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here to readUrsula Chowdhury and Francis Aradhya
| Januar 2004
klick
here to read |
Our Special Friends - Pioneers in a New World Ursula Chowdhury and Francis Aradhya |
Who is the modern man in this time and age? A person, who is extremely organised, slightly stressed, with the latest technological gadgets, a good car, a big house and who travels abroad? Maybe. But if you ask us, the answer lies beyond the temporary materialistic expressions of being modern. Being modern could also mean the above, but complemented with a deeper awareness of the needs of our time - the needs of fellow humans, the needs of the earth and even the needs of the stars above.
An average person – in the modern, urban milieu – commonly suffers from a feeling of isolation from the environment and has to make a conscious effort to reach out for bridging the gap between his individuality and the surrounding world. If we look at the three different areas that make up this surrounding world, we can see different tasks or paths of development in front of us.
The care of the stars? By this we mean that the “stars” (or put the word “gods” here) can no longer reach modern man to communicate the wisdom of creation. Rather than indulging in human-acquired freedom in the material realm, we have a great responsibility to develop our spiritual faculties with which we can listen to the stars and allow a new inflow of cosmic energy into our earthly existence.
The care of the earth: Is it not high time to stop merely enjoying and exploiting our earth and use it as a big garbage dump? Modern man should consider how he could help to heal the wounds he has inflicted on nature.
Caring for each other: In our age, the joint family structure has almost become extinct. The individual’s needs and strivings have become most important. In the natural swing of the pendulum, once materialistic longings have been stabilised, the pendulum swings back to the polarity of spirituality. This spirituality is not one bound to traditions and ancient beliefs, but a spirituality, which takes life itself as an opportunity to evolve from a materialistic modern man to a spiritual modern man.
It is here that we want to mention “Social Therapy”, which is the essence of the Camphill Movement. In this, a group of people come together, out of their own free will, to help each other and themselves to collectively progress on the human and spiritual paths. Here lies a great mission and challenge for those humans whose biographies are coloured by a mental disability. Through their sincerity, innocence and need for care and support, they are making a constant appeal to others to grow and develop themselves, to overcome the one-sidedness of individual existence by developing skills to help, a heart to love and a will to dedicate oneself to causes beyond individual needs. This does not happen “naturally”, of itself, but by a deeper, conscious will to grow into a spiritual being who cares for the earth, for others. And yes, even for the stars.
To bring about changes in our modern world, to find and pursue new directions, to put fresh impulses into reality is a challenge not many of us are privileged to face and deal with. Today, in India, we often imitate the West, and the results are not always compatible with our own culture and traditions. The outcome easily leads to a loss of our own identity. However, there is no doubt that we can learn much from our friends in other countries, provided we adapt these new ideas to our own needs and circumstances.
Friends of Camphill India, a residential community with young adults who live with a disability, is trying to do just that. A group of Bangalore citizens came into contact with people from a Camphill Community in the US and were inspired when they heard of this new concept of living and working with mentally disabled children and adults.
What does the Camphill Movement stand for? Camphill Communities work with people who have developmental disabilities. The intention is and has always been to do this work not as a ‘job’ in the usual sense of the word, but as a way of life.
Dr. Karl Koenig, a paediatrician from Vienna, established the first Camphill Community in 1939 in Scotland. Today there are more than 100 such communities with children and adults in need of special care spread over the Western world.
A typical Camphill Community consists of several residential houses, each of which is run as a self-contained family home, shared by a number of disabled persons and co-workers. Meals are eaten together and all residents in accordance with their capabilities share all responsibilities of running the house. Each community has workshops, vegetable gardens and, possibly, even a farm, which provide jobs for many people with a wide range of abilities.
The Camphill way of life has developed out of the belief that each person, with or without disability, is a unique spiritual being entitled to lead a purposeful life in freedom and dignity. The task of Camphill is to create special conditions in which people with disabilities can learn to live with their limitations rather than suffer from them, and to discover, develop and realize their abilities to the fullest extent. We call this Social Therapy.
Knowing of the poor facilities that await young disabled men and women after they leave school, and being aware of the worries of parents who are constantly faced with the questions - “what will happen to our children when we are no more?” - the Bangalore group registered a Trust in 1993 with the aim of building a residential community based on Camphill ideals.
It was an uphill task and answers to three vital questions had to be found:
Where to locate the land for this purpose? At that time there was a real estate boom in and around Bangalore and land prices were sky high.
How to raise money to construct the buildings? In India neither the government nor other agencies offer support for a community with mentally disabled persons.
And, finally, where to look for the right people with Camphill experience to take care of the community? In India Camphill was still an unknown concept and to bring in experienced foreign co-workers was not feasible. They would not have been permitted to work in this country for an extended period and might also have had problems with living conditions in India.
