The School of Life
In the heart of a small village there is a school. A large one-storey stone school that witnessed it all. As well as those who use to study there. Who knows what it remembers? Who knows what it is waiting for? Only a few enter it now. No one learns in it for years. But one curious woman who moved to the village several years ago is asking herself: “What is it doing here?” ...and others are also asking and looking at it and they curiously opening the door and…. whee, a swallow bird flies out and in the rustling of its wings it feels as if one hears the laughter of children, happy children. And when asking further, one learns that there used to be many happy descendants of Man in this school. There are currently not so many children in the village or surrounding villages any more, so the school cannot be opened again. Man came to the village from the city. And God knows what called him. When he arrived in the village, Man knew that the road led Home. He knew where his children will grow up, his hands and soul are guided by a force he has not yet recognized and feeling that he is rightly here and what he wants to achieve for has a deep meaning. It makes sense to build on what the very first Man came here to do. It makes sense to continue doing with hands, it makes sense to believe that every movement we do on this earth has a deep meaning. Man plants a tree, digs a garden, makes a bowl and a spoon out of wood, then works again with clay. Man restores a pond and builds a pool to hold more water in the landscape. And then he watches his hands to become the hands of a new person and how his hands change with the things Man does. And his whole world is changing as well. Man believes that this creation is also food for the soul. Man creates his world with his hands. And the world begins to change. And how did it go on?
Unce upon a time, under the hill called Dubovec (Oak tree), a Man settled down. And God knows, that this Man wasn’t just an ordinary one; he was knowledgeable, and he passed on his wisdom orally. Man believed in immortality of the soul and its reincarnation. On the top of the hill, there was an oak grove, a place where diverse forces of energies operated, essential for the Man’s life and survival. Thanks to these forces and his knowledge, he could predict the future, influence the good and the bad, draw up almanacs, raise children and improve his knowledge of healing. The forest gave the Man a shelter, and in times of danger it became a peaceful harbour. The Man coped well with the nature and taught his people. Together they built their dwellings. Building of a fortification came with the arrival of another Man. A war hit the people and drew them deeper into the forest. The forests of Jemnice were very deep and dark and only a very few people had the courage to enter. Man settled in a big hole he dug up in the forest and after the war Man came out and built a farm. And cultivated a field, and a meadow. And another farm and field and meadow… they called the village after the “hole” they lived in, Jemnice (Jemnitz means Holes). Man worked hard on his field. Thanks to his knowledge he gained from his ancestors Man cultivated rye, barley, oats, pea, hemp and linen. He knew the soil needed to rest and also to be nourished, and so he raised sheep, goats, hens, geese and pigeons. Man picked herbs, plants and fruits of the forest, planted trees and kept bees. There were years when his grain perished due to wetness, the locusts grazed the crops, there was a lot of snow and then it was very dry. Then pestilence came. People were starving and houses burnt by lightning strikes…in these times Man stood next to Man and helped each other. But in some years, Man stood against Man and fought. It was when envy came along with misery and spread among the people. And envy insinuate people to take away faith from others, faith in the fact that everything will turn out well, that Man will again help another Man, they will stand side by side and work together and influence the good and the bad, improve their knowledge of healing and raise their children. That last, however, Man did not forget completely. Man build not only a farm, an inn, a forge and a mill, but he also built a school in Jemnice. A huge one-story stone school, that was full of offspring of Man from the surrounding villages. There were times when it accommodated almost three hundred schoolchildren! This school gave the offspring opportunity to see what Man could no longer see and remember what only a few remembered. It not only taught children to read and write, but also to trust and love the nature and the community of Man. A period of poverty and cooling of personal relations came along. Man lost his relationship to nature, lost his farm, his land with animals and fields. Man had to watch the things that had accompanied him all his life disappearing and he felt how lonely he became, how the land he had cultivated for years by hand was now cultivated by machines, how animals he had given birth was killed by the hand of another. He felt his world ending. The pain accompanied the Man until the last days. Also his descendants have been feeling the pain to this day. The fields, the meadows, the grove and the forest again belongs to a Man. But he no longer has the strength to work the land and God knows how much space in his heart is currently dedicated to the relationship with nature.
Our association is based on the values we live by and the experience we gain on the journey of life. We bake bread, gather herbs, grow and ferment vegetables and perhaps sew clothes and shoes, paint pictures, play the piano, sing and play games. We work with wood, ceramics, water and we dance. We invent ways to pass on this creation not only to our children, but also to the people around us. We learn to communicate about our needs and we learn new things not only from each other, the nature, but we also welcome other forms of education. School is the best place to build on such work. The school in Jemnice needs our attention now. By the joint forces of our association, by reaching out to other associations and individuals operating in and out of the village, with the use of external financial support we will be able to open the school’s doors on the Open Day after many years. We will include inhabitants of nearby villages and municipalities, together with eye-witnesses, in this project of the school restoration as an out-of-school and continuing educational centre. For this day, we are preparing large-format historical photographs, excerpts from the local historical chronicle, excerpts from interviews with eye-witnesses, banners, a theatre play, costumes and, of course, traditional village refreshments in the form of home-made sourdough bread with salt as tradition demands and much more.
This project takes on the task of connecting its forces in the creation, communication and support of the concept of lifelong education. We can imagine what not only young people, but also the generation of eye-witnesses are dealing with today. The situation in the world is constantly changing and brings about many questions and people stopped looking for answers within themselves but reach for the mass media, look outside for answers and to the media for distraction. Working with hands brings peace and harmony. Connecting with a specific place and specific people brings a sense of belonging and reduces fear of the unknown. Sharing experiences as well as listening and communicating can help people build on our cultural heritage – on a history of which we can be proud, on the Europe in whose heart we rightfully belong. It is not for nothing that they say: “Golden Czech hands!”. Each of us is a creator and together we create our present and future.