Xiomara Getrouw Continues to do well in Athletics

By Jonathan Liu-- AMA Senior

Xiomara Getrouw a 17 year old student of AlphaMax Academy who has been inspired by her mother to become an athlete.  She started her journey to become a great athlete when she was six year old. She always aims to achieve  the best in every sports she compete and always thinks positive Among her recent achievements was her selection to represent Suriname  the 2010 Miami Half Marathon.

Last October she was a member of the team of athletes representing Suriname in the International Guyanese Games held in Suriname. Suriname, Guyana, and    French – Guyana, participated in the competition. Xiomara won the 4^th place the female 6km time trial on October 21.  Later in the games, on the 23^rd October, she was third in the female long distance run (35 km).

Xiomara says that she was very keen to compete with the athletes from Guyana and French Guyana athlete in the competition. Before the competition she had set her mind to do her best and to win her events as all great athletes do.

After the competition she felt pleased with her performance although she did not win first prizes.

Xiomara plans to   enter soon national cycling competitions .She is also training for the Srefidensi marathon and this year’s Miami Half Marathon

To Us; Reann Kersenhout's First Prize Speech in Tagore Art Competition

Reann Kersenhout won the first prize for prose in the Junior section of the National Tagore Art competition held in May 2011. This is her speech.

To Us

            A great Sind once said, “Forced as we are to live in a society which is itself tyrannical, and which cannot always be gainsaid, I was often obliged to concede what I did not believe in, but what others around me insisted on.  But I always had it in my mind to create an atmosphere.”  This Sind, who goes by the name of Rabindranath Tagore, awakened us to acknowledge the difficulties that lie ahead.  One of these difficulties is grasping our freedom. 

            Freedom from greed, fear, anger, and narrow-minded convictions is a challenge we need to face.  Because we are surrounded and influenced by illusions and walls even in our own society, it reaches our inmost being.  Yet our thoughts, our feelings, our truth should not be trapped; as long as that is free we can all escape. 

But what is freedom? Freedom is not an object, and therefore “free from” is different from “freedom”.  It all starts with the “freedom of mind”, the thoughts, the sensitivity, the awareness.  To allow your moral thoughts to wander freely and guide you, it would mean that you have mastered one of the basic senses of freedom.  And it is because you allow these thoughts in, you will realize that disciplining yourself is also a form of freedom.  Being free means upholding the truth, for only then can you really face the lies that form a blinded vision.  It will also make you see that freedom is not only what is desired, but being able to control that desire.  Naturally freedom brings peace for it satisfies an inner calmness.  This and many more are the inner realms we are looking for.  But we should not look far into vanity to search for our freedom, for Nature is constantly reminding us that freedom is right here to allow us to change for the better; to strive for perfection.  Nature, with its very grace, is telling us through the changing of the days that we have a new chance everyday to become better.  In fact we receive freedom from the universe; we just need to appreciate and allow ourselves to connect with it. 

Strangely enough, the restrictions that do not permit us to be free are of our own doing.  Somehow we have allowed our thoughts to become corrupted and have therefore created systems that confine us.  Generations pass, and now the illusions are controlling- or even worse -shaping us.  Look at education, for example. The task of guiding our children’s knowledge and development has become too much concerned with whether you understand the text rather than becoming wise in life.  Yes, even education is part of the difficulty, but it is not only education. What about laws?  What is it based on these days? Do free people, free minds need law? The creation of such restrictions is due to the belief that we were not free.  Free people are never really concerned with just law but with justice, which should be what law is based on.  And this justice is really found in our own inner court, in our moral consciousness, which brings us back to the freedom of mind. 

Although we are at this stage of the world, we should not degrade ourselves.  We could for example, redeem ourselves from a “tyrannical society” by creating an atmosphere.  But what exactly is the atmosphere?  It is the energy glowing from us, encouraging our thoughts to direct itself in a direction that will show us our path of freedom.  And to create an atmosphere is to create a space that will allow us to do this.  A great way to apply this atmosphere is in education in order to start with the children.  This is what it is about, educating our children in the free way so they can create a better tomorrow. 

 There are certain reasons why people such as Tagore come and bring us something.  He reminded us that there are ways to improve.  And that is freedom; it is a chance to get better.    So now we as humankind, as children of the Universe, are at a new age, and are asked to accept this chance.    The real question is: will we do it?  Will we stay in our confined space, or shall we head in a new direction? Change is something that will always happen, but the only thing to do is to change to become perfect; to become free.   It is true that we are facing growing challenges, and major successes.   It is therefore our job to get rid of the foolishness of the world, and bring a proud, unified, and free name to our Age. 

