Goa, India Country Report - Asia

India

Focal Point for Living Values Education: Indu Gupta
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Living Values Education is gradually expanding in India.
We now have three cities operational offering individual reports:

India  |  Mumbai  ~  Goa  ~  Ayodhya

 

2025

We have had some beautiful feedback of Living Values by our team in Goa:

LVE India feedback_Anjesica RodriguesFeedback from Percy Cardozo, a psychologist with more than 30 years of experience of working on mental health, with a short video of Anjesica Rodrigues, our team member in mid twenties speaking about the importance of Living Values.

Percy has played a significant role in the development of Living Values Education in India.

Does Living Values Education (LVE) intersect with mental health?

I found myself drawn to its core principles - not just as abstract ideals but as practical tools for fostering emotional resilience, self-awareness, and inner balance. My introduction to LVE happened in an unexpected yet deeply reflective space - Peace Cottage, a serene haven in Goa, where meaningful discussions are facilitated by Eleanor Viegas, who embodies the very essence of peace.

Eleanor is a quiet yet steady presence, encouraging us to recognize our strengths and harness our inner potential. Through these conversations, I began to see how LVE’s core principles -  peace, respect, love, responsibility, happiness, cooperation, humility, honesty, simplicity, freedom, tolerance, and unity - are not just concepts to aspire to but deeply practical tools for personal growth and therapeutic practice. The more I engaged, the more I understood how values shape resilience, emotional regulation, and self-awareness, both in my own life and in my work.

Today’s session, facilitated by Anjesica, was a deeply reflective discussion on self-respect - a concept that seems simple but holds profound depth. While psychology defines it in terms of self-worth, dignity, and confidence, our conversation explored its deeper layers. My co-participants shared insights on how self-respect influences our responses to hurt, balances our ego, and helps us decide when to let go and find peace. Eleanor, in her gentle way, reminded us that true understanding evolves with life’s experiences, unfolding with time and wisdom.

After the session, I spoke with Anjesica about her journey with LVE. She shared how values are not just ideals but guiding forces that help us maneuver life with clarity and awareness. Her introduction to LVE came during her college years, when she sensed a need for something deeper beyond everyday distractions. Over time, she realized that living values is about tuning in to oneself, recognizing inner strengths, and finding balance. She described values as quiet anchors, steadying us through life’s uncertainties and transforming experiences into wisdom.

A conversation worth participating, it left me thoughtful - reminding me once again that values are not just something we teach or discuss, but something we live.

Click here to watch the full video on our YouTube channel.

 

 

2024

Living Values Educators training - February 5 & 7, 2024

Living Values Education India acknowledges Percy Cardozo (Project Lead, Inclusive Education Projects, Sangath), Genesis D’Silva (Manager, Adarsh V.V. High School) and Svetlana Borges (Principal, Adarsh School) for their support in bringing together 27 teachers from 27 schools around South Goa for a two-day experiential workshop on creating a values-based atmosphere. The workshop took place at Adarsh V. V. High School on 5 &7 February 2024.

This collaboration enabled us to sow the seeds of LVE with its unique approach ('Explore, Experience, and Express' our universal values) and offering ways for the teachers to creatively introduce values in their teaching.

Sangath is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation with primary focus areas in child development, adolescent and young health, and mental health.

Through various reflective activities, games and small group discussions, teachers explored the needs of a child and how to create a values-based atmosphere, contributing to the holistic development of a child. The sessions on active listening, conflict resolution and lifeskills provided teachers with tools to deal with some of the many challenges they face - in their personal development, and in their interactions with children and parents.

LVE India trusts that the experience of this unique workshop will remain etched in the teachers’ hearts forever and will serve as an impetus for more such LVE workshops in the future. Through this beautiful collaboration with Sangath and Adarsh V.V. High School, we envisage further sowing of the seeds of human values in the schools of South Goa which will bloom into beautiful trees contributing to the overall human development index of Goa.

We invite you to view the full video report on our YouTube Channel here.

India TTE course feb 24

Noticing each others qualities through their words and their eyes

India TTE course feb 24

Sharing and discussing visions

India TTE course feb 24

Discussing the basics needs of a child

India TTE course feb 24 India TTE course feb 24

Activity in active listening

India TTE course feb 24 India TTE course feb 24

Activities to develop harmony, cooperation, attention, discipline and coordination

India TTE course feb 24

 

 

2023

Living Values Education Activities in Goa, March 2023

Helen Sayers's visit to Goa was an enriching experience for all. She interacted with teachers and NGO representatives who were eager to learn more about Living Values Education. 

