8 th Fredskorpset Preparatory Course in Asia 24 th September - 13 th October

Kick-starting the 8th Fk Preparatory Course in Asia
9:14 a.m. and the delegates looked very colourful with fresh Jasmine garlands around their necks, sandalwood paste on their foreheads and the smell of incense in the air.
Mr. Johnny Joseph, Programme co-ordinator of CSA and host for the meet welcomed the delegates. ‘I am relieved’, he said, ‘that the programme is starting without a hitch. The delegates received their visas only on 18th Sep. Two delegates one from Pakistan and the other from Bangladesh will reach Bangalore in 2-3 days time.’
“Today Christ College is ranked among the top ten colleges in India and that is only because of the vision of our Principal Fr. Thomas C. Mathew.”

‘Whew we made it’ was the mood that Mr.Sacha Jotisalikorn, Asia-representative - Fredskorpset was in. He extended a warm welcome to the delegates. He said that this was the first time that Fk was organizing this event outside Thailand in the last 8 years. He was impressed by the commitment and quality of the CSA volunteers.
He alluded to the famous ‘Indian Idol’ TV reality show and said that this was the era of ’15 minute fame’ but ‘we hope that that this Fk programme lasts more than that for you.’

‘The more you unlearn, the more you will have the courage to learn’ was the message that Fr.Thomas C. Mathew shared in his vibrant speech. He spoke of collaboration and networking being the buzzword today. If the 60’s were called the Pre-professional age for teachers, in the 70’s it metamorphosed to the autonomous professional age, where teachers managed everything. In the 80’s it moved to the partnership professional age where teachers collaborate. Today it is the Post-professional age. This being the age of broad changes in the world economy, faster communication, digital technology and the Internet.
The Fk programme, he said was an expression of this. He called it a capacitor that was being built for social change. He reminded the participants that ‘you are building a great network, which is very strong…build it into a social movement.’ Citing Christ College as an example, he said ‘a college is not a building or its structure…it is the students and faculty who breathe life in it. The quality of our programme depends on networking and collaboration. We have students speaking 30 – 35 languages here, but we are united through English. We are one.’

This was followed by a photo shoot at the entrance of the college and tea after that.


My face – your face
And they drew each other’s faces
with so much of dexterity,
An eye here, a nose there
‘Hey hold on, my nose doesn’t look like that’
Ha ha ha ha ha
What’s that?
‘Where are my eyes?’
Who’s that?
That’s not me!
Do I look like that?

This is like a merry-go-round
And little by little
Each one of us add our piece of art
Together we make a portrait
That happily looks
Somewhat like me



The icebreaking words from the session

“Santa, are you listening?”
Stationery, clothes, camera, cosmetics, notebook, bag, shoes, hat, umbrella, Laptop, Mobile phone, USB drive, flags, watch, Music CD’s, Radio, toothpaste, brush, shaving set, Khukri (weapon).

Ready to mingle?
This was the mother of all energizers. Just after lunch and with the threat of sleep looming large, this was one game that had the participants on their feet and literally in each other’s arms. A participant plays ringmaster asking all the rest to ‘mingle, mingle, mingle’ as a group. At any instant he calls out a number - ‘4’, and the group rushes to subdivide into groups of 4.

Within a few seconds there was complete chaos and laughter. The group was completely energized and ready to face the after-lunch session.

Framing our rules
The day progressed with rules being framed for the sessions by the participants themselves. This would be the guidelines till the end of the workshop. General instructions regarding the stay in the campus was shared vis-à-vis laundry, television viewing, food, medical facilities and water were shared. To remind participants once again the campus is strictly a no-smoking zone and is followed diligently by students and faculty alike. Similarly alcoholic drinks are not allowed in the rooms.
The session winded up with participants getting an FK lapel pin and a t-shirt as a memento. Tomorrow they step out for an interesting outbound session. So it will be sports shoes, comfortable clothes and no paper for the day. Get set guys…!

Spotlight
Shefali Akter Shetu is a videographer and video editor who works for DRIK in Bangladesh. Her dream is to be a filmmaker and trainer. Shefali enjoyed today’s session. ‘I learnt a lot about facilitation from the way the sessions were conducted today. It’s great’, she gushed.
Shefali loves photography, music, books and meeting people. Beware if you handle her pictures or her equipment roughly. She absolutely abhors it.