Eurasia Summer News

Dear friends,

Eurasia is currently at an important juncture in its biography. In April, we celebrated 20 years of

Eurasia work in Vietnam, so we can really say that Eurasia is entering into its adult years. In recent

years, we have widened our mission to include care of the earth, social innovation and also bringing

social and emotional learning into public schools in Vietnam. We would like to take this opportunity

to thank you all for your precious support over the last two decades and hope that you will have the

chance to join us in Switzerland on the 23rd September 2018, to celebrate many years of friendship

and commitment.

Since November 2016, a young enthusiastic and talented team has joined the older, more experienced

generation and is getting involved in a very real way in the different projects. We are being faced with

questions, of what needs to be let go of and what wants to emerge and also how to articulate this

transition from the pioneer phase to a new phase. We are confident that this transition holds a lot of

promises and are working together to plant seeds of hope, which you will discover through the latest

Eurasia projects.

Celebrating 20 years of Eurasia

On the 15th April we organised a Happiness day in TTG to celebrate the 20 years of Eurasia work in

Vietnam. In the morning the officials and authorities from Huế were invited to have breakfast with us.

It was really touching to see quite a number of the people who came were involved with us from the

very beginning, for example, Mr. Loi who helped us to buy the land of TTG. Following two heartfelt

speeches, full of gratitude from Tho Ha Vinh and Mr Thanh, vice chairman of Hue City, the

youngsters offered us a beautiful performance of yoga and folk dance and a magic show. They were

radiant.

In the afternoon, TTG opened its doors to all the other friends, who came to join us for a happiness

celebration. We had many different activities for everyone to participate in; art activities, random acts

of kindness, planting seeds of love, calligraphy. There was also a stall selling delicious drinks and

cakes. We closed the day with a buffet and dancing. It was really a celebration of the longstanding

connections that Eurasia has built up over the years and a very joyful celebration. Many other friends

came to join us to celebrate the 20 years of Eurasia. Michel Marcadé, a longtime friend of Eurasia

came to visit with his two grandsons. Lydia and Lina, some German friends were also here,

participating in the community for a week.

A big thank-you to the TTG and Eurasia team, who carefully prepared and served during the event,

making it a wonderful day for everyone.

 

News from The Peaceful Bamboo Family/ Tinh Truc Gia

Over the last 5 months, Tinh Truc Gia (TTG) has really been a meeting place of East and West. Many

friends came to visit us between January and June.

Sara Martine Serrano spent 6 months in TTG to work with the kindergarten team and the adolescent

class. Everyone, from the youngest to the eldest has delighted in her joyful presence and her

generosity. Jacoba Harm came to begin the certification process for the biodynamic garden and also to

work on product development in TTG. Jana Castles, secretary of the Eurasia association, who has

been travelling since August last year, also came to put down her backpack for a while. She has been

working in the different workshops, taking part in the community life and giving weekly training to

the young staff. Arnaud Durand, the Vice President of the Eurasia association also came to TTG for

the first time in April. He is involved in the Happy schools training as part of the ELI team and has

also been giving some courses in Vietnam. Camille, who is writing her Masters thesis on Happy

schools also came to assist for the happy schools training. She and Arnaud have been working very

hard on the new websites. We all enjoyed her calm presence and lovely smile. We had many other

short visits during this time, such as Katia, Arnaud’s partner, who also joined us for the 20 years

celebration.

You will find the link for the new ELI website below, the new Eurasia website is coming soon.

Deni Hines and The Soulful Crew visited and

performed at Tinh Truc Gia

On the first day of May, Deni Hines, the highly

accomplished Australian solo artist came to visit Tinh

Truc Gia. She was accompanied by The Soulful Crew,

a music band that has toured and recorded with Eric

Clapton, Rolling Stones and many more.

They performed in a very warm atmosphere

surrounded by Tinh Truc Gia’s youngsters and

teachers. In return, Tinh Truc Gia’s youngsters Ngan,

Hien & Duc gave a calm and joyful yoga performance

as a way to say thank you to the Australian musicians.

A delightful trip to Dien Loc Beach, Hue

On the 9th of May, Tinh Truc Gia’s youngsters and teachers

traveled to Dien Loc Beach, an hour away from Hue City.

The occasion of this outing was to celebrate the birthday of

Sara Martine, who offered a tremendous support to Tinh

Truc Gia in the beginning phase.

Both teachers and youngsters, young and less young,

enjoyed riding the waves, laughing and playing in the blue

ocean water with great excitement.

 

From Tinh Truc Gia’s Garden Workshop: A busy time harvesting rice straw

This time every year, Tinh Truc Gia’s garden team is busy collecting vast amounts of rice straw for

the garden. The rice straw is to feed our three dear cows for the next six months and is also utilized to

increase the quality of compost and the moisture of the soil.

The six days spent working in the neighbouring rice fields were a memorable time for the teachers

and youngsters. This activity brought the garden team out of TTG, bringing a breath of fresh air to

their work, as everyone was working in a new natural space; the vast beautiful rice fields.

Son, a teacher from the Garden Workshop, shared in the

Sharing Circle:

“I feel so moved to witness such a big amount of rice straw

being brought to our garden. It’s like we are importing a new

mass of energy to our place”.

The youngsters had a great time working joyfully in the yellow

fields, drinking the delicious sugarcane juice, interacting and

laughing in the infinite fields. Together they shared the unique

beauty of harvesting season.