The Trustees were novices in this field, but they were committed. With patience, a sincere willingness and - most of all - a deep belief in the value of this project, they forged ahead. Their perseverance paid results:
A piece of land, part of an ashram with a temple and a small senior citizens’ home, was offered to them on an 83 years’ lease for a negligible sum of money. This is situated about 20 km out of the city, close to a National Park, in a quiet, picturesque area.
A first contact was made with Francis and Anantha Aradhya and their children. Francis hails from Holland, Anantha from Shimoga (Karnataka). They had lived and worked for many years in a Camphill Community with children in Holland, and were then keen on returning to India and to join the community as the first house parents.
Sufficient funds were generated through local donors, contributions from Camphill Copake and Germany, and - most importantly - from a strong support group in Holland initiated by the father of Francis.
In March 1999 the first family house, Antaranga, and the workshop, Panchanga, were inaugurated amidst a large group of friends from India and abroad. It was a festive occasion. For the Trustees, the house parents, co-workers and the first residents this day formed the culmination of their aspirations and efforts. In November 2002 the second family house, Santvana, was completed and more space was created to welcome new residents.
Each house is built on the lines of a local country house with an inner courtyard, a spacious hall, a well-equipped kitchen and bedrooms for the 12 to 14 women and men with disabilities, and a number of co-workers and volunteers. The rooms are decorated individually and there is an atmosphere of brightness, colour and harmony throughout the buildings.
Let us reflect for a moment on the kind of life our friends with disabilities lead before they come to this community. As long as they are young, it is relatively easier to take care of them at home, and there are schools where they can spend part of the day. Once they reach adulthood, these facilities are not available anymore. Over the years, parents have become too tired to meet the needs of their adult sons or daughters, who were born with Down’ syndrome or Autism or other disabilities. There is nobody else who has the same close connection to their child, and in many cases they find themselves in a desperate situation - too tired and too old to continue, but at the same time very attached to their children and unable to give up. We have seen in many cases that due to this helplessness, the children are often overfed, overmedicated, overprotected. At the same time they are not given a chance to develop whatever faculties they have and their home situation does not help them to reach a certain degree of maturity. Although they are surrounded by love, these young people lead a very lonely life without activities and friends. And too often the television set becomes the baby sitter.
When these adults in need of special care join our community, their lives change. Friends of Camphill India is a residential community where so-called normal people choose to live on a constant and fully integrated basis with their mentally disabled friends. This is not a situation of merely caring for the disabled, as it would be in an institution or care centre, but of actually sharing life together. The community provides a full and creative life for each and every person, regardless of ability. Everyone has a chance to grow, to be adult, with rights as well as responsibilities, in an atmosphere of dignity and respect.
A typical day in Antaranga or Santvana starts early in the morning when all the members of the large household gather for prayers and readings from various Holy Scriptures. A cup of tea helps to wake up even the sleepiest heads and everybody gets ready for the day. While some co-workers prepare breakfast, others assist the residents in their morning bath and help them to make their beds and clean up their rooms. After breakfast all go to “work”. According to their abilities, the residents help in the household with cleaning, doing laundry, preparing the vegetables for the next meal and helping with the washing up, while others proceed to the workshops where activities like weaving, paper making, pottery work and candle making are carried out. After lunch and cleaning up the kitchen, a much-needed rest is enjoyed by most. Then work is resumed in the house, the workshops and especially in the garden where watering the plants is a daily duty. Once supper is over, it’s time to relax and our special friends are free to play games, listen to music, paint or write letters (they need help with this). Sunday is a day for rest; our residents go for walks with the co-workers, or play outdoor games, or just sit and chat. It’s a time when one can easily observe the changes in our residents. Where earlier they would have been alone and inactive, they now form friendships, help each other, talk and laugh together and truly enjoy each other’s company. When they are on holidays with their families, they often ask to be taken back to Camphill, as they miss their friends and the social life of the community.
Life is not just a monotonous routine of work and food and sleep within the community. There are regular meetings for all in the house on every Monday morning, when events of the past days are reviewed and plans are made for the coming week and for cultural programmes. Here, all have an opportunity to voice their suggestions, criticism and new ideas. The different tasks are distributed and each and everyone is allotted his or her responsibilities for the coming days. During regular meetings with the co-workers and volunteers the progress of our residents is discussed and the well being of all community members is evaluated. At times, special meetings are held to look into new ways of how activities and patterns in the community can be refreshed. Throughout the year many festivals are celebrated in the traditional style. Whether it is Christmas or Diwali (the festival of lights), or any of the other special dates, the whole community participates in the celebrations with great enthusiasm. Special meals are prepared. The houses are decorated, and all are dressed in their festive clothes. No birthday or anniversary passes by without a little party. There is singing and music played and guests are always welcome on these occasions. Francis has written a number of plays over the years that are enacted by our residents and co-workers, and the actor or actress who steals the show is - more often than not - one of our special friends. It is heart warming to see the eagerness with which all of them participate.
Panchanga, the workshop building, which is designed in the shape of a pentagon with a high dome, stands between the houses. It has five wings where the different craft sections are housed. Here our residents, according to their abilities, are taught to weave, to make candles, to do pottery or help with papermaking. The products find ready customers during the Christmas bazaars or when we have guests.
