Reflections on Teaching ADR in Grenada – Part 2

Our teaching team Nicole Stewart Kamanga ,Liz Waisberg along with  Elizabeth Hyde and  Joel Skapinker are in Grenada this week. They are delivering training to 35 community leaders as part of the IMPACT Justice Project. See our previous blog for more information about this exciting project. 

_______________

Another perfect weather day!

As our Group’s skills continue to build, today they worked on a complex multi-party land use dispute between First Nations, vacationers, campgrounders and the government.

Their enthusiasm was contagious as everyone got into character.  They observed directive and facilitative styles as each coach took a turn mediating the dispute.  By the end of the exercise, they had resolved several of the issues.   The Group also worked on drafting skills and identifying the Do’s and Don’ts of effective MOU and Report writing. They practiced these skills when they drafted an Agreement based on the land dispute resolutions they generated earlier in the day.

Once the day’s work was done, we toured the central part of the island. Our guide drove us up winding roads into the mountains, pointing out local foods and plants and providing us with some background information about the island.  We enjoyed this opportunity to learn more about the beautiful island of Grenada.

We have learned from our students that it can take 5 years to obtain a court date and that the local legal aid centre has one lawyer and one social worker. They have told us that mediation will be a welcome and highly effective means of resolving disputes here.

….

We had the opportunity to have a short tour of the island and see some of the communities outside of St Georges. The island is extremely hilly and most of the houses are built into the mountains.

It was important to see how people in Grenada live because their issues are quite different from North American issues. Land disputes are common in Grenada.

The participants in the course are extremely engaged and want to use their new skills to try to resolve issues because the courts are so back logged it can take 5 years for a case to be heard. They have discussed how the course content will help them to navigate issues of conflict and try to resolve disputes.

_____________________________________

Nicole Stewart Kamanga
LL.B., LL.M., Acc. FM.

Nicole is a lawyer and an Accredited Family Mediator. Prior to entering her legal career, Nicole worked as a Children’s Advocate in a women’s shelter, providing individual and group counseling to the children and their mothers.

Liz Waisberg 
MSW, RSW, AccFM

Liz is a registered therapist and accredited family mediator with a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Toronto. She also holds a Bachelor of Social Work degree from Ryerson University. Liz has extensive clinical experience working in hospital-based settings since 2001. She has worked as a clinical social worker in the Emergency Department and in Mental Health settings working with children, adults and families. Liz has also worked in the mental health field providing support and crisis intervention to individuals and families struggling with issues such as depression, anxiety, chronic pain and grief. Most recently she has been working with individuals who have experienced trauma or sustained traumatic brain injuries.