Asha Centre Gloucester
In the midst of the tranquil Forest of Dean near Gloucestershire in England lies a very unique and special old Georgian manor house. Behind these doors is a group of some of the most inspirational and nicest people you could hope to meet. They run the Asha centre, ‘a place where hopes becomes action’. Asha run a number of events and training’s throughout the year with the aim of connecting people of different backgrounds, race and religion to make positive changes in their communities.
Discovering the work of Asha, its volunteers and people dedicated to its purpose was a wonderful experience. The staff, many of who are just there as volunteers at the centre, work in the gardens, grow the food, help with the activities and make the participants feel very welcome. Immeditaly I feel at home with the 30 participants in a five day course on Sustainable Development. There were participants from the UK, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Spain, Portugal and beyond all coming together to connect and educate themselves on the topic of Sustainable Developement.
Every day we all ate together breakfast, lunch and supper on large open tables, sharing food and discussions on many different personal experiences. One of the first welcoming events held was the intercultural evening. An insane hour in preparation with 30 people all madly cooking in one kitchen to prepare a national dish to share with the group. The tastes, range and colors were simply fantastic. Each day was filled with team building exercises, energizers, group work, presentations and excursions to local NGO’s and educational centres.
What we learned and experienced will stay in my mind for a long time. How I interact and place myself in the “larger community” of the world is now at the forefront of my thinking. How sustainable is our current economy, social and cultural environments? The answers are not simple, but the week opened up many discussions on the issue and got everybody thinking long and hard. I will take my memories and experiences with Asha for my next step forward and hope to meet all these wonderful people again. Somewhere.
A little oasis of peace and spirituality in the middle of a forest. Simply magical.