FEATURES
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By Paul Hughes U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart Stress and anger are common feelings we all experience one time or another. To help community members process these emotions, Army Community Services Family Advocacy Program (FAP) expanded its team and added classes to meet the challenge of providing tools that build resilience during the coronavirus pandemic. “The times right now are tough, because we are not connecting with people like we used to. Add other factors to that, such as working from home or Seasonal Affective Disorder, and you reach a point where professional communication or parenting help can be of enormous benefit.” said Madeliene Wagner, Stuttgart’s Family Advocacy Program administrator. The FAP team offers several programs designed to prevent domestic violence and child abuse. Courses like couples communication, managing emotions, managing stress and positive parenting allow community members to learn skills to help them deal with various relationship and parenting challenges. To ensure adequate resources are available to the community during these demanding times, FAP has added two new members to their team and increased their ability to provide more classes. Leyla Burns, a family advocacy specialist, is one of the two new members who will conduct classes both in person and virtually. Karen Hansis, another new family advocacy specialist, will focus on providing information about how to stay resilient in the winter months ahead, especially with the COVID challenges facing the community. “Interpersonal conflict, time crunches and conflicting pri-
Family Advocacy Program continues to build resiliency on and offline
Stuttgart Citizen, January 2021
“UBUNTU IS THE BEST VACCINE FOR 2021”
Courtesy photo
By Maj. Mike Smith SOCAFRICA Command Chaplain Courtesy photo ACS employees Karen Hansis and Shady Guitierrez hand out flyers at a community outreach event.
orities can play into our emotions by making us believe we don't have options for responding in ways that reflect our values and priorities.” Hansis said. “Sometimes the most powerful action we can take in a moment is a simple deep breath, to consciously feel your feet on the ground, and then choose a response. The pervasiveness of COVID restrictions can magnify that perceived sense of powerlessness and frustration.” Karen will provide helpful FAP tips, news and updates on AFN Stuttgart’s 102.3 “The Eagle” and the MWR podcast. FAP’s programs will be delivered both online and virtually. “We want to ensure that everyone is comfortable in our classes, which can be sensitive at times,” Hansis said, “Even if you aren’t ready to take a class, we are
available for advice, recommendations, or just some simple tips as well.”
January course schedule: Jan. 12: Stress Management: Address Your Stress Jan. 19: Positive Parenting Jan. 26: Managing your Emotions Jan. 28: Couples Communication: The 7 Principles for Making Marriage Work
For more information or to register, call ACS at DSN 596-3362/3518 or CIV: 09641-70-596-3362/3518
Courtesy photo Couples participate in a Family Advocacy-sponsored rope course.
We’ve started a new year. A resounding virus exudes. We need a new vaccine. But it’s not for COVID-19. We need medicine for a worse pain: disunity. And the virus? Tribalism. That drive to always be “right.” Tribes will always be a part of being human. Community binds us together. But tribalism always results in the destruction of relationships. How “right” is that, then? The best vaccine for 2021 is what the South Africans call, ubuntu. Originally defined by the Archbishop Desmond Tutu, ubuntu is difficult to translate into English: "my humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in theirs. We belong to a bundle of life." Summed up another way, I am because you are. And you are because I am. Tutu was a friend of the late South African President, Nelson Mandela. Tutu described Mandela’s decades-long imprisonment as a crucible. Struggling with life inside Apartheid, he responded with acts considered treasonous. Prison molded Mandela’s view of ubuntu: "in the old days when we were young, a traveler through a country would stop at a village, and he didn't have to ask for food or water; once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him.” Mandela believed ubuntu asks this question: what will you do “to enable the community around you to improve?" Sound familiar? Remember the Golden Rule? Jesus taught in Matthew 7:12 that we should do for others what we want them
to do for us. Ubuntu flourishes in the soil of the Golden Rule. We are truly inseparable from each other in this world. What you do affects others. What they do affects you. When we believe and live this way, rising water lifts all boats. We hear many stories in our office. Most reveal a struggle with something. Throw in 2020, COVID-19, and political tribalism. The struggle deepens. Often, the story communicates self-centeredness. Folks behave like it’s all about them. Workmates and dependents are affected. Overall, we feel undermanned, underfunded, and overtasked. We don’t mean to, but we can become a tribe of one. So, our office listens carefully to these struggles. Then, when it’s time to offer wisdom, we attempt to do so reflecting on personal responsibility. “Yes, others may be treating you like that. and how are you treating others?” Each affects the other. Unbuntu is the antidote to tribalism and its unintended consequences. When you believe that you are because others are, and that others are because you are, a vaccine begins to work. Quality of life, mission success and a deep sense of well-being for team and soul alike are felt. Ubuntu is about finding ways to remind ourselves each day of one another, and to show it in even the smallest of ways. This practice will transform our souls, which will transform our families, thereby transforming our team climate, ultimately transforming the culture. Happy New Year! Now, go and live the Golden Rule in ubuntu.
