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Monthly Market: Sunday 6 July
Please join us for our monthly market on Sunday 6 July. We will have it indoors in our hall, to create a cosy atmosphere, with coffee, cakes and warm delicious food. Stock up on freshly baked bread, organic dairy and veggies from our garden, and enjoy browsing the many stalls. Tractor rides and walks will be on offer, and entertainment for the children. We look forward to seeing you.
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Camphill International
by James Sleigh
There are 120 Camphill branches worldwide, and every three years, a board member of each Camphill is invited to attend a Dialogue Conference which is a strategic conference in which discussion takes place about where Camphill as a whole is going, the challenges facing us and an opportunity for different Camphill’s to share what they are doing.
I was fortunate to have been nominated to attend this one which was held three weeks ago in Soltane, near Philadelphia in America. It was a great opportunity to experience the wealth of knowledge, commitment and passion held by people involved in Camphills around the world. Many questions were debated – how can we make our Camphills better known? What are our growth impediments? How do we self-evaluate ourselves? How do we adapt to an ever changing world without losing the essence of Camphill? How do we retrain ourselves to truly understand the changing needs of our residents? With a mixture of professional inputs and discussion, this was an inspiring event and we hope to bring some of these ideas and inspiration into our daily lives.
After that, I attended a conference in Scotland – in which the different regions came together and two of us represented Camphill Africa. At this conference, different regions shared what each Camphill is doing, how they are dealing with challenges that face them and this formed the base for much further discussion. It has been a wonderful opportunity to get to know and meet the broader movement of Camphill.
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Rituals, Cycles and Ceremonies at Camphill
by Peter Henochsberg
Ritual is common to all societies and all communities. They plays an important role in uniting people and bring about a sense of common purpose and belonging. Carl Jung saw ritual as essential to people’s psychological wellbeing and it is shown that, in the absence of existing ritual, groups and communities will create their own rituals.
At Camphill we perform and number of rituals which form part of our culture. For example, we bless and give thanks our food before every meal. We set the table with flowers, sometimes even a burning candle, when we eat. This joins people together in harmony and bring joy to the social interaction of breaking bread together.
However, we also perform many other ceremonies and rituals – usually related to the Church calendar. Most recently on Ascension Day (29th May), we performed our biodynamic ritual of mixing and applying one of the BD preparations to our vegetable fields. Then, on Whitsun Sunday (8th June), we prepared the next batch cows’ horns BD preparation – which will be used again in six months’ time. On the nativity of John the Baptist (24th June) we did a ritual procession with lighted lanterns and a huge bonfire – symbolising St John the Baptist’s the presaging of the Christ. At this ritual bonfire, people tossed notes into the fire on which they had written their bad habits or ill feelings that they wish to be rid of. A symbolic gesture.
In each of these events, Camphill residents participated. As participation is voluntary, some events are better attended than others but, at each of them, the right people showed up. These rituals, cycles and ceremonies enrich our lives, bring us together in common purpose and make us what we are, a distinct Camphill community and village.
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A Bright New Addition to the Family
by Antoinette Leeming
She’s blonde and very cute – without the ditziness! Janine Stumpher, Camphill’s new Fundraiser, looks one straight in the eye and says what is on her mind – no-nonsense (with a twinkle in her eyes).
Q. Where were you B.C. (before Camphill)?
A. Working as a Tax Manager at an Accounting Firm.
I became very disillusioned with the Corporate world and people’s obsession with money. Then Elma (our Human Resources Manager) phoned to ask me if I knew of anyone who would be prepared to take over Fund-raising at Camphill.
Q. Synchronicity! What made YOU decide to take the bit and run with it?
A. I was going through my list of contacts to see if there was anyone suitable and my Husband, Kobus, suggested that I should apply for the position, and here I am!
Q. Have you settled in?
A. The first couple of weeks was a huge adjustment and a lesson in Humility and Gratitude for me. I love the Residents and the energy of the Village and even though I’ve been thrown in at the deep end with the 50th Jubilee celebrations, I am so optimistic and want to make everything that I do a success for Camphill.
Q. how do you spend your spare time?
A. I do a lot of running, Triathlons in Summer, Love reading and listening to music and being creative by making hair accessories and other pretty things. All in all, I am never bored! What a Pleasure!!!
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Camphill, Land of Milk & "Hennie"
by Lee Adams
Hennie Maaree oversees the Processing Division of the Camphill Village Dairy. He studied Dairy Science at the Glen Agricultural College in Bloemfontein, where he also qualified as a cheese-maker.
Besides cream, crème fraiche, milk and yoghurt (of which the full- cream yoghurt is our top-seller), our product list also includes plain and cumin-seeded Gouda, Quark and Labneh.....which all sounds rather “cheesy”, doesn’t it?
The Dairy is working towards obtaining another Batch-Pasteurizer which would enable them to pasteurize milk and yoghurt simultaneously.
One of Henie’s “udder” plans in this bovine business is to re-launch the Camphill Camembert, watch this space...
There are also plans a foot (a-hoof?) to venture into ice-cream making...this should not be a “moo” t point...
For more information regarding the Camphill Dairy’s products, feel free to contact Hennie on 021 571 8613
He’d be sure to try and assist in any whey he curd...
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Interview with Barbara
by Ninja Geissler
I am 67 years old and I came to Camphill on the 3rd of November 1965 when I was only 18 years old (usually people had to be 21 to be excepted). I stayed in Ferry House and worked in the milking shed, milking the cows and goats by hand. My buckets were always very full because I talked to the animals and I always thanked them for the milk.
I was very shy in the beginning and did not join in so much. Renate asked Peter to show show me the Village and that’s were we started to become friends. In 2001 Peter and I got engaged and in 2002 we got married, that was one of my biggest days.
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