The last three weekends in August were spent in joyous training as an intensive animator training course was held in the University of Ulster, with the help of the Bahá’í Society. The tutors were Edwina Agahi and Soha Graham, who did a fantastic job from start to finish. Our group at its largest contained 10-15 people from Coleraine and further afield, with ages ranging from sixteen to... well, seventies anyway. I’ll not name anyone.
The training was enhanced both by the variety of the participants, who contributed diverse pearls of wisdom on the subject as well as the importance of the age group, and by the experience of the tutors. Their experience in animating Junior Youth gave weight to their advice, and sharing stories with us really brought home the potential of animating as well as common pitfalls.
The course itself followed the format of other Ruhi books, with areas devoted to adopting the right attitude to animation, understanding the potential of Junior Youth, and exploring the range of materials available and how to animate them.
The final day gives an indication of the amount of preparation that had gone in to the course, as Junior Youth were brought in for us to test our animation skills! After one-hour lessons, the Junior Youth joined us in a plenary and shared their own experiences with the course. This added a lot to the overall experience, not just through the practical experience of animating ‘real’ Junior Youth, but also to see and hear how the animators courses had affected them, which reinforced the books message about the crucial age between child and adulthood and the potential for service therein.
The response to the training was overwhelmingly positive, and we were sad to see it end, though this is only the beginning of our journey as animators. Hopefully we can help further the multiplication of this vital core activity through our efforts. I would heartily recommend this course to everyone!
NM
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