kit volume xxiv no 1 april 2012 -highres 1-43mb

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Keep In Touch Newsletter Volume XXIV No 1 April 2012 The KIT Newsletter editorial staff welcomes all suggested contributions for publication in the Newsletter from subscribers and read- ers, but whether a given submission meets the criteria for publication is at the sole discretion of the editors. While priority will be given to original contributions by people with past Bruderhof connections, any letters, articles, or reports which the editors deem to be of historical or personal interest or to offer new perspectives on issues of particular relevance to the ex-Bruderhof Newsletter reader- ship may be included as well. The editors may suggest to the authors changes to improve their presentation. Have you made your KIT Newsletter subscription/donation payment this year? Please find details on last page. EURO KIT GATHERING IN ENGLAND JULY 2012 At Lower Shaw Farm, Old Shaw Lane, Swindon, Wiltshire. SN5 5PJ 3 DAYS from Friday afternoon 20 th July to after breakfast on Monday 23 rd July Main organizer: John Holland. Mobile telephone number: +44 (0) 7771 615 663. The local number is: +44(0)1 666 860 229 Joy MacDonald is co-ordinating both the collection of money and the allocation of rooms, but Tim Johnson in the USA has agreed to receive payment in US $ and Anthony Lord in Germany can receive Euros. Please make your booking with Joy who will pass on the details to Tim or Anthony, although you can also contact either of them by using the details at the back of the Newsletter. We are requesting £10, or $10, or €10 as a deposit. Email - [email protected] Address - Foxglen, Pinemount Road, Camberley, Surrey, GU15 2LU, UK Telephone number - 01276 26938 Details for those wishing to make Bank Transfers: Lloyds TSB plc Camberley, Mr R and Mrs J MacDonald, Sort Code- 30 64 37 Account number 13925568 The cost per person for the whole weekend is £100 or $160 or €120 if staying at Lower Shaw Farm - or for day attendees the cost per person is £30 or $50 or €35 for the whole weekend. We are hoping that a few people might wish to add a little extra money whi ch would allow us to help subsidise others who might need help with the above costs. We will have a Drinks Bar with a variety of alcoholic drinks, very reasonably priced with a “pay as you drink” honesty collection box! We also hope to arrange a coach trip for a few hours on Saturday around some interesting Cotswold sites and countryside in this most beautiful part of England. If anyone would like to stay at Lower Shaw Farm for longer, before and/or after the weekend, could you contact John who lives very near and will make whatever arrangements are needed? Please pass all the above information on to anyone who might be interested Contents EURO KIT GATHERING IN ENGLAND JULY 2012 1 Erratum: Migg’s birthday 1 Titterstone and Wheathill Walking in June 2012 1 KIT Newsletter Account 2011 2 No Training Encouragement After School 2 Margot Purcell Manages the KIT Address List 2 Norah Allain Died at Peace 3 Teresa Hsu Regarded as The Mother Teresa of Singapore 4 Andy Barth in Memory 6 Laurenz Braun 1936 2011 7 Helly Braun Died Suddenly 8 Hutterites Have a Lot to Teach the Bruderhof 9 Ramon Sender Emperor of The Realm on April 1st 2012 9 Childhood Memories of Primavera, Paraguay Part 4 10 8. Oh Heart, Where Are You Going Part 2 13 Nadine Pleil’s Autobiography Translated into German 16 KIT Newsletter Contact Details 16 ____________________________________________________ Erratum KIT: Emil (Migg) Fischli’s next birthday is on June, 27 th 2012. He then will be ninety-six. In the last KIT Newsletter we pub- lished a wrong date. Sorry for that! Just the same, we want to wish Migg the very best at all times! Titterstone and Wheathill Walking By Andy Harries In June, 2012 Gudrun and I are going to visit Wheathill. I am planning to do a bit of walking. We will be there for three days staying at B&B; we will be there Wed 13 th , Thursday 14 th and Friday 15 th of June. I will be leading a walk on the 13 th , going up Callow Lane to the top of Titterstone. There, amongst the boul- ders we will have a snack to enjoy the view towards Bromdon; then on across the moor to Cleeton St Mary and on to the Beech- Wood, as we knew it. We will stop there for a picnic (we might even play robbers and princesses if anybody feels young enough). Then on down to Silvington village, have a look at the famous Church, then back via Love Lane and the top of the Banks fields. The 14 th can be a day for people to have a look at our old haunts or go to Ludlow, or anywhere else. The 15 th I am hoping to have a go at walking up Brown Burf, which I don't yet know so well we might be able to include Nordy Bank in that. Gudrun is not able to walk so much, so she will be making up another group of those who would like to have a more sedentary look around Wheathill. Linda had volunteered to join Gudrun and help with any transport needed. If anybody is interested you can let me know, my telephone number 01264 353800 and address are in the KIT address book.

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b) High res. EURO KIT GATHERING IN ENGLAND – JULY 2012 At Lower Shaw Farm, Old Shaw Lane, Swindon, Wiltshire. SN5 5PJ 3 DAYS – from Friday afternoon 20th July to after breakfast on Monday 23rd July. Main organizer: John Holland. Mobile telephone number: +44 (0) 7771 615 663. The local number is: +44(0)1 666 860 229

TRANSCRIPT

Keep In Touch Newsletter Volume XXIV No 1 April 2012 The KIT Newsletter editorial staff welcomes all suggested contributions for publication in the Newsletter from subscribers and read-

ers, but whether a given submission meets the criteria for publication is at the sole discretion of the editors. While priority will be

given to original contributions by people with past Bruderhof connections, any letters, articles, or reports which the editors deem to be

of historical or personal interest or to offer new perspectives on issues of particular relevance to the ex-Bruderhof Newsletter reader-

ship may be included as well. The editors may suggest to the authors changes to improve their presentation.

Have you made your KIT Newsletter subscription/donation payment this year? Please find details on last page.

EURO KIT GATHERING IN ENGLAND – JULY 2012 At Lower Shaw Farm, Old Shaw Lane, Swindon, Wiltshire. SN5 5PJ

3 DAYS – from Friday afternoon 20th

July to after breakfast on Monday 23rd

July

Main organizer: John Holland. Mobile telephone number: +44 (0) 7771 615 663. The local number is: +44(0)1 666 860 229

Joy MacDonald is co-ordinating both the collection of money and the allocation of rooms, but Tim Johnson in the USA has agreed to

receive payment in US $ and Anthony Lord in Germany can receive Euros. Please make your booking with Joy who will pass on the

details to Tim or Anthony, although you can also contact either of them by using the details at the back of the Newsletter.

We are requesting £10, or $10, or €10 as a deposit.

Email - [email protected]

Address - Foxglen, Pinemount Road, Camberley, Surrey, GU15 2LU, UK

Telephone number - 01276 26938

Details for those wishing to make Bank Transfers: Lloyds TSB plc Camberley,

Mr R and Mrs J MacDonald, Sort Code- 30 64 37 Account number 13925568

The cost per person for the whole weekend is £100 or $160 or €120 if staying at Lower Shaw Farm - or for day attendees the cost per

person is £30 or $50 or €35 for the whole weekend. We are hoping that a few people might wish to add a little extra money which

would allow us to help subsidise others who might need help with the above costs.

We will have a Drinks Bar with a variety of alcoholic drinks, very reasonably priced with a “pay as you drink” honesty collection

box! We also hope to arrange a coach trip for a few hours on Saturday around some interesting Cotswold sites and countryside in this

most beautiful part of England.

If anyone would like to stay at Lower Shaw Farm for longer, before and/or after the weekend, could you contact John who lives very

near and will make whatever arrangements are needed?

Please pass all the above information on to anyone who might be interested

Contents

EURO KIT GATHERING IN ENGLAND – JULY 2012 1

Erratum: Migg’s birthday 1

Titterstone and Wheathill Walking in June 2012 1

KIT Newsletter Account 2011 2

No Training Encouragement After School 2

Margot Purcell Manages the KIT Address List 2

Norah Allain Died at Peace 3

Teresa Hsu –Regarded as The Mother Teresa of Singapore 4

Andy Barth in Memory 6

Laurenz Braun 1936 – 2011 7

Helly Braun Died Suddenly 8

Hutterites Have a Lot to Teach the Bruderhof 9

Ramon Sender Emperor of The Realm on April 1st 2012 9

Childhood Memories of Primavera, Paraguay – Part 4 10

8. Oh Heart, Where Are You Going – Part 2 13

Nadine Pleil’s Autobiography Translated into German 16

KIT Newsletter – Contact Details 16

____________________________________________________

Erratum

KIT: Emil (Migg) Fischli’s next birthday is on June, 27th

2012.

He then will be ninety-six. In the last KIT Newsletter we pub-

lished a wrong date. Sorry for that! Just the same, we want to

wish Migg the very best at all times!

Titterstone and Wheathill Walking

By Andy Harries

In June, 2012 Gudrun and I are going to visit Wheathill. I am

planning to do a bit of walking. We will be there for three days

staying at B&B; we will be there Wed 13th

, Thursday 14th

and

Friday 15th

of June. I will be leading a walk on the 13th

, going up

Callow Lane to the top of Titterstone. There, amongst the boul-

ders we will have a snack to enjoy the view towards Bromdon;

then on across the moor to Cleeton St Mary and on to the Beech-

Wood, as we knew it. We will stop there for a picnic (we might

even play robbers and princesses if anybody feels young

enough). Then on down to Silvington village, have a look at the

famous Church, then back via Love Lane and the top of the

Banks fields.

The 14th

can be a day for people to have a look at our old

haunts or go to Ludlow, or anywhere else. The 15th

I am hoping

to have a go at walking up Brown Burf, which I don't yet know

so well — we might be able to include Nordy Bank in that.

Gudrun is not able to walk so much, so she will be making up

another group of those who would like to have a more sedentary

look around Wheathill. Linda had volunteered to join Gudrun

and help with any transport needed.

If anybody is interested you can let me know, my telephone

number 01264 353800 and address are in the KIT address book.

Keep In Touch Newsletter 2 Vol. XXIV No 1 April 2012

KIT Newsletter Account 2011

By Joy MacDonald

Three KIT Newsletters were produced in April, September and

December of 2011 and sent to 200 subscribers. The total expens-

es were £ 875 or approximately $1,395. And the total balance as

of 31st December 2011 is £572, approximately equivalent to

$912.

The money was used entirely for producing and mailing the

Newsletter. There are still a number of people who do not con-

tribute and there was some discussion about this at our last

Friendly Crossways gathering in August 2011, some people sug-

gesting we should remove them from our mailing list, but most

of us felt strongly that we should continue sending to people who

wish to Keep In Touch and we also know there are some folk

who may have financial difficulties. However, we would of

course encourage everyone to support us by contributing.

