Golden Temple @ Amritsar

The Golden Temple is only 2 hours away, so it´s frequently visited by our interns:

Diwali!

Wednesday 26 October

Today´s Diwali, one of the most important holidays in India. It´s also called the Festival of Lights, as can be seen on the pictures. Fireworks have been cracking for days and the streets are filled with little stalls selling candy in every color and shape imaginable. People are hugging us on the street and stuffing us with candy, so this is definitely our favorite holiday so far!

New vegetable garden for the Adampur Trash Pickers!

On Wednesday, September 7^th ViKAS Centre interns had the exciting new assignment of initiating a farm plot in the migrant community in Adampur. We have been working with the migrant community of 31 members since April 2011 on various issues of health, nutrition, hygiene, sanitation, economic sustainability, waste management and education.  They face a complex range of social, health and environmental issues that we seek to address in a holistic and integrated way to improve their overall living conditions through building a partnership of trust and respect. One of the main problems faced in this community is poor or inadequate nutrition.  Many members only eat once a day in order to save money and their level of awareness on a balanced diet is limited.  Therefore, as a first step at improving their nutrition levels and awareness we helped them clear the land for planting of a range of vegetables.

The Land before cultivation

To start the job, Interns took turns cutting grass and weeds in order to clear a square plot of land located just behind the community. This task was at times challenging due to the heat but everyone persevered.

Mr B, Dan, Yvan and Hiroki all hard at work

 Once the land was cleared interns began planting vegetable seeds. Some of these included radish, spinach, peas, and chili.

Gulshan,Alex,Suzy and Dan planting seeds

Unfortunately, our organic farming team was away at a workshop and unable to give their advice, but the rest of the interns came together and used their collective knowledge to plant successfully.  However, our organic farm team will be visiting the plot later this week to give their inputs and advice on companion planting, organic pest management and weed control.

                  The next step for the land is to shield it from unwanted animals. Even while the interns were planting seeds, a heard of water buffalo tried to intrude, but we made sure that they got the message and scared them away, as well as spoke to their owner about keeping them off this plot of land.

The current crop of EduCARE interns after a hard days work
Names from back row left to Right, Yvan,Dan, Liz, Nick, Julia, hiroki, Alvin, Rachael, Alex,
middle row: Rieke, Tono, Yuki, Shantie,
front row: Gulshan, Suzi

             Overall, the day was a success and if the community tends to the land with our help and guidance, it should thrive with vegetables for them in the future. This is a first step to help improve their diet and nutrition levels as well as save them money for the future. We hope also in the coming weeks to extend this plot to include more vegetables. We will be sure to keep you updated on the progress of this project!

Health Day in Adampur: Trash Pickers Visit Local Health Facilities

Hannah Wolkwitz, coordinator of health day, spent weeks organizing transportation, supervision, and free check-ups with local hospitals for the Trash Pickers community in Adampur.  The health day was realized several days before her departure from EduCARE. The Trash Pickers community suffer from constant health problems due to poor sanitation, water, and other conditions in which they live. The goal for the health day was to complete a general physical for the majority of the community, numbering around thirty people.

Interns accompanied three to five individuals from the community to two facilities. EduCARE volunteers were responsible for recording health information and ensuring individuals received free medicine.  The Lion’s Club offered free eye examinations and diabetes tests. The community collected basic eye medication and, for those who needed it, spectacles. The Civil Hospital provided a urine test, weight and height measurements, and blood tests for iron, along with iron supplements.  

Civil Hospital employees checking blood pressure.

An English student and friend of EduCARE, Sukhjinder Singh, extended a helping hand, as usual, by transporting, in multiple shifts, the community to both locations. After initial disorganization and delay at the Lion’s Club during the first shift, interns developed a system to oversee that each person would be attended to. At the Civil Hospital the children bravely bared finger pricks. The community’s dog, Tiger, accompanied them for moral support, at times over-extending that support by lounging in the lobby.

The day required the attention of each member of the EduCARE team. As a much anticipated event and one in planning for awhile, it proved to be quite successful for a community plagued by a plethora of health concerns. The information recorded will be of avail to assist the community in understanding its own health and sanitation issues, as well as to go on record for future interns working to improve the general health of the Trash Pickers. Furthermore, the day spent in two health facilities will hopefully spread awareness among the community that there are local resources available to them that should be utilized.

Krishan receives a free eye examination at the Lion's Club.

Things Are A-cookin' in Abhowal

On Sunday, July 24, Girls Club in Abhowal held an event for the entire Abhowal community.  The event showcased artwork by the girls, a skit about nutrition, a dance that promoted physical fitness, and an inspiring song about humans and the Earth! 

Girls Club Abhowal, which began in early June, has focused on the topics of personal hygiene, nutrition, food safety, and physical fitness in its first month.  While the event served as a way to show off what the girls had learned over the past month, it also was a great way to connect with the girls' mothers, siblings, and community at-large in Abhowal.  Taking place at the Gudwara, it began with an introduction of the girls and an explanation of why Girls Club exists. 

