The Southwest Region held a Sathya Sai Education in Human Values (SSEHV) Training in early September in Phoenix, Arizona. The Training was lovingly facilitated by instructors Kalika Grana (Director of ISSE-USA), Beth Clark, Doris Hampton, and Jan DiSanti.

SSEHV is based on Educare, the “drawing out of the innate potential of goodness in a person”, and is implemented in the general community, without reference to religions or belief in God.  The goal of the SSEHV Training is to inspire and equip individuals from any profession to facilitate human excellence and draw goodness from within individuals in a variety of venues, whether in group homes, schools, shelters, prisons or businesses. The three-day training included experiential and interactive sessions for the trainees to help transform the mind, body and spirit.

One principle was stressed repeatedly: Each teacher/guide is expected to be an exemplar of the values - and to explore the practical application of their commitments to these values. Sai Baba gave paramount importance to this principle: “Those who seek to impart the values of Truth, Love, Peace, Right Conduct, and Non-Violence to others must first practice them themselves wholeheartedly.” Participants experienced laughter, comradery, and love, as they worked through the practical applications of the Values. One participant reflected, “I watched the SSEHV faculty members closely, and observed their ability to express love very naturally.”

Some trainees had implemented SSEHV previously in a modified form in a halfway house, with profound and lasting results. An inspired Course 2 trainee commented, “A deepening aspect of Course 2 was learning how to create a series of lessons that incorporate human values around a particular theme and offer them as a workshop. The workshop format is very useful when working with adults, especially at halfway houses, transitional-living houses or sober-living houses that provide programmatic classes while providing living spaces for their clients.  My hope is to create a 6 to 8-week workshops on "leadership" that a halfway house could use.”