[Craic] Invitation

[Allan Baker]

Friends;

Over the past year I’ve done some reading, etc, about the Truth and Reconciliation report, and the 94 Calls To Action. I’ve been wondering what I might be able to DO as just one person, or as part of a small group. Participation in the KAIROS Blanket Exercise may help me to solve that question of what is the next step I can take on this journey towards reconciliation. 

Over the past year I’ve done some reading, etc, about the Truth and Reconciliation report, and the 94 Calls To Action. I’ve been wondering what I might be able to DO as just one person, or as part of a small group. Participation in the KAIROS Blanket Exercise may help me to solve that question of what is the next step I can take on this journey towards reconciliation. 

The Kairos Blanket Exercise started in 1997 and has been engaging with Canadians ever since.  The program keeps evolving, responding to the Truth and Reconciliation’s 94 Calls to Action and more recently adapting from an in person to a powerful online exercise because of the pandemic.  I know that the Blanket Exercise has become quite “popular”, and I recognize that “popular” is not the correct word. Here’s a statement about the Blanket Exercise from the KAIROS website:
Developed in collaboration with Indigenous Elders, Knowledge Keepers and educators, the KAIROS Blanket Exercise (KBE) is an interactive and experiential teaching tool that explores the historic and contemporary relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in the land we now know as Canada.

During this 2 to 3-hour workshop, participants step on blankets representing the land and into the role of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. They are guided by trained facilitators, including Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers, who work from a script that covers pre-contact, treaty-making, colonization, resistance and much more. Participants read scrolls and respond to cues in the script. The KBE concludes with a debriefing, conducted as a talking circle, during which participants discuss the learning experience, process their feelings, ask questions, share insights, and deepen their understanding.

Over the past two decades, thousands of KAIROS Blanket Exercises have been delivered in Canada and around the world, including in the United States, Central and South America, Europe, and Australia. By engaging participants on both emotional and intellectual levels, the KBE both educates and creates empathy and understanding.

I invite you to join me in The Blanket Exercise at Beach United Church on Sunday, January 16, 2022. All of the registration info that you will need can be accessed at:

> https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/virtual-kairos-blanket-exercise-tickets-224710754917 <https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/virtual-kairos-blanket-exercise-tickets-224710754917>

Stay hopeful, 
Allan
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