Internships
Dear Friends of YIP,
We hope this Newsletter finds you well,
In the past month, the participants of YIP17 were scattered across the globe learning and living with various organisations and initiatives working towards change in the realms of ecology, agriculture, education and society. The internships have been a part of YIP since its earliest iteration, and for many participants have been a very important part of their learning journey at YIP. The internships exist within YIP as an opportunity for participants to step into a place of initiative both in bringing something of their own to a place and in learning from the knowledge and wisdom that these places and people working with some of the big questions of our times hold.
In this newsletter, you will find articles and photographs from the participants that will take you through what their days and work on internship looked like, giving us a glimpse of the worlds and realities they entered into and lived, as well as their experiences, reflections, and learning from the work they’ve been engaging with, from their encounters with people, cultures and each other within their small internship groups.
Welcomed by the warm spring sunshine, the yippies made their way back to Ytterjärna in the last week of March, where we will collectively step into the last three months of YIP17.
Written by Sydney Dinopol
In this newsletter you will find:
– Internships
– Hebat el Nile, Egypt written by Minseob Kwon
– Gili Eco Trust, Indonesia written by Phoenix Love
– Youth Society Parzival, Georgia written by Linh Nguyen
– Navdanya Biodiversity Farm, India written by Isawara Uhl and Gabby Arnold
– Holy Green Agro Farm, Nepal written by Bella Nicolas and Mayu Kurono
– Kufunda Village, Zimbabwe written by Mer Temple
– Open Source Arts, UK written by Milena Daniel
– Initiative Forum: Sowing Seeds of Connection; Cultivate Hope, Harvest Change
– Personal Initiative Project: Move for Hope written by Lucia Höfer
– Chrysalis written by Iona Temple (YIP15)
Hebat el Nile, Egypt
Looking back at my life in school, I always found education or something to do with human growth and childhood development interesting. For me personally I always had the feeling or hope that I could give something back to the community and the school that helped me and taught me so much. I still remember so many colorful good memories and feelings from the school. It was almost my home and the place where I grew up the most. For me this internship was such a great opportunity where I could finally give back to the world while also wanting to use this opportunity to find something that is mutually beneficial for me and the world. I was really looking forwards to this internship and I had the feeling that I would be learning so much from this experience here at the Waldorf inspired school Hebat el Nile.
It’s been so lovely one month into our internship but at the same time we’ve found it quite challenging to adapt to the culture, language and climate here. I guess our internship is divided into two parts, before Ramadan and during Ramadan. Our first two weeks here was mostly spent attending the classes that we chose and watching, assisting and figuring out what we can contribute to the school for the next few weeks. After school, we had lovely Egyptian meals together with the teachers. I was always excited about the lunch. After our meal, we hosted different types of sessions with the teachers. We taught them songs, games, eurythmy, meditation, art, and music activities for the kids. We also had a Q&A session about Waldorf education and once a week we had a feedback session with the teachers based on what we felt and observed in the classes. It was so much fun working with the teachers here. It made me reconnect with my interests and my joy towards organizing, hosting something and collaborating with people, which I was forgetting somehow. Working and playing with the kids made me reconnect and reflect on my childhood a lot. I kept asking myself what I experienced and felt at that age and what my interests and needs were at that time. I just wanted to understand them more deeply.
