Sathya Sai Education in Human Values (UK) Newsletter November 2005

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sans-serif">A monthly e-zine of the British Institute of Sathya Sai Education

www.ssehv.org.uk Dear Readers Welcome to the November 2005 issue of our

monthly e-zine. This month: Report on Activities - 2005As the year draws to a

close, we provide a summary of BISSE's activities, provided by Principal, Carole

Alderman, with excerpts from her speech given at this year's National Day.

URGENT: Parlez-vous français? Recruiting for Values Alive Event in Harrow

Training Update Story: Cat Capers, by Kay Challenor-KaiAmea, on the value of

Co-operation. If you have any feedback about this newsletter, or would like to

share your experiences of

SSEHV, please write to us. Kind Regards,The Newsletter TeamUn

information Report on Activities - 2005by Carole Alderman, Principal -

BISSEWith excerpts from a speech given at this year's National day The British

Institute of Sathya Sai Education

(BISSE) was first formed in January 2003. Like a university, the institute was

formed out of a group of people in order to pass on a body of knowledge, which

in our case is the Sathya Sai Education in Human Values Programme. As I have

been involved in SSEHV for over 20 years and have been writing books for

schools both in the UK and abroad and have developed the foundation training

course, I was asked to become the principal. This year, [2005], the 'Institute'

became a legal entity - a company limited by guarantee with Directors and

Members. We also have Area and County Co-ordinators who represent BISSE

throughout the UK. Before I tell you a little of what has gone on in the past

year, I would like to clarify why we call it a 'human' values programme. There

are many values programmes now in the UK,

all of whom are doing an excellent and worthwhile job. So how are we different?

What is unique about SSEHV? In practice, values programmes have many

similarities. But the core and foundation on which SSEHV is built is very

important. Human values are five in number and are inherent in every human

being. They are the essence of a human being. These values of truth, love,

peace, righteousness and non-violence are what a human being is. No values - no

human. A person not living and being these five values is not a human being -

only a human form. All other values stem from these five foundation values and

can be seen to relate to them. All major religions and cultures throughout the

ages have recognised these values: Truth - telling the truth -who among us like

people to keep their word? Yes, everyone does. Love - caring - society cannot

exist without love. Peace -inner calm and peace helps to keep us healthy.

Without inner peace we become stressed and subject to illness. Right conduct -

do to others as you would have them do to you. This is stated in all religions.

Non-violence - perhaps the most difficult, is seen in highly evolved humans such

as Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu in Africa; Martin Luther King, Jnr, in the

USA; Gandhi in India, as well as the many great spiritual leaders, etc.

Non-violence is the basis of the law in this country - the Christian injunction

is to love thy neighbour. The law says if you can't do that, then at least do

not harm him. The importance of stressing these five values, as well as

teaching almost a hundred other values which relate to them, is because

sometimes one aspect, particularly non-violence which is perhaps the most

difficult, gets forgotten and left out.This value of non violence, as many of

you know, as well as relating to our own actions, applies to global interaction

and environmental issues. In this last

respect, we are currently reaping a harvest of devastating consequences, for our

violence to the planet. The result has been global warming, global dimming,

climate changes causing tsunamis, floods and droughts, etc. World water

shortages are predicted. To alleviate our problems we must change our

behaviour. Teaching children human values will make the difference that is

needed and when human values are taught in all educational establishments, it

will bring about world peace. Indeed, a measure of the credibility and

effectiveness of our programme is the recognition we are now receiving

overseas. Work Overseas In March, Michele White and I went to Toronto, Canada,

as a guest of the Sathya Sai

School there. I was asked to speak at a national conference for teachers. Around

330 people attended and there were three eminent Canadian speakers and myself.

