The winter school this year was Northern Ireland’s first for some years and was held in the Moyallon Centre, near Portadown, over the period 25 – 29 December. It was the largest winter school ever held in NI with 35 residents and 68 day visitors. Many of those attending were not Bahá'ís – some had come to assist with the programme, some had come to be with their Bahá'í friends, some had come to see what was going on and two came because they saw it listed as an event on "Facebook".
The highlight of the school were the evening musical devotionals held in the nearby Friends Meeting House. Much work had gone into preparing these devotionals which consisted of a small number of carefully chosen readings with lots of musical presentations of the Writings. There was music in many forms - singing, guitars, clarinet, saxophone, flute, tin whistle.
There was a very full programme of main talks in the mornings followed by workshop activities in the afternoons. The late evenings were filled with various forms of entertainment including a quiz and lots of different types of music. The children's classes were exceptionally well organised and some new children's songs were composed especially for the school.
Although most people attending were from Northern Ireland we had some families from the Republic of Ireland and from England. The main characteristic of the school was the strong spirit of universal participation and cooperation that prevailed throughout. The kitchen was always full of willing volunteers who produced massive volumes of delicious meals.
The school had many youth and children, who were very active in all aspects of the programme. The youth were exemplary: some gave talks in the main programme, most took part in devotionals, and many stayed behind after the school was finished to help clean up. Late at night youth would be found quietly talking and playing games. They were rewarded with an endless supply of bread that was toasted throughout the night. There was a very strong creative element running through the school with card-making, photography, creative writing, wall-hangings, jewellery making, singing and much more. The creative writing and photography was incorporated into an impressive PowerPoint presentation that was shown on the last evening. The evening also had much talent on show from many of the Friends.
Some comments from the school:
Michelle Chesters: “It is so wonderful to see both children immerse themselves in a heart-warming community and see their connection grow with the spiritual world. Inge, thank you for all your efforts to put together such a wonderful programme with a wide variety of choice.” Daniel Ma’ani: “The devotionals made for a spiritual atmosphere that lasted from morning to bed-time, I think that was important and put people in a mood for learning. The music was great, it was good to see the diversity of style which exists among Bahá'í musicians.”
EG
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