Since Ramadan started, most of the students and all of the teachers were fasting so in general the energy in school was slightly different than before. There was no longer after school activities with the teachers and we just spent 2 hours a day teaching and helping in the classes. Strangely I found it quite energyless and I felt lost somehow because of the lack of structure in the day. We had to figure out how we wanted to spend our days ourselves and how we could contribute to the school without having any possibility to meet with the teachers. That was definitely hard for us to figure out, however in terms of the interaction with the students I found it so much active and engaging during this time. We generally taught them art, music, and English based on the needs of the school. Yuan-Heng and I were in charge of music classes with grades 1 to 3. Because of the language barrier we had to figure out how to connect with them and how to communicate instructions for the activities. We used lots of body language gestures and easy words so I somehow always had questions about communication and the interactions with the students. I was constantly thinking about what could be better and what would be a more universal approach to teaching beyond verbal communication. The other challenge that we faced was that it almost felt like some kids didn’t really see us as teachers but more like visitors or a teacher assistant or maybe just people they play with. It was quite interesting to observe the difference in the kid’s behavior when their teacher was around or not. When the teacher is there, they’re just cute and little and the class is very organized but otherwise we had to deal with 12 little monsters. I’ve been literally experiencing the chaos and order that we talked about in the Art of Hosting. At some point they started to get used to and recognize the activities we do and I started to realize that I was maybe unconsciously expecting something from the kids, that they would just follow what we say and just be good students, but I guess they were just being themselves and that I was probably just like them at that age. After recognizing my expectations, I started enjoying so much and I started to recognize loads of positivity from the kids and the class even though half of the students don’t really follow what we say sometimes 🙂
I think I’ve been stimulated so much by lots of things here, not just by the interactions with the teachers and the students but also by the culture, the people, the religion, and the hospitality. It’s been so fascinating and it was such a privileged to have had this opportunity. I genuinely appreciated the fact that the teachers treated us like family. They kept saying that we’re their brother and sister and let us be part of the community. It really helped me a lot to adapt to the new environment. This internship wasn’t only about us giving something and contributing to the school, I think they taught and gave us so much through these experiences. My view of the world has been constantly expanding and through that I’ve been seeing and exploring different parts of myself as well. I just can’t believe that this week is the last week of our internship. It feels quite strange that we’re going back to Sweden in a few days, which is going to be a completely different culture, nature and context compare to life here in Egypt.
Written by Minseob Kwon
Gili Eco Trust, Indonesia
After a long travel we arrived to Gili Trawangan by a small boat. The island welcomed us with beautiful volcanic scenery along with crystal clear water, and hot sun. Gili Trawangan is the largest island of three that sit off the coast of northwest Lombok. Trawangan is a renowned party destination for tourists and with it being such a small island the tourism industry brings many negatives along with benefits for the local land and people.
The first few days consisted of landing and orientation, and trying to find our place as ‘sustainable tourists’. Through our host, Delphine (from the Gili Eco Trust), we managed to integrate into the web of initiatives on the island which help restore, maintain, and bring awareness to the local environment and issues that affect the island. The Gili Eco Trust is the main hub of conservation on the island and was set up in 2001.
In the first three weeks we helped on the land. Solid waste pollution is one of the largest issues on the island with 20 metric tons of waste being produced daily. We started every morning with an hour of beach cleaning.
Each day brought different tasks. After the beach clean we would work at the Eco shop, gardening, cleaning, and using recycled materials to make products that could be sold in the shop to raise funds. Some days we worked in the local school interacting, playing games, and teaching English to kids aged 11-15, which gave us all loads of energy and smiles for the rest of the day. Some other days we gave tours to tourists where we took them around the recycling and waste center, showing them the very large pile of waste in the center of the island that surprisingly was also home to a herd of sad-looking cows.
In the afternoons we found ourselves making awareness and educational videos for the Gili Eco Trust socials which gave us a lot of filming and editing to do. These covered fundraising videos, turtle awareness videos, and interrogating tourists to see if they were aware of the issues facing the island. We also restarted a past project of engaging businesses to promote water refill stations around the island to reduce plastic bottle waste.
Every Friday ended with a very wholesome beach clean which involved the whole conservation community of Gili T along with other willing sustainable tourists, where we would collect around 100kg of trash in 1 hour.