AlphaMax wins twelve awards in Tagore Art Competition

AlphaMax Academy students and staff did extremely well in the national Tagore Art Competition winning twelve awards.

The competition, which was launched in May 2011 by the Suriname Tagore Celebrations Committee, attracted more than 135 entries from students and adults in Suriname. Judges for the national competitions included members of the Schrijvers Group'77, Art Vibes United, and the University of Suriname. There were more than 75 creative writing and art entries from students attending schools in Paramaribo, Wanica, and Commewijne.

The prestigious Tagore Art Competition was launched to mark the 150^`" Birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, the first non-European and person of color to win a Nobel Prize (1912). Born in 1861, Tagore was a prolific writer, dramatist, poet, artist, philosopher, and international humanist. Across the world, national and international competitions are being held to uphold values in creative excellence in celebration of Tagore.

Ivan A. Khayiat  (a pseudonym for one of our teachers) won the first prize in the adult section for Poetry. With his poem “Msiba, My Love” Mahnaz Kohinory (Biology Teacher) won the adult first prize for prose with her short story-“Jane Could Dance”

First prize student winners were; Claire Patandin –English Prose Senior –for “my Encounter with Tagore’; Reann Kersenhout—English Prose Junior –for “To Us”; English Poetry Junior—Kristina Taylor –for “Reflections” and Shafeek Nazir –Art 12 +.

Other prizewinners were: Timothy Naarendorp, second prize in the Senior Prose division; Jonathan Lui, third prize in the Senior Prose division; Brienne Renfurm second in the Junior Prose division; Jason Hoppie third prize second in the Junior Prose division; Xiomara Getrouw second prize in the Poetry Division and Jason Jones third prize in the poetry division.

Ivan Khayiat's ' Msiba, My Love' wins First Prize in Tagore Awards

Ivan A. Khayiat’s ‘Msiba, My Love’ has won the first prize for poetry in the adult section of Suriname’s Tagore Art Competition.

The competition, which was launched in May 2011 by the Suriname Tagore Celebrations Committee, attracted more than 135 entries from students and adults in Suriname. Judges for the national competitions included members of the Schrijvers Group'77, Art Vibes United, and the University of Suriname.

The prestigious Tagore Art Competition was launched to mark the 150^`" Birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, the first non-European and person of color to win a Nobel Prize (1912). Born in 1861, Tagore was a prolific writer, dramatist, poet, artist, philosopher, and international humanist. Across the world, national and international competitions are being held to uphold values in creative excellence in celebration of Tagore.

Milton Drepaul in his foreword to the upcoming published edition describes the poem in this way:  ‘Msiba, My Love is not only a unique collection of poems but also a deeply moving plea for respect for mother earth, Suriname and its people…. It is a symphonic poem in three movements which profoundly explores the many layers of an economic and ecological crime that was committed in Suriname in the 1960s.  In the name of progress a multi- national company together with the Dutch colonial government forcibly removed   thriving Maroon communities from their ancestral homes to create the Afobaka hydro electric dam.”

Ivan A. Khayiat, B.S., M.A., is an educator, media specialist, avid environmental observer, and a published writer.

Ivan was born in Guyana and attended Queen's College. He later studied in the US doing undergraduate and graduate degrees in Communications and Literature.

Ivan Khayiat is a passionate writer on environment issues. He lives in South America near to the rain forest. His books of poetry include "Quest by Day”, “Forest Tears" and” Msiba-My Love".

Reflections by Kristina Taylor

This the Prize Winning  Entry for Junior Poetry in Suriname's Tagore Art Competition 2011

 Kristina Taylor

Reflections

Confronted with the horror of modern days,

I often think to create a better tomorrow,

As corruption imprisons us in a maze,

My eyes start to fill with sorrow.

So, I often travel to an unknown land

Which not many journey to see,

For too few in these times can understand

How enchanted peace and harmony can be.

As the trees reach up to the blue sky surround me

The sage of Sind keeps me company;

Amid natural steams, peace and simplicity

We speak freely of mysteries that set all living souls free:

For this fair land which too few have found,

Waits for all who want to be unbound!

Jason Jones' Prize Winning Poem in Tagore Competition

This is the third prize winning entry in the School  Poetry Section of the Tagore Art Competition in Suriname –May 2011

The Biggest Problem in the World by Jason Jones

The biggest problem in the world.

Is the lack of love.

If we have love, we have everything we need.

If we have love we automatically have,

 Respect ,honesty and almost everything,

That will make the world a better place.

If we have respect that means,

That there will be no more wars.

We will respect each other and there will be only peace.

If we have honesty that means,

We're going to have honest governments.

