As you may have noticed Daas has been away for few weeks. Last week a group of us from UK went to Oslo in Norway to hold a Gurmat Camp for parents and youngsters. We arrived in Norway on Friday 14th July in the morning. In the evening the parent’s camp was held. It was a great turn out. On the first day about 60 mothers and 20 fathers turned up. There was an ice-breaker to begin with then there was a discussion about issues parents face and what the solutions are.
The main focus was on how much time parents spend with their children. The evening concluded with Bhenji Navleen Kaur jee giving a presentation on "Rishte" (relationships) and the Guru's Wisdom in regards to building relationships with parents, children, spouse and society.
The next day, on Saturday 15th July the youngsters camp (aged 10 - 16+) began. The youngster's camp began with Ardaas and Hukamanma in Satguru Sri Guru Granth Sahib jee's hazooree (presence). The theme shabad was introduced to the campers. The shabad was:
ਸਾਜਨੜਾ ਮੇਰਾ ਸਾਜਨੜਾ ਨਿਕਟਿ ਖਲੋਇਅੜਾ ਮੇਰਾ ਸਾਜਨੜਾ ॥
saajanRaa meraa saajanRaa, nikatt khalo-i-Raa meraa saajanRaa.
Friend, my Friend - standing so near to me is my Friend!
(ang 924)
Read Full Shabad
The campers were divided in age groups. Every day the camp would begin with a morning diwaan where the theme shabad would be sung, Ardaas would be done, and a Hukamnaama would be taken and explained in simple Panjabi. Then there would be two workshops with langar in between. In the evening there would be Diwaan with Rehraas Sahib, theme shabad, folllowed by Ardaas, Hukamnaama and then Langar. Alongside the youngster's camp, Bhenji Navleen Kaur led the parent's camp. Both parents and children would meet each other during the Diwaans.
Workshops/talks were held on the following themes and topics: (1) Satguru Sri Granth Sahib jee - How to do sukhaasan, prakaash, take Hukamnaama, do Ardaas and explaining structure of Sri Guru Granth Sahib jee; (2) Respecting parents and elders through sharing Saakhis about the Guru Sahibs; (3) History of first five Guru Sahibs and Guru Arjan Dev jee's Shaheedi; (4) Leadership skills - life of Guru Gobind Singh jee's life; (5) Sacrifice - reflecting and appreciating the sacrifice of our Guru Sahibs and also our parents; (6) Discussions and Q&A; (7) Communication and team work exercises; and (8) Dramas and small sketches on issues relating to the Sikh youth and Panth with a Gurmat message.
Below are some photos of the various workshops and talks:
Talk and presentation on the Sacrifices our Guru Sahibs.
Team work exercise. Groups had to build a tower. Whoever built the tallest tower was the winner. This photo is of the winning group, which had the most younger kids in it.
Self-empowering workshop for parents using the Guru's Wisdom.
Leadership workshop. Children were asked to name the best leaders and the worse leaders then in the summary the leadership skills of Dasam Pita (Tenth Father), Guru Gobind Singh jee, was explained to the children.
Darbaar Sahib workshop with the elder youngsters group. How to take a Hukamnaama was explained and everyone had opportunity to have Darshan (a glimpse) of Sri Guru Granth Sahib jee's angs (respected word referring to 'pages'). A lot of the youngsters had not seen what Guru Jee's saroop looks like. A summary of the structure and organisation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib jee was also explained.
To be continued...