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What: NVC Camp (aka "Shifting Gears - Empowering group decision making in Auroville through Nonviolent Communication")
Where: Joy Community (aka College Guest House), Auroville, India
When: TBA - Wed, Dec 24 - Wed, Jan 14 (approximately)
Why: Cuz NVC rocks!
Several months ago, Jason and I came up with the idea of hosting an NVC Camp on our "property" (the land we steward). It's still in the making, so... please, any suggestions, feedback and ideas are most welcome! 
We're proposing to organize an intensive NVC training in the international township of Auroville. Our intention is two-fold: a) offering and sharing NVC as a personal practice; and b) exploring how to use NVC in the larger Auroville context, how to use NVC as a tool in working groups and organizations.
We're inviting several international NVC trainers and supporters to come and share their NVC passion, as well as their expertise in using NVC in group decision making, conflict resolution, alternative governance, and sociocracy. These workshops will cater to the needs of Aurovilians (individuals and working groups) and help move forward in building the city.
We are inviting trainers (and a few participants, if there is space) to live in community with us, to join our family (Jason, L'aura, Isa, Adam), home, guest house and "property." We offer simple accommodations (approximately 18-25 beds), and we will put up temporary structures to serve as meeting spaces. Trainers will be invited to stay in our guest house free of charge, and depending on numbers, we may have a few extra beds for other participants as well. I could even imagine a few participants bringing their tents and pitching them on campus.
We envision the Camp running for 3 weeks, with a schedule jam-packed with fun and learning. Trainers and participants can offer and/or participate as much or as little as meets their needs. We will host all activities on our campus, and activities will include such things as: NVC workshops, movies, empathy sessions, practicing yoga and meditation, exploring Auroville.
I feel really excited planning this event and thinking about all the possibilities. I'm presently looking for funding from several angles, and I have trust that it will all work out. For more details, please check out the Budget and Grant Proposal.
Wanna know more?
Check us out!
love,
L'aura
laurajoy "at" auroville.org.in
His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be in Auroville on January 20 (or so), 2009!
For more information, check out these spaces:
NVC in Auroville, India:
NVC Home, history of NVC in Auroville
NVC-AV:
NVC workshops, practice groups, empathy heart-line (in collaboration with Tewa, Jivan, Dariya, Jason, L'aura and international trainers)
Joy NVC:
Jason and L'aura's NVC community
NVC workshops, practice group, residential NVC / guest house / Living and Learning Centre, movies, library, and lots more (in collaboration with Jason, L'aura and international trainers)
NVC-India (link coming...) (in collaboration with NVC-India coordinators/trainers, Aniruddha Gadankush (Pune) and Saleem Ebrahim (Paris))
Here's an idea of how we could provide workshop spaces. I think these domes are cool, and I'd love to find a way of manifesting them here.
www.pacificdomes.com
Thanks Asha and Olivier...
Posted by Yay! Super cool news!
A friend of mine from the US recently attended a talk with the Dalai Lama and met with Thubten Jinpa, who translates the Dalai Lama's US talks. She is touched by the Tibetan communities in India, and has offered to sponsor a group of Tibetans to study NVC in Auroville. Yay!
So... can we combine the two? Can we find a group of Tibetans living in India who would be interested in learning NVC in Auroville and attending the Camp?
Any suggestions?
I'll ask Kalsang, who runs the Pavilion for Tibetan Culture in Auroville. And I'll ask NVC trainer, Shantigarbha, as he'll be a part of the NVC Camp and is also a Buddhist.
Yay yay! I'm feeling EXCITED!
And a request for support, suggestions and/or feedback: A friend was recently moved after attending a talk with the Dalai Lama. She offered to sponsor a group of Tibetans to join our Camp, study NVC in Auroville, and to go home and share it with their community. I came up with this very rough estimate of what this would look like financially, and our friend is offering to donate $2085 (5 Tibetans, according to this estimate) towards this project. So we're now putting out there the call for a "matching-funds scholarship." Do any of you have any ideas on this?
For 1 Tibetan to attend the NVC Camp in Auroville:
- travel by train (2nd class sleeper), anywhere within India, return fare: less than Rs.2000
- lodging in College GH (my guest house): Rs.300/night; 21 nights: Rs.6300
- food: Rs.200/day; 21 days: Rs.4200
- workshop fee for 21-day pass: Rs.4200
- total for 1 person: Rs.16700 = approx $417
- total for 10 persons: $4170
I'd suggest a group of about 10 Tibetans, and a group who could later go home and share NVC consciousness, like teachers or student mentors, etc. I'm in contact with different NVC and/or Tibetan contacts here to see if we can find a suitable group.
Yes!!! A friend from Canada, Phil, is contributing another $1000 towards a Tibetan group coming to join our Camp! Yay!!
So now it looks like we're able to invite 7... 3 more to go!
Wanna see our set-up in action? Nick just showed up and Clayton, NVC supporter, joined soon after. This is our Joy NVC Connection Dome, with Connection Volunteers!
http://picasaweb.google.co.in/laura.joyful/NVCCampPrep#
Oh boy... We were having a second bout of monsoon rains, so things were already slower and more unpredictable in Auroville than usual. And then on Monday, Nov 24th night a crazy-ass storm hit us. Rain and high winds. Over the next 4 days and nights, we lost about 40 trees, taking down our power line, a laundry shed and a wall out of our guest house bathroom. The sun has been shining since Friday afternoon, so the clean up has started.
How will this affect the Camp? We don't know... A few days ago we were scared. Today we feel more hopeful and optimistic that things will be just perfect!
Wanna see some pictures of Mother Nature? http://picasaweb.google.co.in/laura.joyful/Storm#
love!
L'aura
So, after a good few days of solid brainstorming, Jason and I have decided to shift the focus of our NVC Camp. We were talking with trainers and NVC-India Coordinators, Aniruddha Gadankush (Pune, India) and Saleem Ebrahim (Paris) about our event and the bigger NVC-India picture. It became clear to us that we needed a clearer focus, and even a clearer target group, if we wanted to really "pull this thing off." They were right... Their feedback was A+! (Read Fs and Ns!)
Things we've changed:
Any feedback?