There is still so much to learn about the world and its people but with patience and love we can all come together through play.
Maang La Dia O! (Greetings in Pa-O) It is day 13 in Myanmar for Play for Peace Trainers Swati Bhatt and Agyat Mitra and what an adventure it has been! After training 27 participants in the Metta Center for Non-Violence in Bago, 30 participants at the Phaungdawoo Monastery in Mandalay, and a successful (and impromptu!) Practice Peace Session by a recent Play for Peace trainee in Taunggyi, the team is now in Naung Taung Monastic Education Institution in Hopong. Founded in 2000 by 3 monks and 27 novices for the Pa-O community, the school initially taught primary education and the basics of Buddhism. As the school evolved it started adding monastic education, higher education grades, free computer training, English speaking courses, and more. Today approximately 1,600 students including monks, novices, and students are at the monastic school for different training and educational needs. For this session, Agyat and Swati had an astounding 64 participants which is much more than the pair normally train at once. They started by playing games that could be played with group sizes of greater than 30 people. The team then broke the group into two and engaged in games better suited for smaller groups. “We had 25 young Buddhist monks in our training session and seeing them run, jump, and give 100% of themselves made me think how great it would be if all religious teachers included Play for Peace when they worked with youths,” said Agyat.
After six and a half hours of fun and games, the team ended the session with an exercise where the participants made caps using old newspapers and adorned them with peace messages. “It was heart-warming to see their excitement at making the caps,” said Swati. “Some even challenged their cap-making skills by trying the activity with their eyes closed!” They then played a game where everyone sat in a circle and passed their new caps to their neighbors to the rhythm of a song. When the song ended you got to keep the cap in your hands. It was like a present from a friend!
Reflecting on the day the group made three observations about this training session:
- There is a real opportunity for these 60 participants, some of whom are experienced facilitators, to make a difference in the 1,600 children who attend the school.
- While many around the globe think happiness comes from the ownership of technology like smart phones, it is simple games like making caps from old newspapers that can sometimes bring the most joy.
- There is still so much to learn about the world and its people but with patience and love, we can all come together through play.