For the last two weeks, we helped the ocean. In the 90s the local reefs were fished using dynamite and cyanide which killed and crippled the reefs, luckily they are now being rebuilt and maintained by Delphine. We were trained in reef check surveys, which involves scuba diving for about an hour taking data on fish species and coral health along a certain stretch of reef. This data is then put into a global reef survey database, allowing analysts to track reef health and climate change effects. Building a section of artificial reef called Biorock has been a highlight for me. Through this process, we designed a steel structure on land, placed it into the water around 6m deep, and passed a small electric current through the structure. This current forms a substrate through electrolysis to allow coral to be propagated onto. Every day we then maintained these structures by removing invasive sponge species along with predator snails that eat and kill the coral.
Overall seeing the amount of amazing initiatives that take place on such a small island has been enriching and opened my mind to the un-heard possibilities and positive projects that take place globally and has inspired me to explore these more.
Written by Phoenix Love
Youth Society Parzival, Georgia
Dreams
I fell in love with Parzival, the Mastevani landscape, and Georgia from the first day and that love has only gotten stronger. I often remind myself of a guiding question: what new skills and areas could I learn in service of Parzival community? Every meeting that has happened has become stars that would shine in my universe. This article is only a glimpse of my experience!
What is new?
The feeling of home in this place, in these people!
Over 6 weeks, Parzival members have exposed us to Georgian culture and landscape. Amidst the uncertainty of snowy weather, the team arranged a trip for us to see the northern part of Georgia, Kazbegi Mountain. Viewing mighty mountains covered in ice, walking to old churches and listening to the unique stories was a gift. We got toured around Tbilisi with a lovely and knowledgeable tour guide. I love the hospitality of the Parzival community and some cultural similarities to my country.
Parzival spirit!
Parzival members turned their visions and dreams into reality. The whole team comes together to start initiatives, after that, the person who thought of the initiative has to commit to continue it. Each individual is involved in different projects with autonomy and responsibility. Ani, our internship supervisor, a wonderful human being in charge of the Garden Project. Ani, always with her laughter, worked hard to design a work plan with us with other Parzival members because we came in a turbulent time of climate and politics. She responded to all of our needs, and would spend her whole time with the garden or studying how to nourish it. For example, planning for spring, preparing equipment, composting, mapping, reading books and learning new techniques and trying to understand plants and insects… Working in the garden is an unpredictable task. The weather has changed massively during the last 3 weeks from snow to sunshine to heavy snow again. We had to be flexible to change plans and come up with something more weather permitting.
This manifestation of ideas into realities is a shared practice with YIP. On reflection, what ideas have I manifested so far? I would carry the “youth impulse” of Parzival in my next chapter of life.
School Project
I am thankful that the students in the School Project have become beautiful flowers in my life. I am glad to have opportunities to take part in different games and activities with them – playing board games and seeing students be creative in many ways with clay, with acting, crafts and sharing ideas in class. Because of creative classes, we managed to still get to know each other through translations, body language and cooking time. It’s such a beautiful part of the lesson plan that students not only learn creative skills in theater and storytelling, but also spend time cooking and eating together. That’s how we could become more close on a personal level. I wish them to become unique human beings full of joy and create good meanings in life. They have power in their hands to live and create the positive changes they want to see.
Working with horses
Part of our morning rhythm is to feed the horses, clean the horse stable and work in the garden. We clean each stable and get rid of the wet hay and manure, then cover the floor with hay to keep the horse’s feet warm. These horses work with children with special needs, an initiative by the Parzival members.
Explore Waldorf Education
I got the privilege to visit Aregnazan Waldorf School in Armenia. The school has warmly welcomed me and let me be part of any lesson. I was invited to English classes to share about our culture. Since most people only heard of our brutal war, I told them my favorite traditional Vietnamese folktales, inspired by the storytelling course at YIP.
In the English classes, students learn beyond the “fixated language”. They must view language critically, they are required to ask questions, write the readings from their understanding, and express how they feel about the character. The readings in the class are not from a textbook that is for every school, or by the government. It’s selected by the teacher, who found it relevant to their stage of student development as well as the students’ language capacities. For example, they read a real story written by an Armenian that survived the Genocide in 1915. Students are invited to build relationship with the language and explore how language express meanings and record living experiences. When I read further about the Waldorf curriculum of teaching English as a secondary language, I felt so much awe. Students learn English literature to grasp the nuance of the international language, and see what role language plays in human development.