The short film of SSEHV in Holiday schools here was a great success. Training

was given to 100 teachers and volunteers and the demand for our workbooks was

high. The Sathya Sai School in Toronto is selling our resources in Canada and

we have agreed to their publishing the books suitably amended to suit the

Canadian curriculum. This will be a joint publication between BISSE and a newly

formed Canadian Institute of Sathya Sai Education. Another New Development

overseas was during the attendance by four of the BISSE members to Zambia in

April

for the inauguration of the African Institute of Sathya Sai Education (TAISSE)

in Ndola. There they have four schools - junior and senior, boys and girls, 550

children in all on a 50 acre site. The English curriculum is taught. They also

have permanent accommodation for the institute and are in preparation for a

university with the new science labs already in place. Victor Kanu and his wife

Genevieve, who started this project about ten years ago, are completely self

funded, relying on donations. Apart from giving free education to all the

pupils, they also feed the local poor every week and organise medical camps for

the local communities. We were greatly inspired by our trip there. Another

project they are involved in is to do with the UN HABITAT 'Water

for African Cities' Programme. Victor is a consultant to the UN and is working

with 15 African countries teaching about 'values and water'. Victor and

Genovieve Kanu received an international award in Paris this year for their

innovative work in education. From this you will understand how delighted and

honoured BISSE was to be asked to twin with TAISSE. This twinning was announced

at TAISSE's inauguration ceremony on 30th April in Ndola. We are producing some

joint publications together and providing some services. They are giving us the

benefit of their extensive experience in values education in the form of

material for teaching books and some of our teachers are helping TAISSE with UN

related work. Following the training given

by BISSE in Egypt two years ago, they have now translated Book 1 into Arabic and

are writing accompanying songs in Arabic. This will help all Arabic speaking

nations. Dubai - It is exciting news that a Conference on Human Values was

held in the campus of Zayed University in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 26th

of February, 2005. It was a high powered conference which had the patronage of

the Minister of Education of the United Arab Emirates, Shaikh Nahyan bin

Mubarak Al Nahyan, following which Sheik Nahyon went to India to meet Sathya

Sai on 28th Aug 05. He now wants to bring the SSEHV programme into schools in

Dubai. Prior to that BISSE had been asked to train teachers in a school in

Dubai and this may take place early next year. So how do we

roll the programme out practically in the UK? Resources - workbooks, CDs,

songbooks, posters, videos Teachers in schools Volunteers in schools

Presentations - 30 to 90 minutes Teacher Training days - half to full days

Follow up demonstrations by volunteers Seven-day training programme

Accreditation by the Open College Network (OCN)

sans-serif" color="#000066" size="2">Holiday schools/Values Alive Events Values

Alive lunch-hour and after-school clubs Parenting Monthly e-newsletter Twice

yearly paper newsletter Website Through the formation of the British Institute

of Sathya Sai Education Local WorkThe main progress in the UK, in our

experience, continues to be in spreading SSEHV through schools adopting

the programme. Several thousands of books of lesson plans have been sold

throughout the country. Many hundreds of people have attended the courses. I

often meet people who tell me they are using the programme to teach in a school

or club. One school in Batley which is 98% Muslim, took on the programme for

every class and now has the best results of any school in the area which they

attribute to using the SSEHV Programme. Holiday SchoolsOne method BISSE members

have of teaching SSEHV which has proved to be particularly effective is the

provision of Holiday Schools or Values Alive Events, which we run around the

country. These are generally for five days and are increasing in number

annually. This year 12 holiday schools were held.

sans-serif" color="#000066" size="2">Also shorter Values Alive Events are held.

For instance, in Leicester : In April 65 children attended a half day event In

June 120 children attended a one day event In July a 'Healthy Lifestyle Day'

attracted up to 400 people In September a short event was held for 65 children

(2 hours). National NewsTrainingWe are delighted that we have been asked to

assist in developing training for young people as part of the Duke of Edinburgh

Award Scheme. In addition to this training, BISSE, with the Open College

Network, is developing a Diploma course of 360 hours made up of various units

held as weekend workshops. Dr. Suresh Nesarathnam is overseeing this work. Our

international Web site continues to be appreciated as a source of information

by many people around the world. Website key facts: Over 250 pages of

information. Probably the largest English language source of information on the

methodology of Sathya Sai EHV currently available on the internet, on a single

site. Ranked No.1 on major internet 'search engines' such as Google under the

search terms for

'Sathya Sai Education' and 'Education in Human Values' / 'Human Values

Education'. An e-Newsletter which has over a thousand rs, 50% of which

overseas. Over one million hits to date. A new Members Intranet site is being

developed by Ganesh Yoganathan for easy reference to information by our key

workers. It has: Members' Intranet SSL secure & encrypted Online EHV resources

Online national contact database Discussion boards Web conferencing Accessible

to members worldwide Group calendars A Values in Parenting programme led by

Pamela Nash has been developed as a tool to spread values into the community.

