Just three months late :-)
It has been pointed out that I had not shared enough details of preparation camp, so I thought better late than never and as it is a quiet week I suppose blog writing is the best way to spend my time. It is impossible to cover everything in one blog so I have just added a broad view. During this weeks blog I have had two wonderful guests who seemingly, without knowing, have volunteered themselves for many more blog writing sessions.
We were very fortunate to arrive in Paderborn on the 6th August to begin a two week preparation camp.
On Sunday 7th August, we attended mass in the local church, albeit it was in German which proved interesting especially during the sermon for the non German speakers. The community atmosphere that surrounds the church was obvious for all to see and it was really lovely to spend some time after church within the local community. And let’s be honest, a church that serves schnapps after mass is always going to be a winner. That afternoon, Valerie spoke with us briefly about the history and structure of the Lebanese project and indeed we saw some videos from previous carvanistas which gave us an insight into life in Lebanon. It was great to finally put an image to some of the many questions that we all had and indeed it gave us a brief insight into the life we would lead for 10 months.Later that afternoon, Phillip explained the history of the Order Of Malta; It was very interesting to finally understand the History of the Order of Malta. That evening the Irish and Dutch girls were introduced to a really fun game called Murder in Phillermo, it was a very funny game with some protests of how unfair it was that a certain member of the team got knocked out as the detective, the doctor, a villager and eventually as a murderer.
The location of the preparation camp is just so beautiful and the relaxing and tranquil grounds have proven a great opportunity for the team to explore and chat. Their where many really interesting lectures including Johannes Zang who spoke about the Middle East. His book became a source of comfort for us in learning about the Middle East. There was some really interesting observations about the significance of the Cedar in the bible. Also his little tips about the dos and don’ts in Lebanon spared our blushes quite a few times.
Severin’s two day workshops allowed the team to relax and unite as a group. Their where many opportunities for us all to embarrass ourselves which was great to break down some of the awkwardness at the start. Also some of Sevs techniques are still very much with us in Lebanon as we meet and watch new people and new cultures.
On the 12th August we received a lecture from Dr Möllenbeck. I was impressed that he had done his research before hand on each of us. It was an interesting lecture about the Holy sacraments. However the subject of the lecture seemed to shift quite rapidly to Islam both in the middle east and its presence within western Europe; allowing for some fascinating insights.
The lecture, which followed, was also thoroughly enjoyable, about the Holy Bible with Father Christian Schmitt. He gave us some excellent examples that where very easy and clear for us to understand.
On the 15th August, we went with our lecturer who taught us about the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ to the Catholic Church in Büren and celebrated Mass. We got to know about the the Holy Sacraments, the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ in the church. In the afternoon we enjoyed he first day of sun shine since we arrived and decided to have the lecture in the garden. We had a very interesting discussion about sins and forgiveness, which was introduced by a reading from one of the Holy Gospels and a conversation between John the Baptist and Jesus. We where then given the opportunity to go to confession.
The 16th saw us learning about serving of the sick - Vicky then spoke in depth with us about the service to our friends, the handicapped. A fascinating insight was shared by Vicky and indeed we got to practice feeding each other – (let’s just say that spoons with water and caravanistas ends up with wet clothes.) She tried to get us to understand how the boys and girls feel everyday compared to us by setting up some games to explore our senses in different situations, and what it would be like if one of our senses was underdeveloped or non-existant. This gave us the smallest of insights into the life of a boy with a sensory issue.
The 17th was First Aid and life in DES – First aid with Max was a great laugh, although taken very seriously it also created much amusement for the team. There are some very interesting pictures of cardio pulmonary resuscitation floating around on my laptop that I most upload. Leonie then gave us an insight into life in Deir El Salib. It was extremely important for us to have a general view on what to expect. Which we where extremely grateful for.
On the 18th we were given the opportunity to visit a workplace and home for the handicapped– It was fascinating to see such a n efficient programme which offered handicapped people an opportunity to live and work independently from home and live there lives to the full. It was a real eye opening experience for the whole team and of course it was incredibly important as we leave for Lebanon, that we get the view of enabling the disabled.
Our last lecture with Prof. Schellenberg was about the for insightful discussions to arise.
On the 20th of august we cleaned and then left Germany –In honesty it was a jam packed two weeks and we were pretty tired by the end but so excited to be heading for Chabrouh. After getting through the first hurdle of overweight baggage the team then had to make our way from Germany to Bucharest where we would meet with the German team that where on route to Chabrouh. Surprisingly this past pretty much without incident.
**The most interesting, strange and weird fact we learnt from the whole of preparation camp is that you cannot flush toilet paper down the toilet otherwise you end up with big problems – it is this kind of information that Google will not tell you!
