“I
felt comfortable with myself”
Niek van Duivenboodenhas worked as an agronomist since 1986. His work consists of agricultural research and land use planning in and for various West African countries. In 1992, he and Suzan Edelijn created the AvatarŽ Center Global Institute for Integration. They deliver Avatar in the Netherlands and abroad. With a part-time job in development projects, Niek introduces Avatar in agricultural settings (e.g., Dutch Ministry of Agriculture).
One of
the first things I declared after the Avatar course was, 'This is it!" I
had been seeking for an appropriate tool to integrate personal and spiritual
development and daily work for a long time. During my free time work in a
center, I guided people how to use energy in their work, but I stopped because
it did not give people a tool to take back home. In Avatar, I have found
"my" tool.
I have had many experiences with the Avatar material,
some of them may be considered minor, but they've all contributed to the
happiness of my life. For example, an inspector of taxes called me with an
angry and irritated voice, saying that I should do this and that. I did not
react to his attacks. I just quietly explained the situation and at the end of
our conversation, he thanked me and wished me a good day, as if we were
friends.
The
Master course gave me another push. I worked on some fears I had around
upcoming projects. Two weeks later, during an interview for one project, I
felt comfortable with myself, I made clear my possible contributions, my
intentions and my wish to work only part time. The next day, I had the job. For
the other project, I had to go to Niger, where the work with local persons gave
us much joy.
With
Avatar I regained playing in life, and I'm very happy with the combination of
delivering Avatar and working on development projects.