 

LVE workshop for staff at the Bookworm Library, Panjim, Thursday 2 March 

Established in 2005, this is an award-winning library and registered non-profit organisation promoting stories and love for books. 'Our vision is to inspire and develop a love for reading as a way of life, nurturing humane engagement in every girl and boy'.

Feedback 

It was an enjoyable workshop held by Helen Sayers on living values education which helped us a lot. The manner in which the session was conducted allowed us to reflect deeply on several values. The introductory 'visiting card' activity allowed us to interact with each other and share how we feel about another person and the qualities we observed in them. I also appreciated a creative exercise which enabled us to think about values using the parts of a tree as metaphors for certain aspects of our lives. There is a lot of potential to explore this segment in the school. 

india bookworm workshop march 23 india bookworm workshop march 23

 

Follow-up workshops for facilitators who attended TTE training workshop in 2022 

Several TTE participants came together for a number of half-day workshops at Peace Cottage, a beautiful venue where they were warmly invited by host Eleanor Viegas who has been supporting LVE activities for over ten years. The sessions were designed to reinforce the skills and application of values that had been explored at the TTE, to encourage participants to share their experiences in the field, and to provide additional support and imagine new horizons together. 

Feedback 

The session at Peace Cottage on 3rd March was an in-depth learning experience. Sharing of a variety of challenges faced professionally and in daily life were discussed. Values contribute to provide us with the required strength, spark and positive energy to overcome and face difficult times. Helen shared values-based anecdotes, stories and experiences that were extremely inspiring, empowering and motivating. The reflection time was a treat and a great boost, energising us from within. We left the session feeling valued and enriched. 
Brenda D'Cruz - LVE facilitator

 

india bookworm workshop march 23 india bookworm workshop march 23

The workshop I co-facilitated with Helen gave me an opportunity to reflect on my personal values observe how I am applying them. I experienced a safe and supportive environment and felt encouraged to share my thoughts and experiences without fear of judgement or criticism. Overall, living values sessions have been an enriching and rewarding experience for me , helping to deepen my understanding of my own values and develop practical skills for living those values in my daily life. 
Anjescia Rodrigues - LVE facilitator

india bookworm workshop march 23 india bookworm workshop march 23

 

The LVE workshop touched base with our communication skills and how we can consciously work on improving them. We learnt that having values-based communication skills is highly likely to promote positive health for ourselves as well as for those around us. The practice session highlighted how a non-productive conversation can develop when we give too much advice, ignore, interrupt and criticise the other. The reverse is possible when we listen and speak with respect. The quality of our communication is directly linked with our own state of mind and vulnerability at the moment. Repeated practical sessions (started at Peace Cottage and then at home) drove this fact into my consciousness and I could mindfully guide myself in a positive direction and see my own values developing and changing the dynamics of any communication. The fantastic take home message from the workshop with Helen and Eleanor was that a Better Communication with others improves our own self-confidence and self-worthiness. 
Jacqueline Fernandes - LVE facilitator

Helen asked us to spend time in silence in the garden looking for things that interest us and connect them to ourselves. Since I was attending the session with Nasya, my daughter, I could not move around the garden so I observed a tree and connected it to the different areas of my life: Roots being the values I have been brought up with and that I believe strongly in, moving deeper into the areas (soil) where I could get more knowledge (nutrients) to develop; Bark being the support system - my family and even Eleanor (Peace Cottage) which helps me stay strong and flourish; Stems - spreading my wings to different areas of life and spreading knowledge, guidance, love and values to others around me (moving towards different directions), it also resembled my students taking the knowledge ahead into the space and flourishing. The leaves are something that provide the tree with food - so this is related to LVE and my mentors who provide so much in terms of resources and help (food to our soul, mind and heart) that keeps us going; Flowers and fruits - the goals and achievements that we accomplished, the raw ones to remind me that I still need to grow in some areas to ripen (shine or be experienced) in those areas as it will require more time. The one that could not ripe or fell from the tree - giving me hope for improvement and accepting my failures; the buds - those dreams and achievements that are bidding up; the ones I need to be ready for as they could bring me new challenges, my dreams and achievements that I still need to work on and start planning to turn them into reality. 
Anisha Rodrigues- LVE facilitator and coordinator 


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