The Sathya Sai Values in Parenting Programme aims to explore issues surrounding

parents and children. It is designed to provide parents, and parents-to-be with

practical skills. It follows the same pattern by investigating the five Human

Values and how these

can be implemented in daily life to make the home a happier and more secure

place. It provides the participants with the opportunity to explore both inner

motivations and the forces which influence the behaviour of their family

members. As with SSEHV the spiritual aspect of life is brought out through the

core human values.The workshop is carried out in a non-threatening environment

where participants are encouraged to join in to the extent they feel

comfortable. Frequent breaks and group activities enable every participant to

interact and establish strong personal relationships. The Parenting programme

can be delivered either over seven sessions of three hours each, or over three

full days. Please let us know if you have an interest in this course.

ResourcesFor those of you who are already familiar with the materials, there

are some interesting new items to be seen. A brand new CD5 of silent sitting

exercises is now available, thanks to Nick Williams and Pete Townsend. The new

Book M1 for 6-8 year olds has both stories with accompanying drama format. Two

books of stories by Kay Challoner are linked up with most of the lesson plans in

M1. A DVD of our two videos - SSEHV in schools and SSEHV in Holiday Camps

Values Games have been further

developed by Dipak Fakey Kumar. Our posters which were designed by Nicola

Johnson in Brighton can be viewed on our website. There are two sets of

posters. Set 1 depicts each of the five values and related values. Set 2

illustrates the most popular quotations using the new Fruit Family to animate

them. Future resources under developmentA book called 'Values in the

Curriculum' shows the English curriculum in most subjects and how to elicit the

values from the curriculum requirements. A new book for Reception children aged

4 to 5 years

is near to completion. Because of the demand from current users of the programme

for more material for Key Stage 1 in Primary schools, we are working hard to

prepare a Further Book 2 for 9 - 10 year olds. Within our vision of enabling

all children to have access to SSEHV we are extending our range to Book 5 for

14 year olds. We will then have covered the first three classes of Secondary

School, which is all Key Stage 3 classes. In conclusion, the past twelve months

have been extremely busy. Volunteers have worked very hard and have come up with

really innovative ideas. The outcome, in terms of resources and recognition from

government officials, schools, other charities and the community are ample

reward for our efforts. Top URGENT: Parlez-vous français? The African

Institute of Sathya Sai Education, TAISSE, is currently working with UN HABITAT

to provide SSEHV to schools, teacher training colleges and community and

government organisations in 15 African countries, as part of UN HABITAT's

'Water for African Cities' programme. By deploying values education at the

grass-roots level, problems affecting access to clean water - including

pollution, corruption, theft, waste and poor hygiene - can be effectively

tackled, thereby helping to alleviate water

shortages and water borne diseases which cause so much suffering in many of

Africa's poorest nations. This mammoth undertaking is generating an enormous

quantity of written material in the form of feasibility studies, training

manuals, workshop reports, etc. As half the countries involved in the project

are French speaking, there is an urgent need for translators who are fluent in

both French and English and able to translate in either direction. If you have

excellent written French and English, and would like to help this extremely

important project by giving a few hours a week to help with translation, please

contact Jo Pratt on feedback (AT) ssehv (DOT) org.uk or tel: +44 208 699 6566. Top

Recruiting for half term Camp in Harrow Joyce Power is recruiting volunteers

for a Values Alive Event (camp) at a school in Harrow during the Spring

half-term in February 2006. The dates are the 13th to 17th of February. The

event was held this year at the same school and was very successful. To

volunteer, please contact Joyce Power. Some photos from this

year's camp to provide a flavour of the event: Top Training

Update: Christmas/New year Intensive

Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000066" size="2">Places are still available at

the Christmas/new Year Intensive SSEHV Foundation training course in Pinner,

Middlesex from 28 December 2005 to 2 January 2006. The six-day back to back

'intensive' format of this course creates a particularly powerful and memorable

experience for participants. One previous course attendee described the

experience as, "Inspiring, educational, energising, and extremely enjoyable,"

commenting, "This week has seen a re-packaging of my personality into a more

streamlined and effective self." To apply please contact Pamela Nash at

pamelanash (AT) waitrose (DOT) com. Please only apply if you can commit to the full week.