I joined other classes such as art, crafts, handwork, Eurythmy, and physics to see how the learning environment looks like. “We are lucky to have a happy childhood in this school where we don’t have to grow up too fast, we might not be as academically centred, but there’s something else like spiritual and creative growth.” From a 12th grader on making crafts as gifts for every teacher and every grade before they graduate. “I love the teachers at our school the most. They made us feel like a family.” From an 11th grader, in an open class in the park.
My favorite – our care structure
We applied weekly check-in meetings in our internship to share how things are going emotionally, physically and mentally. It is so special to see my co-interns in new ways and for us to learn how to work and live together. I am so grateful for their care and acceptance of myself including my silliness, ugliness and complexities. Lots of love and gratitude for these four unique humans: Josie, Seunghyun, and Lia.
Ending note
Parzival has taught me the power of a true community. With collective strength and vision, everything could come true. On leaving, I wish YIP would come here one day as part of the Outpost experience, not only for an internship. There’s just an image in my head that this space, this community, this culture is perfect for our immersive experience. Everyone would be invited to take initiative the way we aspire, and we will be becoming every single day.
Written by Linh Nguyen
Navdanya Biodiversity Farm, India
Hello from Navdanya!
Navdanya translates to 9 seeds, or new gift in Hindi. This symbolises both the protection of biological and cultural diversity and emphasises the right to share and save seeds.
What our days are like:
Each day we wake up and have time to either sleep in or do morning practices before breakfast. Breakfast is served at 8am and changes each day, but is often a range of beans, dosa or Dalia and fresh fruit. At 9am we have our morning circle where us yippies and anyone else staying or visiting Navdanya can join. To start we do a meditation, or breathing exercise followed by an activity, which is often singing, stretching, or any other game we have organised. We have announcements then Shramdaan till 10am, where we clean the campus and our rooms. After this, we normally work in the fields where we will be tending to an area of the farm doing tasks like harvesting, transplanting, or weeding – a crowd favourite is camomile picking. We then have chai break, and another working session in the field before lunch. Lunch begins at 1pm, it’s often a Dahl, Sabji (vegetables that change each day) and beloved fresh chapatis. After lunch, we have an afternoon session, which has been an interesting range of different practical and theory workshops. In the evening we have some free time before dinner to work on any task of choice. Dinner is at 7:30pm and is well enjoyed with food similar to lunch. Most evenings we have been going to bed quite early here after playing cards in the dining room.
Here at Navdanya we have been blessed with a busy and rich programme. Each week is dedicated to one of the elements. As we delved into the first week, Earth, we looked at seeds and how to take care of them, how to preserve them, how to treat them naturally from larvae and eggs and how to sow them. We were introduced to the seed bank, what I like to call the soul of this place, where 3,000 indigenous seeds are saved each year and planted on the farm for them to adapt to a changing environment. We also learned sustainable ways of replenishing the soil with waste enzymes, natural pest repellents and compost. The week after we looked at pollinators and their relationship with plants – the role of insects on the farm and how every species, big or small, is important for a healthy ecosystem. During this week we focused on the element of air and ether but we also learned about indigenous knowledge systems and ecofeminism. During the fire week we did some cooking, because fire is a powerful transformative element. We got our hands in the dough and made some delicious North Indian recipes like chai, chutney, pickles, pakora and gujiya, which we ate for Holi, a festival that marks the end of winter. We are now in week 5, our last week here at Navdanya, looking at water and organising a food versus non-food exhibition for Indian youth, as well as showcasing our dream farms.