This was also the year in which Erdmuthe and Linda pro-

duced the Primavera DVD. In total sixty were sold and I will be

bringing some DVD’s to our forthcoming KIT gathering at Low-

er Shaw Farm in July.

Finally, as I mentioned in December’s KIT Newsletter,

Raphael Vowles has very kindly agreed to take over collection of

KIT subscriptions in the U.K, and also the end-of-year combined

accounts. Please refer to the last page of each KIT Newsletter for

the contact details of where to send your subscriptions.

No Training Encouragement

After School

By Linda Lord Jackson

KIT. On Hummer there was a discussion beginning of this year

about the schooling and education of children brought up in

Primavera. A question came up about whether they all were giv-

en a chance for training after that. Linda Lord Jackson wrote in-

terestingly about her very typical experience which KIT is pub-

lishing below. Several others could tell a similar story.

I left school aged fifteen – without any form of school leaving

certificate. (Instead of Sexto Grado, I studied for the GCE – the

English leavers certificate (my Granny paid for the correspond-

ence course) – with Eve Vigar, Judy Jory and Mark Trapnell, but

was unable to take the GCE exam. We had been booked to take

the exams at exactly the same time as kids in England (to avoid

cheating). But some uprising in Asunción closed the embassy at

that point. Judy and Eve were rushed to England to take the ex-

am, Mark and I missed out. Had I but realised it, I could have

taken it when I went to England a few years later.

From ages fifteen to eighteen our age group still on the hof

worked during the day, and attended Fortbildungsschule (further

training curse) in the evenings – not necessarily on the same hof.

I travelled with others to Ibaté (by then I worked in Isla) for ses-

sions with George Vigar. Can’t remember any of the other tutors

or the subjects, but George gave me a brilliant reference as a re-

sult, which helped when I tried to get into college, aged twenty

three, with no school leavers certificates.

At eighteen – officially for training, again at Mum’s insist-

ence, and my Granny’s expense, I travelled to England. Once

there, no mention of training was made; I was “helped” to find a

job. In twelve months I had three different ones, not managing to

keep them long: the first one at a children’s home in Gerrards

Cross. There I cracked a bone in my leg, went back to Bulstrode

from the hospital, and never went back to the job. I don’t really

know what happened about that. Next one was mother’s help

with a posh Jewish family in Hendon – Phil and Bee dropped off

my case there the following day. I had to scrub the carpets after

they stood inside the door in muddy farm boots. I lost that one,

as I refused to go on holiday to Italy with them to look after the

kids. I had already figured out I was being exploited, and work-

ing far too many hours for a pittance. I had to get the children up,

care for them all day. Once they were in bed, I washed and

ironed their clothes, cleared up the kitchen and their play room,

and had to stay in as “babysitter” as the parents were either out,

or entertaining. I got one afternoon off from 11:00am to 7:00pm,

Saturday I think, while the children went to some Jewish meet-

ing. In the local park, chatting to the other nannies, I soon found

out that I was doing too much for too little money!

After about twelve months, in a job or at Bulstrode or

Wheathill, came the great exodus from Primavera. By then I had

my third job as an assistant nurse in a London children’s hospital

– not in training though, I needed school leavers certificates for

that.

I have just found letters my Granny wrote to Mum and Dad

asking why I was not starting any training during that time. I

wish Granny had told me, I might have gone to live with them,

and got some exams and training, which is what I had wanted to

do. As it was, it took me through the first years of my marriage

until I was thirty five to get properly qualified, while working

part time. Even then, I only got accepted in college due to

George Vigar’s good report, and an IQ test.

I eventually got a teaching certificate for special schools, a

German fellowship, an Open University Degree (taken at home

while my children were little), then a post grad teaching Diplo-

ma. Since then I have studied various things like IT [information

technology], basic computer programming, (I wrote several pro-

grams to help children with specific problems) languages, elec-

tronics, as part of my career as a teacher of pupils with learning

disabilities, ages two to nineteen.

I really would have liked to have gone to University though,

and studied alongside other young people. As it was it took me a

long time to get acknowledged in the job market as actually hav-

ing a brain.

That is a very basic overview of my experience.

I agree with other Primavera sabras; we had a good basic ed-

ucation, just no way of proving it to make progress “in the out-

side”. But we also learned to be resourceful, and learned good

survival skills, both in practical ways, and “mentally”. We were

not accustomed to having much – even if we owned something

special, we knew it could be taken off us “on a whim” because

someone else’s need for it was supposedly greater: My violin –

bought and sent to me by my Granny – was taken from me, as it

had a good tone, and my music teacher thought it suited her

daughter better. However, she soon decided her daughter was not

suited to play violin in the orchestra at that time, and I got it

back, and was “allowed” to play in the orchestra! I still have that

lovely violin.

KIT Address List Please note that MARGOT PURCELL has now taken over the

KIT Newsletter Address List and distribution details. Any

changes should be sent to her in future. See back page for contact

details.

Margot is also managing the published KIT Address List, so

again please let her know if you change any details, including

asking to be included in or removed from the published list.

Linda Lord Jackson

Keep In Touch Newsletter 3 Vol. XXIV No 1 April 2012

Norah Allain Died at Peace

By Jean-Pierre Allain and brothers and sisters

Our mother, Norah C. Keeping Allain, born in Exeter on July

14th

1915, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday, 3rd

April 2012. She was almost ninety-seven. She was buried next to

our father, Roger Allain, in the cemetery in Vinhedo, Brazil, on

April 4th

.

Mother had been very frail for quite a long time, suffering

from no particular illness, but from indigestion, sores, pains. She

was too weak to walk or to do anything. She was mentally

aware, but her mind strayed often and it was hard to have any

conversation with her. She had two nurses taking care of her, as

well as Cristina, our youngest sister, and her daughter Ana

Maria, 19.

She will be sorely missed, for she was the magnet that

brought us all together at Innisfree, my parents home in Brazil.

Despite her failing short-term memory, she talked about some of

you often and had very fond memories of you.

Memorial for a Close Friend

By Annelies Allain

Memorials are common in a number of religions. A Buddhist

friend of ours just did prayers for her father who died about a

month ago. Such prayers are specifically prescribed: first every

seven days, then by month, then by year. The Buddhist priests

tell them when and how. It is a kind of traditional spacing of

mourning...

I wanted to do something like that for Norah just once and found

this poem in French. I really liked the words, the rhythm, the

peace in it. If you know French just read it aloud and you'll see

what I mean. Since Norah was connected to France in a number

of ways, I thought it was appropriate. For those of you who don't

understand French, I have translated it without making it rhyme,

just adapting it to Norah’s life and personality. The photo was

taken in January 2011, the last time I saw her.

Going through our copy of Norah’s own poems (typed up by

Clara and Isabel) and her unfinished autobiography I did not find

any poem suitable for her own memorial. But it is amazing how,

while raising all her children and running a household, she man-

aged to find time to write letters and poetry, to study UFOs, Jung

psychology, New Age books and Seth, etc. She wrote more

about nature, love and living so I stuck with Aragon in French.

I hope it catches some of her spirit, her musings while gardening,

her dreaming and floating away even in the middle of all of us

having "tea"; she was like a song lost somewhere between Brazil

and England.

She was a good friend to me and I loved her very much.

Remembering Norah and Roger Allain

Christrose Sumner to Hummer, April 3rd

: Susan and I visited

Norah in September 2005 and stayed a few days at Innisfree. It

was a lovely visit. Roger and Norah used to visit the UK fairly

frequently. I remember my children being delighted to find this

little granny type person happily ensconced in a top bunk-bed;

another time I found her doing sprightly exercises on my living-

room floor, as if she were a three or four decades younger. By

the time we visited her in Brazil, her physical capabilities were

falling off, though her mental acuity was great.

Whenever she visited, it was a great pleasure to take her over

to Belinda's, a chance to listen to their reminiscences and joy in

each other's company. My thoughts are with her very considera-

ble family, in the loss of such a wonderful mother and grand-

mother.

Phil Hazelton to Hummer, April 3

rd: It is hard to be thankful for

news of someone's passing, except that the alternative – not hear-

ing – is worse.

I don't even know where to begin recounting all the many

wonderful times and visits I shared with Norah and before that

Roger and Norah at Innisfree over the years. It all started back in

1973 when I was in Paraguay with my young (and, at that time,

about to grow by one more) family and ran into Roger Allain and

Walter Braun in a popular Asunción restaurant (somewhere on

the Plaza Uruguaya, I believe). From there our families were

very close and we visited them all at Innisfree quite regularly un-

til the death of my own wife, Lee (who made the drawing and

wrote out Yates' poem to hang in their Innisfree living room cum

library). I hope it is still there.

With Norah no subject was ever verboten and she was a wise

and insightful connoisseur of the human soul and psyche. With

Roger I roved the surrounding - and evermore chopped up -

countryside every morning at dawn, returning to a lovely break-

fast on the porch and looking down and out towards the farm and

garden which Norah tended with such love and devotion and

skill, no matter how vertical the sunbeams rose to be! Our con-

versations roamed widely and often well into the spiritual and

even esoteric realms, before coming back to family and relation-

ships and friendships and the ever consuming “state of the

world”.

Please pass on my personal thanks - posthumously - on to

dear Norah and Roger and the encompassing family. I know that

Innisfree will always be there for us to visit and remember them

with love and gratitude.

“Peace I ask of thee, o River; peace, peace, peace...”

Ramon Sender to Hummer, April 3rd

: So sorry to learn of

Norah's reassignment off-planet. We kept up a lively corre-

spondence for many years, and also I hunted down and provided

her with many Seth books by her favorite author, Jane Roberts.

Now I wish I had kept a separate file of her correspondence, but

have a feeling it's jumbled by year in various grocery bags in the

attic.

Norah was a spiritually awakened and perceptive person. We

only met once – in London when Judy and I travelled to a KIT

conference – but I formed a strong impression of a no-nonsense

woman with firm opinions, many of which I shared.

Keep In Touch Newsletter 4 Vol. XXIV No 1 April 2012

70ties: Norah and Roger Allain in front of their house at Innisfree.

If everything that my current favorite Near Death Experience au-

thor reports is correct – and I have a feeling that it is – then

Norah and Roger are once more basking in one another's

presences. Amazing!

I posted something about the above-mentioned author a few

days ago – but here is a direct link: www.anitamoorjani.com

[Dying to Be Me – by Anita Moorjani].