And there will be no more rich and poor.

But we all will unite as ONE.

A Better World by Xiomara Getrouw

                               

Second Prize Winner in The Tagore Art Competition --Schools

A Better World by  Xiomara Getrouw

A better world

We can make a better world

When telling people about God (Holy Spirit)

and pulling them out of the mud

When we give cove with a pure heart

We can make a better world

By being color blind

Respecting everyone by being kind

Wether black or white, poor or rich

We can make a better world

When we realize we have no other place

Only here our children could be save

and a bright future can be made

This earth must be treated as it should

Give all the love to each other

To make this place a better world.

Four Questions For Rabindranath Tagore and His Answers

Timothy Naarendorp’s  Essay which won him the second prize in the Senior Division of the Tagore National Art Competition held in May 2011 in Suriname

Four Questions For Rabindranath Tagore and His Answers

People often feel at peace e when they are surrounded by nature. That’s why one particular man wrote and commented on the world of Nature. Rabinranath Tagore was born in British India, where he lived from 1861-1941. He was a musician, painter, novelist, and other great things. He was also the first non-European to be awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. Tagore started writing poems at the age of eight and published his first on at sixteen. He was the youngest son of Debendranath Tagore, a leader of the BrahmoSamaj, which was a new religious section in the nineteenth-century Bengal and which attempted a revival of the ultimate monestic basis of Hinduism as laid down in the Upanishads. Mr. Tagore there are four questions I’d like to ask you. I’d be glad if you were to answer them.

Timothy: “Tagore would you say that children from your time or age were more capable of understanding each other that the time or age I live in”?

R.Tagore : In my time people didn’t really know much about technology as you do today. We would take our time to read a book or do an activity that we like. We would play outside and interact with one another. But nowadays I see you young people with all your new and fancy technology. Sitting in a corner, fighting to understand that particular piece of metal or in front of the television all day long.If you young people want to understand each other better, you should put aside the distractions of the modern world for a second and connect with each other.

Timothy : “Why do children in the end never speak their  minds when it comes to certain important things?”

R. Tagore : “Every child has her or his own way of thinking at a certain age. Children in my time were better at speaking their minds. Because everyone was connected in a way, but there were those who just let go of certain important things. And what I see in your time is that some children have the nature to be nosy and ask every little detail until the end. Others are taught to behave and not be a bother to others, whereas a few just feel not saying anything would be better. So what you have to do is show them that every little detail they think about that is being discussed is of importance, even if it were something stupid, which is what I have seen in every school that there is nowadays.

Timothy : “They say that text-books made by missionaries themselves poison the minds of children . if that is the case, where would a child learn the things he or she will need in the near future.?”

R. Tagore : It’s true, if you look at a number of books you will find that what is written in them are not how it appears after finding out the truth. I have seen it over these many years, it still continues, people love playing games with other people, thinking that they are superior then the other. So they write lies in whatever way they can, to keep you away from the truth. But I know the truth that’s why I did everything and am still abiding to it. What you as the next generation of youngsters have to do is not letting anyone think that way. Everyone is equal to another; no one stands above the other. And if a child is taught the wrong way in live, you should help that child in whatever way you can.

Timothy : “Would you say that evil is bad? Because without evil there would beno good, just like the missionaries who with the text-books poison the minds of children who are taught out of them? There will be people who are going to correct them like you.”

R. Tagore :Now, I wouldn’t say that they are evil, but what they are doing should not be. Why do they do does things just to gain something better that others. It is true that without evil there would be no good, but if you keep going in the bad direction you’ll end up falling untilthere’s no more helping you. And the people in you time easily end up falling off the path they choose, by looking at others wanting what others have. If something must come to you, it will in time. So please just patiently wait for what is yours.

I learned a lot from reading a few stories about Tagore’s life and what he has done in his life. Tagore wasn’t someone who got into university or any other high ranking scholar title. He was just a normal man like any of us, went into Mother Nature to become one with it. Us people or at least most of us life our daily lives in technology. And all people do is make more of these fancy gadgets that only bring pain and damage to Mother Nature. People need to at least go into Nature once every two weekends, just to feel the difference of life in society and life in the outdoors. I for one am glad that I was able to learn about such a great man as Rabinranath Tagore. And I don’t just say it; thoughts like these where at the back of my head. So I am a bit relieved to bring them to the front.

Claire Patandin: My Encounter with Tagore

 This is the First Prize essay in the Senior High School section of the Tagore Art Competition held in May 2011 in Suriname.

