“The healthy social
life is found, when in the mirror of each human soul the whole community finds
its reflection and when in the community the virtue of each one is living.”
Rudolf Steiner
The Camphill Movement started with a small village estate outside
Aberdeen, Scotland where a group of refugees from Hitler’s pending invasion of
Austria started a community to care for children with special needs. Dr. Karl
Konig, a doctor inspired by the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, led this
young and enthusiastic community. Steiner emphasized the spiritual nature of
man and wrote about the care and development of handicapped children through
the lens of Anthroposophy, a perspective with three general impulses: the healing of the individual, healing of
the earth, and healing of social life.
“Hitler’s ideals engendered fear and hatred and eventually
the dehumanization of social life. What would be the possibilities for social
life if men and women were to try and build a society based on the spiritual
image of man described by Rudolf Steiner? Konig and his friends embarked on a social
experiment which is still in the process."(Penelope Roberts, longterm co-worker
in India)
The founders created a way of life that recognized the
children’s human dignity. Handicaps were experienced as an opportunity, not a problem,
and challenged the community to grow in patience, equanimity and compassion. In
this environment the children thrived and, in the course of time, out of the
initial work with children, communities for adolescents and adults followed. With the intention of creative idealism and personal striving, the children and adults in care in Camphill thrive and develop towards more independent lifestyles.
There are ten Camphill centers in the Republic of Ireland,
and four in Northern Ireland. All of the centers were founded through the
initiative of parents of children with various disabilities and each community
has its own distinctive purpose and character.
Camphill Ballytobin where I am currently living was founded in 1979. A group of parents with autistic children in Dublin initiated a small community and Waldorf school for difficult and disturbed children. Amidst a small farm on the rural outskirts of a village called Callan, the children live in large, family centered houses and taught with a mixture of classroom work, art, individual therapies and craft. As the first children grew into young adults, this presented the community with a special challenge to meet many different needs. It was realized that separate Communities for adults was critical to teach life skills that they could use to support themselves and further their independence through stimulating, creative, and therapeutic work. In 1987, a sister community called Kyle was founded 3 miles away for the young adults who grow out of Ballytobin.
Camphill Ballytobin where I am currently living was founded in 1979. A group of parents with autistic children in Dublin initiated a small community and Waldorf school for difficult and disturbed children. Amidst a small farm on the rural outskirts of a village called Callan, the children live in large, family centered houses and taught with a mixture of classroom work, art, individual therapies and craft. As the first children grew into young adults, this presented the community with a special challenge to meet many different needs. It was realized that separate Communities for adults was critical to teach life skills that they could use to support themselves and further their independence through stimulating, creative, and therapeutic work. In 1987, a sister community called Kyle was founded 3 miles away for the young adults who grow out of Ballytobin.
The Camphill Communities of Ireland are a limited company with full charity status. The day-to-day costs of operating are met through capitation grants paid by the Health Boards. The capital costs of major improvements and expansions are only partially met by government grants. Each community has a circle of parents, friends and supporters who are active in fundraising, which helps bridge the gap.
Ballytobin is largely volunteer based with a handful of full time employees who manage all administrative and some farming and teaching matters. No co-worker/volunteer in Camphill is rewarded for work in monetary wages. Each gives the benefit of their work to the community and is supported through the work of others. Steiner did, however, believe that small amounts of pocket money are important to serve as a link to the outside community in the simplest way possible. Thus a small amount of petty cash is given to each individual from the weekly house fund.
Ballytobin is largely volunteer based with a handful of full time employees who manage all administrative and some farming and teaching matters. No co-worker/volunteer in Camphill is rewarded for work in monetary wages. Each gives the benefit of their work to the community and is supported through the work of others. Steiner did, however, believe that small amounts of pocket money are important to serve as a link to the outside community in the simplest way possible. Thus a small amount of petty cash is given to each individual from the weekly house fund.
“In these so-called retarded ones there is manifest and lives much more humanity than in us who work and are active. It is not that these children and adults live among us as a burden. In future times one will look back on our century and will say: Our time had to learn that the outsiders are the ones who lead us back into the path of truthfulness and honesty.” Dr. Karl Konig
People who work together in a community are magicians,
because they draw higher beings into their circle. One no longer has to call to
witness the machinations of spiritism when one works out of brotherly [or
sisterly] love in a community. Higher beings do manifest themselves there. When
we give ourselves over to brotherhood [or sisterhood], this giving, this
merging into the totality, is a steeling, a strengthening of our organs. When
we then act or speak as members of such a community, it is not the single soul
that acts or speaks in us, but the spirit of the community. This will be the
secret of the process of mankind in the future: to work through communities.
– Rudolf Steiner
– Rudolf Steiner