Let us now go and walk around the garden and reflect on the changes that have taken place since we first occupied the land. The buildings stand on solid granite on top of a slope, which was earlier overgrown with weeds and shrubs. The soil was of very poor quality and it was hard to imagine that anything of value would ever grow here. Termite hills and thorny bushes had to be removed and plenty of scorpions and snakes were encountered. Terraces were laid out to prevent erosion of the topsoil that would have taken years to rebuild if washed down by heavy rainfalls. And finally, nourishment had to be given back to the soil through mulching the green seedlings of Moongh Dhall (green gram), a process that is repeated again and again to keep the soil alive and healthy. With untiring effort and enthusiasm, Anantha, a passionate gardener, and his crew of co-workers and residents, applied the biodynamic principles of agriculture. Through composting, vermiculture and the use of biodynamic seeds, our land was transformed from barren ground to lush greenery. Pests and fungi are under control through natural means and today the community gets plenty of bananas, mangoes, papayas, oranges, guava and limes and a great variety of wholesome vegetables right from their own garden. The only threat to our plants and fruits comes from monkeys who have also acquired a taste for our produce and from the occasional elephant that, during the dry season, might leave the adjacent wild life sanctuary in search of food.
Our community is situated in an area that experiences severe water problems, as rainfall is often sparse or comes at the wrong time of the year. To provide sufficient water for the households, a deep bore well had to be drilled which supplies just about enough of the precious liquid needed for the houses. Great care is taken not to waste even a drop. For our garden we had to depend on rainwater, which was collected in an open well. But with failing monsoons, this was just not sufficient. The idea of a wastewater treatment plant was then discussed and eagerly accepted. During the construction of the second house, this project was taken up. Today all the sewage from our houses as well as the houses of the neighbouring senior citizens is collected in one pit and organically treated. The resulting by-product, biogas, goes to the kitchen where it is used for cooking. After this first treatment, the water becomes almost free of suspended solids. It is then run through a number of chambers where more cleansing processes take place, and finally flows into a gravel bed where a variety of water plants supply more oxygen to the water. This water is then used for irrigation and since it restores nutrients to the soil, it is the perfect solution to our problems. The novelty of this plant has already created interest in the public, and it is hoped that others would take up similar projects, especially today, when water scarcity is taking on alarming proportions.
Let us return to the people in the community. Our residents with disabilities are the heart of this home; they are the purpose of our being here and give us the unique opportunity to provide them with the right conditions for a life in dignity. They do need guidance and help, and that is where our co-workers and volunteers come in. The house parents have the overall responsibility. They are ever-present, and in spite of their long working hours, they always have time to talk with visitors, to nurse a sick resident or co-worker, to cater to the needs of someone with problems, to plan exciting events, etc. etc. The list is endless and their working day extends deep into the night.
We have a group of young Indian co-workers who are committed to our kind of life and work. They contribute substantially to the care of our special friends. When they join us, they bring with them their goodwill, but little or no experience, and we find it very important that they grow and improve their insights into our friends’ needs. The annual training workshops that are conducted by our house parents and experienced Camphill friends from abroad open the eyes of our co-workers and give them new impulses and a chance to learn much more.
Over the years we have also been joined by a large number of young foreign volunteers who stay with us for a period of six months or a year. With their multi-national backgrounds they add colour to the community and they take to the Indian way of life, the culture, the food and even the clothing with great enthusiasm. They also bring with them their individual talents and contribute to the working of the community in their own way. We have great admiration for them. They are young, in most cases just out of school; they work to earn money for their trip to India, and then they give so much of their time to our community. Usually from an affluent country and a protective home, they are now confronted with our Indian living conditions, the shortage of water, frequent power cuts and other shortcomings. The experience of this difficult life is bound to leave lasting impressions on them, which is a valuable preparation for their future.
Let us go back to the people who were instrumental in bringing about this community, i.e. the Trustees. Their role is very much in the background today. They have their regular meetings together with the house parents; they are aware of all that is going on in the community and they take care of certain administrative and financial aspects. They are there when needed, but - and that is greatly appreciated - they give the community the freedom to take its own decision. They provide strength, security and a certain protection. The knowledge that they are available at all times is, for the house parents and the community in general, a reassuring fact that gives them the much-needed support.
Can we claim, without appearing conceited, that we are contributing to a new India?
We feel that we do, in our own small way. We took matters in our own hands without waiting for the government or other agencies to build a community for people with mental disabilities in which all of us can lead a secure and dignified life. We try to treat the earth with respect and give it back what it gave us. We value every drop of water. We are fortunate to be nourished by healthy organic food. We live together in a community with people of different nationalities, religions and social backgrounds. We do care.
(Excerpt from the Book “Vision and Action for another World”, published on the occasion of the World Social Forum in Mumbai, January 2004. Edited by Ulrich Roesch)