'The best time of our lives' was how young participants described a six-week training course: 'Equipping oneself for a lifetime'. The course was held this spring at Moral Re-Armament's Asia Plateau centre in the spectacular scenery of India's Western Ghats mountain range. It drew students and young professionals from 21 countries, including Poland, Brazil, Zimbabwe, France, Germany, USA, Australia, China, Japan and Cambodia.
The aim of the courses, held every two years alternately in India and Australia, is to help young people to assess their lives in the face of a shrinking world.
Study sessions each day considered questions such as 'Calling and commitment', 'What runs my life?' and 'My country's responsibility'. Mithu Allur, Founder-President of the Spastic Society of India, was among the invited speakers. The group, who were drawn from a variety of faiths, were given talks on world religions, emphasizing the common ground of moral and spiritual values and the idea of God's leading in a person's life.
The experience of India itself made a big impact on those from outside. 'We could not remain indifferent to her poverty, to her diversity, to her lively and warmhearted people,' says Christine Jaulmes from France. 'How can anyone get to know India and not live differently as a result?'
Their first experience of Indian life was a night spent in the homes of nearby villagers. 'Among the buffaloes, the rats, the bugs and other little creatures we hardly slept a wink,' says Jaulmes. 'But we won't forget the generous hospitality of our hosts, who have very little themselves.' Andrew Smith from Scotland remarked, 'This has made me realize how much I have been given in life. These villagers have to work all day in the fields to stay alive, whereas I have so many opportunities.'
For Indians, too, eyes were opened. 'I have never been outside India's North East,' said a counsellor from a drug rehabilitation centre. 'The course has given me a sense of belonging and responsibility to a wider world.'
Vutha Sith was one of two Cambodian participants from the massive Site Two refugee camp on the Cambodia/Thailand border. Her father, brother and sister had all died under the Pol Pot regime. 'Living here (in Asia Plateau) made me think more about my country,' she said. 'The most important thing I've learnt is how to heal hopelessness, bitterness and hatred.'
Sonali Samarasinghe, a Sinhalese law student from Sri Lanka, decided to give up her resentment towards the Indians who, she felt, had supported Tamil separatists in her country. 'The first thing I have to do when I return home is to learn Tamil,' she said. 'How can I become a bridge-builder if I think that they have first to learn our language because we are the majority.'
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