Second Generation Spring Workshop in Glanow, Poland

Second Generation Spring Workshop “In Servant’s Shoes with Parent’s Heart – Serving Others” “Hobbit – In the Search of Values” Glanow, Poland, 1. – 4. May 2014

The tradition of workshops for second generation is already well settled in Poland. Many of them have been conducted in Glanów. But this one was really unusual. For the first time we have run simultaneously workshops for 2 age groups in the same time in the same place. For the first time there were almost no lectures during the workshop for elder second generation and the main activity for participants were service projects. For the first time the elder second generation was actively involved as staff in the workshop for younger second generation. Workshop for elder second generation had 18 participants aged 13-18. Its title was “In Servant’s Shoes with Parent’s Heart – Serving Others”. Workshop for younger second generation had 25 participants aged 9-13 years. Its title was “Hobbit – In the Search of Values”. Some activities, as morning sports, morning prayers/HDH and the closing prayer in the evenings were common and conducted for both groups together, but majority of activities were different. The workshop started on May 1st afternoon with lunch and general orientation meeting. The younger group had spent the remaining part of this day participating in introductory activities and watching the second part of the film “Hobbit”. During this time the elder group had lecture on the Principle-based understanding of serving others and had time to discuss their plans for future activities. As this group embraces the oldest Polish 2 Gen, it was important for them to meet and discuss their future plans, including vision for HARP and their involvement in different Church activities.

For the next 2 days the younger group had educational sessions in the mornings, which included lectures and activities dedicated to such values as determination, endurance, cooperation, friendship and devotion, trust, etc. In the afternoons this group had a workshop with a professional sculptor. During this time the participants built a hut from clay and spruce branches and decorated it with sculptures they made by themselves. These activities were designed in such a way that each child had an opportunity to express his/her individual talent and work in a larger group. (By the way, the sculptor who conducted these activities, while being a very dedicated protestant, came to our seminar with a clear understanding of our identity. He later participated in our Sunday service and commented that he was very much impressed both by our children and by the way we took care of him and his family.) The program for the older group was quite different. On May 2nd our teenagers went to an orphanage. The second generation and parents prepared some activities for children living there. We proposed them hip-hop dancing class, cooking cakes together, making origami and writing in Japanese. Additionally we were ready to play football together with them. Even though originally we planned to spend only 3-4 hours in the orphanage, we finally stayed there for the whole day. We were treated with lunch and have managed to build some relationship with orphanage teachers and teenagers. It was a really good experience for all involved and we seriously think about continuing support for this place. In the evening of this day we had a very special event. The elder second generation group prepared “challenge evening” for the younger group – completely by themselves, preparing 12 different challenges, which were connected to the theme of the workshop (Hobbit-based values). The younger teens were divided into 4 teams, and each of them was supposed to pass as many challenges as they could. At the end the teams competed with each other in “catch the dragon’s tail” game. All elder second generation were involved in this event as challenge organizers or team leaders. The prizes have been given to winning teams in different categories at the end of the evening. On the May 3rd the older group had another service project – 12 participants went to a dog’s shelter and 6 teens remained in the training center and did some service for it. The shelter is privately owned and needs a lot of help not only with animals but also with the buildings and their surroundings. As dealing with a big group of dogs requires internal strength and conviction, it was safer to help with the shelter surroundings. But first of all the shelter’s owners who needed some support and care. It proved to be a very good school of serving as our teens could understand that it’s important to grasp the real needs of those whom we serve. We managed to repair the fence and the entrance gate, we chopped some wood and placed it near the heating furnace, we cleaned some land and sow grass there. It was quite cold and a little bit rainy on that day – so it was a difficult but very good experience. And later in the afternoon the older group had a chance to listen to the testimony of Martha Krall, which gave them a unique opportunity not only to deepen their relationship with one of the first missionaries to Poland, but also to understand their own spiritual roots and the history of True Parents’ work in Poland. Due to bad weather we had altered our plans for that evening and organized a film and board games for all the participants. On the last day of May 4th we had Sunday Service for everybody, time for training center cleaning and time for participants to write their reflections. Workshop has ended with lunch. The workshop was a very good experience for participants from both age groups. Elder group has appreciated service projects a lot. Many teenagers commented in their reflections, that due to those projects they could experience practicing the Principle instead of passive listening to the lectures, that the Principle became much more real to them. The “Challenge evening” also proved to be a very meaningful experience for both groups: the younger teens really enjoyed interesting and challenging activities, and the older group could experience not only doing something for others, but also being 100% responsible for organizing the

whole event. And we need to say that we, as parents, were very moved to see our children taking initiative, serving their younger siblings, children in the orphanage and the owners of the dogs’ shelter. We could also see how the younger group could benefit from the values-based lectures and activities, and how important it was for them to interact with the older group, who are turning into positive role models for them.