September 2012 - Waldorf School Windhoek

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Newsletter Waldorf School Windhoek, www.waldorf-namibia.org
September 2012
New Volunteers arrived // School
Holidays 2013 // Waldorf Seminar
for Teachers and Parents with
Joan Sleigh // Report Aims and
Objectives (supplement)
© Katharina Wyss
Friderike Ließke, Tristan Dobrik, David Dina, Josefine Bunke, Marie Weber (lying)
Ide Su Genschow, Rhea Reiblein, Annika Hammerschmidt, Anna-Paloma Sasse,
Jelka Brücher
Bye, Bye and Welcome Volunteers
One year ago I came to Waldorf
School Windhoek with a totally
different expectation of what the
school looked like. I imagined something
like teaching under trees
and was quite surprised by how
developed the school was. In the
beginning I was a bit disappointed
because I thought we would come
to affect something and really help
the school in its developing process.
So it never actually occurred
to me how much I would come to
love my occupation. But the work
at the Afternoon Care made me
unbelievably happy as (genau wie)
does the time I spend with the kids
in the hostel. So I thank the children
for being how they are and everyone
who made this year possible
for me. I will never forget you guys
and the time we had together.
Annika Hammerschmidt
First of all I want to thank the whole
school community for the possibility
to stay for one year as a volunteer
in Namibia. I really enjoyed the
work in the hostel, to get to know
the kids and to assist with homework
or lessons in school. Besides
that, I hope that the intensive case
work could help the kids and that
in the following years volunteers
will continue this work, too. I’m
looking forward to visit the Waldorf
School Windhoek again as soon
as possible to see the growth and
development of the kids and the
school structures and buildings.
It was a pleasure to work with you
all and I wish you only the best for
your future! With best greetings,
Jelka Brücher
A big, big thank you to Waldorf
School Windhoek to make it possible,
that I could work there! It was
an awesome and amazing year in
Namibia and I loved and enjoyed
my work in Grade 0 and Afternoon
Care very much! I will keep the
experiences, children and people
I met forever in my mind! I will
definitely come back one day to
visit the school.
Rhea Reiblein
School Holidays 2013
Our school community welcomes
the new volunteers for 2012/2013.
They just arrived safely from
Germany. All volunteers will spend
12 months at our school: Marie
Weber will support Grade 0,
Friderike Ließke and David Dina
supporting the Hostel, Tristan
Drobik the Afternoon Care group
for great learners and Josefine
Bunke the Afternoon Care group
for young learners. They applyed
and were chosen by “Weltwärts
– Der entwicklungspolitische
Freiwilligendienst“ (Bundesministerium
für wirtschaftliche
Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung
– BMZ, Germany).
www.weltwaerts.de
Trimester overview
1st Trimester Mon 21.01.2013 – Fri 19.04.2013
2nd Trimester Mon 20.05.2013 – Fri 16.08.2013
3rd Trimester Mon 09.09.2013 – Fri 06.12.2013
Holidays
1st Midterm break Mon 04.02.2013 – Sun 08.02.2013
Easter Fri 29.03.2013 – Mon 01.04.2013
1st Trimester holidays Sat 22.04.2013 – Sun 19.05.2013
2nd Midterm break Mon 01.07.2013 – Sun 07.07.2013
2nd Trimester holidays Sat 18.08.2013 – Sun 08.09.2013
3rd Midterm break Mon 21.10.2013 – Sun 27.10.2013
3rd Trimester holidays Fri 09.12.2013 – Sun 13.01.2014
> Calender download: visit www.waldorf-namibia.org

Waldorf Seminar
with Joan Sleigh
for Parents and
Teachers
24–29 Sept 2012 Teachers Seminar
28+29 Sept 2012 Parents Seminar
We heartily welcome Joan Sleigh
as a lecturer to give teachers
and parents a Waldorf Enrichment
Seminar at our school in September
2012.