Susan Suleski to Hummer, April 4

th: Norah was an exceptional

woman, as were so many of her generation who joined the

Bruderhof – they had a dream and they pursued it, for which I

honour them! Norah was wonderfully feisty, intelligent and per-

ceptive, warm and generous.

Erdmuthe Arnold: I got to know Norah and Roger only after we

all had left the Bruderhof – in the late 70s/early 80s. During a

Europe trip in 1977, Norah stayed in England visiting family and

friends, but Roger surprised me with a call on his arrival in

Frankfurt am Main, and I begged him to visit me in Bad Vilbel. I

took a short vacation from work, and together we travelled to see

other old Bruderhofers in southern Germany in my car; visiting

Waltraud and Gerhard Wiegand’s home in Braunsbach-Tier-

berg/Schwäbisch Hall, as well as Else and Herbert Sorgius in

Rottenburg-Weiler near Tübingen. On another visit four years

later, Roger and Norah again contacted friends from old Uru-

guayan times (Annemarie Rübens and Eva Weil) who didn’t feel

safe any longer in their exile country during the military dictator-

ship in Uruguay. Together we visited the Rhönbruderhof. It was

my first time visiting that historic place and the grave of my

grandfather Eberhard Arnold. – A good, lasting friendship with

Eva and her late husband Ernesto Kroch was a most positive re-

sult of that visit for me. That year, 1981, we also traveled up

north to visit my cousin Elisabeth and Hans Bohlken in

Oosterwolde. We had a wonderful time together with never end-

ing discussions about our past.

I visited Norah and Roger at their home, “Innisfree,” near

Vinhedo/Sao Paulo in November 1987, during which I got to

know Norah much better. I helped weeding and watering the

garden, harvesting, looking after the hens. Together we pealed

dry coffee beans and had many interesting talks. I’m thankful to

this day for our time together. I took back with me five or more

rolls of film with pictures of their wonderful surroundings, and

other parts in Brazil we visited. So many things reminded me of

my homeland, Paraguay!

I suppose we all feel most grateful towards this couple for

writing down their memories about Bruderhof life. Roger

Allain’s book “The Community That Failed” (published by Car-

rier pigeon Press © 1992 by The Peregrine Foundation) gives

abundant details about long passed times which otherwise

couldn’t be put into place correctly. Norah has published her Life

Story in the KIT Newsletter. Since there are no copies left of

Roger’s book, I would like to mention that Norah’s account can

be found in the KIT Newsletter No 12 December 1995, No 2

February 1996, No 3 March 1996, No 4 April 1996, No 3 March

1997, No 5 May 1997. A compilation of Norah’s Life Story can

be found in the Memoirs area of the KIT Open Archive. See

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KIT-exBruderhof-

CCI/files/Memoirs/

Teresa Hsu – Fondly Regarded as

The Mother Teresa of Singapore

By Erdmuthe Arnold

At a great age, Teresa Hsu (or Tsu – as we knew her in Pri-

mavera) died in Singapore on December 7th

, 2011. According to

different Family Lists in use by Housemothers in Primavera, Te-

resa was born on June 1st, 1912. This compassionate and active

woman was fondly known as The Mother Teresa of Singapore –

in honor of her charitable work for the poor and needy during the

decades after she left Primavera in 1961. The Straits Times in

Singapore, and also on line in Wikipedia, and in Singapore

Scenes Teresa’s death was reported and she was praised for her

unselfish work. Anyone who Google’s her name will be aston-

ished at the findings. Although – there are some details which

give pause to skeptics starting with a birth date of July 7th

1898!

On Hummer we discussed this and came to the conclusion that

the date known on the Bruderhof must be the correct one. But

this detail is of no importance and does not diminish Teresa’s un-

tiring dedication to her fellow men.

In the last decade of her life Teresa was recognized for her

tireless efforts on behalf of others. In 1994 she received the

Community Service Award by the Life Insurance Association for

her community service; she was named “Hero for Today” in

1997 by the Chinese-edition of the Readers Digest; in 1999 she

received a one-off Special Award at the Woman of the Year

award ceremony; In 2002, Teresa was given a Honorary Doctor-

ate from the Australian University of Southern Queensland; in

2003 she was honored with the Active Senior Citizen of the Year

Award from the Singapore Minister of State (Education, Com-

munity Development and Sport); in 2004 the Sporting Singapore

Inspiration Award from the Acting Minister for Community De-

velopment, Youth and Sports, was given for her devotion to the

teaching of yoga. A photography exhibition was held in 2005 to

honor Teresa’s life and work at the Mica Building, and in 2006

Teresa got the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Center’s

Special Recognition Award from The Deputy Prime Minister.

Keep In Touch Newsletter 5 Vol. XXIV No 1 April 2012

From Primavera times Teresa is remembered as a very devoted

nurse, working in the hospital operating theatre in Loma Hoby.

She had a special way of communicating with the Paraguayan

patients, and even would say she could speak and understand

their Guaraní language.

Early in 1961 Teresa was told that “her services were no

longer required.” As William Bridgwater wrote in the December

KIT Newsletter 2009 on page 3, “She was dropped off in Asun-

ción. … Singapore at the time was still ruled by the British, so

she approached the British Ambassador in town, asking for

help,” – and in the end she succeeded: The community paid for

her one-way-ticket to England.

I came across a letter by Teresa Hsu, published in Lee

Kleist’s Newsletter No 3 in 1962. There she states that she ar-

rived in Malaya on December 3rd

1961: “I am now for the time

being working in a new hospital with the Franciscan Sisters. …

It has 200 beds including a maternity ward of 50 beds, and a

nurse’s training school. It is quite well equipped already and we

are expecting further equipment donated by Germany and Aus-

tralia mainly. … The Sisters are very devoted to their work, as

they usually are, and they are a constant challenge to me. The pa-

tients who come are mostly poor and the languages used are

English, Tamil, Malay, and six kinds of Chinese. Of these I have

to learn three…”

MEMORIES OF TERESA HSU

By Elizabeth Bohlken

Teresa was in Wheathill when our family arrived in September

1953. Years earlier, she had met Vera Lindsay, a Physiotherapist,

either in a hospital or on the field with a Quaker organization

during a Chinese war. In Wheathill the work of Vera and Teresa

was greatly appreciated. Then an urgent call for medical help

came from Primavera. So Vera (with her two children Rohan and

Jean Margaret) and Teresa were sent to Paraguay.

After re-establishing contacts with Ex-Hofers in 1963 I heard

much about Teresa. She was very unhappy and upset when

Woodcrest decided to break up the hospital and give up the

Bruderhof in Loma Hoby. She could not understand why such a

needed place, built up with so many personal as well as commu-

nal sacrifices should be closed down by brothers far away in the

States. She protested and pleaded that at least a First Aid Post

should be left to help the Paraguayans and the people in the

community. I do remember Heini saying, that Teresa had joined

for the work in a tropical hospital and had not been seeking for

the spirit of Jesus and the “first love” to him.

Bruce Sumner, Belinda Manley, Margaret Stern Hawkins,

Gwynn and Buddug Evans as well as others, were quite con-

cerned about Teresa, because she had left without a penny to her

name. After her return to England, she wanted to proceed to Pe-

nang, Malaya (to care for her mother) and work there. So along

with others they helped Teresa to pay the trip. When she saw the

great need and poverty, especially among the lonesome old peo-

ple she decided to do what she could do on her own.

TERESA’S MEMORIES OF HER EARLY LIFE

AND JOINING THE BRUDERHOF

KIT. In the Bruderhof publication The Plough, Teresa shared

about her life in 1953. Thanks to Linda Lord Jackson’s submis-

sion we can quote the following:

“I was born at Swatow, a small seaside town in South China

in the province of Kwangtung. We were often disturbed by

earthquakes which destroyed a large number of houses and killed

Teresa Hsu looking after Servant Bud Mercer in the hospital in Isla

Margarita, January 1961. He was injured by a Sting Ray in the

Paraguay River © ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv

many people. … Frequent typhoons and floods also caused ex-

tensive damage and much distress among our people. There were

political disturbances too. During these times our family spent

long periods with our maternal grandmother in a small village in

the hilly pine woods. When I was about seven years old my sis-

ters and I helped our older cousins with their work. Our day

started at 5:00am, when we went out to the hills with baskets on

our backs to gather pine needles for fuel. We also helped with

the housework and washing, which was done in a stream near

home. ... In winter it was a hardship. Most of our women brought

in extra income by making lace and embroidery. Thus at the age

of six I learnt to use the needle and other lace-making tools. …

We had to practice with our hair, as cotton was too expensive to

buy.

“When I was fifteen our family moved to Penang, Malaya,

where my elder sister and I went to a Roman Catholic convent

school. We attended classes during school hours and spent some

of our free time cleaning the First Class Boarders’ dormitory and

shoes in order to pay for our board and school fees. Waves of

rebellion often surged through my mind while I cleaned. We left

after four years.

“I was very much disturbed by the continual political unrest

and particularly the 1937-1945 Sino-Japanese war which brought

such suffering on my country. … I found employment in

commercial offices but was dissatisfied. To earn a living was not

my aim in life. I wanted to do something useful and decided to

be a nurse, but no hospital would accept me for training, as I had

not had the necessary education.

“In 1941 I heard of the arrival of the Friends’ Ambulance

Unit in China. The pacifist views of its members, their spirit of

service, their work on a voluntary basis, and especially the

complete breakdown of social barriers among them, seemed

wonderful to me. I soon became a member and worked with

them till the end of the war. … One of the members told me

about the Bruderhof. He had spent some time with the Cotswold

Community. When the war ceased the Friends’ Ambulance Unit

disbanded. … I came to England, where I had been accepted for

nursing training. I got into contact with the Bruderhof and visited

in July 1948. … Recent contacts with various members of the

Bruderhof who were visiting London brought me back to the

community once more in January 1953, and during my two

weeks’ stay I became convinced that only by living in

community and sharing completely all goods, work, joys and

sorrows can true brotherhood and peace be attained and a way

found whereby mankind can be served in the most fundamental

and thorough manner”

Keep In Touch Newsletter 6 Vol. XXIV No 1 April 2012

Andy Barth in Memory

By Margot Purcell

Andy Barth, the oldest son of Jörg and Renate, died after falling

on a job site. He was recovering, but less than twenty-four hours

later he died very unexpectedly of a bilateral pulmonary embo-

lism directly related to his injury. The family was told that he

would not have had any warning symptoms. This was a great

shock to his family and all who knew him. He will be greatly

missed.

THE OBITUARY AS LISTED IN THE LOCAL PAPER:

“Andreas G. ‘Andy’ Barth, 53, of Friedens, PA. passed on Jan.

