Report on Participation in the Healing Touch Seminar

Sangam, World Centre, Pune, India 3 - 12 December 2004

On 2 December, in the wee small hours of the morning, I left Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne, to travel to the WAGGGS World Centre, Sangam, in Pune, India. This was the start of my second visit to Sangam and to India itself. It was made extra special because I was sharing the Sangam experience with my elder daughter, Suzy, also a Guide leader.

Highlights of my experience were:

• The excitement of landing at Mumbai Airport - the remembered sights, sounds and smells of India pervading the senses.
• The sense of belonging when we arrived at Sangam. Noting all the superficial changes from my previous visit in 1997.
• Trying to buy ‘at least one of everything’ from the Sangam shop.
• The Welcome Ceremony. Nothing could exceed the welcome from Sally Thornton, Centre Manager, and her excellent staff.
• The children! I was completely won over by the friendly inquisitiveness of the local children, all vying to have their photo taken.
• The warmth of the hospitality of Tarabei and her family as the whole group crowed into their small home.
• The comradeship of our fellow participants, especially Olive and Eva from Scotland.
• Discovering there were two other display rooms of saris at the sari shop!
• The frenetic pace of the auto rickshaws was just as I had remembered.
• The visit to the Sadhu Vaswani Medical Complex was heart-wrenching. Devoted practitioners doing so much with so little!
• Making friends with the girls at the Society of St Mary the Virgin in India orphanage. Leaving a strong desire to sponsor them all.
• The noise well into the night from the numerous wedding celebrations occurring throughout the time of the seminar.
• The noise well into the night from the different scout groups camping on the camping ground.
• Being woken at daybreak from the call to prayer at the local mosque as well as the change-of-shift siren at the munitions factory over the river.
• Plastic chandeliers for sale by the roadside.
• Rajasthani dancing and music provided by participants Priyanka and Meenakshi, Rangers studying at university near Jaipur.
• Working with Yasumi (volunteer from Japan), Meenakshi, Priyanka, Kate (Australia) and Joan (USA) to produce an interactive health presentation to the elderly ladies and kindergarten-aged children at St John’s Home (part of the St Mary the Virgin in India complex). This was a most satisfying project – great to feel that you are able to contribute in a small way to the health and well being of disadvantaged citizens of Pune.
• Watching as Yasumi, with great concentration, tied her obi.
• With Suzy and Meenakshi, enjoying the hospitality of Dr Vibhavari Katre and his family, which included a visit to the temple on Pavarti Hill as well as dinner, conversation and entertainment.
• Taking part in a ‘Laughing Yoga’ session at sunrise in a local park.
• Revisiting Anand Gram, Leprosy Rehabilitation Centre. What an inspirational place!
• Riding pillion passenger behind Owen on his hired motor bike from Sangam to Anand Gram.
• The Maharastrian dinner, dressed in a sari was a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach. Projecta’s dancing was beautiful!
• The sense of loss when the Healing Touch seminar was over and the participants started out for home or tours.
• The frenetic shopping expedition on the last day of our stay at Sangam – trying to find all those things we had meant to purchase but didn’t have time during the jam-packed days of the seminar.
• Catching up with Sureka at the headquarters of the Bharat Scouts and Guides in New Delhi. Sureka was a participant at the event I attended at Sangam in 1997.
• The monuments of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur were just as splendid as they were in 1997. The Taj Mahal still raises goosebumps!
• Observing native animals and birds at Keoladeo Ghana Bird Sanctuary, Bharatpur was very special.
• The reflected light from the sun setting over Lake Pushkar and Lake Pichola at Udaipur was awe-inspiring!
• Fort Merangarh, standing proudly over the city at Jhodpur was awesome!

The Healing Touch Seminar gave me the opportunity to work within Pune's local community. I enjoyed this very much. As well as previously enjoyed activities, I was able to try new experiences with the support of the excellent Sangam staff. It was made more memorable by being able to share it all with my daughter. I hope I will be able to visit Sangam again in the not-too-distant future. How fortunate am I, as a Guide, to take the opportunity to visit Sangam, the World Centre in our own Asia Pacific Region? It was a never-to-be-forgotten experience that will be reflected in my roles as both Unit Leader and Trainer of Leaders.

Kathryn Cook
Guides Victoria