Barbados Reiki Association

The new committee for the Barbados Reiki Association was elected at the AGM on February 4, 2010. The members are:

President - Rosina Wiltshire

Vice President -Martha Isaac

Secretary -Sonia Johnson

Treasurer - Eugene Daniel

2-yr Director - Trevor Davis

1-yr Director -Francine Cadogan

1-yr Director - Kathleen Hurley

Committee Member - H Ben Parris

This excerpt from the President’s Report outlines activities undertaking by the Barbados Reiki Association during the year.

Activities

Monthly General Meetings

At the beginning of the year, the committee decided, with the agreement of the membership, that healing would play a more major role in our meetings. Despite a few challenges, we have for the most part managed to make this happen.

In keeping with our mission of spreading the Reiki message as widely as possible, the Association either hosted or took part in the following activities during the year.

BMEX (29-31 May 2009)

The Association was invited to participate in BMEX, again under the umbrella of the Barbados Coalition of Service Industries (BCSI). There were fewer volunteers than usual, but we still managed to maintain a decent presence at the show and the Reiki treatments were much appreciated by the visitors.

Complementary Health Day – (28 June 2009)

Formerly called the Open Day, the Complementary Health Day was held at the Ursuline Convent Hall for the second consecutive year. Other than Reiki practitioners, there were 20 additional therapists. Again, many Reiki initiates, members and non-members, volunteered their time to assist with setting up and clearing up, giving treatments, manning the welcome table and helping with the reception area. Special mention must be made of Sheila Leslie-John who once again produced the necessary signs in her beautiful calligraphy. I also wish to thank Michael Rudder, who, among many other things, generously contributed to the cost of producing a new banner for the Complementary Health Day as well as taking on the responsibility of having the old banner updated.  Rosemarie Layne and Michael Rudder looked after our public relations campaign. The event was well publicized on radio and television and in the print media and this was apparent in the numbers of visitors who attended. Feedback from the therapists indicated that they were pleased with the venue, the participation arrangements and the number of visitors to their booths.

Body Mind Spirit Expo – (11 October 2009)

This very promising first expo, the brainchild of our own Melena Simmons, took place at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Conference Centre.  We were fortunate to have several people volunteer their time to help in the Reiki corner and a good deal of interest was exhibited by the visiting public.

Reiki Gathering – (29 October to 01 November 2009)

The Reiki Gathering had originally been planned for October 2008 but was postponed because it was thought that there were insufficient personnel to carry it forward. Even as late as the beginning of June 2009 the Gathering Committee was still having second thoughts about hosting the Gathering for that same reason. However, we were persuaded to go ahead by Michael Rudder, who must be given credit for having faithfully held the vision of such an event for many years – in fact since 1995.

Once the decision had been taken, it was full speed ahead as there were myriad things to be done in a relatively short time.

We were fortunate to be able to secure the premises of the Barbados Workers’ Union Labour College for the event. This afforded us a residential facility, on-spot catering, beautifully landscaped gardens which offered great atmosphere for early-morning yoga and tai chi, separate space for the registration office and an enormous auditorium to accommodate all our activities.  Marcia Small-Burrowes at the Labour College was ever pleasant and helpful as was the housekeeper, Mrs Collymore. Our vegetarian participants unfortunately had some difficulties with the menu, but they took steps to deal with this.

All in all, it was a very rewarding and enriching experience and I wish to take this opportunity to thank all the people who made up the Gathering Committee and the other people who helped. Everyone put in a tremendous effort.

End-of-year Social Gathering (04 December 2009)

This was a fun-filled evening, with an exciting programme of entertainment. We were not at all affected by being locked out of the usual room and having to use the smaller one. There was ballroom dancing by Paulette and Wilfred, oriental dancing by Rosemarie, story-telling by Suzy, a comical musical skit by Julia, harmonica playing by Arthur Cadogan, carol singing by Voices in Christ, singing and guitar playing by our surprise but very welcome guest, Indra Rudder, and a game with prizes at the end. The buffet, provided by the members, was also exciting and varied.

IICA Agro-tourism Day – (12 December 2009)

This was a new event held by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture. A health and wellness component was included in the event and it is in this context that the Association was asked to participate. The invitation was issued extremely late, but it was felt that the possible resulting exposure would be of benefit to the Association and to Reiki in general. However, attendance at the fair was very poor and the location of the Reiki area was not easily visible, so visitors to our booth were few. I do, however, wish to thank all those who volunteered to assist despite the short notice.

The date for the International Reiki Gathering in Grenada has changed to September 16 to 19, 2010, one week in advance of previously announced date. Please update your diaries.