Insights since being here:
Gabby’s insights – I think it will take a while for all the learnings from Navdanya to sink in but I do feel this place has had a deep impact on me that will only surface more as time goes on. Some insights and learnings I have had arising recently are that through the slower pace of the days there has been more time to reflect on things, and not feel in such a rush, to prioritise being as well as doing. I feel grateful to have time to slow down my system a bit and get back into meditation and stretching my body. I have really enjoyed the mix of practical and theoretical learning here; being outside with my hands and feet in the soil has felt both grounding and purposeful. I feel being here, I have opened to a greater understanding and trust in nature, and the world around me to hold and support me. Through my time spent here in Navdanya, learning more about the medicinal qualities and traditional practical uses of different plants, and the ability of nature to regenerate and rebalance I have more trust that our environment holds the remedies to a lot of our ailments, both in our bodies and in the world around us, and that there is endless wisdom held in natural systems. I have also been learning about the positive impact that humans can have on our environment, how we live more in symbiosis with nature, and the idea of stewardship that is present in so many indigenous cultures throughout the world. Overall, I feel more hopeful after being in Navdanya, and curious to learn more.
Isa’s insights – It will be difficult to summarise in just a few words how much this place has impacted me. It’s as if a seed has been sown and is now in the perfect soil and environment to grow my curiosity and awareness of life.
Having my hands and feet in the soil every day reminded me of how healthy I am (mentally and physically) because I am surrounded by a healthy ecosystem. This may sound simple, but being aware of how important our relationship with the earth is, reminded me that if we take care of the earth, the earth will take care of us.
I’m leaving this place with the understanding that as an individual I have power over my choices and their effects. I have sometimes felt very disconnected from my choices and never paid the direct consequences of them. Because this place made me aware of the back of the scene, how one thing affects the other, the soil, the air, the water, and ourselves, I decide not to support a system that deforests, destroys habitat, exploits people and resources but to encourage local people, food sovereignty and seed saving. In order not to monoculture my brain, I will continue to feed this curiosity to understand the world and how I move in it.
Written by Gabby Arnold and Isawara Uhl
Holy Green Agro Farm, Nepal
We, Bella and Mayu, finished our internship on biodynamic farming and social entrepreneurship with the Holy Green Agro Farm and were mentored by a biodynamic farmer named Mahendra Kumar Shrestha. The farm is part of a village in the beautiful hills set in Suklagandaki, Nepal. We arrived in the dry season, where everything is just coming out of winter. Nights and mornings up in the farm are contrastingly cold, windy and sometimes full of rain, compared to the afternoons which are warm enough to burn your skin brown. Morning, day and night, there is always something to see and hear from misty sunrises, to mysterious birds, buzzing bees, newly hatched chickens, to a night sky full of constellations, the day is a full experience of nature.
In a small house with two rooms, we live in the farthest room that Mahendra specially painted red and white for us. Two traditional ancestral wooden bed frames are specially prepared with cotton beddings made for us, inspired by the importance of cotton from anthroposophical teachings. We have a typical rural outhouse bathroom where we take icy cold showers after a hard day’s work. Our kitchen is outside as well next to a storage room for harvested ginger and turmeric from the farm. The kitchen is small, has no fridge or cutting board, and is full of fresh vegetables and fruits either from the farm, gifts from other farmers, or from the farmer’s market. On our first day, our task was to clean out all the dust as we had to become accustomed to the typical village life and what it means to clean in order to have a healthy space and mind.
We have breakfast at around 8:00 in the morning, and most times we are awakened by Mahendra’s gentle voice calling our names to start our first meal of the day. On other days we would go for hour-long walks or make breakfast when ideas strike. After eating we engage in farm activities depending on what the biodynamic calendar indicates is best to work with for that day. Morning farm activities have consisted of collecting leaves to cover the compost, harvesting mustard, packing and preparing the nursery soil for sowing seeds, harvesting coffee, and taking out weeds. We will then either break for lunch or tea, usually making food by ourselves while Mahendra teaches his classes on biodynamic farming to different communities.