22, 2012, at Somerset Hospital. Born Dec. 9, 1958, in Primavera,

Paraguay, he is the son of Jorg and Maria Renata (Zimmermann)

Barth of Farmington. He is preceded in death by his infant broth-

ers Georg and Gottlieb. Andy is survived by his parents; wife of

23 years Julie (Braun) Barth; children Tristan, Aaron, and Caro-

line Barth of Somerset and exchange student son Johannes

Schmid of Mitterteich, Germany.

“He also leaves nine brothers and sisters. John and wife Leisa

of Friedens, David of Middleton, N.Y., Jorg and wife Mary of

Robertsbridge, England, Elna Fischli and husband Andreas of

Robertsbridge, England, Mike and wife Suzi of Somerset, Anna

Tietze and husband Stefan of Beachgrove, England, Richard and

wife Martha of Danthonia, Australia, Stephan and wife Esther of

Farmington, and Martin and wife Eunice of Fox Hill, N.Y. Many

uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews will miss him as well.

“Andy was a 1976 graduate of Charleroi High School and a

1978 graduate of Penn St. Mont-Alto with an Associate's Degree

in Forestry. Upon graduation he traveled six months in Europe

and then spent several seasons as a grain combine operator in the

Midwest. He then moved to Somerset and worked at Latuch

Brothers Farms and the Ski Patrol at Hidden Valley, where he

met his wife Julie. Andy became a real estate agent and worked

for the Ken and Rita Halverson Brokerage of Coldwell Banker.

He eventually became a certified real estate appraiser and opened

Somerset County Appraisal Services. He became an Emergency

Medical Technician and Paramedic and went on to work for the

Somerset Area Ambulance Association, Conemaugh Hospital,

and Meyersdale Medical Center. He most recently was co-owner

of ServPro of Somerset County and Westmont, as well as a part-

ner in WQZS Radio in Meyersdale.

“Andy was a hockey enthusiast, serving as a youth coach for

all his children and playing in rec leagues throughout the area.

He also coached soccer in the AYSO leagues in Somerset and

played adult soccer in Ligonier. He was an avid golfer, and was a

member of the Somerset Country Club and its Tuesday Night

Golf League. He was a member and past president of the Somer-

set Jaycees, where he held numerous offices over the years, as

well as a member of the Somerset County Chamber of Com-

merce. He attended Trinity Lutheran Church in Somerset.

“Andy's family will receive friends from 2 to 8 p.m. Thurs-

day at Miller Funeral Home and Crematory, Somerset. A service

will be held at noon Friday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Somer-

set, Pastor Linda McElroy-Thomas officiating. Interment will be

private. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to

the Somerset Ambulance Assn. at 115 Wood Duck Road, Som-

erset, Pa. 15501 or the Somerset Jaycees Scholarship Fund at

P.O. Box 421 Somerset, Pa. 15501.”

WE DROVE DOWN TO SAY GOOD BY

We met Andy, Julie and their three children in the early 1990's.

They came to several of our annual picnics at Rocky Gap and

Ohiopyle (a park near New Meadow Run). I had not known

Andy as a child, but did know his parents and grandparents. I en-

joyed the times we met and had a chance to see his children

grow. We were more in touch with Julie, as Andy had a busy

schedule. We've enjoyed our contact with her. When Julie called

about Andy's death, we drove out from Indiana. So my brother

Adolf, my husband Blair and I had the privilege to join Andy's

family in saying goodbye to him. Three of his brothers were

there as well with their families. Two of them live in the imme-

diate area, so they had been close to Andy and his family over

the years. Jörg and Renate also had come the day before for a

Andy Barth as we know him. (Private photo.)

family gathering before the public viewing and service. A lovely

floral arrangement of yellow, blue and green flowers and a few

pine cones had been ordered on their behalf.

Andy was well known and liked by the local people. A steady

stream of friends and business associates came during the six

hour public viewing to pay their respects. Many had never met

Julie and the children, but had been touched by Andy in some

way. To me, Andy seemed like a shy, quiet fellow, so I was sur-

prised at all he had accomplished. I knew that he worked hard

and had many big and small ventures which interested him. He

had a sweet, shy smile.

The service for Andy was very simple. There were many flo-

ral arrangements which brought some cheer into the sadness. The

minister wove a wonderful story of Andy's life out of tales

shared by brother John and wife Julie – from his birth in Pri-

mavera to his life in Friedens and Somerset, Pennsylvania. Dur-

ing the service the sun broke through the clouds, lighting up the

stained glass for a short time and then, as we left the church, a

light snow was falling.

Andy and Julie's three children are all in college now and

have grown into wonderful young adults. I was so happy to see

them again as we had not seen them in many years. We also had

the pleasure of meeting Julie's brother and sisters and their fami-

lies. There is a strong family bond which was good to see as that

will be important in the weeks and years to come. Andy loved

his family and they loved him too. His passing leaves emptiness

impossible to fill.

Keep In Touch Newsletter 7 Vol. XXIV No 1 April 2012

“I HAD NO IDEA HOW HARD HE WAS WORKING!”

I asked Julie if there was anything that she wanted me to in-

clude. This is what she sent:

“My only input might be that having just sent our youngest

child off to college, it was just about time for Andy and I to start

trying to find each other again and try to narrow down our path

to retirement and adventuring into old age. It is something I had

really hoped we would be able to move towards in the next few

years, and it’s why he was working so hard – so that we could

have a comfortable journey into our golden years. Maybe that

sounds silly for being only 54 (me) and 53 (Andy), but that is

what we were aiming for. And I am touched to be learning every

day that he was really taking much better care of me and our

children than he ever let on. I had no idea how hard he was real-

ly working, nor how much of himself he really gave in order to

help others. And in hindsight, I am starting to see him as others

did – he was like a big kid – literally dashing from one thing to

another, trying to find fun in most everything he did – even the

most unpleasant and mundane things.”

Laurenz Braun 1936 – 2011

By Hans Martin

Laurenz Braun passed away on November 18th

, 2011 at the age

of seventy-five. Lau as we used to call him was born on the Is-

land of Crete, Greece, on April 10th

, 1936. He was the oldest of

six brothers and sisters. Three of them predeceased him. Shortly

after Lau was born, his parents, Walter and Marei, joined the

Bruderhof; I believe it was on the Almbruderhof. Laurenz was a

very quiet kid, who easily got lost in the crowd.

Laurenz Braun 2007. (Photos submitted by daughter Ida.)

I remember the Braun family very well; Walter and Marei were

good friends of my parents. I recall very clearly when we arrived

in Paraguay and moved into the Halle (so we called the first four

long buildings erected in Isla Margarita). We were neighbors of

the Braun family, and since the narrow slots assigned to each

family were divided only by sheets, there was not much privacy.

I remember Lau and I would sneak out early

Laurenz in 1969.

Laurenz and Mané Braun with their five children.

in the morning to go to Campo Riveroscué and search for mush-

rooms.

Marei and Walter were of the very few who stayed in Para-

guay after the Primevera community was dissolved. Laurenz

went to Germany where he trained as a nurse and then returned

to Paraguay. He married a Paraguayan girl, Mané, from Vacahú,

a little village close to what used to be Primavera. Laurenz lived

the rest of his life in Paraguay, first in Vacahú and the last years

in Asunción. Lau and Mané had five children, Ida is the oldest,

then Adriano, and the twins, Elisa and Elizabeth; they also

adopted Eulalia. All of them are married and have children.

I visited Marei and Walter a couple of times when they lived

in Asunción, where Marei was teaching at the Goethe Institute,

and Walter taught Latin to private students. They told me that

they had left the Bruderhof to dedicate as much time as possible

Keep In Touch Newsletter 8 Vol. XXIV No 1 April 2012

Marei and Walter Braun remained in Paraguay with their sons.

to their children. They felt they had neglected them while living

on the Bruderhof. Several years after Walters’s death in 1980,

Marei rejoined the Bruderhof in England – shortly before her

own death in 1987.

Only his brother Simeon and sister Deborah, who is married

to Johnny Mason, survive Laurenz. Deborah is the only one from

the Braun family who remained on the Bruderhof. Grace,

Fridreich and Hilarion predeceased him. – Lau’s children take

care of Simeon and make sure he has everything he needs. He

lives with their mother Mané in Tujango/Vacahú).

Helly Braun ist plötzlich gestorben

By Irene Pfeiffer-Fischer

An alle, die das Ehepaar Helly und Willi Braun in Friesland

kannten und ihre Gastfreundschaft schätzten: Ende Januar bekam

ich eine SMS von der Tina Jaime mit der Nachricht, dass Helly

ganz plötzlich an einer aggressiven Hepatitis verstorben ist. Das

hat mich doch sehr betroffen gemacht, da ich Mitte Januar noch

ein sehr langes Telefongespräch mit ihr führte. Meine Schwester

Änni war gerade bei uns in Bremen, und wir beide dankten Helly

für all die vielen Besuche in ihrem Haus, für ihre

Gastfreundschaft und liebe Aufnahme.

2001 waren wir mit einer Gruppe von zehn Leutchen zu

Besuch bei ihr und schliefen auf Matratzen am Boden. Wir

erlebten den schönsten Sternenhimmel und all die uns so

Helly Braun (left) and her visitors Hans Zimmermann, Clementina

Jaime and Jörg Mathis, 2007. (Photo: Hans Zimmermann)

bekannten Vogel- und Frosch-Geräusche am Fluss. Jedes Mal

wenn wir kamen, sagte Helly, „holt doch den Josua, er soll auch

Freude haben“. Wir haben viel miteinander gesungen, und Willi

Braun nahm das gern auf einer Kassette auf. Wir Bruderhöfer

können ja bekanntlich gut singen und tun das auch gern. Ich

fragte Helly einmal, ob ihnen das denn nicht zu viel wäre, da

sagte sie „nein, wir haben viel mehr davon als Ihr denkt; kommt

nur wieder!“

Mein Bruder Stephan Friedemann, seine Frau Karola sowie

Kurti Zimmermann und seine Frau Brigitte hatten mit Helly noch

einen Besuch Mitte Februar verabredet, das war nun leider nicht

mehr möglich. Ich bin so dankbar, dass ich ihr noch zu Lebzeiten

ein Dankeschön sagen konnte. Das war sicher auch im Sinn so

mancher Paraguay-Reisender unter uns.

Helly war eine tief gläubige Frau, und darf nun sehen was sie

geglaubt hat.

