Triple the Fun on the Third Day

Group 1

Today we started our program with 35 young boys, ages 6-12 years old.  We began with a name game, with the help of the Save the Children staff.  The boys very much enjoyed throwing a balled up piece of paper to each other and learning each others names, and even involved the youngest of the group in the game.

After the name game we requested the children to arrange themselves by height, and a noisy scramble ensued.  We started to play music as the boys marched around the room in a large train, laughing and running at all different speeds.  Every time the music stopped, the boys were to drop to the floor and stay attached in the train.  This led to a rowdy tumble of boys laughing and pulling each other, which came to a close when we decided to start our meditation session.

The boys were cheeky and making loud snoring noises, until Rania was able to finally catch their attention and bring them into total silence.  There was such a sense of peace throughout the room, and we all opened our eyes and saw pure joy in the faces of the children.

The boys then had to rush to school, and we were invited to an absolutely delicious lunch with the Save the Children staff.  This included homemade falafel, hummus, bread, and fresh vegetables.

The next stop was a program with adolescent girls, ages 10-16 years old.  We went through the name game, and then played the tangle game with 3 separate groups.  The girls loved entangling each other’s hands, and insisted we go through the game at least 3 times.  After this, we sat them in a large circle to play a game of numbers.  This game proved to be challenging, as it requires patience throughout a large group of participants.  Anton then led a meditation session, in which many of the girls were able to experience meditation. Some of the older girls seemed to have trouble staying quiet, and struggled to participate.  However towards the end, many people raised their hands to show they felt a warm or cool breeze.

We closed the program with a musical game, which the younger girls very much enjoyed.

The second program was definitely more challenging, but we left the day feeling satisfied and happy with the results.

Sulu, from America

Group 2

In our first session we had around 30 young  girls. We gave some introduction about “Meditate to regenerate” and about the benefits of meditation. We started with the name  game and then gave the realization. They enjoyed the game and during the realization many of them felt the cool breeze on top of their head.

We gave them a topic to draw about their  dreams and aspirations and they drew beautiful pictures expressing their love for Syria and that they would like to go back to their homes in Syria.  Then we taught them the balancing technique. They were well involved and enjoyed the whole session.

In our second session we had a mixed group of teenagers and mothers around 70 of them. We started the same way as for the first session with a short introduction. As they were many people we divided them into two groups and played the name game. As they were two different age groups, we gave them a choice between dance or draw/paint. We taught them few steps of a Scottish dance, and the younger girls painted and drew together. It went really well and they seemed to have enjoyed well.

Gayatri, from India

Group 3

Today was the third day of workshops with children and for me it was the first day. We left for the refugee camp in the morning and I was not sure what to expect. So I was quite surprised to see how huge the camp is!!!
I really enjoy the way that we are all so spontaneous (maybe too spontaneous). It’s quite an adventure to decide on the exact activities while we are in the bus to the camp. It was quite funny when one worker from Save the Children asked us if we were trained to do these activities, and we answered “well…..not really”. It’s so fun that we still eventually know what we are doing and enjoy bringing smiles to those kids’ faces.
Playing games with the kids was really fun, because they get sooo excited!! The boys were a bit cheeky and tried to keep the coloring pens that we used to draw. With the second group we had 70 girls that were giggling all the time, and very interested in us western people. Basically, all the kids are sooo cute! I sometimes realized that I was getting distracted by how cute they are!
When we did the meditation activities it was amazing to see how those super excited kids would suddenly be sitting there so sweetly with their eyes closed and their hand on their heart. In the boys group there was even one boy that was already sitting with his hands open on his lap before we had explained how it works. He was already copying the image he saw on the chart that we put in the room!
Altogether, it’s really fun working with these kids and impressive to see that meditation can bring them from hyper-active to completely peaceful. We can all feel the change of atmosphere in the room.
Tomorrow we’re starting with workshops for volunteers, so let’s see how that will go 🙂

Anjani, from Holland