Template Network TOPAZ Home TOPAZ Archive : 15, 14, 13, 12, ... Colofon          TOPAZ Issue 10 / 2004 Welcome The Template: Visionary storyline of Development Project for women, Human Template, Integration of all ages Classroom design, Refuge garden Intelligence of colour, Well being Sciences, Pentabalance Music, Counselling care for the dying, Storytelling Ease, Kaleidolight, The Aura Shower Music of the future - The Symphony of Well Being New Musical Landscapes New Templates for New Times New Templates for New Times & Astrology Clothes for personal growth

A project for women from around the world

Contribution by Saija Toth, Sweden

An environment of respect and care... - For more than two years a very successful project involving refugee and immigrant women has been developing in the south of Sweden. Together with a group of women from Feminenza in Denmark and Sweden, Saija Toth has been developing workshops into areas such as confidence, self-leadership, stress-relief and other highly important issues that face these women in their struggle to integrate with an entirely new culture in a foreign country.

These workshop-gatherings provide an ecology where the women can come closer to themselves and find a new starting place towards being in charge of their own life. Most of the women originally come from Arabic or African countries and are invited to participate in the workshops by the local communes and the Regional Council of South of Sweden.

The Human Template

Every human being on earth is born from exactly the same template. And that template that we are, includes a body, a mind, an instinct, an emotion, a soul and a spirit, with the highest faculty of any living thing on earth, which is the faculty of human consciousness. It is awesome, and when you think of what a human life can do in its sheer scope of versatility, skills, arts, feelings and the unlimited capacity to know and understand, it is clear that we already live inside an extraordinary world of the most beautiful designs. And these natural designs and the ways they work are the natural ‘roadmap’ of life. Through the live research and discovery of the natural design and ways of our human template, we can begin to understand what we are, how we are meant to work and go on, and why we are given life in the first place.

Read more in Topaz 4, The Human Template, Mark Ballabon, UK

Integration of all ages

Contribution: Otto Bignell, The Netherlands

There is a template of life that expresses itself through different stages, each having their own reason, fulfilment and produce. The work of the Ring of Wisdom (a group of elderly people in the Template Network) is to find the deeper motives for the latter phases of life and to give them expression. They work closely together with the Stichting Springlevend.
The Stichting Springlevend was founded in 2001 by members of the Template Network, as they were deeply moved by the needs of the elderly - not by what younger people might assume the elderly need, but from a genuine wish to search and find out from the elderly themselves, the people who would know best, what they need.

There are many examples of elderly people who want to continue to work after retirement, or offer advice from their life experience and areas of expertise, or who write poetry, all of which are both useful and fulfilling. We need to re-establish a humanity between us, the fact that we are one tribe, all ages together, we are all useful and have something to offer, otherwise we lose the integration and integrity of the human tribe, and will waste the valuable life experience that is generated by the people who wear the crown of life, the people of the Golden Years - perhaps a better term and accreditation for the elderly.
Care of the elderly as we know it is likely to disappear in the future simply because there will not be enough people available to work in healthcare. What could happen in its place are circles of care naturally arising around people of the Golden Years, to help them with the needs of getting older without the fear of not being able to fend for themselves. This would leave them free to concentrate upon fulfilling the last stage of their journey on Earth. Any facility would then be built to support these last stages of life on Earth and would be dedicated to making use of all knowledge and resources available to support the well-being of the elders of our human tribe.

So Springlevend promotes and runs projects that promote humanity and the feeling of being proud to be members of the human tribe, projects that all help to fulfill many needs. The ‘mystery parcel project’ is one example, charitably donated gifts from around the world are wrapped in beautiful hand-made boxes. These presents are then given to elderly people in retirement and nursing homes and also to other elderly people who are in need of extra support. These mystery parcels hope to carry the message to the recipient that they are important and that they are not forgotten. As one can imagine, the biggest surprise for most people is in simply receiving such an unexpected treat.

Other projects include theme days and feet washing for the elderly - a simple humane service with profound implications for physical and mental well being. Another exciting project is the creation of a tape library, available for both individuals and institutions such as retirement and nursing homes. This tape library is intended to help people feel a little less alone when they might otherwise miss human-to-human contact. The content of the tapes includes conversations, stories, music, travel reports and more - specifically recorded to bridge these gaps of separation and any potential feelings of loneliness.

More information can be found on the website www.stichtingspringlevend.nl.

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