This summer we have been joined by Yeshe Fuchs, Valérie Limon, Thierry Barsby and
Véronique Villemagne who have each given up their time to offer their unique support to
Dechen Chöling staff and the wider community.
Yeshe has spent the summer taking care of participants in our Meditation in Action
programme. She has taught weekly practice mornings and offered a rich programme of
teachings, discussion groups and social events as well as supporting individuals throughout
their stay. As well as all this, Yeshe has been an invaluable member of our community:
constantly available to offer a listening ear, ever present in the shrine room, and often to be
seen schlepping trays of crockery from dishwasher to cupboard.
Valérie, having been a Karuna practitioner for many years, has given her time to us this
summer to help us open our hearts. She has led Open Heart circles for staff in which we
have discovered the power of speaking and listening from the heart and learned about
mindful communication. Valérie has worked with the White Team (which has replaced our
management team to create a more horizontal organizational structure) to help us develop
our feedback skills and work together effectively. She has also spent many hours working
with individuals through compassionate exchanges.
Thierry has spent many hours this summer engrossed in the finances of Dechen Chöling. He
has worked tirelessly with the Director and other key staff members to make financial
projections and offer sound advice based on his years of experience.
Véronique has volunteered her time as our resident Rusung (taking care of every detail of
security and protection) during our busy summer period. She has taken care of so many of
the aspects of our day to day functioning that it would be impossible to list them all here.
We`d like to say a huge and heartfelt thank you to Yeshe, Valérie, Thierry and Véronique for
sharing their time, their wisdom and their kindness with us all.
We would also like to say a big thank you to the many wonderful participants of the MIA
programme who have volunteered their time and expertise, helping staff in every
department and supporting Dechen Chöling in providing a great practice container for
participants this summer.