The Anthroposophical Society was founded by Rudolf
Steiner in Switzerland in 1923. It seeks to support individuals
who are working on their own inner development
and who wish to bring the fruit of that inner work to
benefit the wider world. www.anthroposophy.org
© Anthroposophy Worldwide 2012-07, written by Dr. Virginia Sease
From South Africa to the Goethanum
At the 2013 AGM the Executive Council at the Goetheanum will suggest Joan
Sleigh as a new member. Joan Sleigh grew up in a Camphill community in
South Africa with English as her first language. The mother of four studied
Waldorf Education in Germany and has taught in schools as well as in
teacher training.
Especially since the opening of the borders to the Eastern European Countries
in the early 1990s of the last century and due to the greater travel possibilities
from people in Asia, most notably China, in recent years a mode of unilateral
communication also has gained prominence. English serves today not only
the English speaking nations but also figures as the mutual language for
citizens of many countries when they step outside their national and ethnic
boundaries.
In this regard the Goetheanum and the Anthroposophical Society are not
exceptions, as we have mentioned recently in No 4/2012 of Anthroposophy
Worldwide in connection with study possibilities at the Goetheanum. We
welcome the fact, however, that many students who speak English as their
first or second language choose to learn German in order to gain access to
Rudolf Steiner through the original language.
Growing up speaking English
Some time ago the Executive Council members decided to seek for a person
to join us in our work for the General Anthroposophical Society who, like
Virginia Sease, comes originally from an English speaking country, has
English as her or his mother-tongue and with a corresponding education.
Of course, in addition to a strong background in and dedication to Anthroposophy,
an important requirement is that this person also be fluent in spoken
and written German. Age also plays a role in such a search.
We are delighted to announce to the membership worldwide that we have
found a person who we feel meets all of these requirements and has many
other significant attributes as well. After a time of comprehensive consideration
Joan Sleigh of Cape Town, South Africa, has agreed to join us in our
work in the Executive Council and in the Collegium of the School of Spiritual
Science. She has met not only with the members of the Executive Council but
also with the Section Leaders. The positive affirmation of her in both these
circles was unanimous. In November the General Secretaries will have an
opportunity to meet her. During the Annual General Meeting in the spring of
2013, the Executive Council at the Goetheanum wants to ask the members to
confirm Joan Sleigh as a new member of the Executive Council.
Childhood in Camphill Hermanus
Joan Sleigh was born in 1962 to parents living and working in Camphill
Hermanus, South Africa. She describes her childhood as happy also because
she had four siblings. Those who are familiar with Camphill Hermanus will
appreciate that brothers and sisters are important as it lies in a rather isolated
protected surrounding in a bay area east of Cape Town. When her parents
pioneered a new Camphill, Alpha, the family moved. Her father, Julian
Sleigh, a priest of the Christian Community, also built a chapel on the site
and her mother, Renate Sleigh, a nurse, took care of medical situations and
carried the cultural life such as festivals. When Joan was three years old
her family spent one year at Camphill Botton Village (UK). During this time
she met her maternal grandfather, Karl König, although she was so young
that she has little recollection of the meeting.
Joan Sleigh had the advantage of a Waldorf School but she also then
attended an Afrikaans farm school close to Camphill Alpha. This led to a
proficiency in Afrikaans.
Her life in South Africa experienced a pause between 1982 and 1995
as she married and moved to Bochum (DE). During these years she was
a devoted mother to her four children. Also along the way she attended
Waldorf Teacher Training in Witten-Annen. Afterwards she taught English
and handwork at the Widar Schule Wattenscheid for three years.
Working as a class teacher
When she then returned with her four children to Cape Town in 1995 she
was asked to become a class teacher at Michael Oak Waldorf School. As
of this time she has completed two full cycles and one half cycle as a Class
teacher. In December 2012 her current class will complete the 7th grade
which marks the end of the class teacher time in South Africa.
In 2007 she also began lecturing at the Centre for Creative Education,
the Waldorf Teacher Training program in Cape Town, which she still does
at this time. At present she is completing her Master’s degree with a focus
on leadership connected with adult education. Joan Sleigh recently began
to represent South Africa in the Hague Circle, an international group which
works in conjunction with the Pedagogical Section of the School of Spiritual
Science. In addition, she has strong personal connections with Europe
as three of her adult children and two grandchildren live in Germany. At the
moment only one daughter resides in Cape Town.
