Sathya Sai Baba Center of Hong Kong
10/F, Block A, Burlington House,
92-94 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Tel : 852-23674240, Fax : 852-27248000Email : saiorghk@i-cable.com
"LOVE ALL SERVE ALL" "HELP EVER, HURT NEVER" Sai Baba

EDUCATION WING

“Education without character, science without humanity and commerce without morality are useless and dangerous”, Swami’s emphasis on the development of character as the main aim of education has been brought out in various educational programmes which seek to nurture spirituality and human values.

In Hong Kong some of the activities carried out by the Education Wing are as follows:

Bal Vikas
Bal Vikas (Sai Spiritual Education) presently has an attendance of 250 children taught by 13 gurus and 5 assistant gurus, guided by Sis. Ramaa Srinivasan, BV Convenor. Classes are held in Tsim Sha Tsui, Mid-Levels, Ap Lei Chau and Mei Foo.

Gurus meet regularly for bhajan practice as well as for study circle to enhance their spiritual knowledge.
On the auspicious day of Vijaya Dashmi 2005 a new Bal Vikas class was started at our Tsuen Wan Centre. The class of 21 children is taught by two enthusiastic young gurus who have been trained at the Tsim Sha Tsui Centre for over one year. At this stage, the children and gurus are all Nepali.

 

Parent-Guru
“Not all teachers are parents, but all parents are teachers - the indispensable teachers. And as teachers, parents always have had the first and greatest responsibility of educating their children.” Thus, parent’s involvement in the programme is very essential, as they themselves have to set an example by practicing the values at home.

The Parent-Guru meetings were started in 1993 with Dr. J. Art Ong and Sister Lorraine Burrows, the pioneers of Sathya Sai Education in Human Values in Bangkok, Thailand, being the first guest speakers.

The aim of Parent-Guru meetings:
To make parents aware of the programme;
To encourage them to practice it at home;
To get them involved in various activities.

Parent-Guru Meetings have been successful as a bridge for parents and teachers to help the child walk on the path of spirituality. Some mothers have been inspired and have joined the team of Bal Vikas Gurus. There is increased participation from parents in seva and other spiritual activities of the organization.
Parent-Guru meetings are held every quarter when a presentation is arranged for the parents of Bal Vikas children. Following are some of the topics taken up in PGA’s this year.

“The Challenges of Parenting” with a special emphasis on discipline was presented by Dr. Margaret Taplin.

“How to Deal with your Child’s Emotions / Feelings.”

“Prevention of Common Ailments in Children” was talk by 3 nurses from the Pediatric Department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

“The Importance of Silent Sitting”, a talk and Power Point presentation by Sis. Sheena Karnani, Ass. BV Convenor.
Guest speakers invited in the past have included:

Professor Peter Lee, a consultant clinical psychologist at the University of Hong Kong, was invited to speak on “Stress Management in Daily Life”.
Dr. Mukherjee, a professor and teaching gynecologist, spoke on “Health check for Women”.
Dr. Magaret Taplin, a teacher educator and author, spoke on “Communication between Parents and Children”.
Dr. Pal Dhal and Mrs. Tahseen Dhal from Australia spoke to parents on – “Human Values – the Missing Link to Successful Parenting”.
Mrs. C. Detaramani, a lecturer from Hong Kong Polytechnic, conducted a workshop on “How to motivate your child to do well in school”.
Mrs. Ann Teller, a local child psychologist, was invited to speak on “Building Self-Esteem in children”.

Easwaramma Day

Easwaramma Day 2005 was celebrated as “Parents Appreciation Day” at the India Club. A day of learning and fun was organised by Bal Vikas gurus, children and parent volunteers. There were educational skits and songs, and talks for parents inside the hall, whilst outside the hall there were EHV games and food stalls.

“A Gift of Love” booklet containing poems and articles written by Bal Vikas children and gurus was given to all parents.

Seva

Seva is an integral part of Bal Vikas learning. Each class is taken for seva at least once a Bal Vikas term by their respective gurus and parent volunteers. Under the guidance of Sis. Sheela Daswani, Ass. BV Convenor, and class gurus, children use their Ceiling on Desires savings to provide and pack gifts for the brothers/sisters in homes for or senior citizens. The BV children spend time with them and entertain them with EHV songs, skits, dances, etc.
On 20th February 2005, Bal Vikas children participated in a programme at the City University entitled “Arts with the Disabled” which encouraged children to join disabled children in drawing and painting together with them.


Bal Vikas Bhajans
These are held once every term (quarterly) where children take part in Center bhajans. Children are also encouraged and given a special time to sing during yearly Akhand Bhajans.


Parenting Classes.

After the success of the Parenting workshop with Chinese immigrant mothers in October 2005, an introduction to value-based parenting was given at the Social Welfare Department in Yau Ma Tei by Sis. Kalpana Bhojwani, Education Convenor in February 2005. This was followed by weekly workshops over 6 weeks between March and April 2005. The topics included: “Role of parents in the Moral Development of the Child”, “Peace through Family Time”, “Steps to Helping your child succeed”.
At the same time, our first series of 8 Parenting workshops for BV parents was started in February 2005.

Following these workshops, the SO has been approached by two NGOs in Cheung Sha Wan and Kwun Tong to conduct parenting talks and workshops at their offices. These talks have been in English and Hindi.

In May 2005, Dr. Taplin gave a talk to social workers at the Social Welfare Department on using values-based skills in dealing with does in need of community assistance and professional counselling.

On June 20, 2005 a talk on “Human Values – Steps to Helping Your Child Succeed” was given by Dr. Margaret Taplin. Subsequently, on 6th August, a Silent Sitting presentation was also done by Sis. Sheena Karnani to South Asian parents.
In July 2005, and then again in September 2005, talks on these topic of value-based parenting were given by Sis. Sheena Karnani and Sis. Kalpana Bhojwani at the school’s parent meetings for the South Asian parents at a local school in Kwun Tong.

In October 2005, a second series of workshops in Chinese for immigrant mothers was started with a NGO in Sham Shui Po. Dr. Taplin and Sis. Rose Ip conducted the workshops.
In January and March 2006, presentations for S. Asian parents were done again at the school in Kwun Tong.
Also, in January 2006, a presentation entitled “Conscious Values Based Parenting” was offered at the offices of the Social Welfare Department in YauTsimMong.

In March 2006, separate presentation for parents and children were held at a neighbourhood welfare association in Tai Kok Tsui.

There is a need for value-based parenting programmes in the community. We pray to Swami for His blessings so that we can be the worthy carriers of His message in the community.

Kalpana Bhojwani and Ramaa Srinivasan