Summercamp In Siebenlinden

I walk towards the parking area which I had grown up with. So many hours I spent after kindergarten and primary school to search through the gravel that covered the parking area in order to find little treasures, like small amethyst crystals and fool's gold (pyrite). So many memories are in this place, wherever I look I have a connection, an experience that took place in that space. No stone was left untouched during my time of growing up in Siebenlinden and my friends and I had explored every last corner of the land in search of dragons and fairies, to build castles in the sky and dig deep caves in the little hills. We had enjoyed our fair share of living a wild childhood and I cannot think of a better way to grow up. We were in such a nurturing environment where everyone knows everyone and staying over for dinner is expected not planned, it had been and still was a wonderful experience indeed. Now I only come back on special occasions, to visit my family and to see my friends. Now it is often my turn to be nurturing instead of just being nurtured myself as I spend a lot of time with my goddaughter, Navi. However the main reason for me to come back to Siebenlinden this time was because it was the time of the Summercamp. Which is a week in July during which Siebenlinden invites anyone to come and join them for a week of learning, being together, forums, internal process etc. It is a great concept where besides the assigned teams that organise the food and accommodation the people attending create the programme themselves by offering their skills and passions. If someone feels a passion for drumming then they might have a little drumming class before lunch or one might want to offer some acting or dancing or body painting or anything. These offers can then be announced to the everyone during a morning check in and people go on to decide what interests them most. I knew from the very beginning that this would be my last Summercamp in Siebenlinden for some time - and that meant something, as I had been attending ever since the summer of 2000. I wasn't the only one for whom this was the case and hence we, (we being the young adults that had grown up within the ecovillage of Siebenlinden) initiated a little reunion before we would all go our separate ways. Which could mean that we will see each other tomorrow or not for years to come. The week passed by little too fast, as usual, but nevertheless it was enough time for me to reconnect with some old friends and connect to some new ones. For this Summercamp the youth group was doing activities mainly related to living in the wild, or only with very basic tools. So the usual: how to start a fire with a flint, carve wooden spoons, make natural medicine etc. An interesting experience, but I used it more as an opportunity to nurture old and new friendships.