After the introduction the girls performed a skit written by our very own Yiwen Hsia, focused on the importance of healthy eating.  The crowd was delighted by the heart-warming tale of five sisters who all had different diets.  One daughter only ate fruit for healthy hair, the second ate only dairy for healthy skin, the third only grains for a strong body, and the forth only vegetables for a good figure.  Only the youngest daughter ate everything her mother prepared.  When all the other daughters suffered from poor health due to their limited diet, the mother asked for help from the wise old women of the village. The wise old woman realized that the girls' picky diets were to blame for their health problems and she decided to teach them a lesson. She gave them two solutions to their problems: to either change their diet or to hop on one leg repeating “dippy dippy doo” three times. While the older sisters hopped and chanted, they envied their youngest sister for her long healthy hair, her strong body, her beautiful figure, and clear skin. They finally realized that she was so beautiful and healthy because of her balanced diet, reflecting on their own poor choices.

The skit ended with an uplifting dance choreographed by the girls. The audience was dragged to the dance floor and everyone joined in on the fun and physical fitness! Volunteers displayed art projects from previous Girls Club meetings, including plates of healthy meals and posters on personal hygiene. The event was a huge success; the Abhowal community took pride in the girls and all they had learned.  The sense of accomplishment the girls felt and the joy they took in showing off to their friends and family was a great step towards empowerment!  Thanks to all who came out to the event and supported the girls! 

Five interns, two buckets and a pile of gold…brown gold!

On a July weekend the members of the Sotla Interns house were presented with what can only be described as a mountain of a task.  Something that would test their metal, harden their spirits and leave them covered in animal poo.

Modestly equipped with a pair of buckets and spades, the five of us set to work to transport the pile of cow dung the ten meters to the stirring pit, mix it with water, and coax the slurry down into the bio-gas plant.  Why were we doing this?  Locked up in the cow manure is methane gas, which will be piped from the plant to our kitchen, providing a clean and renewable source of energy for us to use for cooking.  

To make our task even more dramatic, methane gas was leaking out of the pile as it was lying there for two days in the open, making it a race against time to get the manure into the hole as soon as possible.  Progress initially was slow and we felt the job would be too time consuming without the help of additional labour, which can be found around Sotla.  Alarmingly no labour could be found as they were all committed to working on the farms, and in an amusing inversion of the principles of ViKAS and SEVA, we found ourselves in a situation where we had money but no labour! (Our principles are labour first, materials second and money last).

There was nothing left to do but begin work and get as much completed as we could.  After four hours of unyielding toil, five manure covered bodies were lying limp on the ground, but the pile was no more.  We had won…It was gone.

Many thanks goes to Tom, Yiwen, Jerah, Martha and Julia.  Your valiant efforts will be etched into the minds of the other team members and local villagers, and you will always be remembered as the strange white people who left their lives of comfort, luxury and privilege, to come to India and play with the cow poo.  

(Courtesy: Renewable Energy Initiative - ViKAS, Bhunga-Dosarka)

Poet girls

Caryn, our intern from USA has started a poetry group with the Manderan Village Girls Club at ViKAS Centre Adampur. With a background and passion for many creative persuits, Caryn believes in the power of poetry to facilitate creativity, expression and improve the language skills of the girls.

With the help of Lauren and Natalia (the other two interns from US & Columbia for this project), the first Poetry session started in Manderan in the last week of June 2011. After creating some engaging discussions about friendship they named the new club 'Kavita' (which means poetry in Pubjabi). Bringing this poetry element to the Girls' Club gave the girls a chance to practice their English and to have an expressive outlet to communicate their feelings, desires and issues.

The girls were asked to write a poem about a friend. Caryn remarked: “We were very pleased by their ability to articulate/read and share their poems in pretty good English as well as being impressed with the sentiment of the poems.”  Overall the girls were very engaged and enthusiastic and it was a great success!

This poem is by Akbir, she is twenty-five and her friendship poem was about her teacher:

"To my teacher:

I was a drop of rain,

You made me a nectar.

I was less than a man,

You made me a human.

People say that God is one,

But I say that God is two:

One's in heaven, and another on earth--that's you."

Another poem written by an adolescent girl named, Jasmit Kaur speaks of the various facets of her friendship with her best friend:

"I have many friends, but Hargot is my best friend.

She always speaks the truth; she is a good girl.

I see every quality in her which I want in my friend.

Sometimes we get angry with each other, but then we start talking.

She loves me and I also love her very much."

Apart from this Maria, Silvia and Guilia worked with members of other centres to start a new Girls Club in Janauri with initial activities focussing on cultural diversity and global awareness.   The interns gave presentations on their home countries, sharing with them some interesting facts about their cultures and life styles. The girls were happy to have new activities to participate in and to have a chance to practice and improve their English. The meeting finished with “musical chairs”, all the girls and the interns danced together fighting for the chairs!  A fun day for everyone!