In January, I received an e-mail from the Triform office. The employees had read my blog and were very pleased with the reports about everyday life in the community. They then offered me the opportunity to write an article for the Triform newsletter. This newsletter not only reaches employees and coworkers at Triform, but also the families of residents, donors and friends of the community. Over 900 people in total! I felt very honored by this offer and started to write an article. Most volunteers come to the community right after high school graduation. I came to Camphill as a graduated teacher, so I focused on that unique perspective. 

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The following is the article as published in the newsletter. 

At the beginning of the year, I spoke to my grandmother on the phone. She was happy to hear that I am enjoying my volunteer work at the Triform Camphill Community so much. At the same time, however, she was unsure whether I had made the right decision. After six years of studying to become a teacher in Berlin, I decided not to start working at a high school straight away and instead opted for voluntary work on a farm with disabled people. Some friends also doubted my decision, which got me thinking: 

How will farm work help me grow as a teacher?

1. It was a challenge for me, as a city person on the farm, to be put back into the role of a student instead of a teacher. I was shown how to milk the cows by disabled residents who have been working on the farm for a long time. Many teachers find it difficult to integrate new methods into their lessons and to have pupils explain new media to them. Both sides can only benefit if we regularly put ourselves in the other role, if teachers are open to new things and students are given the opportunity to pass on the knowledge they have acquired. If you give the students responsibility, they can grow with the tasks and strengthen their self-confidence.



2. Learning the basics of agriculture and livestock farming and the practical guidance from my work leaders Brent and Nina helped me to reflect on how complex knowledge can be explained clearly. The introduction to increasingly complex tasks and teaching practical skills is something that can be learned much better on the farm than in the lecture hall at university. 

3. With 26 hours a week and about 3 hours in each class, I teach and assess up to 216 students a week in Berlin. At the farm, I work with a group of seven young adults, so I can spend much more time supporting each resident. I learn how to modify my approach to meet the individual needs of each resident.

4. Each resident has their own strengths and challenges. Identifying these in our daily work is the real task of us volunteers. While one resident effortlessly moves fully loaded wheelbarrows of wood, another resident is talented at milking, while others enjoy sawing, cleaning or digging. In Triform, I learn not to focus on weaknesses and mistakes like many teachers do, but to point out existing strengths and discover hidden potential. I would like to make this attitude the basis of my teaching in school.



5. During my internship semester at a high school, I was appalled at how the inclusion of disabled people in regular classes is implemented. I experienced how little most teachers know about the different disabilities and are therefore hardly able to respond appropriately to the needs of the children, how often the disabled children sit apathetically in the back row and how often interaction is limited to admonitions to be quiet and not to disturb the other pupils. That made me very sad and has nothing to do with inclusion. That was the reason why I decided to volunteer with people with disabilities. At Triform, volunteers and residents work together as a team. They are not reduced to their disabilities but treated as individuals, they are recognized for the work they do and grow as personalities as a result. 

6. Farm work consists of many routine tasks. This makes it all the more important to learn how to motivate the group every day and create an atmosphere in which everyone feels comfortable. If this is successful, everyone can contribute their strengths and the group can achieve its goals - on the farm and in the classroom. The routine on the farm can be interrupted at any time by unforeseen challenges. This requires flexibility and adaptability, which are also extremely important for the teaching profession. 

I am very grateful not only to be able to gain exciting insights into farming, but also to learn many skills that I can use in my work as a teacher.

Two householders, one from Korea and one from Japan, are very talented musicians and accompany many of our events in Triform with beautiful music. Both are active in an orchestra that has been preparing a concert over the last few months. Under the direction of Christina Porkert, who studied at the Music Therapy Workshop in Berlin in 1989 to become an anthroposophical music therapist, the group has musically reworked an Irish legend. Drama teacher Laurie Portocarerro performed the story of Lir's children in the main hall of Camphill Copake, interspersed with pieces played on the harp. In addition to adults, some children also played the harp. 

I hadn't heard the story before, but it is said to be one of the best-known Irish legends. Lir had four children from her first marriage to Aobh. The stepmother Aoife was so jealous that she turned the children into swans at Lough Derravaragh for 900 years. She then repented and gave the swans the gift of unearthly song in return. Lir then forbade swans to be killed in Ireland. 900 years later, the children turned back into humans, but had aged so much that they died immediately afterwards. At the same time, Christianity reached the island of Ireland.  A wonderful concert, which I enjoyed very much! 