                    My Encounter with Tagore by Claire Patandin

               On Thursday evening, I met Mr. Rabindranath Tagore in the park.  He was surrounded by children.  Screened by a jasmine bush, he was telling the toddlers about the importance of Nature.  Seeing him interact like that made me want to become a child again, on the lap of Nature enjoying everything she has to give.  He finished his tale and sent the children home.

               Aloud I recited my favorite paragraph from his work ‘To Teachers.’  “I believe that children should be surrounded by the things of Nature which have their own educational value.  Their mind should be allowed to stumble on and be surprised at everything that happens in the life to-day.  The new to-morrow will stimulate their attention with new facts of life.  This is best method for the child.  But what happens in school is, that everyday, at the same hour, the same book is brought and poured out in front of him.  His attention is never caught by chance surprises from Nature.”

Tagore heard me and asked me my name.  This was my opportunity, the one I thought I would never get: having an actual conversation with this intelligent thinker.  He gestured me to sit on one of the swings under the mango tree.  I sat down as we began talking and soon enough I got answers to some of the questions that were on my mind.

               I started off by asking him why he made these remarks in his speech.  He smiled and said: “This has a very simple answer.  Nature is your best teacher.  Nature is the easiest teacher to understand, but also the hardest.  The key to mastering Nature’s lessons is to be attentive.  You have to look with different eyes, hear with different ears, smell with a different nose, taste with a different tongue, and feel with different hands.  You have to be open to Nature if you are planning to learn something from her.  Nature does not provide you with a textbook, but makes you learn from experience.  That is truly the best way to learn anything in life.  You will always remember something better if you went through it.  You can read about it, but you do not know what it feels like.  And if you do not know the feeling, you cannot give any complete feedback on it.  This is why I say that the best method is going out and experiencing.”

As I thought to myself that he was right, another intriguing question popped into my head. “Mister Tagore,” I said “in your work ‘To Teachers’ you speak about the system in which we are all robots.  How or in what way can we change this system to make it more suitable?”

Again he smiled.  “That is a difficult question you are raising child.  I can tell you that this will be the most complicated task people must face.  But we cannot really change the system.  We can only change ourselves expecting that others will transform themselves too.  My hope is that all these changed people will team-up and do something about this problem we are experiencing now.  Schools are part of the system in which we are in.  It is part of the routine that we take out the same book at the same hour and do the same things all over and over again – 6 hours, five days a week.  It is difficult to break this cycle because people are already used to it.  The nation is part of this system and is rusted in this appalling cycle.  But changing the system does not mean that we have to throw our textbooks away, it just means that we should combine the passive learning with active experience by discovering things for ourselves.”

“Now that you have asked your questions I want to ask you one too.” Tagore said.  “Why of all paragraphs I wrote, did you choose that particular one?”

“This piece of writing interested me because that is how I picture it.  But in reality the opposite is true.  I totally agree with you.  I should say that it would be fun to learn while surrounded by Nature.  From experience I can tell that it is.  In our school we do not always have to sit inside, but we can choose to follow our classes outside as well.  I am aware that things learned in Nature stick better in your head than things learned while surrounded by four walls filled with technological devices.”

This was my last question and the end of our conversation.  I thanked him for being so kind and said I enjoyed our conversation.  I had the opportunity of a life time: the chance to connect to mind as powerful as his.  That is why I say thank you to Mister Rabindranath Tagore for inspiring me. 

AlphaMax Students Participate at the ICC Yoga Seminar

By Ruth Saman

On October 09, 2011, The Indian Cultural Centre, Paramaribo organized a yoga seminar on “Relevance of Yoga in Stress Management and Healthy Living.”  Nine spearkers– Swamini Krishna, Mr. Sean Taylor, Dr. Carmen Jaglall, Malty Sietaram, Mr. and Mrs. Krieshen and Sheetal Ramkhelawan and Mr. Tariq Sadiek, Mr.Almer Nascimento and Mrs. Savita Behari– shared their experience on different aspects of yoga and stress management.

Seven AlphaMax Academy students– Timothy Naarendorp, Melissa Lie, Kristina Taylor, Reann Kersenhout, Isabella Sew-A-Tjon, Ruth Saman, and Jason Hoppie– also participated in the yoga seminar.  We were invited to attend this seminar to give a quick yoga demonstration.  This demonstration consisted of different yoga postures.  Before our demonstration, Mr.Taylor gave a presentation about “Yoga and Education.”  

To get an abstract of his presentation, please visit http://alphamax-news.blogspot.com/2011/10/yoga-and-education.html.

My First Experience with Nature: Bosbivak

Last Easter two groups of students ( one male, the other female) went to a nature camp at   the Bosbivak Nationaal Leger’s camp.  from April 16^th – 20^th, 2011.  30 Academy high school students and teachers took part in the camp where they learned preliminary camp training and  survival skills.  

