Nuts and Nectar!

I walked yesterday,  along the memory lane of the last forty years, since a decision was made to bring to a close my active professional work of the last forty years, by the end of June 2023. 

The photo below of walking along the footpath with aged trees on one side became a metaphor  while I took time to look back. This footpath I walked a few times during a visit to a city, gave me a feeling of the safety life offered to me along this long forty years of walk in the professional terrain of child development. It was a walk along a narrow path, sometimes lonely and long! The journey was from practicing child development by being located  in  a child development centre to discovering and describing a home based approach by enabling parents for child development practice! It starts from creating a Child's Corner at home

What did I find along this journey!

The photo below symbolises, what I would like to summarise as the  experience of the last forty years. 

The bush below has flowers and fruits in all stages of maturation. I was given the experience of receiving thoughts and ideas which have matured and expanded my horizon to create within me a philosophy of child development. Some thoughts are in a blossoming stage. There are thoughts in a nascent stage, fresh and needing nurture. 

While watching this bush in amazement with its flowers and fruits, I noticed a Lorikeet feeding on its fruit, which was dry an solid. Later the lorikeet moved on to receive nectar from the flowers. 

This fascinating sight of a Lorikeet feeding on the nuts and nectar drew my attention! A Lorikeet needs to bite solids and eat, which is effortful. It also is given  opportunity to receive nectar effortlessly!

To me this became a good summary o fly experiences during the last forty years. There were instances of having had to put lot of efforts to discover and describe the content and contours of a home based Parent involved child development practice. The two booklets, Buds to Blossom and Accompany Your Child published in 2021 and 2022 were the efforts of many, particularly Shalini in compiling them, Anna for editing them and ASHIRVAD for publishing them. They are now in circulation for parents to use. The establishment of Developmental Paediatrics Unit at the Christian Medical College was effortful. 

The two service facilities. currently that exist in the place from where I shall retire after a month, highlight the parent-involved philosophy of Child Development, which were were effortful activities.

 

The first was Early Learning Centre, which prepares parents to have an experience of how a home based developmental support can be created at home.  This six week programme has evolved to be a valuable support for parents, who are ready to initiate their children into an augmented play based experience. 

The second was the Learning Resource Centre, which prepares pre-school children for school readiness. The transition from a home to a school for children is often a season of adaptation and changes. The pre-school readiness involving the domains of social skills, communication skills, pre-reading and prewriting skills, self care skills, etc. get introduced to children. This gives an orientation to parents, of how they can structure the home for transition of their children from home to school. 

Many other events and happening were less effortful or least effortful. Some of the experiences were gifts of love from BMMF international (now INTERSERVE), Christmas Cracker through Dr Raju Abraham, and from friends of ASHIRVAD in different countries. In that context we would remember Dr and Mrs Garlick, Ms Christiana and Gisela, Mike and Sue, Drs Hans and Ago Burke, Dr Rachel Chacko, Ms Hedwig Buchi, Dr A.K.Tharien, Dr William Cutting, Dr V.I.Mathen, to name a few! Some of them have moved on in life, but their acts of goodness still refresh us!

What an experience of GIVENNESS! 

The Nuts and Nectar along life's journey!

This recollection of gratefulness brings a new level of consciousness! The story of our lives are more of Givenness than acquired!

Given to receive and to live with a sense of stewardship!

At the threshold of the start of another season in our life, this memory of all that were given,  as Anna and I journeyed through the narrow path of our professional journey during the last forty years, fill our hearts. The provisions we received create a sense of gratefulness and anticipation!

M.C.Mathew(text and Photo)