While Camphill Copake has a cafe which serves as a meeting point, we don't have anything like that in Triform. There used to be a room for coworkers under the weavery, but this is now used for other purposes. Since not all coworkers are 21 yet, we can't drive to Hudson and sit down in a bar after work. The only way we can relax after work and play games together is on three sofas in the gym. This really limits our after-work activities and is a bit boring in the long run. Recently, the Turkish coworker moved into my neighboring room above the pantry to free up a room on the first floor of our house for a guest who relies on a walker. Our rooms have an external staircase, but also a lockable door that connects the two rooms. If you open it, you have a huge room that is perfect for a party. We decided to make it a pyjama party as the theme for the moving party. We got cushions and sports mattresses from the gym to set up my room for a cozy get-together. We turned my neighbor's room into a dance floor with a sound system and lights. The effort was worth it, it was an excellent party in which almost all the coworkers took part. I particularly liked the "Exposed" app, a great party game that made everyone laugh - be sure to try it out at the next party! We received a lot of positive feedback and will certainly get our rooms ready for the next party soon.

I was recently asked what I miss most since moving from Berlin to New York. 

The picture shows how one year ago I gave a lecture at the Central European University in Vienna about my research on the phenomenon of "Fragging" in the Vietnam War. This lecture took place as part of the New Year's Seminar of the International Students of History Association (ISHA), which I attended as a representative of the Berlin section. ISHA was founded in Budapest in May 1990 thanks to the initiative of Hungarian history students who, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, wanted to forge links with their colleagues in Western Europe and to provide a platform of exchange for students of history on an international level. At present, ISHA's members include more than 25 sections in fifteen European countries. I am the first in my family to graduate from university, so I made many friends here in my first week at university and have been involved in the association for over 6 years. I have attended seminars in many different countries and organized a seminar in Berlin with my section in 2019, which was attended by students from all over Europe. We organized workshops, lectures, excursions and a cultural program around the topic "Walls in History". I learned so much about fundraising, public relations, event management, seminar planning and international cooperation and always enjoyed the academic exchange with historians from other countries. Thank you for the six years together, which have shaped me so much! 

As much as I love my work as a caregiver for young adults with disabilities in the Triform Camphill Community, I miss the academic exchange. Art, nature and land work are the focus at Camphill, history and world politics have little place here. The life-sharing concept means that you spend most of your time before, during and after work with the residents without TV and smartphone, so there is rarely time to talk about current political events and history. Talking about these topics with the residents present is very difficult, some are saddened, others are overwhelmed by it and some have no concept of it at all. With only one day off a week and working hours of 7:00 - 20:30, it is difficult to build a circle of friends outside of Triform and get involved in associations, so most conversations are about life in the community. At the same time, this isolation from political debates and the current national and international conflicts provides an environment in which residents can live a peaceful and untroubled everyday life. Therefore, it sometimes feels as if the world ends at the edge of the farm. You can read about why I still love life in Triform and why I don't regret my decision to come here in my numerous blog posts.

I enjoy my time here, but I'm really looking forward to getting involved in ISHA as an Alumni again after my return. 

Best wishes to my friends from ISHA Berlin, ISHA International Board and the numerous European sections from New York!

This week, a special holiday was just around the corner that our residents look forward to every year: Valentine's Day! 

The tradition of this day goes back to the feast of St. Valentine, a priest who died as a martyr in 269 AD. His relics stored in Rome were an important place of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages. On this day, however, the focus was not on this history, but on celebrating together. A resident I work with on the farm had asked me weeks in advance if I would like to dance with him. 

