By Gopi Ramana Dasa
The Radhadesh CPT has been invited by the International Child Protection Office for a 3 days Child Protection Training in the beautiful Villagio Hare Krishna Temple near Bergamo, Italy. The Child Protection training was held on the 5th and 6th of October. The last day was reserved for Review Panel Member Training (RPM). We had about 15 attendees participating from Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, Ireland and Belgium.
The Radhadesh Team are new to this service role and are very happy to finally and officially receive this very important training after 3 years of accepting this very important service for the Radhadesh Community.
Day 1
HG Kamalesh Krishna Dasa, the director of the International Child Protection Office, started the first day off explaining several topics such as, what is child abuse, types of abuses, the effects of child abuse, who commits the abuse, role of the CPT’s, creating policies, training of adults/children etc etc.
Day 2
The training were deliverd by HG Gandharvika Devi dasi and Daksina Devi Dasi.
HG Gandharvika Devi Dasi has been involved in child protection in ISKCON since its inception in 1998 and is the assistant International Director. HG Daksina Devi Dasi is the UK National Director and has been involved with child protection for the last 10 years. The following topics were discussed, such as, role and duties of review panel, managing cases, evidence and testimony, evaluating of evidence, criteria for decisions, along with 2 very interesting sample cases. It was very interesting to see how the attendees reviewed and solved cases in different ways. We closed the day with a short trip to the nearby town to enjoy some delicious gelato.
Day 3
We continued discussing different topics in regards to review panel case adjudications. The rest of the day we spend specifically working on one sample case. The attendees were given a full case and each one had to review the case and see how they would solve the case, what requirements and restrictions would be put in place for the alleged perpetrator. The day was closed with a wonderful trip to the beautiful Bergamo city which is famous for its wealth of artistic treasures and medieval atmosphere.
The training was very interesting, informative and we have learned a lot. Our children are our future and every serious community should give very high priority to taking proper care of their children.
As mentioned by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.8.5.
“The protection of children gives the human form of life its best chance to prepare the way of liberty from material bondage”
With this training, we hope that we can also contribute in creating a safe environment, full of affection and love for the children in our ISKCON society.
Our sincere thank you to Kamalesh Krishna Dasa, Gandharvika Devi Dasi, Daksina Devi Dasi and Citrarupini Devi Dasi for organizing this. Also a big thank you to all the wonderful devotees at Villaggio Hare Krishna.
Hare Krsna!
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