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Sathya
Sai Education in Human Values (UK)
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Welcome to the August 2003 Issue. We have an African theme this month with news on how values education is helping with major issues facing countries in the Continent. Contents:
Finally, a reminder that previous month's Newsletters including 24 cross curricular lessons plans are available in the newsletter section of the SSEHV website. Please do send us an email if you have any feedback about this newsletter, or if you'd like to share your experiences of SSEHV, to: feedback@ssehv.org.uk. Kind
Regards,
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Africa is faced with unprecedented urban population growth. The region, which until recently was primarily rural, is experiencing a most rapid rate of urbanisation at nearly 5% per annum. Its urban population is expected to quadruple from 138 million in 1990 to 500 million in 2020. In the same timeframe, the proportion of Africa's total population living in cities of more than one million inhabitants will reach 20%. With these patterns of urbanisation, the demands for water supply for industrial, commercial and domestic use continue to rise and outpace the capacities of governments to cope, resulting in gaps which have steadily widened over the years. This situation threatens sustainable development and the environment of cities. Moreover, drinking water supply coverage in African cities is among the poorest in the world, with more than a quarter of the urban populations remaining without access to safe water. Managing Water for African Cities is a collaborative initiative of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI). The programme is a direct follow-up of the Cape Town Declaration (1997), adopted by African ministers, which addressed the urgent need for managing water for African cities. It is the first regional initiative of its kind to support African cities to manage growing water demand and protect their fresh water resources. Participating countries are Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia, Zambia and Kenya. Water Education is a part of the wider project of the Water for African Cities initiative. At its second meeting held in the Hague in March 2000, a high-level ministerial Advisory Group comprising ministers from the six participating countries adopted a resolution requesting the implementing agency to widen the scope of the programme to include Water Education, with a view to developing a new water use ethic in African cities. The Advisory Group considered that the current water wastage in cities could be minimised by promoting water education in schools and urban communities. The main aim of Water Education is to facilitate changes in behaviour and personal attitudes among water consumers and to promote a better understanding of water as an essential but scarce resource. The Human Values approach to Water Education lays great emphasis on the values rooted in African culture. Stories about the magnificence, usefulness, sanctity and sacredness of water abound in African folklore. These stories are used in Water Education to pass on the wisdom of proper water utilisation and conservation. Both the direct and integrated human values education methods are used. The aim is to raise the consciousness of students so that they acquire a heightened, integrated awareness of our dependence on nature, and water in particular. It also brings joy, laughter and fun into learning about water management. In 2002, a team from The African Institute of Sathya Sai Education (TAISSE) conducted Training of Trainers workshops on Values Based Water Education (VBWE) in each of the six participating countries. The workshops were officially opened by the ministers of education or their representatives, and attended by high-ranking educationalists including directors of education, curriculum development specialists, inspectors of schools, subject specialists and non-formal education (NFE) practitioners. The main outcomes of the workshops were: the creation of national teams of VBWE trainers, who in turn impart VBWE to primary and secondary level teachers and community groups in their respective countries, and the signing of Declarations of National Commitment to implement VBWE. A Water for Asian Cities Programme is now in the process of being launched, supported by the UN Habitat and the Asian Development Bank. Taken
from an article by Dr Madhavi
Majmudar, Member of the TAISSE team. |
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Part of the work that Youth Alive does is to conduct 'life skills development programmes' in schools. SSEHV has been incorporated into these programmes, with great success. "Children have particularly benefited from silent sitting," writes Mathias. "I have also been using some of the quotations in the newsletter which you have been emailing to me for the last couple of years. My colleagues also find the quotations invaluable, especially during our prayer time which we have every morning before work. I also hear staff repeating the quotes to each other in conversation during their free time. It's a great learning point." A key area of focus for Youth Alive is HIV/AIDS. SSEHV is used to encourage young people to make responsible, values-based choices. "Adults participating in the programme confess to having had extra-marital relations in order to reek revenge on unfaithful spouses," Mathias continues. "Many youth, especially those in schools, confess to having been dishonest, unfaithful to their friends, or unfriendly and insensitive to their class mates. But now they are able to commit to their friends with love, compassion, honesty, care and concern. Those who had got involved in pre-marital sexual relationships have adopted greater self-control and abstinence until marriage, which is so empowering to our HIV/AIDS programme. We have discovered that values determine our attitudes, behaviours and beliefs. SSEHV is so applicable in implementing HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation programmes." One difficulty that Mathias identifies in trying to spread SSEHV in Uganda is that of the need for teachers to volunteer their time to teach the programme in schools, as happens in the UK. "The economic position of teachers in Uganda is that of civil servants - i.e. they are the least paid and most over-taxed! Asking them to volunteer is quite challenging, and requires the building of values like sacrifice, commitment and dedication. I know they can do it, but there is a need for a dedicated team of volunteers to kick-start the programme well. This in turn requires core training in at