Once the afternoon ends, we start different farm activities such as collecting bamboo to feed the buffalos, harvesting turmeric, transplanting bitter gourd, bottle gourd, spouse gourd and cucumber out from the nursery and into open soil, sowing chamomile seeds and making BD preparations as well as compost. At around 19:00 we begin to make dinner. This is usually where all the food experiments come alive and we usually end up starting dinner at 21:00 with Mahendra. After dinner, we wash up and close the day together with Mahendra. At this time we will sometimes exchange songs, play games, have a little meditation, and most importantly, we summarize our day with one word and share our harvest.
There are many things we learn and harvest from one another. In our internship, aside from the technicalities of caring for the farm, we learn about what it means to care for each other, the community, and our environment. Mahendra puts a big emphasis on taking care of one another and that there is much to learn and exchange with one another in each of our activities. Because of this attitude, I have witnessed how people become curious and change their practices to a biodynamic lifestyle as he embodies the true spirit of a teacher even in our outside activities. Everytime we venture outside the farm, Mahendra has many connections and makes conversations with various people. He is ready to point out all the things he knows about a place and culture, and to meet our curiosities with openness. At the Holy Green Agro Farm, we do not just work. We learn and we connect and we grow together, creating a space of importance for both individuality and community.
Written by Bella Nicolas and Mayu Kurono
Kufunda Village, Zimbabwe
For the past five weeks, our internship in Kufunda Village centered around working at the Waldorf school in the village. For some of us, our days started with feeding and grooming the horses at 7 a.m. After that, we joined the teachers’ morning meeting to discuss the day ahead. Throughout the school day, the six of us taught or assisted in different classes, including English and writing for grades 3 and 6/7, drawing, music, and handwork for grade 4/5, and games and music with grades 1 and 2. Four of us spent one day a week in the kindergarten, supporting teachers in taking care of the children and running various activities. On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, we ran afternoon activities for the children, such as rope games, acrobatics, movement exercises, and singing.
Beyond our time in the classroom, we were also very involved in village life. Every Wednesday morning, from 8 to 10 a.m., the community gathered for a communal work session, which ranged from painting huts to turning compost and gardening.
During our stay in Kufunda, we lived alongside the Youth Hub. The Youth Hub in Kufunda is a program that welcomes young people from across Zimbabwe, allowing them to develop skills in various trades such as mechanics, carpentry, and hairdressing. We joined the youth group for lunch and often spent time with them around the fire at night, singing and talking. For our final project in Kufunda, the six of us put on a workshop for the youth group that was inspired by aspects of hosting yourself and others, self-inquiry, inner reflection, games, and singing. It was an exciting way for us to interact with the youth group and share some of what we had learned during our time at YIP.
Our time in Kufunda gave us the opportunity to experience what it was like to teach and work with children, immerse ourselves in village life, and gain experience in hosting a workshop. This experience broadened our understanding of education, community life, and what it is like to live and work in a village. Our time here has been deeply meaningful, and leaving Kufunda will be a heartfelt farewell.
Written by Mer Temple
Open Source Arts, UK
What gives me meaning? What gives me a reason to wake up in the morning and to prepare porridge for the gang? Why am I doing all these tasks I accept as restrictions of my freedom? Responsibilities. Fulfillment and hope. Today I was asked what gives me hope. Ha!
Leeds. It’s Miles, Heda, Alysa, Erin and Milena. The last one is me. Yes, we are in Leeds, North-England. This random English city in winter whilst other yippies are sunbathing on the Gili Islands or Egypt or Zimbabwe. Leeds. We chose Leeds. Cold, sharp wind cutting through layers of my clothes to hug my bones with its long pointed fingers. Everyone is running. Where are these people running? City life. People chasing after goals they don’t want to achieve. Judgement. I feel judged. I judge. I judge myself. I judge my friends and everyone who is not acting in the perfect sustainable way to not harm the environment. Who can I be in this environment and how can I contribute to positive change?
