“Rough times and miracles: Building our history away from the country of origin”:

Online Appreciative Investigation with Brazilians living abroad

Abstract

This work was carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to welcome young Brazilian people who were living abroad, far from their families of origin, in a moment of profound uncertainty. In this scenario, we from Sanga 8 (a team formed by a group of human relations facilitators) developed a work with people living in several countries around the world as expatriates or on their own initiative. In the middle of the pandemic, these people felt anguished not only by the isolation resulting from the restrictions imposed by local governments, but also by the distance and concern for their loved ones and the nation they left behind, the cradle of their roots. As professionals committed to attentive listening, curiosity, creativity and belief in collaboration and dialogue for the construction of generative contexts, we used the principles of Intercultural Psychology, within the paradigm of Social Constructionism. The methodology used was based on Appreciative Inquiry. This work was carried out through the Zoom platform, which made virtual meetings possible. Even at a distance, the process proved to be transformative. At the end of the meetings, we collected moving testimonials of validation of the method and of the purposes. By presenting it, we intend to contribute to the development and focus on individual and collective resources in times of adversity such as these young people went through during the first years of the pandemic.