tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73560825156901163512024-02-21T00:16:46.056-08:00Amrut | Sanitation for CommunitiesNandini - Service on Wheelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10882337762791847813noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356082515690116351.post-28609516978301912162014-05-03T08:36:00.001-07:002014-05-03T08:36:37.048-07:00CHINA Volunteers Experience in Pedhamali village. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">Later I and Carona were sent to a
poor village called “PEDHAMALI” to make photography of the local primary school
children. I and Carona are never afraid to live in poverty so we agreed. But
things were a little out of our imagination. I have really to make a brief
introduction of our background before I started to talk about our life in
“PEDHAMALI” and all the feelings are honest even though it may be a little
offense and the changes of our minds are quite complex and emotional. I and
Caronacome from a small town of Province Zhejiang which is near Shanghai. My
family is middle class and not so rich but my entire life until now I can say is
very comfortable, I get the best education and next year I will go to Britain
to study as an exchange student. I can buy luxury goods like Channel, Gucci or
other famous brands. My house is big, clean and well-furnitured. And although
my grandparents live in countryside, their living standard is almost the same
as us.I have come to poor villages of other province in China to do volunteer
work before and the situation is within my endurance. However the first time we
arrived at Jaldipbhai’s house both of us were shocked. We knew villages might
be poor but unfortunately our definition of being poor seems a bit different. I
don’t want to offend but I have to say the economy of China is much better than
India. And that time my mind was stuck in the faith that it was a punishment
for me and Carona to be sent here maybe because our work in ESI was regard
terrible. At first I was tired of describing the dust and the poor facility of
the house which we found later that Jaldipbhai’s house is the best of the whole
village. The beginning two days I got sick because I was not used to the simple
toilet and sleeping on the floor. My headache was so serious that it prevented
me from thinking what I was doing and then I got a tonsillitis which made me
can’t talk and eat. Now when I think of these days I still want to laugh at
myself with tears. One thing makes me start to like this poor place is the
kindness of Jaldipbhai and his wife Snehalban. And then the kindness of Ajay,
their adopted son, the kids and the villages make us love this village. The
story of Ajay made me cry once. His real mother has passes away and his father
is a drunker who never cares about him. Before Jaldipbhai adopted him, he was a
beggar and struggled for hunger. He got food from neighbors, and once he got
something to eat no matter what it is he ate as much as possible because he
knew the next meal was no guaranteed and even now he have a problem of
controlling intake. In his left arm there was a horrible scar from a dog. At
that time Jaldipbhai himself had no job, no money and lived in the temple, but
he decided to adopt Aja because he wanted to take care of him. Now Ajay is so
happy with full of love. Although our communication is limited by language I
can tell from his bright teeth. And there are so many small things I observed
from which I can see that they really love and care Aja when Snehalben teaches
Aja homework with her hand fondling his head, she combs his hair softly and
even when Jaldipbhai blames him wash clothes too slowly. It is what parents do
to their child. We went to the primary schools with Jaldipbhai and Snehalban to
see the school life of the kids. Here again we received warm welcome not only
by the kids but also by the teachers. The kids poured into us and asked our
names again and again, some of them were shy but always smile to us then run
away like a wind. The primary school system here is quite different from China
since China has only 6 standards but India has 10 and the subjects are not the
same as we study English from the first year but here from the 8<sup>th</sup>
standard. Now this school has almost 200 students but 7 years ago when
Jaldipbhai first came to this village there were only 80 because at that time
people thought going to school was useless compared with doing farm work to
earn money. Jaldipbhai as well as the teachers made great effort to persuade
parents to send their children to the primary school by going to every family
with child of right age and talk to them patiently about the benefit of getting
education. The villagers were persuaded and now almost every child in the
village goes to school and Jaldipbhai told us the school was supported by the
government so there was no charge for textbooks and meals. It’s really nice. In
China we have a
nine-year-compulsory-education system and government also invested huge
sums of money in the education area, but the fees is not free until now and we
really hope one day Chinese government can achieve this just like Indian
government did. Some days ago there was incidence in this school. Two boys
fought with each other and another boy who wanted to stop the fight was hurt.
The reason caused this quarrel was that in one class two boys wanted to be the
leaders of all the boys, but the rest of the boys did not want to obey their
oders and started to isolate the two. Gradually these two boys felt lonely and
upset and began to make fun of other boys by gossiping them with the girls
which was not true. Finally one boy from the rest group got angry and fought
with one of the two boys. Jaldipbhai knew about this incidence and firstly took
the injured boy (his nose was hurt) to the hospital and we also companied him
to the hospital. The next day Jaldipbhai came to the school and talked with the
teachers to figure out more details. That day afternoon Jaldipbhai called all
the boys of this class out to sit in the playground and said something to them.
