Schedule of Events

 

2011 Gathering Schedule (subject to update and change).  last update 11/7/2011

*Please note which sessions are closed sessions, open only to Adult Adoptees and Adult Foster Care Alumni of African descent.

Friday November 11

11:15am……………..          Shuttle from Hotel to 2100 Building

11:30am-12:30pm………Registration and Lunch

12:30-1:30pm………….   Opening Plenary –  “Celebrating 5 years of AFAAD’s work and                                                connecting to and with the International & Domestic Adoptee                                                    Activist Movement” by Lisa Marie Rollins

1:45-3;15pm …………. Session 1A – Welcome to the Gathering / Getting to know one                                                   another. Facilitated by L. Walker

3:15-3:30pm………….    BREAK

3:30-5:00pm………….   Session 2A – Screen “Silences”, a film by Octavio Warnock Graham                                           and discussion. Facilitate by Lisa Marie Rollins and L. Walker.

5:00-5:15pm………….    BREAK

5:15-6:45pm………….     Session 3A – Negotiating Birth and Adoptive Family                                                                     Relationships (search and reunion) Facilitated by Karie Gaska,                                                  MSW. This session is a closed session, open only to Adult                                             Adoptees and Adult Foster Care Alumni of African                                                        descent.

…………………………………  Session 3B – Using Creative Writing as an Method of Expression for our experiences. Facilitated by Chad Goller – Sojourner, Writer.

7:00pm……………..         Shuttle departs 2100 Building to Hotel. Dinner on your own. Casual                                           social time. Rest.

Saturday November 12
8:30am……………..           Shuttle departs Hotel to 2100 Building

8:45-9:15am………….     Breakfast on site & Registration

9:15-10:15am…………    Morning Discussion / Presentation with Robert O’Connor
                                          This session is a closed session, open only to Adult                                                         Adoptees and Adult Foster Care Alumni of African                                                        descent.

10:30-12:00pm……….   Healing Session Facilitated by Ian Hagemaan.
This session will attend to our spirits, and focus on directly                                                          addressing the pieces of our past that need healing. We will                                                        participate in a gentle healing ritual.  You are invited to                                                               bring an item of personal meaning. Feel free to come                                                                     and simply share space to listen. This session is a closed                                                        session,  open only to Adult Adoptees and Adult Foster                                               Care Alumni of African descent. 

12:00-1:00pm…………   Lunch on site at 2100 Building

1:00-2:30pm …………    Session 4A – Being a Professional, Being a Foster Care                                                                Alumni or Adopted and Strategies for Self Care. Facilitated by Karie                                         Gaska. This session is a closed session, open only to Adult                                         Adoptees and Adult Foster Care Alumni of African descent.

………………………………… Session 4B – Intimate relationships and Interrupted                                                                    Families. Facilitated by L. Walker.
Have you ever wondered if your adoption has an impact on your                                                sexual and nonsexual intimate relationships with partners and                                                  friends? We have been wondering about that too! The facilitators                                              will create a safe, sex-positive space for participants to explore the                                            connections between adoption/foster care experiences and our                                                 intimate relationships & sexuality. This session is a closed                                                   session, open only to Adult Adoptees and Adult Foster                                                Care Alumni of African descent.

2:45- 4:00pm………….  Session 5A – Adoption and Race Resources Sharing. Featuring Jae                                            Arias, Young Activist. Facilitated by Ian Hagemann.

4:10-5:00pm…………..   Session 6A – Self Care and Adoption, Self Care during and after the                                          Gathering. Facilitated by L. Walker
Being present and engaged at The AFAAD Gathering can bring up a                                          lot of emotions and issues we may not have expected. From the                                                excitement of connecting with folks who share our experience, to                                              the difficulty of talking about our past, and the “what do I do                                                      now?”— it can be a lot to process! This session we will share                                                        strategies for honoring and taking care of ourselves in the context                                              of this weekend and after we leave tomorrow. The presenter will                                              also share her practice of “extreme self care.”

5:10 Group Photo

5:15pm-6:15pm……………………….Dinner on site at 2100 Bldg

6:15 – 7:30 BREAK

7:00pm………….   Doors Open for Public 

7:30-9:30pm………….  Public Education Event
This Event is open to the General Public, the Seattle community, all Adoptees and Foster Care Alumni, Adoptive parents, siblings, partners, educators, professionals. 

What Same Race and Transracial Adoption means to the Black Community. Film Screening of Daryl “DMC” McDaniels’ “My Adoption Journey” and Post film screening discussion led by Robert O’Connor.

This event will also acknowledge a moment of silence for Hana Grace Williams, an international/ transracial adoptee from Ethiopia, adopted to Washington state, murdered by her adoptive ‘parents’.

 9:45pm………………      Shuttle departs the Public Education event site back to Hotel

 

Sunday November 13th

10:00am-12:00pm……….Brunch and Town Hall at Hotel

12:15-12:45pm…………Closing Circle

Town Hall includes a discussion of resources available to our members, discussion of a reading list, time for questions regarding applications for Board of Directors, focused time on Self Care after the Gathering and maintaining connections with our new friends and a finalClosing Circle. Facilitated by AFAAD’s Board members.

Brunch and Town Hall is open to selected invited partners and close friends who have also registered for brunch.

Closing Circle is closed session, open only to Adult Adoptees and Adult Foster Care Alumni of African descent.

1:00pm……………….Shuttle to Airport from Hotel on your own.

Gathering Philosophy – The theme of our 2011 Gathering is “Recovering Our Connections”. The AFAAD Gathering is not your typical formal conference. It is a gathering for adoptees and foster care alumni only connect, get educated, have discussions and create community. The sessions are structured in a way to provide space for us to share our diverse experiences, discuss strategies for living a whole healthy life, provide opportunities for activist work, to make connections with others like ourselves, to provide safe room for joys, anger, memory and most of all – healing.

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