Whenever someone is called to the Goetheanum to serve in the Executive
Council or as a Section Leader, many tasks which that person has carried
suddenly must be taken on by someone else. This represents a sacrifice
on the part of the Anthroposophical Society in that country and for any
anthroposophical institution with which the person was connected –
usually in a sphere of high responsibility. The person’s connection with
the work in the “home country” remains a vital part of the new tasks which
need to be addressed and worked upon; however the horizon widens
considerably as the responsibilities encompass a far greater whole.
Making sacrifices
We look to the members in South Africa with gratitude for their gracious
willingness to accept the situation that one of their very active members
will not be present on a daily basis, however she will surely continue her
work in a vital – if metamorphosed – form at the Goetheanum. In conclusion
to this brief introduction of Joan Sleigh I would like to add a personal
note of gratitude that aspects of the work which have developed over the
years will continue to receive attention and that I will be in a position to
actively accompany this fine new colleague for some time if the membership
affirms her appointment at the Annual General Meeting in March 2013.

Biodynamic Agriculture
Biologisch-dynamische Landwirtschaft
During the 1920’s, some
farmers, landowners and
food producers, who identified
with Rudolf Steiner’s
anthroposophical ideas,
were looking for a new approach
to agriculture. They
found that their daily food did
not taste as good as it did in their
childhood. They noticed a decline in
the nutritional vitality/quality of cereals
and other crops, and so they were
hoping for a new impulse in agriculture.
Rudolf Steiner laid the foundations of bio-dynamic
agriculture, which is being applied worldwide today,
in a series of lectures held in Koberwitz in 1924.
In den 1920er Jahren trugen einige Landwirte, Gutsbesitzer
und Lebensmittelverarbeiter, die der Anthroposophie
nahe standen, Rudolf Steiner das Anliegen vor, von ihm
Anregungen zu einer Neuorientierung des Landbaus zu
erhalten. Sie fanden, dass die Nahrungsmittel, mit denen
sie täglich zu tun hatten, weniger gut schmeckten als die,
die sie noch in der Kindheit genossen hatten. Beim Getreide
und anderen Kulturen sei ein Nachlassen der Vitalität/
Qualität zu bemerken. So bekam zunächst ein kleiner Kreis
• no use of synthetic fertilizers and chemical pesticides
• home-produced, potentised preparations made from dung,
medicinal plants and minerals, which have a vitalising and
healing effect on the earth organism
von Freunden der Anthroposophie neue Impulse für den
Landbau. 1924 legte Rudolf Steiner in der Vortragsreihe
„Geisteswissenschaftliche Grundlagen zum gedeihen der
Landwirtschaft“ in Koberwitz den Grundstein der biologischdynamischen
Landwirtschaft, die heute weltweit Anwendung
findet.
Biodynamic agriculture means:
• sustainable agriculture
• growth of humus layer
• highest quality standards of food production worldwide
• complete cycle of production
Biologisch-dynamisch heißt:
• Nachhaltigkeit der Landwirtschaft
• Wachstum der Humusschicht
• Höchste Qualität in der Lebensmittelerzeugung weltweit
• geschlossener Betriebskreislauf
• Verzicht auf synthetische Dünger und chemische
Pflanzenschutzmittel
• selbst hergestellte feinstoffliche Präperate aus Mist,
Heilpflanzen und Mineralien wirken vitalisierend und
heilend auf den Erdorganismus
NAMIBIA:
Krumhuk Farm (bio-dynamic)
25 km south of Windhoek, 8450 ha, Cattle
ranch, fodder production, milk products,
butchery, Guesthouses, more than
20 co-workers, ca. 80 inhabitants. Product
sale: Green Market; private customers.
Tel. +264-81-23 40 85
Photos: Krumhuk Farm · Design: Katharina Wyss
Poster 7, Travel Exhibition “Focus on Man – Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy in Namibia“, more information about Krumhuk Farm > www.krumhuk.de and www.atckrumhuk.org

Zelwa Klein
Sadly we had to say good-bye to Zelwa at the
end of August. She has done a fantastic job in
updating and running the bookkeeping office
for the past two years. We are very grateful for
her diligent and professional approach to her
work and clients. We wish her everything of the
best for her future endeavours.
