Memories
from the Values Alive Event in Godalming
At
the beginning of August, Bahnoon
Agnew organised a five day camp for around 25 children at
a primary school in Godalming, Surrey. Most of the children
that came attended the school, and volunteers came from all
over the UK and abroad to take part, bringing the total number
of participants to around 40.
Josselyn
van der Pol, a school teacher from Andorra, writes the following
about her experiences as a volunteer at the camp:
This
was my first experience as a volunteer at a Values Camp and
I am really happy with how the week developed as well as the
visible change I saw in the children.
Each
day a different value was highlighted: Right Conduct, Love,
Truth, Peace, and Non-Violence. The value was always explained
through open ended questioning from Bahnoon and further developed
through the story of the day (acted out by the volunteers),
as well as through Aikido, meditative clay work, and Drama Time.
The singing of values songs was done at least once a day, and
camp favourites developed like "I am a little Ant."
Silent sitting became an integral part of each morning and afternoon,
and the change over the children in only five days was remarkable,
if only that they managed to sit quietly for a whole ten minutes
by the last day.
Aikido
needs a special mention. I know only what I learnt over these
five days, and there must be much more to this ancient martial
art than what I can explain briefly. The teachers were from
Holland - Christiaan and Petra Zandt - and they were very professional
indeed. Each day's value was incorporated into the day's practice
with short and brief reminders that Aikido is about self-defence,
but also about not harming the other person. The correlation
between Aikido and SSEHV was astonishing. Through Aikido it
was easy for the children to understand the values and to put
them into practice.
A
special mention here about one particular boy who came on the
first day with a lot of aggression which was evident in his
speech (monsters, killing etc) as well as in his behaviour.
He is a child with obvious learning disabilities, but he goes
to the school so is a part of the peer group. On the first day
it was very difficult for him to join in with the group activities,
and the silent sitting was a near impossibility. As the camp
progressed, so the other children started to give him more space
and he became less aggressive/defensive. By the third day he
was responding to story time questions in a related way and
not as before from his fantasy world. By the end of the camp
he was sitting silently with his eyes closed for the full ten
minutes! The change was truly remarkable.
All
the children showed changes in behaviour by the end of the five
days. As this was my first camp, I had been curious about the
effect SSEHV would have on the children. I had even vocalized
this in a question to the other volunteers on the night before
the camp started, and all said that the group changed over the
five days, but none were able to pin-point exactly how. Now
I am in a similar situation, the change was visible, tangible
yet difficult to put into words. The children continued to be
children as this is their nature, yet they seemed more open
to listening and more eager to learn. They showed an inner quiet
and contentment with themselves. Noise levels and physical fidgeting
were more controlled when required.
As
a volunteer I am very glad I was able to participate in this
wonderful experience. I hope I was able to give at least as
much as I have received.
Selvy
Sithamparanathan, a teaching assistant from Kent, writes:
I
was so happy. Each day I felt so happy with what was happening.
I learnt a lot from Bahnoon's Camp. For five years, I have been
taking a class of 30 children at a school, doing the same old
thing; ten minutes of this, ten minutes of that, as I had been
taught at the beginning. It has become tiresome and very boring.
At this camp, there were so many new ways of doing things, so
many active meditation tools I learnt that I could take back
to my schoolchildren, like the Chi Gong breathing exercises
and the quietening rituals that commenced meditative clay play.
I have never before seen such an amazing hush and quiet as with
these children when they were doing their clay work. Total concerntration
and quiet!!
It
was an amazing time of long hours & hard work. But nothing
seemed rushed. There was always time for the children to finish
what they were doing. I truly loved this. Furthermore the group
of volunteers were so loving and so united in our love, we felt
we could do anything.
I felt very very inspired and gladly learnt from Bahnoon how
to feel free & undaunted . Also to appreciate and value
flexibility which is very much needed when we are fulfilling
children's needs. My two children who attended the camp enjoyed
themselves beyond expectation and did not want to leave the
people, the camp and the love. Thank you for this great experience.
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