Translation by Linda Lord Jackson

Helly Braun Died Suddenly

By Irene Pfeiffer-Fischer

To all who knew the couple who lived in Friesland, Helly and

Willi Braun and who valued their warm hospitality: At the end of

January I received a message from Tina Jaime with the news that

Helly had died suddenly from an aggressive hepatitis attack. That

touched me deeply, as just a short while ago, in mid January I

had a long chat with her on the phone. My sister Änni was with

us in Bremen at the time, and we both thanked Helly for all the

many visits to her home, her hospitality and loving welcome.

In 2001 a group of us were there, ten people in all; we slept

on mattresses on the floor. We experienced the wonderful starry

sky, and by the river we heard again the sounds of the birds and

the frogs that were all so familiar to us. Whenever we visited,

Helly would say: “Go and get Josua. He should also join in the

fun.” We sang songs together and Willi Braun loved to record

everything on his cassette player. It was well known that we

Bruderhofers were good singers, and we much enjoyed doing so.

I asked Helly once if it was not too much for her: “No, we get

more out of it than you can imagine; just keep coming back!”

My brother Stephan and Karola Friedemann, as well as Kurti

Zimmermann and his wife Brigitte had arranged to visit Helly in

February, but unfortunately it was no longer possible. I am so

thankful that I was able to thank her before she died. Surely

many of the Paraguayan visitors amongst us feel the same.

Helly was a deep believer in her Faith, and will now be

seeing her Faith fulfilled.

THE BRAUNS OF FRIESLAND

WERE GOOD FRIENDS

By Hans Zimmermann

On my first return trip to Paraguay in 2002 Wilhelm Fischer,

Josua Dreher, Tina Jaime and I visited the Brauns in Friesland .

We spent three days with them and they treated us ever so well.

My camera was jammed, and Willy gave me his camera to take

pictures during our stay, so all the pictures I took that year were

taken with Willy’s camera. When we were leaving I wanted to

compensate them for their hospitality but they refused. So I en-

closed a 50-Dollar-bill in the camera before I gave it back to

Willy. Many months later he found it when he opened the cam-

era. They sent me a very nice thank you note.

For many years the Brauns lived in the Krabbelhaus in Isla

Margarita until it was destroyed by a rare tornado. I have a pic-

Keep In Touch Newsletter 9 Vol. XXIV No 1 April 2012

ture of Helly Braun from my visit in October of 2007 when Jörg

Mathis, Tina Jaime and I paid her a short visit. By that time her

husband Willy had passed away. Tina told us that Helly loved

the song: “Grossmütterchen will tanzen, auf machet Platz,auf

machet Platz". So we sang it on our arrival, this moved her to

tears. Helly’s nickname among the Paraguayans was: “Helly

palanate” – palante meaning loud speaker; she had a booming

voice. I do not recall her ever talking in a whisper.

Both of them were kind and generous, and it saddens me that

I will not see Helly on my next visit, as the Brauns were always

on my must-visit-list.

Hutterites Have a Lot to

Teach the Bruderhof

By Ruth Lambach

With regard to stress, leadership, freedom, authenticity of inter-

change among people and between those on the inside and those

on the outside,

I believe Hutterites have a lot to teach the Bruderhof.

Hutterites do not see themselves as creating a utopian society.

They just attempt to live according to God's will and they

know they do it imperfectly.

In the Bruderhof though everyone must live up to some kind of

inhuman standard of being at all times in unity and in the right

spirit with each other. Even I, as an un-baptized person was

asked what was bothering me, why didn't I laugh and play and

participate in the volleyball game going on among other teenag-

ers.

Hutterites accept the fallibility of man. They accept individu-

al diversity of opinion. There is always forgiveness. There are

ritualized punishments for behaviors that are almost mechanical-

ly applied. The punishment is borne and the person comes back

into full citizenship and the slate is cleared. I think this functions

like the confessional in the Catholic Church; or in Chicago, pay-

ing $200 to get your towed car out from some out-of-the-way

city parking lot. It's not an arbitrary application of punishment by

a group of people. It is a perfunctory duty by the minister. The

person in Strof confesses, he takes the requisite punishment;

people gossip about it and wonder what the infraction was that

causes him to have to eat by himself, sit by himself in church and

not speak to anyone as he works. But, it is all washed over after

the punishment is taken. In silence he regains his full standing

membership.

I have a specific memory of two young baptized men who sat

by themselves in the entry way to the church, just across from

the stove which heated the school house at Forest River. Every-

one who went to church on Sundays twice, and during the week,

once, saw these two young baptized but unmarried guys. I think

we concluded that they went to a bar and talked to some loose

girls on the outside. Maybe they did more than that, but we never

knew. Three times a day they also sat in the bake-house and ate

by themselves in silence. It all washed over after a couple weeks

and we forgot about it, and pretty soon both guys got married

and everything was settled. They even had a double wedding.

This was before the Bruderhof arrived at Forest River. Talk to

half a dozen Hutterites, you will get that many opinions. Talk to

half a dozen baptized Bruderhof people and you will get an an-

swer like that of a politician who speaks from a bullet-point

agenda. That's the difference.

Among Hutterites everyone knows the behavioral norms, as

they are open, direct, simple and have been around for a long

time with only minor changes which usually begin at the indivi-

Ramon Sender became Emperor of

The Realm on April 1st 2012

KIT. In our Newsletter of De-

cember 2008 (page 4) Ramon

told us about his different alter-

nate personae. One was his

“Fools Day Persona,” and low

and behold, on April 1st 2012 he

retired as King Zero, and was el-

evated/recycled as Emperor of

the Realm. This picture was tak-

en at the Fools Day Parade in

Ramon’s previous home of Oc-

cidental California (a tiny hamlet

two hours north from San Fran-

cisco).

Zero the Wunderweight, Clown-at-

large, but emeritus mostly

The “Imperial Patent and Licence”:

“Waving The Imperial Plunger We Proclaim: By the authority

vested in us, Emperor Zero II, we confer upon The Holder of this

Imperial Patent all Rights and Appurtenances of Snigglehood,

including hereby and forever the entitlement to walk barefoot,

make friends with everyone and do anything else that brings fun,

silliness, harmony,

happiness, celebration,

relaxation, health, love,

joy, creativity, pleas-

ure, abundance, grace,

courage, balance,

spontaneity, passion,

beauty, peace, and life

energy to thyself and

all other beings every-

where. Furthermore, as

a loyal subject of the

Empire, thou art here-

by officially authorized

to jump in mud pud-

dles, talk with animals,

bugs, birds, trees,

rocks, elves and

sprites, and channel

healing smiles in all six

directions, demonstrat-

ing all the virtues and characteristics of Our Loyal and Well-

Sniggled Subject. Always remember: Just Now is the place to be.

Nothing could be more natural! Signed with the Royal Seal.”

__________________________________________________

dual level rather than from the top of the hierarchy. Individuals

matter a lot in a colony. It is at the individual level that innova-

tion happens. Just as in a free capitalist society. When I go back

to the colonies, I am amazed, surprised, and put to shame with

my old fashioned ideas about how to be Hutterite. Hutterites

have evolved in many ways. They change slowly rather than in a

revolutionary manner.

This is why I do not trust revolutions or upheavals which

throw over centuries of culture but I do trust changes which al-

low for individual choice in minor ways: My mother's hair was

never rolled down like other Hutterite women and her skirts were

always at least two or three inches shorter than other Hutterite

Keep In Touch Newsletter 10 Vol. XXIV No 1 April 2012

women – yet she remained in good standing. She might even

have started the habit of tying her shawl behind her ears in the

summertime rather than tying it under her chin.

Childhood Memories of Primavera,

Paraguay

By Hans Zimmermann – Part 4

TRANSITION INTO THE WORK FORCE

In December of 1954 I finished my nine years of Primavera

schooling, ending with the Paraguayan national sexto grado

which had become a requirement. This we had to do in Spanish

and the tests were administered by Paraguayan teachers.

The normal procedure was for the boys to move into an as-

signed department, be it the agricultural department, industrial

workshop and mechanics, carpentry and building, or local trans-

portation which was by horse or ox wagons – our main mode of

transportation between the villages, the dairy or beef cattle herd-

ing, or the estancia. There were other sub departments, such as

hogs, chicken raising, the slaughter house, and in Isla Margarita

the wood turning shop. We also had two sawmills; one in Isla

Margarita and the other in Loma Hoby. By 1955 we also had two

or three tractors and trucks to haul freight to and from Primavera

to Puerto Rosario, the river port. So there were quite a few areas

one could work in; frequently some would overlap.

I had no fixed idea as where I wanted to work, but deep down

I longed to work with the cattle in the estancia. I always had a

horse, either one which was given to me to nurse back into health

from an illness, or even training new ones.

The first week after school ended my parents sat me down

one evening to discuss my future. I was told that the brotherhood

felt that I was too small and fragile to do adult work and there-

fore it was suggested that I go to Asunción for further studies.

My reaction was anything but favorable, not because I did not

see the value of studying; rather I felt insulted to be told I could

not do a man’s job. I flatly refused and insisted to be assigned to

one of our work departments.

Well, the decision was made to have me work with my father

in the carpentry department, I wasn’t too happy about that either,

but hoped for a transition from that sooner or later. So for the

first six to eight months I worked with my father, building tables,

work benches, doors and windows, etc. For the finished lumber

we first had to go to Isla Margarita to select the needed boards,

then run them through the planer and cut them to size. Each time

I had to engage a horse and wagon team, which Albert Wohlfahrt

After finishing school I worked for some months with my father

Kurt Zimmermann in the carpentry shop. (Photo: Colin Sharp)

gladly provided. While still in school I frequently had to help

Albert with the horses, maintenance of the wagons, such as

greasing the wheels and cleaning the tack; these were our Satur-

day assignments, when we did not have to work in the gardens

with Walter Hüssy or Bob Peck.

Of my class mates, Paul Gerhard Kaiser was assigned to

work with Bob Peck in the agricultural department, as he was al-

ready living with Bob Peck. Michael Caine worked with Albert

Wohlfahrt and Walter Bennett with both the horse and ox teams

doing transport of goods between the Höfe.

While working with my father, the two of us also would ex-

plore the forest between Loma Hoby and the Mennonite colony

for trees which could be harvested for lumber. My father wanted

me to study forestry in which I had a definite interest, but the

Bruderschaft saw little value in that and was not willing to send

me to Germany to get a forestry education.

Hans Zimmermann with Pluto, 1956.

TRAINING LESSONS IN PRIMAVERA

As time passed by, I had second thoughts about not going to

Asunción for further education, but by then the brotherhood was

not going to send me anymore. So I requested to receive further

education in cattle, horse breeding and agriculture in general.