Top STORY CAT CAPERS by Kay Challenor-KaiAmea It was afternoon break and

Kerri sat watching the raindrops run races down the classroom window, lost to

the activities inside the room. "Whatever is the matter?" Kerri turned to face

two of her friends as they sat down next to her. She hurriedly wiped the tears

from her eyes with the back of her hands and forced a sheepish grin. "Oh

nothing," she lied. "Oh come on, Kerri," said her best friend Juniper.

"Nothing's wrong? As if you sit there everyday crying your eyes out!" Kerri

grinned again, only this time for real. "I was just lost in my own thoughts, I

guess. The weather kind of reflects how I am feeling right now." Her friend,

Diane, took a look out of the window. The thick black

clouds were billowing across the sky, blown by the fierce wind. The wind was

blowing the trees too and their branches were thrashing this way and that,

creaking and groaning under the strain. The rain was lashing down onto the

playground in bubbles with an unceasing drone. Diane shivered. "If that

reflects your mood, you can't be feeling too good!" Kerri smiled again, "I'm

not, to be truthful.Why? What's up?" Kerri took a deep breath and attempted

to force down the tears that were rising to the surface as she reconnected to

her thoughts. "It's my cat," she whispered. "She's gone missing.That's what

cats do!" exclaimed Juniper as Diane gave him a stern look to be quiet. "At

least sometimes," he continued more softly. "She will be back in a day or two,

Kerri. Honest.That was what my mum said too. Only Samba has been missing a

week now.Oh, that is terrible, Kerri. You must be heart broken," said Diane

full of sympathy. "I know how I feel if anything happens to my dog and he has

never gone missing. Let alone for that long!What have you done to try and

find her?" asked Juniper. "We've asked people in the village and I've walked

all the roads to see if she's been hit by a car, but there'is no sign of her,

thank

goodness. I don't know though. She could be lying somewhere injured and unable

to get home. My mind is full of horrible possibilities, especially on a day

like today. I can't help but think of her cold and wet somewhere. She must be

pretty hungry by now, too.I am sure she will be all right," said Juniper.

"She is a clever cat and cats are brilliant hunters. She will find food.Not

if she's too ill to try." Juniper propped up his chin on his hands. He just

knew that Kerri's cat was all right. Something inside just told him so. He knew

deep down that she was alive; they just needed to help Kerri discover where

Samba was. Perhaps she had got stuck somewhere, or shut in, they just needed to

look harder.

Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000066" size="2">"I've got an idea!" Juniper

leapt up and ran over to the desk in the middle of the classroom. He picked up

a roll of tape and banged it down hard. The other children in the room stopped

talking and looked over in surprise. "Hey, everyone. Kerri needs our help."

Juniper told the other children about the missing cat and of his plan to renew

the search for her. "Who's prepared to help?"He was met with a chorus of

enthusiasm. "Only trouble is not all of us are from the village," said one boy.

"So what can we do?Well, we could do with some posters to put up in the

village shop, the post office and around the village

as well. Perhaps we could all make some now. We could make a lot if we all

pulled together." The children agreed and began to draw posters. They were all

different colours, some children even drew pictures of Samba on them as well.

Kerri was amazed at how enthusiastic everyone was in helping. She felt so lucky

to have so many kind friends. By the end of break there was a pile of posters

ready for use. "My, you have been busy!" commented their teacher, Mr. Thomas,

when he entered the classroom. "Why! What have we got here?" He picked up the

top poster and read it carefully. "Kerri, you should have told us all sooner!

