Self and Community Development for a Period of Orientation

To gain clarity regarding life choices and vocational goals: for example choosing a career path or training. To learn the social forms in the "Lebensgemeinschaft" and having the opportunity to practice them. To have encounters and exchanges with those who hold positions of responsibility in the "Lebensgemeinschaft". To have experience living with people in need of special care. To get to know and to deepen the Anthroposophical world view as well as single subjects such as: care giving, therapies, nutrition, diagnosis, art, home management, handwork, gardening, and farming. To get to know a healthy life rhythm and to have the possibility of developing a consciousness regarding work and free time.

This orientation time is offered out of the conviction that connecting to community, especially with the presence of developmentally handicapped people, can win capacities and attitudes which positively further career paths as well as a personal lifestyles. For us trust is a primary capacity which applies in various ways to development: trust in ideas, in the world around us, and above all trust in ourselves and the people we live and work with. Further qualities that this community life requires of us are: sense of responsibility, the capacity for self motivation, logical thinking, methodical work, and concentration. Interacting with people who depend on others to be responsible for them can be an influential experience which often develops in unexpected and mysterious ways, the above mentioned qualities.

At these locations of the "Lebensgemeinschaft"

Through an application consisting of written enquiry with photograph. An orientation time is preceded by a familiarising period of at least a couple of days. It can begin at any time and can last from three months to a year.

All responsible persons, co-workers and interns live with the developmentally handicapped on the site of the living community. The participants are oriented by a person in a position of responsibility and can take part in all daily activities and practical tasks. There is place for regular work meetings. Each participant is connected to an advisory group which exists for conversations regarding individual questions and for personal assistance during the entire time of orientation. The participant will take part in previews and reviews at regular intervals and according to need. Further is offered: a course of study for spiritual scientific work, subject specific or artistic themes, individual or in groups, phenomenological observations, and artistic activities. The orientation time allows for the individual initiative of the participant, for example with regard to practical tasks, work groups and themes.