It has been pointed out that I had not shared enough details of preparation camp, so I thought better late than never and as it is a quiet week I suppose blog writing is the best way to spend my time. It is impossible to cover everything in one blog so I have just added a broad view. During this weeks blog I have had two wonderful guests who seemingly, without knowing, have volunteered themselves for many more blog writing sessions.
We were very fortunate to arrive in Paderborn on the 6th August to begin a two week preparation camp.
On Sunday 7th August, we attended mass in the local church, albeit it was in German which proved interesting especially during the sermon for the non German speakers. The community atmosphere that surrounds the church was obvious for all to see and it was really lovely to spend some time after church within the local community. And let’s be honest, a church that serves schnapps after mass is always going to be a winner. That afternoon, Valerie spoke with us briefly about the history and structure of the Lebanese project and indeed we saw some videos from previous carvanistas which gave us an insight into life in Lebanon. It was great to finally put an image to some of the many questions that we all had and indeed it gave us a brief insight into the life we would lead for 10 months.Later that afternoon, Phillip explained the history of the Order Of Malta; It was very interesting to finally understand the History of the Order of Malta. That evening the Irish and Dutch girls were introduced to a really fun game called Murder in Phillermo, it was a very funny game with some protests of how unfair it was that a certain member of the team got knocked out as the detective, the doctor, a villager and eventually as a murderer.
The location of the preparation camp is just so beautiful and the relaxing and tranquil grounds have proven a great opportunity for the team to explore and chat. Their where many really interesting lectures including Johannes Zang who spoke about the Middle East. His book became a source of comfort for us in learning about the Middle East. There was some really interesting observations about the significance of the Cedar in the bible. Also his little tips about the dos and don’ts in Lebanon spared our blushes quite a few times.
Severin’s two day workshops allowed the team to relax and unite as a group. Their where many opportunities for us all to embarrass ourselves which was great to break down some of the awkwardness at the start. Also some of Sevs techniques are still very much with us in Lebanon as we meet and watch new people and new cultures.
On the 12th August we received a lecture from Dr Möllenbeck. I was impressed that he had done his research before hand on each of us. It was an interesting lecture about the Holy sacraments. However the subject of the lecture seemed to shift quite rapidly to Islam both in the middle east and its presence within western Europe; allowing for some fascinating insights.
The lecture, which followed, was also thoroughly enjoyable, about the Holy Bible with Father Christian Schmitt. He gave us some excellent examples that where very easy and clear for us to understand.
On the 15th August, we went with our lecturer who taught us about the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ to the Catholic Church in Büren and celebrated Mass. We got to know about the the Holy Sacraments, the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ in the church. In the afternoon we enjoyed he first day of sun shine since we arrived and decided to have the lecture in the garden. We had a very interesting discussion about sins and forgiveness, which was introduced by a reading from one of the Holy Gospels and a conversation between John the Baptist and Jesus. We where then given the opportunity to go to confession.
The 16th saw us learning about serving of the sick - Vicky then spoke in depth with us about the service to our friends, the handicapped. A fascinating insight was shared by Vicky and indeed we got to practice feeding each other – (let’s just say that spoons with water and caravanistas ends up with wet clothes.) She tried to get us to understand how the boys and girls feel everyday compared to us by setting up some games to explore our senses in different situations, and what it would be like if one of our senses was underdeveloped or non-existant. This gave us the smallest of insights into the life of a boy with a sensory issue.
The 17th was First Aid and life in DES – First aid with Max was a great laugh, although taken very seriously it also created much amusement for the team. There are some very interesting pictures of cardio pulmonary resuscitation floating around on my laptop that I most upload. Leonie then gave us an insight into life in Deir El Salib. It was extremely important for us to have a general view on what to expect. Which we where extremely grateful for.
On the 18th we were given the opportunity to visit a workplace and home for the handicapped– It was fascinating to see such a n efficient programme which offered handicapped people an opportunity to live and work independently from home and live there lives to the full. It was a real eye opening experience for the whole team and of course it was incredibly important as we leave for Lebanon, that we get the view of enabling the disabled.
Our last lecture with Prof. Schellenberg was about the for insightful discussions to arise.
On the 20th of august we cleaned and then left Germany –In honesty it was a jam packed two weeks and we were pretty tired by the end but so excited to be heading for Chabrouh. After getting through the first hurdle of overweight baggage the team then had to make our way from Germany to Bucharest where we would meet with the German team that where on route to Chabrouh. Surprisingly this past pretty much without incident.
**The most interesting, strange and weird fact we learnt from the whole of preparation camp is that you cannot flush toilet paper down the toilet otherwise you end up with big problems – it is this kind of information that Google will not tell you!
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