Sangha Education Center is an education center whose mission is “… to educate the whole-learner by inspiring an interconnected understanding of self, others, and the natural world through mentoring and stewardship programs.”
As someone who had the privilege of attending two events in their four-week summer program, I would like to share my thoughts, as well as the thoughts of other participants I’ve spoken to, below. I should say that Sangha offers various kinds of events through their Project Stewardship program for young adults during the fall and spring seasons and I look forward to reporting on some of these events going forward. This is my first Sangha blog and I hope you all enjoy learning about the experiences of the participants and volunteers who learn and grow together there!
Climate Change and Our Ancient Forests
The first of the two events I attended focused on a presentation relating to the global threat of climate change and how it is impacting our natural world. I was really impressed and inspired, not only by how willing the participants were to talk about such a serious issue facing our society, but also by how they managed to put a rather hopeful and positive spin on the conversation by engaging in activities related to nature and talking over and listening to different solutions. It is a strategy I feel like all people should use when not just talking about climate change, but about any issue that is prevalent in our society. It was really a show of true community that was akin to my college years, and I am very happy I was able to be part of it. I really felt like I truly belonged and identified with this group of individuals.
Pictionary
This gaming event was an incredibly fun time for all. A far cry from the previous event I attended, where we talked about a very serious social issue that everyone was interested in exploring. I and other young adults played a very, VERY fun game of Pictionary. We may not have been discussing anything important in the midst of it, although connections were made, but it was really, really fun to just sit back, relax, and try to beat the people around me, to guessing what a drawing was, and also sketching myself and waiting for people to guess the clue. The excitement in all parts of the game was just incredibly palpable, and makes me want to do this kind of thing again with this same group of energized individuals in the future. I just had an absolute blast!!
Don’t just take my word for it, though. The people I had the personal privilege of having met over the course of the program agree. One participant, Divya Verma said, “The program helped me understand the process of mindfulness and skill-building, socialization, communicating, making a safe space for people to be creative. I can continue to take that outside into the real world and make safe spaces for everyone.” Jeson Rejuan, a volunteer, had this to say: “The nice part about Sangha is that people have very interesting things to say and very interesting things for me to learn.” And, finally, Daniel Quintana said, “I’d say I learned a bit more about Sangha and the people that go there, observing the people as they interact with each other. I learned more about how different types of people from different areas of life talk with each other and mix with each other in a positive way. I really started to understand what community means.”
The next season, begins Saturday, September 17th, and, personally, I can’t wait to get back out there and meet more incredible people! Hope you all can come along, as well! Follow us for more Project Stewardship event news.