I sat beside him and because I didn’t understand the language I just observed
the faces of the boys. They were still young and they listened so carefully, it
reminded me of my primary school time when I also made some mistake the teacher
called me to his office and talked to me as patient as Jaldipbhai, that time I
should have the same face. Later Jaldipbhai translated what he said to me. He
did not blame the boys who had fight but told a story to all the boys that
hundreds years ago Indian people were separated and fought with each other to
win the leader position and then British came and easily controlled the whole
India. Gandhi realized this problem and called for all Indian people to unit as
brothers. Then without any violence British came out their country. At last he
said to the boys that there should not be leaders because they were all
brothers. It makes me think a lot. I always think deep talk is important and
everybody in his whole life needs someone to give them some advice because
nobody is perfect and good at everything. In China competition is very strong
no matter in high school or in college, sometimes grade is everything so
especially in high school teachers put their all energy to teach knowledge and
ignored the most important part: that is to teach how to be a good person. I
think it’s not an issue only existed in China but a problem all of the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">On February 2th there was a big function
held in the school. All the children and teachers prepared for this for a long
time. We also accompanied Snehalben to the school to help decoration. Wewove
the big leaves into curtains and hanged them on every doors and halls. The most
attracting part of the preparation is the rehearsal. I thought I was in a
dramatic movie! The boys and girls dressed so beautiful costumes and practiced
the dances with so excited songs. I used to hear that Indians were born with
good dance and rhythm and now I knew it was true.When they were dancing their
bodys were as soft as water, I blink and they flew away. There were so many
beautiful girls with big eyes, prominent noses and small lips, they are just
like elegant princesses wearing the noble sarees and shining jewelries. They
even asked me to put up the orange saree and dance with them. You can imagine
how excited but shy as well I was because I never dressed traditional Indian
costumes before, not say to dance an Indian dance. To be honest, the saree was
too tight for me, or rather, I was too fat for the dramatic cloth designed
specially for slimgirls. But fortunately I became brassy and learned the
enthusiastic dance from the girls. It was not easy and I always made mistake
steps but I thought I was cool because all the people around me were busy at
taking photos. The function was excellent. It was a ceremony for appreciating
one rich people donating money for the school. Then shows were amazing and what
was more amazing was that I and Carona also got an honor to receive flowers o
the stages and we even got a chance to say something to all the children and
guests. We felt we were respected by them even though we did only a little.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">These days we also followed
Jaldipbhai to visit the women of the near villages. Once there was an activity
for pregnant women to appreciate their delivery. Carona got a chance to deliver
a short speech and she did say well. That is her words: “Hello everyone, we are
very honored to be here and to speak something to you. We know that in India
the status of women were much lower than men and this was a situation happened
in China fifty or sixty years ago. Now things are totally different. Women also
work outside to support the families. What males do, females also can and even
do much better. The status of male and female are equal! You are doing amazing
work to deliver your child and feed them, it is for the whole society. Every
child should thank your mother! So ladies, please protect yourself well and
regard yourself as important as your husband. If he fights you, please do not
hesitate to fight him back!”Jaldipbhai translated Carona’s words to all the
people presented and they clapped warmly. Later there was a little interlude
that in this ceremony every woman got a brunch of flower but one woman was
forgotten, so she went home immediately with anger. Jaldipbhai knew this and
also went to this woman’s house and comforted her. He told her no one had
forgotten her on purpose and everyone loved her so much because she was one of
the most amazing women. This little incidence ended with a happy ending and she
even treat us a delicious lunch. There were a lot of little things Jaldipbhai
had done like this one. I always thought he was an amazing social worker with
no pay but help people to live a happy life. I used to think amazing was just a
pet phrase of western people until I know him even though he never thinks
himself is amazing. There are lots of rich people donating money to the poor
areas, they are so nice. But how many people live in a poor villages himself
and every day helps deal with the tiny social works? Year after year numerous
tiny things make a big difference. There is an old saying in China that “Teach
one how to fish rather than give him fish.” The poor can never get out of poor
by getting money from the rich, they need somebody to teach them skills. More
importantly, they need someone to build them rich spirit. Jaldipbhai is this
person as he is so rich in mind. Now he is doing another work for the village.