Eurasia Learning Institute (ELI)

ELI has been very present since the beginning, offering training in social therapy and curative

education, but we really see ourselves entering a new phase, with trainings being given in many areas.

We are receiving a lot of demands and doing our best to respond to them.

Biodynamic training

In January, Thay Hung (TTG) and Marc, from Copake Camphill community gave module 2 of the

biodynamic course together. Marc comes to TTG every year and we feel very grateful for his support.

For the second workshop we had participants from all over Vietnam and some even from different

continents. It was a joy to meet old friends, joining us again, and new friends, all committed to

“healing” the earth, to reconnecting to themselves and nature, together with others.

Happy schools project

This project has the aim of improving happiness and wellbeing in schools and received the green light

from the department of education in Huế, as well as from the Ministry of Education in Hanoi.

The first session of happy schools training for trainers took place this April. The training was given by

Tho Ha Vinh and the ELI team, with the support of TTG, as well as other Vietnamese partners. The

training lasted for six days and was hosted by TTG. The 45 people who took part in this first training,

will in turn, train the teachers in their schools.

This pilot phase of the project will involve 48 classes, or 2000 students, the focus being on teachers

and principals from Hué. We trained teachers working with all ages, from kindergarten to university,

as well as some educators from partner organisations from Hanoi, Danang, Saigon and other

province. The pilot phase of the project will extend over a period of three years and will be evaluated

using strict scientific criteria, in order to be able to present the results of the project to the ministry of

education. Our goal is that the happy schools program will one day become part of the national

curriculum and of the teachers training.

The first training session went very well and the training continues through weekly meetings of

subgroups, which will practice mindfulness and the other skills they learnt during their training,

together. During the next session in August, more than 100 teachers will be trained.

We are really thankful to the TTG team and youngsters for their quality of hosting during this time.

They made everyone feel welcome and cared for and it was precious to be able to eat the delicious

food from the garden, lovingly prepared by Co Vong and her team.

Open ELI programs:

At the end of April we had an in-house Deep Ecology, the Work that reconnects training, facilitated

by our friend and partner Della Duncan. Della trained with Joanna Macy, who developed this training

approach. It was really special to be able to welcome Della here in TTG and to work together during

two days. The staff of TTG had a chance to connect on a different level through the different

workshops around connecting with self, others and nature. Della also facilitated a workshop in

Saigon, organised by ELI and our partners in Saigon. This was open to the public and received with

great enthusiasm. Arnaud Durand also made the most of his visit and gave a course on Non-Violent

Communication (according to Marshall Rosenberg) in Saigon. Both courses were very well received

and we can see how both of these trainings respond to a very real need in Vietnam, especially for the

young generation. We hope that some seeds of care for the earth, each other and ourselves have been

planted.

Happy organisations project

We were contacted by Bitis, the largest shoe company in Vietnam. Cindy Vuu, the daughter of the

founder and new director of Bitis, participated in many of our workshops and retreats in the past and

has the wish to introduce Gross National Happiness (GNH) into her business. Following a meeting,

ELI signed a three-year agreement with Bitis. Bitis is an influencial brand and has the potential to

inspire other businesses in Vietnam to adapt more ecological practices. We also hope that young

people working in the business world will be inspired by this.

As you can see, there are many things happening in Vietnam. The people here are really looking for

alternatives to the existing education and business models and it is a great pleasure for the Eurasia

team to be able to respond to this need.

Events in Europe

Eurasia is not only active in Vietnam, but also in Europe! Besides the annual Chandolin retreat, a team

from Europe and Vietnam have organised the second “Youth for Change Retreat”. This retreat is

aimed at young people looking for a means to engage in society. During the retreat, the participants

will be brought through a process of inner transformation, supporting them to become social

innovators. It will be a largely project based retreat, focused on developing the projects of the

individual participants. No project needed to join! It will take place from the 5th-9th July. In August,

Della Duncan will visit Switzerland to facilitate a “Deep Ecology retreat” with the ELI Switzerland

team. This will take place from the 17th-19th August. Both events will take place at a farm in Gimel,

Swizerland, where Marie-Fleur Baeriswyl, president of Eurasia Association, lives with her new

community. For information, please contact Marie-Fleur: m_f_1984@hotmail.com or check our

events pages on Facebook!

Last, but not least, don’t forget to join us on the 23rd September for our Happiness Day, to celebrate

20 years of Eurasia work and friendships! The celebration will take place in Fondation Perceval,

Route de Lussy 45, 1162 St-Prex.

ELI now contributes financially to the development of Eurasia projects, but fundraising remains a

priority, both for the running costs of TTG and to allow the young team to engage fully in their work

for Eurasia.

We need your support so that all these seeds of

hope can develop and bear the fruits that they

promise.

For your donations:

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Account: 987.86.01

IBAN: CH78 0076 7000 A098 78601

Eurasia Association

CCP 17-496738-5

Alternatively you can donate directly through

our new website.

New website!

www.elihw.org check it for our offer of trainings

and retreats

Commentaires

14.04 | 09:07

Je progresse un peu en anglais et j'ai presque tout compris. Merci Lisy pour ton magnifique engagement dans cette belle réalisation qu'est TTG.

11.04 | 01:36

Looking forward to your next article beeing amongs the friends and development of TTG.THANK YOU And all the best.

08.04 | 08:20

Beautiful Lisa,- yes for sure being among the clouds gives a whole wonderful other dimension, - if we listen into it, as you did. Thank you

08.04 | 07:44

Wonderful blog entry, than k you Lisi