Berlin Sector

Stockholm , Sweden 
In November, 2006 about fifty people attended a lecture given by Dada Shambhushivananda on “Spirituality in the Light of Neohumanism” in Stockholm . Dadaji talked about the human mind and its characteristics and the importance of Yoga and Meditation in life. He proposed to enhance the study of the self, introspective practices (like meditation) and to make the habit of rendering selfless service to the human and universal community and integrate these values in the education of our children. Didi Anandabhadra inaugurated her new school building in Hasselby Strand in Stockholm and has already 26 children. 

Moldova 
In December the “Neohumanist” educational association started a new project “Home Care” sponsored by Smitz-Hille Foundation from Germany . The aim of this project is life improvement for the socially vulnerable people. Home Care provides social and medical assistance at home to increase physical, moral and spiritual health of invalids, incurable diseased and people with minimal sources of existence. 

Malta 
The Sunrise Centre in Malta, under the direction of Didi Rasamayii, has a new website. <www.tbexbix.org> They are also welcoming volunteers, especially for the summer, working with the children in the morning, and enjoying the sun and sea in the afternoon.

Bucharest, Romania
Sunrise Schools Update
by Didi Ananda Devapriya 

The creativity of our teachers is one of the most precious jewels of our schools in Bucharest . This year, we had an innovative Mother’s Day celebration in the Mihai Bravu School . The teachers and children spent a week designing springtime costumes out of scraps of cloth, paper, paint and other materials for a fashion show! Parents were so charmed and fascinated when the children began to walk out on the red carpet catwalk to model their clothes – that at first they were stunned, forgetting even to clap – but they quickly recovered, and were soon enthusiastically applauding each of the children as they proudly showed off their work. A video clip from the event is available on our website www.romania.amurtel.net

In Bucuresti Noi school, we invited an African drumming teacher from Rwanda named Vincent to come and teach percussion classes to our children during our multicultural theme of Africa . When he arrived and began slipping six large African “jembe” drums out of their cases, the children were immediately entranced. They enjoyed getting to know Vincent better as he shared pictures from his family with us, and of course they loved the drumming! 

The multicultural day in Mihai Bravu school was on Greece this year. The children and teachers all came to school dressed as gods and goddesses from the Greek pantheon, and in circle time each one shared which god or goddess they were representing. The school was also elaborately decorated, with many Greek flags, an olive tree, Greek temples, and more. Events included a re-enactment of a physics experiment of Archimedes, Olympic games, a masked theatrical enactment of the stories of Prometheus and Pandora’s box, and Greek grapevine step dancing. Everyone received a crown of laurel leaves as a prize at the end.