The camp for boys / males took  place from April 16^th – 18^th, and  the one for the girls / females, took place on April 18^th – 20^th.  The camp and training experience was under the direction of Staff Sergeant Lucien Vroom,.

Below is an account of the impact of this experience by High School student Jason Hoppie. This essay won the third prize  in the Junior prose category in the Tagore Art Competition held in may, 2011.

Jason Hoppie                                                                                                                                        
                                                                    
                                      My First Experience with Nature: Bosbivak

                       “I believe that children should be surrounded with the things of Nature which have their own educational value. Their mind should be allowed to stumble on and be surprised at everything that happens in life to-day. The new to-morrow will stimulate their attention with new facts of life. This is best method for the child. But what happens in a school is, that every day, at the same hour, the same book is brought and poured for him. His attention is never hit by chance surprises from Nature.”

                       I especially admire the ideas in this paragraph because of my encounter with nature a few weeks ago at Bosbivak in the forest of Suriname. Actually it is so that today adults and children in general are not interested with the things of nature like they should. I make this statement because at first when I heard about the camping trip, I was not interested, but later, with great consideration and my principal’s encouragement, I agreed to have this experience. Just being out there away from everything in the city and experiencing nature first hand made me realize that it is something that no book could have taught me. One needed the experience to actually agree with this statement. There is so much that can be taught in one day and surprisingly, it is not like learning from a textbook because when you see the animals, trees, insects, and a lesson is taught upon each, it is difficult to forget because it is an encounter with nature.

                       Personally I did not know that there were so many harmful insects that normally I would take for granted. There are so many trees in the jungle that can actually be used as medicine to cure various sicknesses, but many of us will never know because we are not interested in nature. If given the opportunity to camp out once again in the pure serenity of nature, I would agree immediately and not think twice about it because as the old epigram which one of my instructors kept repeating at camp was, “One will die faster in the city than in the jungle.”

                       I think experiencing nature is the best method for a child, because it opens his or her mind. An experience with nature is miraculous, pulchritudinous and serene. Nature can teach a child several lessons. Tagore gave up learning to spend time experiencing the fullness of nature. Because Tagore experienced nature and learned many things from it, it opened his mind, and he was able to write some of the best poems in the world.

                       Some schools teach nature studies, but doing this in the city does not really enlighten a child’s mind unless that child gets the opportunity to spend time in the jungle. I personally can give account of this, because I did nature studies, but I can say that spending time in the jungle explained much more than I knew from books.

                       Tagore was right when he went into the jungle and wrote his poems because he was not talking from a book but he was writing from his personal encounter with nature and that gave his poetry more reality.

                       At first, I was afraid when I heard the various strange sounds at night, but then I realized that I am so accustomed to the busy city that I did not even have the time to enjoy what nature has to offer. Why was I afraid of sounds that the nocturnal insects and animals were making? This is purer and more natural than the cars and motorcycle that I hear in the city.

                        Each day at Bosbivak was a new experience for me. Never once was I bored. I learned something new every day and seeing that I want to be a pilot, I think this firsthand experience was excellent for me and I would not trade it for anything in the world.

                        I must thank Mr. Tagore for his inspiration and my principal for seeing beyond what many people actually know about life and nature.                 

                                                

Yoga and Education

Below is an Abstract  of the Presentation-- - "Yoga and Education"  done by Sean F. Taylor at an ICC sponsored seminar in Suriname on Sunday 2 Oct 2011

Yoga, as a system of exercise, is thousands of years old. (Archeological relics from Mohenjo-Daro attest to its antiquity.) Deeply rooted in personal experience or self-knowledge, yoga is simple, efficient, practical, and scientific.

Contrary to what many of her critics say, yoga is creedless — in no way confined or restricted to any faith or belief-system. Anyone can practice this step-by-step, systematized body of practices intended to unite and harmonize body, mind, and ethereal intelligence for wellness, wellbeing, happiness, peace, knowledge, and success. Through simple, methodical, and concentrated practice of yoga, one not only guides, one awakens deeply, harnessing the inner forces of his or her being. By willfully pooling and focusing the energies and forces within, the practitioners mental forces eventually become laser sharp — metaphorically-speaking, capable of cutting through difficulties, challenges, issues or concerns that he or she may face or be confronted with.

It is on account of the concrete development of laser-sharp skills of concentration and numerous ancillary benefits to the practitioner in this age of 'stress and haste' that yoga is of vital interest and importance to serious educators and students in a wide array of endeavors, enterprises, and fields of study.