least a couple of regions, in order to influence the ministry of education and sports to adopt and enforce it in all schools." Mathias also sees SSEHV playing a key role in addressing the multifarious problems caused by decades of insecurity and violence in the Northern and North-Eastern parts of the country. "The general population needs healing emotionally and socially. There is a lot of anger here, and a feeling of despair. SSEHV could be implemented hand-in-hand with other government programmes to facilitate non-violent means of solving conflicts." Corruption in Uganda is also rife and increasing, despite government mechanisms put in place to counteract it. Mathias feels that SSEHV could be used by the Ministry of Ethics and Integrity and the Ministry of Education to implement programmes that promote human values among public leaders and the population at large. Currently the most pressing issue Youth Alive is seeking to address is the provision of relief to the many displaced, stigmatised and traumatised children and young people who have been abducted by rebels and are now living in camps in the Teso region where Youth Alive is based. Mathias hopes to introduce SSEHV to some of the camp-dwelling refugees in future, but currently the main focus is on meeting basic human needs and enabling them to cope with their current environment. We are extremely grateful to Mathias for having found time to write to us despite the difficulty of finding internet access in the remote rural areas where he does much of his work, and the current insecurity in the region. He has promised to write some more about the work of Youth Alive for the next issue, which we are sure you will find extremely interesting and inspiring. If
you would like to get in touch with Mathias please email feedback@ssehv.org.uk
in the first instance, and we will forward your message to
him. |
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How Honeyball lost his prickles by Lark Beecham When Honeyball was born he had prickles just like any other hedgehog, and he lived in a family with three brothers and two sisters. He wasn't called Honeyball then. He was the biggest and the strongest and the greediest in the family and he was known affectionately as Yum because of his habit of shouting, " Yum", and rushing towards the food that people put out for hedgehogs and other creatures to feed on at night. Being bigger and stronger he always got to the food first and by the time his brothers and sisters reached it there was usually only a whiff of it left. He never noticed their disappointment at missing the food because he was so busy sniffing out every last crumb, and his brothers and sisters shrugged off their disappointment and went in search of slugs and worms and insects and all the other things that hedgehogs like to live on. So Honeyball was known as Yum and usually he had bits of food sticking to his prickles from rushing at it so fast. That was before the big change came about in his life, and this is how it happened. There were two children who came to live near Yum. They were about your age and twins, a boy and a girl. The girl was called Jane and the boy Jack. Being twins they had always done everything together from the time that they were born. Also they had realised the value of sharing everything they had, because they understood that if they didn't one of them would be left out and be unhappy. Being so close to each other meant they understood and really felt each others feelings if Jack was given some sweets and Janey didn't have any, Jack) could feel how left out Jane was feeling and so he naturally wanted to make her feel better and shared his sweets with her. Neither of them ever had to be reminded to care for the other because they just naturally did. Because of their good feeling for each other they also found it easy to understand how all people and creatures want to be loved and cared for, and as they grew up they found many different ways to show love to others. One way they found was to put aside on a saucer a portion of their dinner to give to the creatures that visited their garden every night. Not just food they didn't want, that was left over, but a piece of everything, even their favourite and most delicious meals. The first time Yum smelt the food he rushed to it and gobbled it up. He thought, "That was really delicious! I'm coming back here again", and he did. The twins never forgot to put out food and so every night he feasted, and very gradually, so that he hardly noticed it, his big change began to happen. The first thing that happened was that he began to eat more slowly. Because it was so delicious he just didn't want to miss tasting all the flavour, and as Yum ate more slowly he gradually noticed that he really wasn't in such a rush to eat everything because inside him he was already feeling nice and full and satisfied, and when his brothers and sisters caught up and some food was left, instead of eating faster to get it all for himself he let them join in too. After a while he noticed that just the smell of the food was enough to make him feel so good inside that he slowed down enough for them all to reach the food together. Then they ate contentedly side by side enjoying the food as a family. This was a new experience for Yum. He had never noticed his brothers and sisters enjoying eating before and for the first time in his life he felt a feeling inside him that felt nice and warm and happy just because his brothers and sisters were happy too. Well do you know that at the same time a few of Yum's prickles fell out He didn't really notice because his prickles often fell out and new ones grew in their place, but this time instead of prickles, soft furry hair grew, and as more prickles fell out, more and more fur grew until Yum was no longer a prickly hedgehog, he had become a lovely soft furry creature, and his new covering was warm and glossy and very soft to touch. But growing fur wasn't the only change that happened to Yum. He started to change on the inside too. He was surprised how happy he felt especially when he did things that he had never done before, like standing back and letting Sniff, his littlest brother eat before him, so that Sniff had as much as he needed to grow bigger and stronger. When Yum saw that Sniff was for the first time in his life getting enough food to fill his little tummy and keep him healthy, Yum just glowed with happiness right from his heart to the tip of his new furry coat. Also, Yum experienced something that had never ever happened to a hedgehog before. In
the Autumn time when the days begin to grow colder all hedgehogs start
thinking about finding a nice warm dry bed to hibernate in for the winter.
