Training has begun!

With my 9th day of training behind me, I've reached a certain comfort level with the training content and with my colleagues. The house where most of us sleep (in bunk beds) and eat breakfast is located about a 45 minute walk from the training centre where we spend our days and evenings. Most people do this walk twice a day. We begin with worship from 8:15-9:00, and we take turns leading that. Our sessions then go from 9:00-12:00, from 2:30-5:30, and from 7:30 till 9:00. We've covered quite a lot of ground already, from Biblical basis for non-violence, to learning about public witness and non-violent direct action, to planning and carrying out our own public witness, to reviewing the history of CPT and using a tool to discuss our inter-personal styles. It's been intense, but I've managed to run a few times, usually with colleagues, and occasionally practice yoga. I need more sleep than I'm getting, but it's hard to unwind enough at the end of the day to get to bed at a decent hour. We've been passing around a cold, but I only had it for a day. So I'm actually doing great.

Like other training groups before us, our first public witness was to challenge Toys R Us to remove violent video games from their inventory. Part of this witness can be seen here. We will also carry out a public witness on January 15.

I'm learning a lot, and I'm sure I'll learn a lot more in the 3 weeks + remaining. Thanks for your support!