Visit to Roshni Community in Lahore, Pakistan

At the beginning of April, I flew to Pakistan at the invitation of Mr. Durrani, Managing Director, and Alexander Kühne, a long-standing German member of the management team, house coordinator, and farmer, to get to know the Roshni community.

By Sonja Zausch

The two-week stay, which included two trips outside the city, was a wonderful experience that allowed me to deeply question my assumptions and gain a comprehensive understanding of the field of work, with all its challenges and the incredibly valuable work that is being done in this country for people with special needs.

THE ROSHNI COMMUNITY

The journey and its course were like a process straight out of a “Theory U picture book” for me!

At first, I was very busy comparing my experiences there with my previous experiences. This happens subconsciously, but it can be a powerful experience: awakening to the unfamiliar!

As my experience continued, I began to bring what I was seeing and experiencing into dialogue with my own experiences and to ask myself deeper questions about why things were the way they were. I tried to recognize and understand.

This made me feel and empathize. How is the person standing in front of me feeling, making contact with me with very challenging gestures and noises? So much excitement. How is the person who repeatedly approaches me with a serious expression, looks deeply into my eyes, speaks precise words to me in Urdu, and then turns away very determinedly and walks away? A short time later, he comes back—such determination.

Or another man who greeted me countless times a day with “Hello” – persistently and always incredibly cheerful! – infinite joy at seeing me again.

Examples of the wonderful moments that have left a deep impression on me: regardless of the quality of the voice or language I encountered, I was able to connect with the other person purely through my inner experience!

A colorful, inclusive educational institution with a kindergarten and many dedicated teachers who identify with Waldorf education—the teaching staff is exclusively female, and 80% of the students are girls! Women power—I encountered very self-confident young girls and teachers!

Andreas Pelzer, a Waldorf teacher from Berlin, has been coming to Lahore since the school was founded in 2006 to work with the teachers on Waldorf education. In recent months, the teachers have been able to take part in an online training course, which they found very inspiring.

On Good Friday – not a public holiday in an Islamic country, but due to the large number of Christians in Roshni and at the school – the children had the day off and we were able to offer further training for the teachers: eurythmy for the rhythmic part of the morning and the eurythmic alphabet as support for learning to read and write. It was a very joyful session with lots of interest and humor!

Surprisingly, Farrah Hussein, a Pakistani anthroposophical pediatrician from London, was also in Lahore at the time. We spent a day together at the school, partly to talk to the teachers about children with special needs, as there is no training for this either. The good news is that Farrah will be teaching three online modules on basic constitutional diagnostics in the summer. This is a wonderful offer and a start that is sure to be followed up. Thank you!

Community Based Rehabilitation

The third initiative in Roshni is a collaboration with the Amin Maktab Foundation and focuses on outreach social work in rural areas with families who have children with special needs.

People are being trained and small centers of expertise developed to support families in challenging situations. This is extremely valuable work that is continuing to expand and is also being accompanied by scientific research.

We very much hope to be able to showcase this work in our field in due course.

However, I didn't have the opportunity to learn more about this field of work. It was too much in terms of content and time.

All organizations within the Roshni network that I am aware of are financed entirely by donations.

If you would like to support the work in Roshni and the school, please donate here.