy was concerned especially with the lack of creativity in the younger children.
"In this digital age, much of what children come up with is reproduction from the TV or their computers. Creative movement using your own body moving to music in improvised creative dance is an opportunity for children to use their imaginations and both express feelings and create images that are completely originals. This is a gift; it is difficult to find a venue that inspires true originality."
At 58 y.o., Margy is giving back to women and children who don’t have a fraction of the privilege and opportunity we have in America. She has begun what I would call an Encore career but even more importantly, she is changing the world one child at a time. In a Youtube interview of Margy by Red Magazine (with translation to Bosnian?), Margy was speaking about her success in the real estate business (her first career). She attributes her success to caring about people first, and I know from my interactions with her, that attention to detail is another of her attributes. I am proud of the role that the Octaband has played in her important work.
About to begin leading groups with a Boys and Girls Club in Oahu, Margy recently offered,"The Octaband is sooo good I can't imagine starting working without it".
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