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Welcome to this month’s newsletter of Centru Tbexbix. It has been
some time since we were in touch. Many things have happened, new
challenges to deal with and overcome, but the project moves on. We’re
happy to stay in touch with our community and this time a big thank you to
Lucia and all our EVS volunteers who put together the following
news.
Annual Comino Trip
thanks to Hera Cruises, who once again sponsored a trip for all our
children and most of the parents. Even though the summer club was over it
was not difficult to gather everyone on the 7thSeptember. This has now
become the favourite event of the summer, and this time it was no
exception. All the children enjoyed the boat trip and the swim in the
beautiful Blue Lagoon.
Bastions Festival
Centru Tbexbix was invited to participate in the first Bormla
Bastions Festival at the beginning of October. We were asked to
present our project by giving a yoga demonstration in one of the gazebos
put up for the purpose. This was the first year that the festival was held
and we auger that the initiative is repeated to increase the awareness
about the special features and richness of the local history.
Back home
by Lucia
During the last two months there was a big change in Centru Tbexbix
staff. September was the month when Ogun and Bettina finished
their EVS activity, followed by Arianna, who left (with her dog
Blanca J ) in October. It's still possible to feel their
presence in the centre: their smiles, voices and laughter are in the
kitchen, in the yard, in the rooms...everywhere! The three of
themspent more than half a year working hard and with dedication in the
project. Through their talents and creativity, and skills in music, games,
drawing and dance, combined with their sweet personalities and patience,
they helped the children to develop their skills and potentialities .
A big thank you, and good wishes for your future because I'm sure all
of you will have a successful career.
Bettina writes:
Eight months ago I was preparing myself for my Malta time…What will
await me in Malta? Everything was so new and unknown.
And is it the right decision? Eight months away from home, my
family, my friends, my place, my animals…Now eight month later I am sure
it was the right decision…One of the best decisions in my life.
Such a great time I had in Malta in Centru Tbexbix I will never
forget and never ever regret.
Now at home I try to explain my wonderful experiences but it is not
so easy. There are moments which cannot be described in words. One has to
experience the lovely atmosphere in Centru Tbexbix by oneself.
I gained a lot of life experiences which I try to keep up in my
daily life. It was great to learn more about working with children. I was
happy to find out more about healthy food, a good diet and yoga. For me it
was new and very interesting to learn meditation. Also I enjoyed expanding
my cultural awareness of different countries, discovering Malta by walking
around and by listening to other people. For sure there are a lot of other
things which I could tell but one last special nice thing. Every day I
looked forward to enter in Centru Tbexbix and feel the lovely atmosphere
in the air.
I want to say thanks for everything to my special Malta mother
KatherineJ, to Els my wonderful mentor, to my sweet sisters without whom
my Malta time wouldn’t be the unforgettable time, to the children, who
were so sweet and exhausting at the same time, to Didi who taught me a lot
of useful things for my life, to Ogus and Alexei for their help and to all
the other people who I got to know. THANK YOU.
Since I am at home there is no day without thinking of my wonderful
time in Malta.
New volunteers
No less than five new volunteers arrived in September and October. A
big, big welcome to them from the tbexbix family!
Corinna and Jana from Germany, Gabriella from Sweden, Cristina from
Spain and Mehmet from Turkey. New personalities, new brains and ideas
ready to stimulate the children, all of them with new skills and talents
that will keep transforming and shaping Centru Tbexbix into an ideal
Neohumanistic Education project.
We would also like to welcome Didi Ananda Samprajina and Iishana who
will be an asset to the project with their expertise in yoga, health and
Neohumanist education.
Corinna, one of the new volunteers says:
”From the first day the Centru Tbexbix family gave me
a warm-hearted welcome and made me feel at home immediately! I was happy
that I had the chance to get to know Arianna and her dog Blanca
before they left. The training with
Didi Ananda Rainjana and Didi Ananda Samprajina I enjoyed a lot and was
very motivated to put it into practice. I had a good start and I would
like to make the best out of every day here ;-)”
Volunteer training
by Gabriella
September was training time for the volunteers. Didi held a
presentation about neo-humanism, which is the core of everything we do
here at Tbexbix (Sunrise centre). The volunteers learned the basic values
of neo-humanism and how they can utilise it in their teaching. To
understand how much our behaviour and reactions as a teacher affect the
children, the volunteers had to go back to memories of their own
experiences in school. Everyone tried to come up with one good and one bad
memory, which they then shared and discussed with the group. Thanks to
this exercise we could learn how to better understand the children’s
behaviour and thoughts.