We welcome Gemma Pieters who has taken
over the bookkeeping from Zelwa at the beginning
of September. Kathi Damon
Gemma Pieters
Events September 2012
Parents Evening Grade 12
Mon 10 September 2012, 19:00
Parent Association (PA)
Wed 12 September 2012, 19:00
Cinema “Rudolf Steiner“ Part 2
Tue 17 September 2012, 18:00
Grade 12 Year Projects
Fri/Sat 21/22 September 2012
Green Market Café
Sat 22 September 2012, Grade 11
Public Lecture on Michaelmas
Mon 24 September 2012, 19:00
Waldorf Seminar for Teachers
24–29 September 2012
Readathon
Thu 27 September 2012
Michaelmas
Fri 28 September 2012
Waldorf Seminar for Parents
28–29 September 2012
Midterm break
20–28 October 2012
© Katharina Wyss
© Katharina Wyss
Norman Skillen
We are happy to have Norman back here to
teach back to teach an English main lesson
called The Word in grade 10 for the first three
weeks of the trimester. He will also join Joan
Sleigh, an experienced Waldorf class teacher in
running a Teachers’ Enrichment seminar from
24–29 September, a Parents’ seminar on 28th
and 29th September. More details will follow
shortly about this. Kathi Damon
Cinema Evening, Part 2
Tue, 17 September
2012, 18h00: “The
Challenge of Rudolf
Steiner” Part 2
(1h45min), a documentary
film by Jonathan
Stedall. We welcome
you to our 2nd evening
Cinema at our School.
Entrance free. Once a
month we will show movies and documentaries.
We decided to show part 1 again and will inform
you in time.
Cinema Evening, Part 2
Tuesday, 17 September 2012, 18:00: “The
Challenge of Rudolf
Steiner” Part 2 (1h45min), a documentary film
by Jonathan Stedall. We welcome you to our
2nd evening Cinema at our School. Entrance
free. Once a month we will show movies and documentaries.
We decided to show part 1 again
and will inform you in time.
Kidz Fun Fair 2012
This year we were the only school represented
at the Kidz Fun Fair. On the whole the event did
not draw such a crowd as last year, but that
didn’t prevent interested parents finding their
way to our stand. Most of our team of teachers
did alternate shifts on the stand. Many thanks
to everyone for their contributions.
Katharina Wyss
Contact to our W-Mail-Team: Katharina Wyss
wyss@milch-berlin.de, Cell +264 (0)81 340 23 79
© Katharina Wyss
The Waldorf Soccer Team
Some of the hostel children went to Pioniers
Park to surprise the Waldorf Soccer Team at
their first public soccer match on the 10th of
August. They played vital, strong and well
organized, motivated and encouraged by their
trainer and coach Ihapa Nguvauva. That very
day they were the happy winners. The team
commits on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for a two
hour training session. We hope they will continue
there hard work during following Trimester
and wish good luck! Barbara Stauffer
Reports from Aims and
Objectives Group Work
On the 4th of April parents and teachers met
for the first time to start a process of working
together on our school‘s future > continue
reading in our supplement
Keep in Contact:
Waldorf School Windhoek
P.O. Box 90326, Windhoek, Namibia
Andries de Wet Street/Avis
Tel. +264 (0)61 41 52-50, Fax +264 (0)61 41 52-99
office@waldorf-namibia.org
Web: www.waldorf-namibia.org
Blog: www.wsw-connect.org
Namibia
Waldorf School Windhoek
Nedbank Namibia, Hidas Windhoek
Branch-Code 461696, Account: 110 000 826 88
IBAN: 46 16 96 11 00 00 82 688
BIC (Swift-Code): NEDS NANX
Germany
Freunde der Erziehungskunst, GLS Bank
Account: 130 420 10, BLZ 430 609 67
VWZ: 4886 WSW Namibia + Spenderadresse
Die Angabe Ihrer Anschrift im Feld Verwendungszweck ermöglicht
das Ausstellen der Spendenbescheinigung.
Switzerland
Freie Gemeinschaftsbank BCL
Account: EK 115.5
Postcheck der Bank: Basel 40-963-0
Kennwort: WSW Namibia
Netherlands
Triodos Bank NV, Zeist, Account: 21.22.68.872
Kennwort: WSW Namibia