These posters are great everyone, but they need to be made waterproof. Shall we

cover them in sticky plastic to keep the rain

off them?" The children agreed and when Mr. Thomas fetched the plastic they set

to work. Mr. Thomas also got out an Ordinance Survey Map of the village and

laid it out on his desk. He called the children round to have a look. "This map

contains details of the entire village," he explained. "All the roads and lanes.

All the buildings, the houses, the church and even remote animal shelters.

Look." He pointed to one isolated rectangle set in the corner of a field. "Here

is the stream. See? And does anyone know what this is?The old railway line?"

"Yes, very good! Now how about we plan a "hunt the cat" campaign? We could

split into groups and each group search a

different part of the village." The children began to get excited. "That's what

we will do tomorrow then. If you put the posters up after school today,

Juniper. I'll phone the local farmers and make sure that we have their

permission to walk on their land tomorrow. I'm sure that no one will mind, but

it's only polite to ask." There was still no sign of Samba that evening, but

Kerri was feeling much better. It was good to be planning something, rather

than to be sitting around and doing nothing. Somehow it made her feel more

optimistic. "You look happier tonight," said her mum. "I

am." Kerri told her mum what had happened at school. "That is lovely! How nice

that everyone's working together to help you. I'm sure that you'll find Samba."

"Well, everyone," said Mr. Thomas the next afternoon. "All ready? The local

farmers have all agreed to cooperate with us. Some have even said that they

will look over their lands and buildings themselves. So we can cross some

places off already." He took a pencil and drew crosses through the places that

had already been searched. "That will help us no end. Now split into groups of

six and each group can search a lane. You must remember to knock on people's

houses and ask if you need to search in their gardens. Remember to explain what

you are doing and be polite! We will all meet back

here in one hour, has every group got a watch? Good, then let's go!" An hour

later the groups began to return. One by one they entered the classroom. Kerri

stood by the door expectantly. Her group had searched down by the stream,

unsuccessfully. She was hoping that one of the other groups would have had more

luck, but each group of children that returned shook their heads sadly. Kerri

began to feel sick in her stomach. She had been so certain that her cat would

be found. Eventually all of the groups had returned. "No news to report?" asked

Mr. Thomas. The children all shook their heads then turned to look towards the

classroom door at the sound of a knock. The face of a local farmer peered in.

sans-serif" color="#000066" size="2">"Why hello, Don! Come in." The farmer

shuffled into the room carrying a large cardboard box. He looked down at the

children, beaming. "I read your posters this morning and mighty good they are

too. I looked over my place last night, but I didn't see a whisker of Kerri's

cat. Then today I saw your posters and I thought that perhaps I had missed

something. After all it had been dusk and the light not too good." He placed

the box down on the floor. There was the sound of scratching from inside and a

faint meow. Kerri was on her feet in an instant. Don put his fingers to his

lips and beckoned Kerri over. He gently opened the box so that she could see

inside. Kerri gasped in amazement. Inside was her cat plus

five tiny kittens. Don laughed at her surprised face. "She was very well hidden.

I would never have known she was there if I hadn't heard the kittens squeaking.

She had made a fine den right at the back of my hay barn. She was very snug."

He picked up Samba carefully and passed her to Kerri. "She is well enough and

so are the little ones. I think she has lost weight though. Needs feeding up a

bit. What do you reckon?" Kerri couldn't answer. She was lost for words. A huge

lump of emotion was sticking in her throat as Samba rubbed round her chin,

purring. QUESTIONS:1. Why was Kerri sad?2. What had she done to try and find

her

cat?3. Why was Diane sympathetic?4. What did Juniper do on hearing of Kerri's

missing cat?5. How did the other children co-operate?6. What was Mr. Thomas's

reaction on seeing the posters?7. How did he co-operate?8. How did the local

farmers co-operate?9. What was Samba hard to find?10. How did you feel when you

heard / read this story?11. Does it remind you of anything in your own life? Top

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Top 2005 British Institute of Sathya Sai Education

(BISSE). BISSE is a non-profit organisation committed

to promoting human values in education. Registered address: The Glen, Cuckoo

Hill, Pinner, Middlesex HA5 2BE United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) 20 8429 2677

Email: feedback (AT) ssehv (DOT) org.uk British Institute of Sathya Sai Education

www.ssehv.org.uk