Wed, 02 Aug 2006

Lebanese Waldorf pupils granted refuge in Germany while attending UNESCO World Youth Festival

STUTTGART (NNA) – A group of Lebanese pupils from Waldorf schools in Lebanon have been stranded in Germany, unable to return home because of the fighting in their home country.

The Waldorf students had attended the 2006 UNESCO World Youth Festival in Stuttgart when it became too dangerous for them to return home following the bombing of Beirut airport. They have been put up by the Karl Schubert Waldorf school with the support of the city and other donors, including the GLS Bank.

The Lebanese pupils were among a group of more than 250 Waldorf students from all over the world attending the Festival at the beginning of July, which was held under the motto “A time to make friends“. They had been brought by the international organisation Friends of Waldorf Education (Freunde der Erziehungskunst Rudolf Steiners e.V.)

The Waldorf pupils from 15 countries, ranging from Argentina to Thailand, contributed to the festival with musical and cultural events.

Friends of Waldorf Education board member Bernd Ruf also used the opportunity of a reception given by UNESCO Director-General Dr.  Koichiro Matsuura to discuss Waldorf education with him and present the UNESCO chief with the catalogue accompanying the “Waldorf Education Worldwide” exhibition in Japanese. They also discussed the projects supported by the organisation in crisis regions around the world.

One of the students attending the festival was 16-year-old Noura Nasser Abdelshafak from Egypt, who has suffered from polio since she was four years old and can only walk with the help of crutches. Her parents do not have the resources to buy a wheelchair. In a spontaneous gesture, the parents of the Michæl Bauer Waldorf school in Stuttgart persuaded a local company to donate a wheelchair and a new pair of crutches for Noura to take home. The gift and the greater mobility it provides have brought her one step closer to fulfilling her dream of studying medicine.

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Link: www.freunde-waldorf.de.

Item: 080602-02EN Date: 2 August 2006

Copyright 2006 News Network Anthroposophy Limited. All rights reserved. See http://www.nna-news.org/copyright/

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Camphill Medical Practice wins Quality Practice Award

ABERDEEN (NNA) – The Camphill Medical Practice in Aberdeen, Scotland, which seeks to combine conventional medicine with an anthroposophical approach to healthcare, has won an award for the quality of its service from its peers.

The Quality Practice Award (QPA) was presented by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) earlier this year.

The RCGP is the academic organisation in the UK for general practitioners. Its aim is “to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the ‘voice’ of general practitioners on education, training and standards issues”.

The QPA, which has so far been won by only about 100 medical practices in Britain, was “a fitting recognition of the dedication of the team at Camphill Medical Practice who, despite the combination of the normal workload of a busy NHS practice and their role within the Camphill communities, recognise that many patients require extra time and attention,” Dr Denis Durno, a former provost of the RCGP who was instrumental in establishing general practice quality awards, was quoted as saying by the Camphill website at the unveiling of a commemorative plaque.

Writing in the Anthroposophical Medical Newsletter, Dr.  Marga Hogenboom from the medical practice explains: “The main emphasis is on effective team working and reflective practice. This means you need to have firm protocols for many activities and also undertake audits to see if you are really doing what you say you are doing.

“I started the whole process because my aim was to show that we are not only an anthroposophical orientated practice which delivers holistic care but also conventionally well-organised and on the ball.”

Based in Camphill’s Murtle Estate in Bieldside, Aberdeen, Camphill Medical Practice has been in existence since 1984 and was incorporated into the National Health Service (NHS) to provide primary care services for the local community in 2000. It also receives referrals from GP practices throughout the north-east of Scotland. In addition, it is responsible for the specialist care required by the adults and children in Aberdeen’s Camphill communities.

The practice has a team of two general practitioners, five therapists, three receptionists, a practice manager and a practice nurse. However, it has plans for further growth: “Now is the right time for us to expand,” Dr Hogenboom writes, “and we are looking for another GP with an active interest in anthroposophical work.”

This is not the first time that the practice has won an award. In 1999 the Camphill Medical Practice won the Innovative Practice Award from the Royal College of General Practitioners for its integrated and radical approach to primary care.

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Item: 060802-01EN Date: 2 August 2006

Copyright 2006 News Network Anthroposophy Limited. All rights reserved. See http://www.nna-news.org/copyright/

More NNA reports at: http://www.nna-news.org/