InterPlay SIS is dear to me.
It provides a beautiful community where everyone shares their own stories and encourages others. It pulls me out of the narrow confines of my anxiety and leads me to connect with others more actively and with less nervousness.
Interplay demonstrates that we can be open-minded towards others without needing anything specific in common. It enables us to express our emotions through body movements, helps us recognize our similarities, fosters a sense of mutual liking, and allows us to laugh together.
— Seonyoung, South Korea
Secrets of InterPlay was a great event for us to get to know ourselves. I felt like I was on a journey within myself. I found answers to my unsolved questions in this inner journey. It was a great experience to feel my body and soul liberated. We had fun, laughed and, most importantly, got to know and understand each other better -- women from different cultures. As humans, our feelings and experiences are actually the same, even though we have different religions, languages and races. Secrets brought us together on a common point: love.
— Serpil, Turkey
Joining InterPlay SIS as a newcomer to the US, seeking connection, I found a dreamlike experience at first meeting with many diverse women. The all-women environment provided cultural comfort, allowing for freedom of expression and a deep understanding of each other. The international aspect of InterPlay fulfilled my childhood dreams of having many friends from different countries and backgrounds. I realized that InterPlay's activities and ideas offered a creative means to unlock the wisdom of the body. Through InterPlay, I rediscovered a love for communication and interaction. The process of becoming part of others' lives and vice versa brought profound fulfillment to me. InterPlay with international women in the United States provided vital support, offering acceptance and hope for a sense of belonging someday.
— Hulya, Turkey
The uniqueness of the whole experience of InterPlay SIS gives us the opportunity to have close relationships with the women who come from different countries, cultures, and religions. I love the international experience of SIS after having lived in six countries and visited 107 countries. It was a very special and inclusive time for me me to attend a Ramadan Iftar with SIS and witness the acceptance of Muslim rituals by American people. I like the diversity of the group by age, and we are encouraged to think positively. I enjoy the company of young and beautiful people. In a nutshell, InterPlay SIS is a combination of a win-win situation, physical, emotional, and physiological. When we accept people for their goodness, it creates a better world.
— Durshi, Pakistan, in the USA since 1969
I felt that I had a family when I started to go on Sustaining International Sisters SIS. I was not lonely anymore in Atlanta. I made wonderful friends from around the world and I could learn about their cultures. We connected during Interplay activities and our talk while we had lunch together. I reinvented myself out of my comfort zone and far from my home country. Interplay and Sustaining International Sisters (SIS) helped me to be more confident and express myself in another language. Joy and kindness are my feelings about the Sustaining International Sisters, Canan, and Ruth. Thank you, dear sisters!
— Laura, Brazil
SIS is for me a real example of how the world should work. Each one of us comes from every part of the world and is unique, but when we are joined together we create a unique thing. I understand that we can live together, share together, and have fun together. Each meeting, I noticed that there were no language barriers among us but only cultural differences that elevated us. InterPlay permits us to understand that we can communicate better, using our gestures, dancing, singing and hugging ourselves, following our true nature overcoming our fears. It was a great help to pull down the walls of my comfort zone and to discover a new Chiara.
— Chiara, Italy
SIS is a community where I feel very happy, enthusiastic and excited. I’ve been learning a lot of new things from wonderful women, and I will always remember that. Due to the pandemic, we meet through Zoom, but our hearts, spirits, and feelings are still together. I plan on staying in touch with SIS from Mexico, so we can still share moments no matter the distance. Thanks forever!
— Patricia, Mexico
Participating in the Global SIS meetings has been a gift to me. Living in a culture that is not originally mine, I experience a rescue of the feeling of belonging by joining with these wonderful women. The group’s cultural diversity is amazing and makes me think, feel and learn in an intense and wide way. It is a joy for me to connect and be inspired by this community of strong, beautiful, and brave women through InterPlay. I feel amazing using my voice, my body, and my spirit to express myself. I thank Ruth and Canan for inviting me to participate. Sharing time, thoughts, ideas, and feelings with this group is a unique experience that I do not intend to leave any time soon.
— Sandra, Brazil
SIS is a place where we can safely express the feelings that we have at that moment. It is like therapy that helps us release all the stress and help us to get confidence in ourselves. In addition, in the potluck that we share after the activities, I have met many interesting women with diverse backgrounds from other countries. Also, the food is delicious and I have learned many new recipes.
— Elizabeth, Ecuador
SIS gives me the feelings of being a part of a great, warm and happy family. I can trust and lean from other members. I receive help and support with no expectation of returning back the favor. I can be myself without the fear of judgment. I am not alone with my beautiful sisters. SIS helped me to grow from inside. I learned how strong, creative and happy we can be together as a whole and also individually. Thank you Sisters. Thank you Ruth!
— Sarah, Iran
I love being part of the SIS community. It has been an excellent way to meet wonderful women and learn about their cultures and also share mine. You will always feel welcome and you know that you are joining a group of supporting and caring people looking forward to being more aware of themselves and have a bigger understanding of the world.
— Laura, Colombia
SIS is a wonderful and amazing place to make you feel something new in your heart. You may feel tired sometimes, but once you encourage yourself to join in SIS and play together, wow, you will see things are getting better and better. Open your heart, open your body, listen to your body and see what is needed is deep. Thinking about yourself, free from everything that bothers you. You are just a little girl when we are playing, dancing, talking, thinking, and connecting.
— Yue, China
I feel I’m not alone because I have many international sisters. We are strong together.
— Hatice, Turkey
SIS gives me a wonderful opportunity to be with women whose lives have been quite different from my own, and to share a common experience of expression through InterPlay.
— Rachel, United States
