Judy: Rather an interesting quote from Shakespeare, but I'm not sure what it
tells us about what might have actually been true of the nobility in either
Roman times or Shakespeare's time, if you take into account that:

a) Shakespeare pretty clearly observed that there was not too much love lost
between  nobility and their children.

b) We are talking about 16th and 17th century England, where few women of
noble birth did not breastfeed, at least according to Fildes' Breast,
Bottles, etc...

c) The person who wrote the speech (Shakespeare), was a man -- developing a
character of his time -- with the conventions of his time, but, who, if I am
correct, did not come from an upper class family.  There is no way that we
can know if any of these statements reflect the reality of parent-child
relations in the nobility, or are only Shakespeare's perceptions about what
they "might" have been -- with lots of dramatic license, of course.

d) Dramatically, doesn't it make a better story to have a mother ready to
"sacrifice" her son than one who wants to keep him at home?

Anyway -- a pleasant diversion on a rainy Washington Saturday night.

Mary Kay Smith wrote about "her LLL bent showing through in her support
group meetings that she had when she worked at the hospital"  -- I hope that
is not meant as an apology!

The participativeness of LLL support groups meetings is a model for us all.
One of the challenges that we have been trying to grapple with as we develop
a "breastfeeding health intervention" in low-income communities, is how to
preserve the best in that model when adapting to different settings.  It is
certainly not a desirable strategy  to become less participative as we
become "better" trained.

This evening I was reviewing a case study that Denise Arcoverde, our
colleague from Brazil, wrote for Wellstart on the community based
organization she works with.  She says that when the volunteers finish their
training, they have a planning session.  In that session they talk about
democracy within the group and about not being authoritarian with the
mothers in the community.  Not only do they emphasize an open, participative
interaction with the mothers, they use it with their own interaction with
the community, resisting the temptation to create an elite leadership within
the group by recommending that the group rotate the coordinating position
monthly, allowing everyone to participate in monthly meetings.

Although Denise did not come out of a LLL tradition, her own experience in
the woman's movement has shown her and her co-directors that in adult
education, a democratic, participative style is the best way to go.

Well, enough soapbox for one night!

                 ***************************
"The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are
 creating.  The paths are not to be found, but made, and the
 activity of making them changes both the maker and the
 destination."  Attributed to John Schaar, University of California.

 Judy Canahuati
 email: [log in to unmask]
               *******************************