Katherine taught the volunteers how to plan lessons, including how to
write a lesson plan, how many and what kind of activities should be
included, all in conformity with the neo-humanistic principles. An example
of this is that we reuse everything as much as we can, to be economical
with electricity, paper and other resources including food. We need to be
as innovative and creative as possible with the resources we have,
including human resources, so that we still can do varied and interesting
activities.
The hardest thing for the volunteers to learn was the phonic method of
learning English. This phonic method is used by the volunteers
in English club and Reading club, to teach the children new sounds and
words in an easier way. Imagine how funny it sounded, hearing people in
their twenties and thirties trying to pronounce how the
letters sound, and not just saying a, b, c…
One session of the training was by Arianna who was the main person
doing yoga for children until she left. She explained and
demonstrated a lot of animal positions and matching sound effects. Didi
also taught the volunteers how to do meditation for children. This is also
different from the normal meditation, because it’s harder for children to
keep interest and concentration for a period of time.
September/October activities
by Jana
In October, the volunteers were very keen on getting to know the
children and starting their programmes to put in action what they have
learned so far in the training. Cristina who is responsible for the arts
and crafts chose the topic of the Maya culture. So the children learned in
a fun way about the Maya culture and history by creating colourful Maya
masks, a Maya calendar, a very big Maya tree and by colouring pictures of
Maya temples, gods and a big Maya jaguar.
Then Halloween was coming and the children made bats, Jack
O´Lanterns, Frankensteins and ghosts. They had fun using different
materials like stones or toilet paper rolls.
n English Club the children learned a lot in a fun way. Pine, the
youngest group started to learn the letters of the
alphabet. They really enjoy to colour, cut and stick the
different pictures of words that start with the “letter of
the week”. We also learn some first simple words by showing the children
pictures and they love to call out the words aloud. So nice to see
them improve from lesson to lesson.
With the Laurels, the next older group, we learned about our five
senses. They practised new vocabulary connected with the
sense-theme through games and other activities. like for
example a soundquiz, an action game, a smelling quiz or a
fantasy trip.
In Yoga and Sports Corinna and Lucia introduced the children to the sun
salutation with the help of a fun Yoga story “A journey to the mountains“
and a sun salutation poster. They even developed their own board game
called “Snakes and ladders“. On each field the children had to do one
special activity, e.g. a Yoga position or Jumping Jacks. The children
especially enjoyed the clapping game in the end.
New programme
Once a week, a number of 10-11 year olds are attending an Italian
language class, directed by Lucia. Again this is a non-formal learning
experience, so there are a variety of activities which the children are
happy to take part in, including dance and games. Of course, this time the
medium is Italian.
Mediterranean Vegetarian Dinner
All of you have received the flyer for the Mediterranean Vegetarian
Dinner being held on Saturday 27th November at Centru Tbexbix. Apart
from the delicious menu, the programme will include a video of the summer
club as well as a short explanation about the situation and way ahead for
our neohumanistic education project.
Incidentally this fund raising event comes on the day before our
current Director, Didi Ananda Rainjana, leaves Malta to work in other
projects in a different part of the world. During her time here Didi has
contributed a lot especially with her yoga and meditation and natural
health counseling. She will be greatly missed.
Do not leave it till the last day to book. Phone 21805130 / 99573790 or
send an email to http://www.inbox.lv/rfc2368/?value=mailto%3atbexbix%40gmail.com
Inspired?
There are many different ways how to contribute to the
success of Centru Tbexbix. Through volunteering (in classes,
administration, odd jobs, maintenance), donations in kind or financially,
etc. The opportunities are endless.
One way to support the efforts of Centru Tbexbix is
through the "Friends of Centru Tbexbix" scheme with a small monthly
contribution by standing order. Centru Tbexbix holds the following
accounts: HSBC 013-085675-001 and BoV 400-1705136-1.
For more information on how you can help, call us on
21/27 805130 or send an email to tbexbix@gmail.com.
This newsletter will be coming to you
every end of the month, with the intention of keeping regular contact with
the growing circle of friends of Centru Tbexbix, keeping everyone informed
of what is happening as well as sharing the inspiration of this blossoming
community project. The intention is to keep it brief and factual. Your
comments and suggestions are appreciated.
Click Here to view the Archives
of Past Newsletters
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