Ecole Communale de Borlon was invited to spend the day at Radhadesh to see the ongoing projects. The Greenhouse project was a perfect link for the school to spend a full day with us.
This school has been a very important place for the Radhadesh children. They have been educating the children from Radhadesh for generations. The school has recently been updating their teaching methodology and incorporated many different initiatives to educate the children in the most interesting ways to connect to multiple intelligences we all have.
From teaching children 3D-printing to gardening to meditation, from Lego Leagues to outdoor schooling, they are actively busy creating a childhood full of different experiences. They believe that nowadays, it is essential to offer pedagogies centered on the child in order to allow tomorrow’s talents to blossom in their lives.
After the first school meeting the school was looking for activities and opportunities. The idea popped into inviting them to see the self sufficiency project “Premaculture” and meeting Thibaut, to get some knowledge and tips on how to maintain the school’s greenhouse which falls under their alimentation project. The school started a few years back with planting and gardening in their own greenhouse in school as part of their curriculum.
The invitation was well received and we were overjoyed with the news. In cooperation with the many departments planned an interactive day for the whole school.
The children of Radhadesh together with Aniyora prepared to give a guided tour of their home a few days before the school visit. The children were nervous as well as many in Radhadesh. We wanted to give the best of the best to inspire them to come annually as gratitude for educating our children for so long and embracing our unique lifestyle. As you can imagine the visit was in September, the forecast of the weather promised us nice authentic belgian weather, which means rain and some more rain. The rain did not demotivate us nor the school.
The school bus arrived on the road at the gate in front of the castle and every little being on the bus exited with eyes full of amazement. The first activity of the day was playing! As many of you families have visited Radhadesh. This is one of the places as a parent you spend time at the playground. The kids played and played. The next stop was the greenhouse, Thibaut welcomed the children with a huge smile, invited them into the greenhouse and explained many topics and for 30 minutes everyone was focused and attentive. In the garden they were taking some beautiful pictures with the big sunflower and Thibaut distributed the sweetest cherry tomatoes from the greenhouse and as the children were munching on the juicy tomatoes we were heading towards the castle. It was time for the Radhadesh Children to show the castle with Aniyora. They explained about reincarnation, Srila Prabhupada, our worldwide organisation ISKCON, presented the epic view from the tower and finally but not least the Templeroom.
Everyone entered with a good ring of the bell and exited with a dance and a cookie from the bakery. Now they have been introduced to Radhadesh, we had a very interactive yoga session designed by Aniyora, showcasing the different elements of Radhadesh. One hour of healing movement and bansuri playing in the background, the mood was so peaceful, some fell asleep.A day in Radhadesh is not complete if you did not have a meal here. When we were planning the schedule we all decided to offer fries and other snacks for the children ensuring us they would have full tummy time, since they might be new to different flavours. But the school requested to adjust the menu to rice & vegetables to connect their day in the best way especially with their visit to the garden. Edvin was enthusiastic and cooked the perfect menu, rice, vegetables, lentil soup, watermelon juice and even baked his signature vegan banana muffins. As we were serving we were amazed by the reaction. Children asked for seconds and it just made our hearts warm. The last activity of the day was a nice forest walk and mandala session. The day was rainy but the walk was refreshing and not one complaint about the weather. The forest walk was guided by Kim who explained the many wonderful benefits of the forest and how it is very important to respect the environment. Their assignment was to collect different little treasures from the forest and create a mandala from it. The walk was energising and while walking back we noticed that the bus was arriving soon.
Teachers, children and us were grateful for this opportunity and we genuinely appreciate their visit. We hope this opened the gateway for annual visits to Radhadesh and maybe the start of something really interesting for other schools nearby. As you may know that Radhadesh has many residents and many of them are actively engaging in making Radhadesh a serene place for visitors. To offer this full program and activities was only possible by the cooperation of all the departments involved. This fruitful cooperation will be the starting point for many more in the future.
With a grateful heart,
Shyamsakhi dasi