Ghinwa Daher

Working with VIN, and volunteering in the English teaching program at the Mahayana, JovoKhadampamonastery, has been the most life changing and wonderful experience I have had up until now.
 
Even though I had arrived to the monastery without many expectations, what I have discovered there was nothing close to what I would have imagined.
 
The kids are too special, they have so much love to give, they are very talented and creative and they have the purest most innocent loving hearts.
 
Every single day at the monastery, throughout a whole month, every day, would be special; at the end of each day there would be so many magical stories that had happened and that had given me new ways of perceiving so many aspects of the everyday life.
 
I have learnt so much from living with the young lamas, with them I’ve learnt how boundless love actually is!
 
And through living with them and going through all their daily activities; from puja, to classes, to cleaning, cooking, playing, celebrating, etc., I’ve learnt about the Buddhist culture, and whenever I’d have questions about it, anyone would be ready to answer, even when they couldn’t put it correctly in English terms, they would do their best to try to explain it.
 
There is nothing more rewarding and overwhelming then witnessing the little kid who used to be shy and not speak one word, becoming more confident and participant and smiling and happy. Or than reading a paragraph they’d written in which they have used new words that you’ve taught them, even though they might be written in the wrong order, it would be still such a great achievement for them to be confident enough to use those words and show them to you, yelling out: “TEACHER! FINISH!!”
 
And there is nothing more overwhelming than witnessing the young lama who loves music and would not take the earphones off, sitting in puja room during one of the big days of Buddhist celebration, and given the privilege to be the one who invites the gong to sound during the whole puja, and while he does it his smile and eyes would shine brighter with every vibration from the gong.
 
There is nothing more fulfilling than suddenly knowing that one of the brightest little lamas in class 4 has been promoted to class 5, or that one of the most devoted young lamas has suddenly gone to India to officially practice Buddhism there.  (Many events happen at the monastery without notice, from canceling classes, to waking up and learning that today is celebration day all day, or cleaning day, and I used to find that it just added more magic to this whole unpredictable experience, and would just love following them and going through the flow of their motions moment by moment!)
 
I was so very lucky I had a wonderful co teacher with me who was so loving to the kids and so patient! It is very important to go there with a loving big happy heart.
 
All you need for this program is love for children, compassion, patience and understanding, a creative mind, and a happy heart that brings smiles to your face to share them with these wonderful kids, because then you would be receiving a whole lot of love and smiles and happiness from them, to the point it all gets too overwhelming but too unique and magical!
 
I have so much more to tell, so please if you have any questions about the program please does not hesitate to contact me on daherghinwa@gmail.com, I would be very happy to answer!
 
If you are looking for a life changing, wonderful experience, where you can share your knowledge and all talents you have, then this is the program for you to go for.