Human Values Relay Held in Germany

A new project, Values-Relay, was started to organise various human values related activities along a south-to-north route in Germany between May and September 2015. The project launched on 9^th May 2015 during the Pre-World Conference in Wartaweil, with the participation of 15 Sathya Sai Centres. During the inauguration ceremony, a first relay runner received a symbolic trophy for transport along the designated route. The trophy arrived in Stemwede on 18^th May, where 108 Sathya Sai devotees gathered to celebrate a traditional Pentecostal meeting, themed “We are sources of love: the sound of the golden age.” A few weeks later, the trophy arrived in Darmstadt, where five “values columns” were erected in a public parking lot. SSIO members displayed material on value-based education to the public, including games, stories, cards and Sathya Sai teachings on human values. Many parents, walking with their children in strollers, viewed the material on display.

Values-based programmes were likewise organised throughout the summer. On 20^th June 2015, the symbolic trophy reached Bonn, the former capital of Germany. The proceeds from a book sale in Bonn were donated to the SSIO disaster relief fund set up after the earthquake in Nepal. Cards with quotes from Bhagawan were distributed to the public. On 18^th July 2015, Sathya Sai devotees from Freiburg assembled in the Catholic Church of the University Hospital, presenting a concert including multi-faith songs. A live video of the programme was broadcast to patients’ in the hospital. In Ahrweiler, SSIO volunteers provided community service by cleaning up the bank of the river Ahr. In August 2015, SSIO volunteers in Karlsruhe offered to children a similar programme, titled “Values Afternoon.” The Sathya Sai Center of Tübingen organised several values-oriented recreational activities for children during the summer of 2015.

The relay arrived in Berlin, via Kiel and Hamburg, on 26^th September 2015 for a grand finale. A boat trip on the River Spree was organised for the 57 SSIO volunteers who had come together from all parts of Germany for the occasion. A steamer, decorated with banners with the Sarva Dharma symbol and the message “Love all – Serve all,” sailed through the city, passing the government quarters, on a three-hour trip. The message of love and unity was thus shared throughout the country.