Community Building in Europe
S.S. Shiva Kaur Khalsa
Hamburg, Germany
In February of 1996, during the annual European Khalsa Council Meetings, the brand new Community Development Officers for the European region met together for the first time. We were new to the job and the office was new to Europe. We spent a lot of effort during that first meeting, defining our roles and setting our first goals.
We realized that the role of a Community Development Office is to further the development of one’s unique community. Here in Europe, that means that each Community Development Officer is responsible to further the development of a whole, unique country! Each country is very individual in its character and needs. This makes the job an unusual challenge.
As we set our first goals, they were defined by the most pressing needs that each of us saw for his/her own country. Most of our goals concerned furthering communication and working to heal rifts that create divisiveness within some of the countries’ communities.
We also decided to meet together In May 1996, to strengthen our bonds within the Community Development Office and also share our experiences in working to uplift our individual communities. We wanted to give and receive feedback to help each of us in our self-appointed task.
The goals of the May weekend were as follows:
* Laying the foundations for the cooperative growth of the Community Development Office through developing community feeling between the Community Development Officers
* Sharing technology to aid in this process
* Inspiring the Community Development Officers in our ability to take this information back home and share it.
Of special excitement for all of us were the exercises in which we used our intuition to help each other overcome personal blocks, which stand in the way of our individual leadership potential.
As an example, one of the members lacks the confidence to teach large groups of people effectively. The group tuned in, and gave her various intuitively inspired suggestions, including visualizing herself giving a talk before many people, preparing herself with meditation, using personal anecdotes in her teaching, etc. She found all the suggestions useful and comfortable, and was immediately able to integrate some of them into the way in which she was communicating within our group. The overall group feeling was very intimate, without falling into the negative trap of dwelling on our problems. Problems were presented as a changeable part of our lives. The energy of a group of seven people tuning in to you and giving you their positive suggestions for change was a very powerful and profound experience for all.
We spent a lot of time at this meeting getting to know, trust and like each other. That goal was very successfully met. This is the time in which we are laying foundations for the future of our work together as a Community Development Office; and these days of tuning into, and getting to know each other will bear fruit in the time to come.
We also focused on the Main Office in Amsterdam and came to the strong realization that it is an important central focus for all of us. Our group decision was to begin strengthening our ties and commitment to the Community Development Office in the following ways:
* Listen to the same meditation every day (Adi Shakti Namo)
* Work toward spending a holiday together each year
* Have regular group projects
* Meet together at the Yoga Festival for a progress update.
At our next meeting, in February 1997, after the European Khalsa Council Meetings, we will focus on communication skills including:
* Exercises to strengthen communication skills
* Presenting a communication workshop that each Community Development Officer can use within
his/her own community
* Money as a force of communication (that’s how we’ll get into the topic of fund raising)
* Focus on the Main Office, and how we can strengthen and support it with the means at our disposal.
Helping with the founding of the Community Development Office here in Europe leads me to understand more deeply the importance of taking the time to start things right. In the beginning, it may seem slower, but when the trust is in place and we’re working strongly in intuitive and concensual ways, it will be possible to make and carry through decisions very quickly. We will also support each other in conscious and unconscious ways, to make the work go more smoothly for each of us.