Waking up. Sun? Heda is on cooking today. Breakfast at seven forty five. Only Erin is sitting at the table being on time. Living together as a family of five in a two room apartment. Bathroom occupied. Can I just brush my teeth? Are you biking or walking? He is taking the bus. Do you feel the muscle ache? Open Source Arts. On the website it says it’s a “resource centre [that] provides the space and tools for artists […] .” Nice. Where is my place in this? And in the western world? I am doing a lot and nothing at the same time. Do do do. Run run run. Full days with nothing to put into my journal at the end of the day. Why all this? I am creating a collage. Writing emails. Meeting meeting meeting. Erin advertising on facebook. Heda is creating posters. Alysa has been working in the yarden. Yard + garden = yarden. Renovating the youth centre. Opportunities. Nude drawing, Irish storytelling, journaling workshop, folk dance festivals, our first real pub experience, circus training, Heda is colouring my hair pink. Another week passed. Monday again. Do I feel?
Morning meeting as the Opsa’s. That’s us. We are free. Do what you feel needs doing, organize the event the way you want to organize it. This internship is us. We are this internship. It’s on us if the internship is an enjoyable and rich time or if it’s a grey rotting time. Are we able to carry our weight of freedom?
Spring is coming. Flowers! Sniiiiiiiiiiff. Ahhhhh! Yellow yellow yellow. Warm sun on our faces. Cycling to the Yorkshire sculpture park and hiking up a hill. Breathing in nature! Excitement. Preparation. We have been organizing and planning for five weeks. Our Forests in Motion event is in two days. Yoooohey!!! Connecting to the light in times of drastic changes.
Check-In. Are you the host? Practicalities. Clarify our needs. Please close the lid of the toilet after the usage. Is the quantity of the cleaning and washing equal? Who is cooking when this week? Okay. Small moment of recentering and then the question. Obligatory candles in the centre. Indian seashell as the talking piece. Three hours of sharing and precious listening. Group-hug at the end. We meant it. I was looking for meaning in all the activities and tasks I took over. I was looking for meaning in the outside world, in the business, in the productiveness. Look around! Look with whom you are here, Milena! These rich differences we have that allow each of us to explore diverse sides within ourselves. Look and listen and feel these beautiful people. Can you feel yourself now? The support and the care. The gift of listening. In order to feel seen, you have to show yourself. I see you. And I allow you to see me. Meaning. This is the meaning I was looking for! Deep, honest and vulnerable. It’s Connection.
Miles, Heda, Alysa, Erin and I, we are a family. We are a group, we are a community. We live together, we cook for each other, we eat together with a small circle of gratitude before we say blessings on the meal. We are working together and we are organizing this Forests in Motion event together! What is the key to community? There are two things. Having a communal goal and an interdependency within the group, that requires reliance and trust.
Hope? Hope is everywhere. Beauty is everywhere. If there is beauty, there is hope. It is always relievingly surprising how resilient nature is. Flowers, insects, squirrels, spiders, chirping birds. They are all here. People? Caring people who work towards an eco-friendly future that is social just? They are here. They are everywhere! There are so many people that care, that create, that are active in multiple ways. Even in this random and at first very grey city Leeds, I met inspiring people whose beliefs, care and willingness are giving me hope. I see it out there and I see it in our little family and in myself. If a group of five very different young people is able to create a space where sharing, listening, holding and supporting are the priorities. If we five are able to organize an event together that we can all connect with and that will give connection and warmth to people, because we care and because we still believe in positive change, I won’t plan to lose hope. This internship has taught me lessons. My meaning lies in the connection of the community. Nature gives me space to breathe. Hope is active and everywhere. If I actively look for it, I will find it. In my own actions, in the beautiful awakening nature and in the people that are able to care and that are enthusiastically creating. I care. I am hope too. Meaning, beauty and hope. It’s all the same. Can you feel it?
