Cohousing-L Mailing List: more Re: Terminology Issue #203

[Chris Roth - Communities Editor (editor]

The Communities article itself (by Hugh Perry) describes what it means 
by "Abwa" in this way:

The Abwa Experiment

Most of us were really into the mystical stories of the lost 
civilization of Atlantis. According to these stories, they experimented 
with a conflict resolution model that eventually replaced what would be 
the equivalent of our criminal enforcement systems today. They began 
this experiment to allow children to resolve their own issues. The 
results spread through all levels of interactions in Atlantis. Our 
understanding of that method went like this:

When you had an issue with someone that emotionally could not be dealt 
with on your own, you were encouraged to approach that person and ask to 
speak with them privately. It could be as insignificant as disliking how 
they washed dishes, or more significant moments of discomfort in their 
presence, or being deliberately interrupted by them. Approaching a 
person was no easy exercise but hearing about how well it was working 
for others was enough motivation to give it a try.

I remember getting into a disagreement with a woman about who was going 
to drive the car on a day-long trip. ... She was one of the three people 
I approached for an Abwa and I believe I was only asked by three others. ...


It's interesting to learn that the term "Abwa" means "brother" in Malay. 
As editor, I had figured that it came from the Atlantis stories 
themselves, and had not looked further into it. Ironically, when I now 
do an internet search on "Abwa Atlantis," I arrive at the Atlanta Area 
Council of the American Business Women's Association (ABWA).

Thanks, Roger, for the additional information.

On 7/8/2024 6:16 AM, cohousing-l-request [at] cohousing.org wrote:
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 7 Jul 2024 16:28:22 -0400
> From: roger cunningham <nengaku1 [at] gmail.com>
> To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
> Cc: Lisa Kuntz <lisa.kuntz [at] daybreakcohousing.org>,  Theo Spanos
>         <theo.spanos [at] daybreakcohousing.org>
> Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Terminology Issue #203
> Message-ID:
>         <CABS=OwMT+Mfb4GsPV96UbtP+2o=rd9gbor-KjCPuc0ZRfR9Dfg [at] 
> mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> Abwa in Malay means brother.
> Cheers
> Roger
>
> On Sun, Jul 7, 2024 at 1:59?PM Lisa Kuntz via Cohousing-L <
> cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
>
> > There is a term in Communities #203 (Summer 2024) that has us stumped!
> >
> >
> > Does anyone know what "Abwa" on page 40 means?  Internet searches and AI
> > research don't yield anything relevant.
> >
> > Reference from the article:  "She was one of the three people I approached
> > for an Abwa. . . "
> >
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Lisa Kuntz
> > Daybreak Cohousing
> > Portland OR
> > _________________________________________________________________
--
Chris Roth
Editor, Communities
81868 Lost Valley Lane
Dexter, OR 97431
editor [at] gen-us.net
541-937-5221
gen-us.net/communities

for Communities advertising,
please contact Joyce Bressler:
ads [at] gen-us.net
845-558-4492

for photos and layout,
please contact Yulia Zarubina:
layout [at] gen-us.net
910-617-6136