News, Presentations, Recordings

Meeting with modern Pestalozzi once again!

PIVT ladybirdladybird-smaller-4cm-150x150For the second year running, the Early Pestalozzi Children Project visited the Pestalozzi International Village Trust (PIVT) in   Sedlescombe, East Sussex in October to present current students with an introduction to the early history of their community.IMG_2243Following our successful inaugural presentation in 2014, we were even more pleased this time as Pestalozzi Trustees also attended, as well as residents of the Oaklands estate.

William discusses our project with Pestalozzi Trustee, Beryl Bartter
William discusses our project with Pestalozzi Trustee, Beryl Bartter

To cap it off, we were delighted to have four other early Pestalozzi children accompany us and meet with the modern Pestalozzi community.

This year’s presentation included a short recording about a young child’s life in a Displaced Persons’ camp in Germany following World War 2, before experiencing the dramatic change of living at the British Pestalozzi Children’s Village.
To listen to this recording, click on the play button in the following audio file link:

Chairman of Trustees Prof. Derek Blackman (L) and Trustee Prof. Stuart Laing express their enthusiam about the presentation.
Chairman of Trustees Prof. Derek Blackman (L) and Trustee Prof. Stuart Laing express their enthusiam to Len about the presentation.

The address was received with great interest and we were rewarded with an enthusiastic response afterwards. Following our address, we were treated to a delicious meal and discussed our story and research with Pestalozzi Chairman of Trustees, Professor Derek Blackman, along with Trustees Professor Stuart Laing and Beryl Bartter.  It was reassuring that they showed a genuine desire to support our project and link the early Pestalozzi history with the present Pestalozzi community 

Our early Pestalozzi companions, Anna, Irmina, Olga and Yogi, all commented enthusiastically about the presentation.  The feeling was that we are heading in the right direction in the way we are bringing our history to the attention of the modern Pestalozzi community.

We remain indebted to PIVT Chief Executive Officer, Sue Walton and her staff for their encouragement, help and hospitality.

IMG_2281
An Oaklands resident is keen to hear about the history of the Manor House

The inspirational students at Pestalozzi today continue to impress us with their commitment. We look forward to building a connection that unites the earliest history of the Pestalozzi community with every new intake that arrives.
We hope to see the past help to inspire the future.

Our special thanks go to Pestalozzi student Tenzin Yangkey for taking the photos used in this post.

english_compact_pantoneLOGO-smaller-copyTo find out more about the early story of the Pestalozzi Children’s Village,start here!

Do you have any recollections of the
Pestalozzi Children’s Village between 1959 and 1966?
– Get in touch with us here!