Europe

UK

Download Satsaunga, the quarterly newsletter of Ananda Marga in the UK and Eire:

Winter 2011
Summer 2011
Spring 2011
Winter 2010
Autumn 2010
Summer 2010


News from Dada Ravishekharananda at Occupy the London Stock Exchange:

Occupy London SX is going on very well. I have been living there since the beginning of November. We now have a gazebo on the main thoroughfare in an excellent location from where we conduct our activities. We have a Prout display and margiis are active in RAWA, kiirtan and food distribution to homeless people and people from the camp.

I am now on the Economics Working Group, which consists mainly of middle-age, middle-class people who are motivated by sentiments like greater equality in society. But there are a few younger members who have become interested in Proutist ideas. We even got a sub-group convened to look at Economic Democracy.

We have an excellent display and endless members of the public walking past, a good number of whom stop to read and talk. A building has been occupied a few miles away which is owned by a Swiss bank and has been empty for a long time and has scores of rooms. Apparently they offered an office to the Economics Working Group.

It really feels like the beginning of the great change! There are many very inspiring people involved and it's a tremendously dynamic hub of progressive ideas and activism.

After three weeks of just being there as well as contributions of kiirtan,
music and AMURT mass feeding, Ananda Marga is really an accepted part of the Occupation.


Portugal



PROUT Portugal marches in the anti-capitalist Occupy the Streets movement!


Romania

Visit the AMURTEL Romania website for news and photos of
the children's home and other projects such as the Bucharest kindergartens.

Download the latest AMURTEL Romania newsletter.

In September kindergarten Gradinita Rasarit no. 1 reopened its doors just in time to celebrate its 20th anniversary after an intensive renovation this past summer.



Familia AMURTEL

In May the Fountain of Hope organized an Open Day program, inviting children, teachers and administrative staff from the Panatau primary school across the street. A day earlier, the children participated in making a video about the project and it was screened during the event. They were very excited and proud to see themselves on screen in front of their colleagues and teachers, which helps to build their self-esteem. Often children benefitting from social programs may be the object of derision and teasing from classmates. This type of event is designed to proactively prevent such attitudes and rather create positive interest and admiration from classmates. The video, and the event itself, also provides an important inside glimpse of the project to the school, helping to raise awareness and communicate its value.

During the event, there was an exposition of children's artwork, snacks, and
AMURTEL also distributed information about earthquake preparedness from our partners, the National Guard of Romania, as well as leaflets about the
vegetarian menu and the project's objectives.

Take a look at the video the children made:

The project is only possible thanks to the generous donations of our sponsors which have kept it going despite the financial crisis. In fact, it is the only after-school project that was able to survive the deep recession in Romania in the local area. All of the other after-school centers in the valley have closed for lack of funding. It is exciting and a great relief to see that the programs were very successful  and led to many new enrollments for next year!  After two years of extreme financial struggle to keep the kindergartens alive, a hopeful ray of light is dawning on the horizon. It is really Grace. We are not there yet, but things are starting to look a little better.

Here is a video from our Bucurestii Noi Gradinita Rasarit kindergarten that was shown during the program:



We also shared samples from our menu (veggie burgers, spinach pie and carob cake) as well as a newsletter with articles written by our teaching staff regarding child development, projects in the kindergarten, and a recipe promoting carob for children as a less stimulating alternative to chocolate. We finally have parents that are starting to come because of the vegetarian menu. For many years this seemed to be something that was an obstacle for those that came. But due to a combination of successful promotion and changing mentalities, now the majority said that they were particularly attracted to come because of the menu, not despite it.

Here is a new video of the recent Earth Day program in our second NHE kindergarten in Bucharest, Gradinita Rasarit.

Earth Day has become an annual event in the kindergarten, providing a focus point for several weeks of ecological themes. This year, recycling was covered (a relatively new concept to Romania) and the children learned about separating recyclable garbage through an inventive game. They also made "Every Day is Earth Day" costumes and learned special Earth Day songs. The Earth Day event culminated with planting flowers in the garden outside, together with Roxanne our volunteer from Scotland.

The video was shown during the recent Open Day program and provides an inside glimpse of the kindergarten in action:



Since its inception in 1995, Gradinita Rasarit "Sunrise Kindergarten" in Bucharest has been pioneering inclusive education in Romania, not only integrating special needs children within a the kindergarten setting, but also giving special attention to adapting the program itself to be accessible and welcoming for all. Neohumanist Education celebrates diversity and works to individualize the program to respond to the specific needs of the children.

This year, we will be taking inclusive education one step further, and extending the possibility to children with social disadvantages to attend our smaller kindergarten in the northern part of Bucharest. We just signed the partnership with the Department of Social Services in Bucharest.

