Paulien (Zuidervaart)
On Tuesday 25th April our Dutch friend and sister Paulien (Zuidervaart) of Vikas freed herself from her body in East Coast hospital after a struggle with cancer in blood and marrow. During the month-long journey through various hospitals, colleagues and friends lovingly attended to her and, in the later stages, so did her sister Mariette and friend Betty who had come from Holland. Paulien would have been 65 in July 2017.
Before coming to Auroville, Paulien lived in Findhorn for several years, and joined Auroville in 1998. In her first years, she was involved in forming a kind of job-service for the then Entry group and also in an ecological project. It was around 2005 that she found her true element and joy in working with kids through the ‘sand box’ medium, which practice she refined throughout the years. Having worked for several years in Nandanam, she then moved to Transition, where she specifically worked on a one-on-one basis with children that need special attention, using the sand box as one of her tools. Paulien was one of the founding members of The Learning Community (TLC) and participated in the TLC Pitchandikulam team, facilitating afternoons of forest exploration with the younger children of the learning community.
Not making life easy at times, for herself and others, through her critical mind and readiness to stand up for things she truly believed in, she did however endear herself to all by her wry and often self-deprecating humour, basic good-heartedness, dedication in work, and an ever willingness to help out when needed.
During the intense last weeks, Paulien mentioned at times her wish and readiness to be liberated and “go to the Light”. Now she is free and we let her go with gratitude and love, - may she play for a while in the golden sands of non-time.
Our love and strength go out to her family and close friends.
OM~
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