The brotherhood decided to have Jonny Robinson give me and

Lienhard Gneiting a full afternoon of classes on these subjects

once a week. Jonny had been a recognized agronomist in Eng-

land before joining the community. In addition we had the op-

portunity to study chemistry with Eric Phillips each Saturday af-

ternoon in Isla. So Verena Meier, who was working in the hospi-

tal laboratory, David Caine and I either rode on horseback to Isla

Margarita, or we got the light spring wagon, for the trip.

My main interest was in animal breeding so I applied all my

energies to that. Jonny Robinson made it very interesting. To this

day I’m familiar with most of the important cattle breeds

throughout the world, also sheep and pig breeds. Since Jonny

was doing a great job, later on more young men in Loma Hoby

were enrolled in the program. The culmination of this class was a

field trip to the Estancia Santa Virginia of the Serratis, where

Daniel Meier had worked for almost two years. For us young

men this was an exciting three-day-trip on horseback. It took one

day to get there, at one point crossing open grass land which was

two to three feet under water for nearly two miles. The next day

we reviewed the cattle, (I was not impressed). On that trip how-

ever, the native cowboys or gauchos did tell me a thing or two

about how to deal with my horse Pluto which I was still breaking

in. Pluto was another guacho (orphan in Spanish), which I had

taken over from Heiner Kleiner two years earlier. The members

of the group were: Jonny Robinson, Daniel Meier, Bill Bridgwa-

Keep In Touch Newsletter 11 Vol. XXIV No 1 April 2012

Heinz Bolk, another wagon driver, lived in Isla Margarita.

(Photo: Colin Sharp)

ter (then known as Ingmar Wingard), Lienhard Gneiting, Mi-

chael Caine, Josua Dreher, and myself. In those days Michael

Caine was already full of stories and jokes and he had Jonny

keeling over with laughter, as he imitated some of our Bruderhof

members. We had a jolly good time to say the least.

In May 1956, a group of young men were sent to the Forest

River community in USA: Peti Mathis, Heiner Kleiner, Michael

Caine, Ian Cocksedge, Jerry Marchant, and Karlemann

Keiderling. This move required a rotation of people among the

various departments. After Michael Caine left the carting de-

partment, I was assigned to work with Albert. There were at least

four teams of horses and two teams of oxen. I did not care to

work with the oxen and preferred the horses. Our daily routine

was to cart goods between the Höfe, pick up the freshly dug up

mandioca, and dump it at the Brüderrat circle for the brothers to

peel, cut fodder for the horses, cart manure from the cow stall

and horse stalls onto the fields as fertilizer for our vegetable gar-

dens. Once a week a fattened pig had to be hauled to the slaugh-

ter house, which meant you had to load it onto the wagon and

then cart the screaming porker across the village to its demise. At

that time pigs lard was our main cooking ingredient, and of

course we spread the lard onto our bread, butter was a rarity.

On occasion when there was too much rain and the roads to

Rosario were impassable for the trucks, we had to make the trek

by horse wagon, which was at a minimum a two days affair. This

might sound exciting but really was a drag, and the horses were

put under severe stress. I do however remember one enjoyable

trip, this one was with Heiner Kleiner (this was before he left for

USA): On the return trip we had beautiful moonshine, so we

were singing into the night, arriving in Loma Hoby around

3:00am.

FENCING IN THE FORESTS WITH IRUNDAIMÍ WOOD

Near the end of 1956 my friend Gabriel Arnold had come back

from Argentina where he’d been sent because he had shown too

much interest in one of the young girls. Gabriel was assigned to

work in the dairy and also carting Irundaimí fence posts from the

forests around Ibaté to the Campo Invernada, as a fence was

drawn from Monte Abebo to Monte Jaime so as to have better

control over the wild cattle, sagua-ás or mañeros as the natives

called them. The selection of Irundaimí wood was vital since the

fence was drawn through swamp and that wood resists wet

ground more than Lapacho or Curupaí. Back from USA, Peti

Mathis asked me to inspect all the fence post to be sure they

were Irundaimí. I have always been interested in the Paraguayan

hard woods and could tell them apart. We were on a big fence

building tear, fencing in Campo Guaná, then installing a fence

along Monte Abebo to Invernada, from there to Monte Jaime, ul-

timately a fence along Monte Jaime east to our boundary separat-

ing our property from Vacahú, and the property San Vicente of

the De Stefano’s. To get the cattle out of the forests, we built

funnels out of saplings with pointed ends. Cattle would squeeze

through to get to the open campo to graze, but then could not get

back into the forest.

ADVENTUROUS FREE TIME ACTIVITIES

After work three or four of us young men frequently grabbed a

horse and would ride down to the River Tapiracuay to hunt

yacarés (caimans) with flash light and harpoon. By the time we

reached the river it would be dark. Aiming the flash light up and

down the river we could see the red glowing eyes of the yacaré. I

was the expert paddler moving the boat without making any

noise, David Caine handled the flash light and Gabriel Arnold

was the harpooner. We only went after yacarés with a length of

five feet or more. One night we must have encountered a very

large one. When Gabriel rammed the harpoon into the back, it

nearly yanked him out of the boat, which was already tipping.

We nearly flipped over when the harpoon broke – to my great re-

lief. We did not land in the water. If the boat had tipped over,

there would have been no choice but to drift the long way down

the river in complete darkness to our landing place. We were up

river from the Taufplatz.

On another occasion, we encountered a group of carpinchos

(capibaras) near Liverpool bend. Jose Melo, one of our lumber-

jacks and an enthusiastic hunter, was camped right there. We told

him about the carpinchos sitting on the bank near the water, so

he came into the boat with his Mauser rifle, I paddled back to the

carpinchos and from fifteen feet or less he blew one away. We

floated the animal back to his camp where he took it apart and

we stayed for a carpincho stew. It was well after 2:00am by the

time we were back to Loma Hoby. As a side show, we always

had our dogs with us who frequently caught an armadillo on the

way back which we then would fry in the kitchen before going to

bed. We always had an appetite for meat regardless of what it

was.

One thing we young men liked to do was learn Paraguayan

songs and music, so after dinner we would walk down to the gate

house, near where all our Paraguayan workers were housed. The-

se workers helped in the garden, clearing the forest for new crops

or for meadows for our dairy cattle. The cowboys also lived in

these quarters. Many Paraguayans play the guitar and love to

sing. One of them, Domingo was very friendly and taught us

many songs; he taught David Caine how to play the guitar. Do-

mingo later joined the Bruderhof, however I believe his main ob-

jective was to marry one of our girls. When that did not seem a

certainty for him, he went after a Paraguayan woman who was

living on the Hof. After he got caught in one of his nightly visits,

he was asked to leave.

THE YOUTH GROUP WAS LARGE AND ACTIVE

The large Loma Hoby youth group was very active. The age

range was from the teenagers who recently graduated from

school to some of the older members like Jacob Gneiting,

Christoph and Peti Mathis, Juliana Alonso, followed by the next

younger age group with Thomas Klüver and Sanna Kleiner, and

the next one with Seppel Fischli, Karlemann Keiderling (Aka),

Claire Beels, Emmy Zimmermann – down to our group, includ-

ing, for instance, Gabriel Arnold, Susanna Fischli and Miriam

Arnold. On some evenings we would leave the Hof to eat supper

next to the woods down on Campo Guaná where we would en-

gage in folk dancing on the smooth short grass, light a bonfire

and sing all the wonderful hiking, nature and love songs in both

Keep In Touch Newsletter 12 Vol. XXIV No 1 April 2012

German and English. Those were really wonderful times, and

you could feel love in the air.

Each year the youth group would make at least one major trip

into the surrounding area, or as far away as the German Colony,

Colonia Independencia near Villa Rica. This university town was

at that time second largest city in Paraguay.

TRIP TO THE WATERFALL NEAR SANTANÍ 1956

The Loma youth group having a meal and fun – before continuing

on to the waterfall.

One trip of which I have fond memories was to a waterfall on a

tributary of the Tapiracuay River in the hills many miles north-

east of Santaní. The whole Loma Hoby youth group set off at

dawn, with three horse and mule wagons loaded with all the pro-

visions we would need for a week’s stay out in the woods and

fields. Most everyone was walking except those who drove the

wagons and one or two who were not so steady on their feet. We

had to keep a steady pace in the hope of reaching the Tapiracuay

ford at Doña Antonina, mostly known to us as the Floh Tante, by

late afternoon. Here – next to the river – we would stay overnight

in her enclosed paddock, where the animals could graze. We

took a swim in the river which was flooded up to the bottom of

the bridge. After dinner around a fire, and the usual singing, we

soon went to sleep.

Next morning no one could sleep long. The roosters were

crowing, dogs barking, ours included, and pigs, chicken and

ducks were running through our camp. It was best to get up, have

breakfast and get ready for the next leg of the trip. Santaní was

six to seven miles up the road. We did not stop in town other

than to get directions how to get to the waterfall. We continued

on a little traveled road which ran a short distance from the river

Tapiracuay snaking along chacras (farms) and fields. North-east

to the left, the forested hills seemed to rise high and higher. By

around 11:00am we rested the horses in a shallow river taking

cover under trees from the burning sun, and had a short snack.

Continuing on, we asked locals how much longer we had to go.

They just would say another mile or two, the standard Paraguay-

an information. Our animals started to show the strain of the

long trip. Luckily the road was mostly sandy which made it easi-

er for our feet, as everyone was walking barefoot.

Well by around 2:00pm we finally reached the turn off to the

left. That meant we had to cross the swollen Tapiracuay River.

The water was four to five feet deep, and everything in the wag-

on would get wet. The solution: We carried our entire luggage

through the water above our heads! With two dozen people or

more that was quickly accomplished. Next the animals had to be

persuaded to ford the river, pulling the wagons. With the encour-

agement of a cracking whip this was fairly easy done. Now the

good news was we only had to go about one mile up a gradual

rise to our destination. This road got very little use as there were

no villages or farms for many, many miles, so we met no travel-

ers. We would be in total isolation. To the left a creek ran with

reasonable flow, and sure enough near the top of the hill we

found the waterfall. I don’t have a clue what this place was

called by the locals.

The water flowed over sandstone. Over the years it had

carved a deep chasm, narrow crack fifteen to twenty feet deep.

One could climb down, and it opened like a wide cave with a

sandy bottom. The mist blocked the sun and created a crepuscu-

lar atmosphere, damp and cool, a perfect escape from the burning

heat above. Here we spent two days, frolicking around the water-

fall, exploring the steep banks of the Tapiracuay twenty feet or

more below. We toppled termite hills which rolled in big leaps

down the hill crashing into the water below. It was a relaxing

few days, with lots of singing, some book reading and not a sin-

gle person coming up or down that isolated road.