Yum had noticed a very suitable spot in a pile of Autumn leaves that had
gathered in the roots of the old oak tree at the bottom of Jack and Jane's
garden. "That will make a lovely winter bed", he thought to
himself as he pushed more leaves and bits of dry moss into the pile. When the time came to begin his winter hibernation Yum was startled to find the field mice also getting ready to snuggle down. Usually other creatures kept well away from hedgehogs because of their prickles, and Yum had never made friends with any one but his own kind. He expected the field mice to run away when they saw him coming for fear of getting prickled by his spines. When they looked up at him and smiled and snuggled into his lovely soft fur Yum felt more joy than any hedgehog had ever felt before. He was able to keep the field mice warm and cosy through the coldest part of the winter when the frosts came & icy winds blew at their nest of leaves. What
Yum was feeling inside his heart was the joy of sharing love, and knowing
that other creatures could feel it too. Jane knelt down and gently stroked Yum's head, and that was when his name changed. "Look Jack", she said, " he's not an ordinary hedgehog, he's a wonderful furry Honeyball and she picked him up and cuddled him and then she passed him to Jack to cuddle too. So Yum became Honeyball and was known by all the children and creatures for his snuggly fur, and the love and kindness that glowed in his heart and spread and grew and never ever stopped growing.
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The second of two week-long summer schools in Oldham came to an end on Friday 15th August. Twenty children attended each of the camps, and thoroughly enjoyed all the activities. 85% of parents declared the summer school to be "excellent", 7.5% described it as "very good" and 7.5% as "good" and 67% said they had noticed a change for the better in their children's behaviour after just three days. Barbara Edmonson and Sheila Swift, who organised the Oldham summer schools, are hoping to train more local people to teach SSEHV and encourage them to run summer camps themselves in future. |
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Don't forget that this year's National SSEHV Day is taking place on September 13th in Stanmore, North West London from 9.30am to 5.00pm. The guest of honour will be Councillor Jane Avis, Mayor of Croydon. This annual event, now in its third year, is an opportunity for teachers, educationalists, volunteers, and anyone with an interest in SSEHV to get together, discuss their experiences and hear the latest updates from the British Institute of Sathya Sai Education about the practice and development of SSEHV in the UK. The programme will contain powerful accounts from SSEHV teachers of their own experiences in classrooms across Britain and abroad. Speakers will include Councillor Avis, Dr Judo, a leading SSEHV practitioner in Thailand and an eminent child psychologist, who will give a paper on how to improve the attitudes and academic performance of disaffected pupils, and organisers of this year's holiday camps, who will describe the impact of the camps on the children that attended and the whole community. You are warmly invited to attend, and to bring anyone you think would be interested. Lunch and refreshments will be provided. For further information and to confirm your attendance, please email feedback@ssehv.org.uk. |
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Copyright
© 2003 British Institute of Sathya Sai Education (BISSE). BISSE is
a non-profit organisation committed to promoting human values in education.
Registered address: The Glen, Cuckoo Hill, Pinner, Middlesex HA5 2BE United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) 20 8429 2677 Email: sathyasaiehv@dial.pipex.com |