Our team

Our team

Stephanie Bunk

My name is Stephanie, I am a co-initiator of the project and have been involved from the beginning. My professional background is as a psychologist, lecturer in meditation and Ayurveda and I have been running my own yoga center in Markdorf since 2014. The school project is one of my most important projects. Because if children find themselves and their inner balance at an early age, the door will be open to them early on in a life that makes them a conscious creator of their life with joy, abundance and inner peace.

Martina Kugler

I am Martina, the mother of Tom (14 years old) and Anna (12 years old). At the Earth in Balance Congress 2018, I was inspired by the keynote speech "School for happy children" and have been supporting the project from the beginning. It would be so wonderful if the children were happy to be able to go back to school after the holidays. School should be a place where you learn for life and have fun doing so - a place of meeting and learning.

Elizabeth Pepper

I am Elizabeth Pepper, born in 1986 and grew up in the Camphill school community in Brachenreute. 

Now I am a mother of two daughters, which is also my reason for participating in this project.

From a young age I have been interested in art, be it dance, music or painting, which has now become my means of expression for several years.

Natascha Ralfs

I am a Waldorf class teacher, life and learning counselor, coach and master in resonance according to Kutschera.

"I am really looking forward to the creation of Ananda and to our launch. There is still a lot to do before then and I am very excited to see where we will find our place. It is important to me to create a space with the children that allows everyone to feel comfortable and to learn easily and to be happy."

Nina Afflerbach

I'm Nina. I have three children, four cats, thirty years of life experience and a lot of hope for a new way of learning from and with each other. I like to be active in a variety of ways, I like being outdoors, I like doing circus and I like reading. I therefore also like to work in these areas: psychomotor skills, outdoor activities/nature education, circus education, movement and play.

I found Ananda last year. I had some serious doubts about school that had arisen during my second degree (primary school teaching) and the realization that I was moving away from what was important to me.

I want to accompany children on their life-learning journey, not tell them what they have to learn. I want to help children to follow their interests and curiosity and to get to the bottom of their questions, not give them tasks that don't interest them and watch as their joy in learning diminishes. I want to explore, research, experience and understand life and nature with children, not create worksheets about it.

My quest to make those wishes come true is what brought me to Ananda - and I am so excited to see what it will be like. I truly believe that children who grow up in the Ananda way make the world more joyful, honest, creative, fulfilling, connected and peaceful.

Sarah Strathmann

I am Sarah Sophia Strathmann, 35 years old, social worker and LeiSee coach.

My heart beats for lively communication and authentic encounters between people. It is a matter close to my heart to accompany children and young people as they mature and grow, preferably in connection with nature.

As a school social worker, I repeatedly experience the limitations of our school system and have long dreamed of a different kind of school, where children are understood and treated as equals. A place of learning and living where children are not forced to accept their identity and talents, but where they are recognized and supported. I am looking forward to the moment when Ananda opens its doors and am grateful to now be a part of it.

Our history

In December 2018, we set out to establish a free school for the children of the future.

The starting point was the "Earth in Balance" seminar at the Siddha Center in Markdorf, and over time a team emerged that is determined to make the shared vision of this new school - this "place of encounter and learning" - a reality. In the summer of 2019 we founded an association, Ananda eV. We submitted our educational concept to the regional council in Tübingen in February 2020 and have been in constructive exchange ever since. There are still a few steps that separate us from approval. Numerous children have already pre-registered with us (i.e. they are interested in going to ANANDA as soon as it opens) and we are urgently looking for a place where our school can open its doors as soon as possible.

Our vision

Ananda, a place of encounter and Learning wants to offer children and young people the opportunity to develop their potential and to remain in harmony with themselves, their fellow human beings and nature. We assume that the child has a spiritual origin and that at birth on earth it already carries inherent knowledge that can be remembered, deepened and expanded.

The goal is to live in a balance between one's inner self and the outer world, which includes both self-respect and respect for all other life.  

Ananda wants to create a space in which freedom, appreciative communication and equality create a community that enables everyone to learn holistically with head, heart and hand.