The return trip followed the same pattern, at the end of the

first day a rest at the Tapiracuay by Doña Antonina, then the next

day making the last leg through Vacahú, Carolina, and then back

to Primavera and Loma Hoby. It was a long hot day. you forget

the last few miles. The next few days we had to do the obligatory

telling of the event at meal times.

On our way back home we stopped for a short rest on bridge near

Doña Antonia’s place.

LEARNING TO BREAK IN HORSES

The Loma Hoby horse stables were next to the cow stalls, and

the estancia in back opened up onto the paddock Piqueteí.

George Mercoucheff (Verones) was working with the dairy cows

and also helping out with the beef cattle which we called the es-

tancia. George was the ultimate horseman, and I watched every

move he made. In Loma Hoby we had two beautiful white

mares, one was named Victoria, Vicki for short, which always

had to be ready and available in case Cyril Davies had to dash

off for a medical emergency to Isla Margarita, Ibaté or even one

of our neighbors, be it Paraguayan or the Mennonites in Fries-

land. When this happened Cyril would leave at a full gallop and

rode the horse mercilessly, making time was so important. The

other horse was there for Dr Jury Popov, so this mare was called

Popova. Dr. Popov was not there anymore, so Popova was bred

to our Arab stallion and the result was a beautiful white filly. I

believe she was called Popova dos (Popova 2nd

). She was just

turning four years old and George was going to break her in for

riding. George showed me how to fashion a bocado, which is

used instead of a metal bit to avoid hurting the sensitive gums of

a new horse. This is a method still used these days in Paraguay.

George was my role model and we were good friends. He taught

me a lot about riding and breaking in new horses.

To be continued

Keep In Touch Newsletter 13 Vol. XXIV No 1 April 2012

8. Oh Heart, Where Are You Going

By Susanna Alves – Part 2

Matters of Friendship

This “friendship” issue just didn’t leave her in peace. Back again

in her daily Asunción routine, she thought and searched and was

obsessed for an answer. She felt like walking in circles. Should

she give up? Or was there an answer? Where, with whom could

she find it? And if there was none, would there be someone to

tell her?

She would end up making a total fool of herself with this

maddening desire to have a “friend”!

And why was the urge so strong these last days? It had al-

ways been there, but never like this. Was this because she was

tired, which made her more emotional, the urgency of the wish

then getting stronger? She noticed that since being haunted by

these thoughts, she had become moody.

During a Gemeindestunde-meeting one evening she opened

up her inner self and listened, and learned to let go, to let it fall

into the hands of the One who could and would redeem. Only

time would answer her quest.

Once she grasped this, she saw peace return. As yet there was

no answer, but the torment began to change. Now she began to

wait. *

It was during those days that Werner Frischman arrived in Asun-

ción, to stay for a couple of weeks. She was glad. He and his

wife Laura were like surrogate parents to her.

One afternoon, he invited Simone and Liese, his daughter,

out for a nice meal, which was always a very special treat. Liese

and Werner had dropped by at the office, where Simone was

working, to ask if she was coming. Suddenly the overwhelming

wish to stay in welled up in her. Without really knowing why,

she found an excuse and thanked them, saying she’d rather stay

at home.

Only later did she understand why: She definitely, absolutely

didn’t want to go out. There was something that compelled her to

stay home. And if she were honest, it was Rupert. She could hear

her heart saying, over and over: Rupert is the one. He is the

“friend” you’re looking for. Go and find him.

Oh, she wanted to “find” him, how she wanted to “find” him!

But equally she was so afraid. There was a huge feeling of dread.

She hadn’t got the guts. For example: After supper, Barbara,

John, Rupert and Simone had gone into town for a stroll. At the

central plaza they sat down for a smoke. The park bench was just

right to accommodate all four. Rupert, John, Barbara and Simo-

ne, in that order they sat. Simone wanted so much to get up, go

to Rupert’s end of the bench, say, “Move over,” to sit down next

to him. But she didn’t. She just didn’t have the courage.

Why it was Rupert to whom she was drawn in this search for

a “friend”, and not to John, was a mystery. With John she was

sure that he’d be delighted. But with Rupert there was “some-

thing else”. Their eyes met frequently. She saw openness in

them, no trace of anything else but friendship. And this inner

voice told her loudly that Rupert also had a wish for such cama-

raderie.

When Barbara had asked Rupert after supper, would he come

and walk with them, Simone had been a little anxious that he’d

refuse. But he said, “I feel honoured.” Of course he meant it as a

joke, but deep down he probably really did feel honoured. When

Simone teased him, saying, “Rupert, I hear it is an honour to join

us for a stroll,” he laughed, but his eyes confirmed that he felt

gratified. She had felt so happy!

Simone wanted so much to overcome this stupid hesitation

toward Rupert. She got quite trembly when she told herself that

if it were not for her scruples, she could very soon have a

friend...

But she knew that it was all in God’s hands, and she would

wait for His answer. She was sure He would give it. When and

how, that would be at His discretion. And so it should be.

She had a long conversation with Werner the next day. She

had reached the point where she had to talk, and it helped to con-

centrate her thoughts. She wanted Rupert’s friendship, but the

fear was this: The longings and yearnings for much more than

friendship dwelt alongside this search for just a friend. What re-

strained her was the dread that the former would become pre-

dominant.

Then it all came tumbling down

“Simone, do you have a moment, for me, now?”

It was Rupert asking. He, Barbara and Simone just had a

brief pre-Sunday-lunch chat at the front wall of the Upper House,

where everybody liked to gather, to chat, to watch the street go-

ings-on or pry into the neighbour’s windows across the street.

Barbara was just leaving.

“Yes, of course.” Simone replied. She was curious.

As soon as Barbara was out of earshot, Rupert said: “Don’t

you think that it is going a bit too far between us?”

Simone felt as if something had hit her over the head. Had

she heard right?

“Can you say that again?” she asked, flabbergasted.

He did. This time she heard it quite clearly: “I have the feel-

ing that things are going a bit too far between us.”

She was stunned. “I don’t know – what do you mean?!” she

stuttered.

“Ach,” he said, shrugging his shoulders, “maybe I’m mistak-

en, maybe you haven’t noticed.”

Simone stared at him. So he continued: “I don’t know how to

explain, it is – just so.”

All of a sudden there was a rushing sound in Simone’s head,

her surroundings floated away, the ground was caving in. But

she heard herself speak: “Can we talk about this, please, some-

where else? Where there are fewer people maybe?”

“Yes of course.” He sounded perfectly calm.

As they walked away, she felt her steps hitting the ground

with a thud, as if she was pushing each foot through the air with

some force.

Behind the house, at the back of the garden by the stone

benches, there were even more people milling around.

“Let’s walk round the block,” Rupert suggested.

She nodded and they turned round. As Simone descended the

steps to the street she felt like sleepwalking, although she was

taking in every detail. Her forehead was icy cold, but was this

joy, fear or just excitement? There was a vague sense of alarm

about it – the dizziness, the weird feeling of distance from every-

thing – she didn’t understand what caused this to happen.

As they walked away, someone called after them, “Hey you,

we’re having lunch in a minute!”

They ignored it. It didn’t even occur to Simone that half the

household was at that front wall seeing them go off together

down the street, offering food for gossip.

They had turned right, and anyone who saw them knew that

whatever their joint business, it had nothing to do with usual pur-

suits, because walking north from that front door lead to nothing

but residential areas, quite unconnected with any of the

Bruderhof house activities. It didn’t matter. At that moment, all

Simone wanted was to finally talk about everything. So as soon

as they turned the first corner, she began.

“You know,” she said, and her voice sounded perfectly nor-

mal, “you have touched on a raw spot. For weeks I’ve felt in-

Keep In Touch Newsletter 14 Vol. XXIV No 1 April 2012

credibly bothered, I don’t know – it’s a bit difficult to explain.

And then I might not even be talking about the same thing. But

let me try. Let’s see. Well, maybe I have to go back in time.”

While she spoke, she was acutely aware of her physical self

within their surroundings, and of Rupert the young man walking

at her side. She had by now regained some composure. She saw

everything, smelled the neighbours’ lunch-time smells on the

breeze, heard the distant hum of traffic, the occasional hooting of

a car, and the sound of their own feet walking the pavement. The

leafy street lay in dappled sunshine. An elderly, well-dressed

woman wearing a black lace scarf on her shoulders was slowly

walking on the opposite pavement returning home from Sunday

mass. In the background the clatter of kitchen utensils was heard

as maids were singing and laughing while tending to their duties

in the houses of the rich of this city area. It looked and sounded

like a completely normal autumn Sunday in May. And still

something was strangely different.

“Since I was twelve years old,” she heard herself saying,

while all these impressions flooded her consciousness, “I always

had a desire, a yearning for a friend. A friend, nothing more, you

know. Since then, I have looked for him, most of the time uncon-

sciously but in the past weeks again quite deliberately. Some-

times the yearning gets stronger, at other times it’s weaker. And

strangely, since the trip to the Campamento – no, even before – it

has been so strong again.”

She stopped to moisten her lips. The words had been tum-

bling out a bit breathlessly. They were now approaching the next

corner, always walking slowly, because they wanted lots of time

before returning to the house. A group of young city folk came

walking towards Rupert and Simone, but their expressions re-

vealed nothing at seeing the two of them in such earnest conver-

sation. So Simone continued.

“Since our outing to the Campamento, I had this idea, this

notion, that you...” She paused. It wasn’t easy to say it, just like

that, straight from the heart. She suddenly felt a bit shy. “This

feeling, you know, that it might be you, this friend for whom I’d

been waiting forever.”

She fell silent. Rupert had turned his face away and she won-

dered why. But it was only for a moment. He turned to look

ahead again, and began cautiously: “Well, yes. I noticed that

something was going on. But I thought it was actually something

different.”

“Well it wasn’t,” she interrupted hastily, defensively. “I

wanted so much that you should be my friend.” And after a

pause, now with more measure: “But there was also fear. You

know, with me, I very easily get feelings which are more than

friendship. So on the one hand this frightens me, but on the other

–.” And with a gesture of helplessness with her hands, “On the

other, you see, I did want so much that you were a friend, my

friend.”

