During a work break the colleague stepped out for a short time but when she failed to return, staff members later learned what had happened.
"My friend was of course devastated about what had happened so we looked for a way to help people when the tough things happen to them and around them," Ren says.
Ren had been working for the Hari Krishna movement at its café in Water Street, Whangarei in Northland, New Zealand.
The HK movement ran a programme to help the homeless and children from low decile schools by providing meals - particularly breakfasts based around the well-known motto: 'feed the body and feed the mind'.
"I went to Buddi - the movement's leader and apparently they had considerable difficulty growing vegetables in the small garden next to the movement's café. So he told me the land was ours to do with it what we wanted and said they entrusted us with it," she says.
So the healing garden was created in the former vegetable patch and has been going for a year now.
Community at heart: Ren Haskell and friends have created a sanctuary where people can relax and reflect when the difficult times come.
Ren says she realises people can 'chill out' or take time to think anywhere, such as the beach but it takes the cost of fuel to get there and it's not the same as a purpose-created space where it's needed.
"The idea of a healing garden being in such a central place is that people may be stressed by work or by life's events, they may have just received that dreaded phone call with bad news, or even hearing a certain song that brings back memories out of the blue. They can take time out at a place that is close to where they are at that moment," she says.
The garden is surrounded by a wall where people can sit and enjoy it.
She says although the small 4 metre by 10m space is in a busy area of the city, the way it is set out gives people that feeling of solace and fresh air, with something beautiful to look at.
Ren is starting to organise monthly gatherings at the garden, where people can bring something to exchange with others; such as a plant, or ornament and they can share their experiences if they want to.
"When I've been working in the garden, often people will come and talk to me about what they've been through, so that's how I know about many traumatic things that have happened to and around people," Ren says.
Hearing these stories has shown the garden is therapeutic as well as a place to enjoy, she says.
Do you know of any ideas that have been created in your community to beat the stresses of life?
Tell us about them as they may help others facing difficulties.
Beating the Odds
BTO.
No comments:
Post a Comment