Written by Milena Daniel
Initiative Forum 2025: Sowing Seeds of Connection
Initiative Forum: Sowing Seeds of Connection, an event organized by the current YIP17 participants, will take place from the 17th to the 21st of April. The event will take place in YIPs home – the beautiful Kulturcentrum campus in Ytterjarna, Sweden. There will be lectures, workshops, performances and more, hosted by the yippies and contributors, with opportunities for participants to step into the role of host as well. By hosting this event we aim to address issues that humanity faces today by creating a warm and open space that brings people together and cultivates connection and hope for the future. We’re excited to see you there!
Written by Miles Dixon
Personal Initiative Project: Move for Hope
Hey, my name is Lucia, and I’m one of the YIP participants this year.
I am writing to you because I want to introduce you to my Personal Initiative called Move For Hope. At the moment we are on internships (I am in Zimbabwe) and in my free time I am working on my project which will take place in the summer.
What is the project?
We, young people from all over Europe, between the ages of 18 and 35, are planning sponsored tours to Taize. We will meet in Taize on 24.08.2025. With the sponsored tours we aim to draw attention to the current situation of world hunger.
When we meet in Taize on 24.08.2025, we are invited to take part in Reflection Week which will run until 31.08.2025. Among other things, there will be workshops with the founder of Mary’s Meals!
If you are unable to organize your own sponsored tour, there is the possibility to participate in the organized sponsored bike tour from Freiburg in Germany to Taizé. Together we will cycle 400 km from 17.08 to 25.08.2025.
The donations from the sponsored tours will be used to provide children and young people in the poorest regions of the world with a daily meal through Mary’s Meals. The meals enable education and thus create hope for a better future.
If you are interested, start planning your own tour today and let other people know about the project.
If you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out (mail: luciahoefer@gmx.de).
Link to Instagram account:
https://www.instagram.com/move_for_hope_?igsh=MWowN3drN2c0d3ViZw==
If you want to participate, you can fill out the Google Form:
https://forms.gle/3imVd4FC9KhMxfJy6
Alumni Project: Chrysalis
After YIP ended I found myself caught in the question of whether to return to university or to go and explore my curiosities in the world. With the courage I had gathered from spending ten months with peers who were also striving to engage with life in unique and uncharted ways, I decided to dive into exploring my destiny (admitting finally that it would not be found in the university I had been attending).
There were many things I wished to explore– farming, building, architecture, design, and all sorts of artistic mediums. I moved to upstate New York and began an internship at a biodynamic farm, worked on construction projects with an architect, spent time with a designer learning about his work, and spent my free time taking photos, working on video projects, drawing, painting, and making prints.
A few weeks after arriving I ran into Laura Summer, the cofounder of Free Columbia, who I had met a year or so early when I visited the YIP14 Elderberries internship group. When she told me that three young people and her husband were starting an educational initiative for children, I knew that I had been waiting to meet this group of people.
So I joined them and now have been a part of running and teaching at Chrysalis for the past year and a half. Our daily rhythm weaves together academic learning, hands-on building, a wide range of art classes, and social relationship building through games, conversations, and an end-of-the-year play. We draw inspiration from Waldorf education, curative education, and other educational streams, but above all, we work to create a pedagogy that meets this particular group of children. We realized quite early on that the children are the ones showing us what they need, mapping out an education that meets them in their processes of becoming. Along with teaching and planning, we built another classroom over the summer, bringing together a big group of young people to participate in the building.
Surrounding this work, I am part of a network of spiritually striving young people who are creating a beautiful community and learning environment in and around Philmont, New York. We study together, perform together, and learn from some of the wise and talented people in this community. Free Columbia’s artist residency is another pull for the community to gather around art and culture. This area is also a hub of the North American Youth Section, which I am a part of. We organized two conferences last summer and are planning a big one for this coming August. It is called The Light Between and it will be happening at Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School and Farm. It will be a large gathering with young people from all of the world, and the invitation is open! Find more information here.
Written by Iona Temple (YIP15)
In the next Newsletter you will find:
– Arrivals and Internship Presentations
– Initiative Forum Preparation
– Initiative Forum
– Gardening Week and Self Designed Curriculum
– Alumni Project
