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NEWSLETTER
MAY 2008 
GROWING SEEDS OF PEACE – SPRING UPDATE FROM
EIN BUSTAN
Avner Matsliah Honoch writes: Dear Friends and
supporters, Spring is here, and already we can feel the summer approaching, and with it,
the end of the school year. The children are growing before our astonished eyes: they
always seem to be growing up faster than we expect them to.
| The kindergarten is growing more
beautiful at it’s own inner pace. Towards the end of February we all got together to
renew the kindergarten physically. Each family took responsibility for a small aspect of
the job, and with the guidance of the teachers we made many improvements that had been
waiting all winter: the gate now has a spring and closing mechanism that two of the
fathers invented. A ground covering of fine gravel was laid under the swings, the wooden
playhouse was painted, and the ladder to its second story was reinforced. Tree trunks now
line the path on either side, and the children choose to jump from one to the next rather
than walking on the path - a joyful activity that tends to slows down the parents who are
rushing off to work…The storeroom and yard were tidied, and objects of no worth were
discarded. A clear roof covering was put up over the sandbox, so that it may be used even
on rainy days. A beautiful mural now welcomes all who enter the kindergarten. The outside
sink, the one hands are washed in after playing with mud and sand, has been upgraded and
finally connected to the sewer (I did that! My first experience at plumbing …). A few
of the mothers made coffee and cakes, some of them made sure we had an excellent lunch,
and thus a day of work was transformed into a day of many short conversations, play with
the children (who with their own hands and small pails conveyed the gravel from the large
sack to the play yard), and a reunion with families from years past and meetings with
those who may join our kindergarten in the future. |
 |
Days passed, the wheat is growing taller and already
possesses kernels. This, in fact, happened of its own accord (aside from the sowing of the
seeds, of course) with the help of the sun and rain and the expecting looks of the
children. They sprout the seeds and compare with each other whose leaves are growing at a
quicker pace. Soon, they will harvest the wheat, and then sift it, grind it, and use the
flour to bake flat bread in the mud brick oven. The oven itself will be built from bricks
they themselves manufactured just this week, that are presently drying in the sun.
It seems that there are those things that happen of their
own accord, and our purpose is to observe and internalize them into our beings, while
there are other matters that are dependent on our will and actions.
At times I wonder to what extent our children need to be
guided in their growth, and what measure of freedom will enable them to grow simply, as
nature intended. When I observe the teachers, I can see the beauty of the balance between
the two things. It is no simple thing: on the one hand - to take action, and on the other
- to let events take their own course. This inner work that the teachers do so
successfully inspires admiration.
 |
In addition to working together,
there are additional opportunities for the parents to experience the bi-cultural meeting
of cultures that the kindergarten offers the children every day. We celebrated the Moslem
holiday of Eid El Adha together. We watched a puppet show put on by the teachers, on the
subject of “Giving”. We then walked around a model of the “Kaba”, the
holy black stone that is found in Saudia, imitating the custom of the pilgrims to Mekka on
this day. On Tu B’shvat, the Jewish Arbor Day or birthday of the trees, the children
planted a tree together in the yard of one of the children that lives in the village, near
the kindergarten. On Purim, the children dressed up according to their childhood
fantasies, which knew no limits of religion, race or nationality. Leopards, lions,
princesses, fairies, Spiderman, Peter Pan and Snow White… |
Aside from joint holiday celebrations, the most enjoyable
opportunity for the meeting of the two cultures are the informal daily encounters that
occur with no great fanfare when we visit in each other’s houses - thanks to the
friendships that are developing between our children. Normal afternoon visits.
But it is difficult to define these as bi-cultural
encounters. These are simply social visits. And perhaps this is actually the true
realization of the goal: that things will happen by themselves, in a natural manner. Like
the growth of the wheat after it has been sowed.
[End]
Further information from http://www.livecity.co.il/site/index.asp?depart_id=11308&lat=en
Ein-Bustan has been nominated as a PJC Kol Nidre Appeal
2008 beneficiary. |