In the evening, all the houses were invited to take part in the Valentine's Day party at Camphill Hudson. The theme: Barbie and Ken (pink and blue). The Camphill is not as rural as our Camphill, but in the middle of the city of Hudson. The residents and coworkers live in houses spread throughout the town. A large dance hall with music, lights and snacks was set up in the basement, where we danced together. My dance partner and I gave each other little gifts, after which he showed me and a group of residents lots of dance moves that he had previously learned. I like to move to music, but I'm not a talented dancer, so I was able to learn a lot from him. With another resident from the farm I jumped up and down, which he was really happy about. Here I was able to spend time with the residents of the farm away from work and enjoy the evening. The party was over far too quickly, as the residents all had to get ready for bed in time and get up early the next day. I would be happy if we had more parties with the residents, as it was not only good for the residents, but also for the coworkers (who are not allowed in discos under the age of 21) to leave the stress of everyday life behind and celebrate together.

As always, I can't show any photos with residents, but you can take a look at them on Triform's Instagram profile: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3VzVKqRPML/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Saturday is our house cleaning and excursion day. In the morning from 9:00 - 12:30, all the residents and coworkers clean the house together. My job is to vacuum and mop all the rooms on the ground floor, clean the pantry bathroom and help a resident clean her room. The schedule is tight, so I'm often no less exhausted afterwards than after a morning on the farm. We then have lunch and, after putting the residents to bed and cleaning the dishes, we have our rest hour. From 15:30 (sometimes a little earlier) we have time to do something together as a house. Sometimes we stay in Triform, but often we go on excursions in the surrounding area, which is always a highlight for me. New York State offers so many interesting sights, many that I have a hard time getting to on my own as a train and bike rider. 

This time we went to Mettabee Farm again, where Godfrey Opio gave a concert. He told us his life story, about how his father was murdered by soldiers and how he built a house for his family with his own hands. He has set up his own business and now tours as a musician to introduce people to the rhythm and dance of Uganda. He presented musical instruments that I had never heard of before. He was accompanied by a drummer who regularly offers drumming courses for children and adults at Mettabee Farm. My highlight was that he involved children from the audience in his concert and allowed them to accompany him with instruments. It was great to see how differently the residents reacted to the music. Some looked very surprised at the strange music, some laughed a lot, others shook their heads wildly to the drums. All in all, everyone enjoyed listening to music that we don't hear on the car radio. If you are interested in listening to it, please contact me and I will provide you with videos. I've put myself on a list of people interested in his new album, which will be released soon, and I'm looking forward to hearing more from him!

Six chickens, two guinea pigs and three cats belong to our household. Two cats belong to the family, one cat was brought by a volunteer. The chickens produce eggs for our house, the guinea pigs belong to the children. The house cats are called Spotti and Mumu, Mumu is Spotti's mother. While 13-year-old Mumu is usually in the living room and is always happy to be petted, Spotti is usually outside.

Mumu has been alive for 16 years and is therefore very old for a cat. In 2022, the cat had an ear infection and barely escaped with her life, since then the cat has lived with a smelly and scratchy ear. An abscess has also formed in the last few weeks. According to the vet, there is the possibility of an operation, but its success is not guaranteed and further health problems are to be expected with age. The family therefore made the decision to put the cat to sleep on 12.03.24. The children grieved the most, so the family buried the cat in a small circle in the forest. Our residents did not have such a close relationship with the cat and did not need any support in grieving. One resident with Down syndrome really impressed me with her relationship to death, she showed no fear or worry but dealt with death in a very positive and hopeful way. I am a big fan of not using death as an occasion for deep mourning, but celebrating the time we have enjoyed together and wishing the deceased a safe journey. 

I myself lived with a cat for the first time here at Triform, having had a dog as a child. In the beginning, I didn't get on very well with the cats, who were shy at first, but over time they gained my trust and actively demanded to be petted. After I bathe the resident in the evening, I sit with him in the living room from 20:00 - 20:30. This Quite Time is there so that he can calm down and be quiet enough to go to sleep afterwards. I often read a book here while petting Mumu. That also helped me to deal with the daily stress. For 16 years, the cat accompanied many volunteers at Triform and certainly gave them many pleasant evenings. We will miss Mumu very much and wish her all the best for her future path, wherever it may take her. 

Jazz Concert

On February 17, we were able to enjoy a jazz concert at Triform. The violinist Joana Genova and the pianist Gili Melamed-Lev visited us and played songs by Gershwin, Arvo Pärt, Debussy, Lysenko, Amy Beach and Ravel, a mixture of American blues and Eastern European and French music. I don't know much about classical music and didn't know the musicians mentioned before, but I really enjoyed the performance!