After a thoughtful silence Rupert spoke: “Strange, but I too

have this yearning for a friend. No, it is actually better described

as a sister. But I have the same problems. The emotions for

something more than just a friend, they are so close by all the

time that I see danger; because that is not what I want. You

know,” he said, with a change in tone – trying to sound more up–

beat, she thought, but she caught a slight catch in his voice –

“when it was announced that your family will move to El Arado

in Uruguay I felt a sudden rush of alarm, a kind of, ‘Oh no, will

Simone go too?’ I suddenly knew how I really felt about you. So,

asking myself how come, it looked to me like you and I were

having something like a relationship. Just mere eye contact was

feeding these thoughts and feelings. So I decided it is high time

to put an end to it.”

Rupert paused. This time it was Simone who looked away.

The word relationship sounded horrible – it hurt! But she didn’t

mean it like that!, she thought defiantly. She felt her stomach

knotting up. And she thought that this was going to be the lovely

beginning of a friendship, and here he brings a so-called rela-

tionship to an end! It was a bit amazing, to say the least. They

were certainly coming from different points and heading in dif-

ferent directions.

They had by now reached the third street corner but instead

of walking on they turned round and retraced their steps. It al-

lowed them more time.

“So what do you propose now?” she asked. “Do you believe

we break it all off here? I don’t want it to end right now. I so

much want a friend, you know. And don’t you think, now that

we know about each other and how it must not be, can’t it be

possible that we be friends, honestly?” She thought her voice had

gone from slightly defiant to more of a plea.

“Yes, maybe you’re right,” he replied. He didn’t sound too

certain, but went on: “But only if we’re quite clear what real

friendship is.”

Simone suddenly saw one of the Bruderhof house boys turn-

ing the corner, walking in their direction. Why should he walk

this part of the street just now?, she thought with unease. But it

was too late, he had already seen them.

“What I would like,” Rupert said after a pause, ignoring the

boy as he walked past them, “what I would really like so much is

a sister, a sister very close to me. There has always been this

longing. My own sister Jessica has just not wanted to become

close.”

The conversation was finally taking an easier turn.

“You know, that is exactly the problem I have with my

brothers,” Simone said quickly. “Peter never comes to me on

spiritual matters, Martin doesn’t want to talk with me at all about

such things, and Anton even less. Well, to be fair, Anton is still

pretty young, and isn’t even here in Asunción; and the rest are all

still far too young.”

They hadn’t yet exhausted all they wanted to say, but just

round the corner was the house. Rupert now leant against a brick

wall while she stood facing him; a group of strangers walked by.

Their casual glances did not betray surprise at seeing the two.

Why am I constantly wondering about this? Simone thought.

Why should people be surprised to see a girl and a boy talking on

the street? Do I actually expect them to expect that we should be

touching? But why? Surely it is obvious by their unquestioning

acceptance of our non-behaviour that not everybody is the same.

But she tore her thoughts away and brought them back to

where she was, with Rupert.

“How is it then,” she said out aloud, “do you think we can be

friends, or brother and sister, if you like? I think the main thing is

that we don’t allow any thoughts and wishes other than those of

friendship.”

“Yes, all right then,” he said, “but if we notice that it’s hap-

pening we must say it right away and end the whole thing – or at

least break it off for a while.”

“Okay, let’s make a deal. The one who notices it first raises

the flag, and the other shall be entitled to an honest comeback.”

While she said this, she was crushing bits of broken pavement

with her shoe.

Rupert laughed at the metaphor. “It’s a deal.” There was a

short pause. “Ach”, he then said, “actually I’m awfully glad that

we talked about it in this frank way.”

Simone nodded.

So they began their move back to the house. They walked in

silence. There was nothing more to be said.

Keep In Touch Newsletter 15 Vol. XXIV No 1 April 2012

*

The midday meal had started. Simone made an effort to behave

as if nothing had happened. But it was difficult to pay attention

to what was being read. It looked like Rupert was having similar

trouble. Time and again she had to pinch herself and not sit ab-

sent-mindedly. However, Rupert’s words were going round and

round in her head. It felt like running in thought-circles. “Don’t

you think it’s going too far between us? ...” This one got stuck.

She had to force herself to eat. She felt physically unwell. There

was a kind of painful void inside her, impossible to describe.

During siesta she tried to sleep, but couldn’t. She tossed and

turned; in vain. What is the matter? She thought desperately, is

there more than I wish to admit? Well, is there? – No, no! – Im-

possible!

But the thought tormented her.

She got up again. It was unbearable. She now had this grow-

ing feeling that she hadn’t told Rupert clear enough what she

really meant by “friendship”, and how she wanted both of them

to see it. She thought, we spoke far too much about our weak

points. I must have another chat with him.

After vesper she was in the kitchen. Rupert walked past.

“Can we have another short talk,” she asked, “sometime

soon?”

“Como no.”

“We have some guests now, but as soon as they’re gone,

let’s?”

“Okay. I’ll be in my room. Just call me.”

Then she had to toil through the visit. Oh why don’t you go

away!, she was thinking, ach, why did you have to come today

of all days?

During the next two hours she agonised. Tormenting feelings

were flooding her, her physical state tormented her, the conver-

sation – oh so banal – tormented her.

The guests left at last. She went promptly to call Rupert, but

again a largish group was by the front wall nearby, and she did

not want to knock on his door in front of all those people. What

would they think? She walked away to survey the area at the

back of the house; it seemed to be milling. Once up the steps and

into the grounds, she sat down by the stone benches. She didn’t

know what to do.

However, Rupert soon found her.

She smiled awkwardly. It was embarrassing. She couldn’t say

there were too many people – they were sitting right next to her.

So he left again without a word. And her agonies continued.

She joined the ongoing game of volley ball a bit later, but in

vain. She felt too sick to enjoy it. Then she decided to be quite

firm and to just do it. As she went to call Rupert, she thought,

now or never, Simone!

There was now only one person sitting by the front wall, near

Rupert’s quarters. She didn’t care if she was seen. She resolutely

went to his door and knocked. He came out.

“Vamos,” she said, “you have seen the crowds. Let’s go

round the block once more.”

He laughed.

“I want to keep this brief,” she began. “It’s that I got uneasy.

I had the impression that we majored on all the things that might

destroy our friendship and hardly on the positive side. I don’t

know...” She was anxious, “Did you actually understand what I

meant? What my yearning is?”

They were walking the same route as in the morning.

But he reassured her that he’d understood and that she

shouldn’t worry.

She heaved an inner sigh of relief and out aloud she said: “Je-

sus must be the centre of our friendship. That’s the only way it’ll

be possible at all. We want a pure, open friendship, trust in each

other, and when one of us has a problem, the other will help and

not look away from mistakes and weaknesses.”

*

That evening during the Gemeindestunde Rupert said: “I have

felt God’s love so strongly today and would like to thank Him.”

Those words of his at last calmed her down. Yes, God’s love

gave them their gift today. May they be strong and keep it pure.

But the Excitement Continues

A week had passed since Simone’s great experience, when

she found herself one evening in the small Servant-of-the-Word

hut which sat on the spot where the old metal tower used to be.

She was writing in her diary. Sitting at the small table next to her

was Rupert.

She was somewhat nervous about it. No, truthfully, excited

would be the right word. All her senses were vibrating. She was

constantly reminded of her “prince”, the one she had been trying

to “de-enchant” for years, yearning to find him, only to discover

that although her cords within were singing sweetly, yet from the

heart opposite not a sound, not the remotest echo. Now she was

again resonant, but this time there was a reply, and it sounded

more like an orchestra to her.

Simone had recently opened up to Werner about everything.

She had been in a horrendous state, felt too unwell. There had

been this awful, pulling sensation, quite painful actually. She

could call it desire or longing, but that didn’t describe it at all.

She tried to explain to Werner: How she trembled, waves of

tremors shaking her as if she had a high fever. And Werner had

said, “But it is love.”

She couldn’t believe it when he said that, and she didn’t

agree with him. Because that was exactly what she didn’t want.

A friend that was what it was. But she was upside-down, stand-

ing on her head, so-to-say, and so it was quite possible that

Werner was right.

In a way, if she was in love, this would be quite dreadful. She

knew herself. She knew how she liked to think and feel about the

young man of her choice, whenever she fancied one. A typical

sign was her enjoyment of fantasies. She’d give herself “permis-

sion” to indulge in romantic feelings, allowing them to roam and

wander their uncontrolled ways. At night, in bed, her fantasies

constructed scenes of being intimate with her current “idol”. She

even imagined herself with “him” in bed. So far, this “person”

had always been faceless, because she knew that what she was

doing here was a sin. It was always simply “he”. That way, she

could feel less guilty.

But she really didn’t fantasise like that very often, she reas-

sured herself. And whenever temptation beckoned, she’d pull

herself together. Ach, she did have to admit that sometimes it

was dreadfully difficult. She’d press her eyes shut very tightly,

force herself to switch off all thoughts, fantasies and anything

else, it didn’t matter, as long as she switched off completely. Af-

ter a while it would feel as if she’d wiped clean her inner slate.

Even so, at times this system didn’t work. Then she’d drop eve-

rything she was doing, to go and talk to someone, or make her-

self a cup of mate tea.

She felt very lucky. She had the gift of total concentration.

When she read, sang, chatted, worked, but especially while read-

ing, the world could go under and she wouldn’t notice. She used

this as a tool to take her mind off temptation. And when she felt

that she was all right again, she’d go back and start afresh with

whatever she was doing earlier.

But where was she –.

Ah yes. Werner. She had told him everything. They talked till

late. She managed to calm down then and feel some relief. But

Keep In Touch Newsletter 16 Vol. XXIV No 1 April 2012

hardly had fifteen minutes passed, and everything was back

again in full force, all that trembling and shivering.

Later, in the Gemeindestunde meeting, Berthold, their visit-

ing Servant-of-the-Word, was reading, but she couldn’t follow

one word. She couldn’t think one straight thought. All the time,

fragments of sentences from her conversations with Rupert and

Werner floated through her mind. The sentence haunting her

most, and ever more strongly, was Rupert’s “Don’t you think

that it is going a bit too far between us”. This “it”!

To be continued

Nadine Pleil’s

Autobiography

Translated

into German

For anyone who would

like to order my book Free

From Bondage in Ger-

man,

BEHÜTET UND

BETROGEN,

here are the details: The

address of the publishing

company is, Dog Ear Pub-

lishing, 4010 W. 86th

Street, Suite H, Indianapo-

lis IN 48268 You can order

by mail or from the com-

pany.

Here are two e-mail ad-

dresses you may go to:

adriennem@dogearpublish

ing.net

ambero@dogearpublishing

.net

Tel. +0 866 – 823 – 9613

Fax +0 317 – 489 – 3506

The book can also be or-

dered from Amazon. Price

of the book is US $21.00.

The German version has

more content and also

more pictures, as August

asked me to write a bit

more about a few things.

Nadine Moonje Pleil

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