Many faces, One Heart

This year, both kindergartens dedicated several weeks to the theme of diversity with the annual "Many faces, one heart" program.  Human differences, ranging from skin color, to ethnic minorities, to different abilities were discussed in a variety of creative ways and reflected in the story telling, crafts, paintings and activities during that period.

One of the highlights was welcoming a very special guest to the kindergarten, Marius. It was not the first time Marius had been to our kindergartens. In fact, he was among the first children with special needs to attend many years ago. Now he is a very positive, optimistic, sunny and inspiring 19 year old young man! He was delighted to revisit the kindergarten and enthusiastically participated in the program, helping the children make fruit salad and lemon cake, giving them rides on his wheelchair, sharing songs, games and memories from his kindergarten days and answering their questions. The children absolutely loved him and they were very excited to play with him.

Diversity awareness in NHE 

The Rasarit kindergartens have found this approach of creating opportunities for the children to get to know people who are different in a friendly and natural context, as a very effective method of breaking down and preventing the formation of barriers that arise due to lack of personal contact with diversity. We create a safe atmosphere for them to ask questions and find out that even if someone looks different, they are actually a lot like me!

Three children with social disadvantages enrolled needing sponsors. We have also been very happy to welcome two new children to our kindergartens with social disadvantages. AMURTEL recently signed a partnership with Department of Social Services to receive social beneficiaries free of charge, counting on the generosity of our supporters to help us cover the costs. Both little girls have young single mothers that are staying in a special residential shelter where they receive help integrating into the work force and taking care of their children. The girls are integrating well into the program and learning lots! We also have another child that has been attending for free for the past 2 years, as she also comes from a disadvantaged single parent family. Her mother volunteers in the kindergarten and has been very active and involved.

AMURT Romania

Read about AMURT (Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team) Romania here.


AMURT Italy

Download a summary of AMURT Italia.


Madhu Karuna Annual Conference

The annual Ananda Marga summer conference at Madhu Karuna (Wendelsheim, Germany) was held in July. The theme of the conference was Neohumanism: Solution to the Global Crisis.
 
The program included workshops on a number of Ananda Marga topics, including Master Units, AMURT/EL, Prout, Neohumanism, Education, Dharma Pracar, Spiritual Practices and more.
 
Madhu Karuna is renowned for its inspiring kiirtan and this year was no exception, with Akhanda kiirtan in the morning, afternoon and sometimes all through the night. On the first day, after the opening ceremony, Akhanda Kiirtan was performed for 21 hours and it created such a sublime spiritual flow that it continued throughout the whole
conference.

Attendees came from all over Europe as well as Mexico, Singapore, Indonesia, Nigeria, Israel, Malta, Russia, Philippines and Dubai.







European Prout Convention

The Third Annual European Prout Convention was held at Ananda Gaori Master Unit from July 19-24 with participants from over a dozen countries. The goal for this year’s convention was to create Prout activists.

A week prior to the convention, a Prout Activist Training was held, focusing on an in-depth study of the Five Fundamental Principles of Prout (FFPP).

That this historic training was a great success was evident on the last day when three remarkably incisive and educational group projects were presented. Using the FFPP as tools to analyze economic and social problems in various countries, the groups formulated Prout policies and plans to implement these policies in both creative and sophisticated ways.

Contending with three complex issues — Italy’s immigration problem, the lack of funding for education, and Portugal’s debt problem — the groups presented their research and policy conclusions through powerpoint lectures and a fun docu-drama produced during the training. These presentations will be made publicly available in the near future.


Sunshine School, Switzerland



The spirit of the winter season sparkles among us as another year comes to a close. With joyful hearts we look back on a wonderful year of rich experiences, exciting challenges and a new beginning in the heart of nature.

After four active years we say goodbye to our Bergstrasse location and after six years, bid a fond "Adios" to our Spanish playgroup. We sincerely hope that in the future there will be renewed interest in this group and we may welcome back Spanish teacher Claudia Schnewlin.

Our spring bazaar provided us with occasion to say goodbye to longtime co-worker Judith Portmann. After opening with a short musical greeting, parents were invited to purchase many beautiful items made by the children and our generous sponsors. All proceeds went to support a preschool in Cambodia also named Sunshine.

2010 met with new beginnings as well as farewells. Early in the year Olga Seeholzer began what has grown to be a very successful Russian playgroup. Congratulations and happy first birthday.

Gabi Eibel continues to teach the German playgroup at our Tränkebachstrasse location successfully preparing children for a good start in the local Kindergarten.

The beginning of the school year also marked the start of another exciting new offering: our Nature and Forest Playgroup. Led by experienced teachers Jane Greis and Martin J. Pfister, this group meets for fun and adventure every Friday morning at the Graullera-Hoffmann family farm and forest in Oetwil am See.

We'd also like to welcome our brand-new intern Abadit Shishay who with her warmth and charm has already won the hearts of the kids, parents and colleagues alike. We wish her an exciting and enriching time with Sunshine.