With the help of ESI 50 toilets will be created in this village and Jaldipbhai
are investigating the whole villages and pick up 50 suitable families. We
followed him to go to the village everyday talked with the situation. He told
me that in past people here never use toilets because they think nature is much
better and just go for the road side, even now there are not very many families
have toilets. And in past they provided toilets to the villagers they just
rejected. So he and ESI did a lot of work to spread sanitation knowledge to the
whole village and now people started to realize the benefit of using toilets.
It is a huge progress. Sometimes Jaldipbhai go inside the village not for
specific reasons but just to understand the life of the villagers. For example,
if someone is sick he can know it right away and take him to the hospital if
necessary. What he was doing impressed us so much. I started to think about
what ‘volunteer’ really means. I once said to Jaldipbhai that I was too young
and my capacity was so limited, I felt guilty I can do so little thing for the
village. He said to me that my presence here helps so much for the village and
I bring the faith to the villagers that people from all over the world are
caring them. His words mean a lot to me. I always think I am selfish because I
love myself much more than others and I can’t be so nice to every stranger,
that’s why I choose to do volunteer work in India. Before I came here my
parents and friends told me India was dangerous and poor, I said that was
exactly what I want to experience, the poorer, the more I could do. When I
arrive here for the first 2 weeks I felt I upset because I found myself helped
nothing and I think I was a terrible volunteer. Now I realize that it doesn’t
matter how much you’ve down to others. Volunteer is not an action, it’s the
faith and emotion. People can read your love if you really love them from your
heart.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">CLEANLINESS, </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">He who is truly clean within, cannot remain unclean without.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">- Gandhiji</span></b></div>
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Nandini - Service on Wheelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10882337762791847813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356082515690116351.post-61752889570856637382014-05-03T08:32:00.004-07:002014-05-03T08:32:47.695-07:00Volunteers work@Amiyapur by Tsc Volunteers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span style="line-height: 115%;">On 5<sup>th</sup> April, few
associates from Tata Consultancy Services visited ESI and were inspired to
witness the work ESI is engaged in. Jayesh Bhai spent some time with about 15
TCSers and spoke about values in heart</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg44yv4sfA8-wUhiYH7tYhyphenhyphenbhS7eTkCKsuHfNyAv2ImOTthfJh8UY4qQv5jw5QQvbMipoSEfqPs8hzePxBKGpSSW0lcOXUMKjQdtklOwESfSTeavmNQDJ8mVb8xLmpW2KUI9Mafy8SVoiQ/s1600/IMG_1919.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg44yv4sfA8-wUhiYH7tYhyphenhyphenbhS7eTkCKsuHfNyAv2ImOTthfJh8UY4qQv5jw5QQvbMipoSEfqPs8hzePxBKGpSSW0lcOXUMKjQdtklOwESfSTeavmNQDJ8mVb8xLmpW2KUI9Mafy8SVoiQ/s1600/IMG_1919.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
to heart connection. It was wonderful to
observe the culmination of hard core professionals and about 10 girls from
loving community (village in Vastral where leprosy impacted people stay). Aruna
a leader from loving community shared her journey that how she come from
parents who are impacted with leprosy and how the faith instilled and shown in
her from Jayesh bhai is now blossoming in the community. There is loving team
consisting of about 20 girls from the community, all inspired by her and all the gearing towards taking
responsibility and continuing education. Listening to Aruna, moved many TCSers.
Mohita Trivedi, an engineer reflected about the values she learned from her
parents, Sujeet Chhanpura, shared how he assisted a cancer patient from
Amritsar who came to Ahmedabad relying on him, whom he didn’t know at all. <b style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"> The seeds were already sown, ESI campus and
team assisted in nurturing. On 12<sup>th</sup> April, about 20 TCSers came
together and visited Amiapur and Sugadh village to understand the issues at
hand. They conversed with teachers, parents, principal and village leaders.
Towards the end, they assembled at ESI campus and reflected what can be done.
An outcome of that was to focus on education, particularly primary education.
Amit Maheshwari, an engineer and MBA, was already volunteering in Sugadh primary
school, he took the lead for Sugadh and Mohita, Ashish and Sujeet took the lead
in Amiapur school.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">Considering the summer vacation,
volunteers decided to conduct summer camp from 21<sup>st</sup> to 26<sup>th</sup>
April. Currently, about 30 volunteers are engaged in hosting the summer camp in
Sugadh, Amiapur and DhaulaKuwa villages. The theme of the summer camp is to
have fun while engaging the children in drawing, painting, playing and value based video showcasing around the
theme of my world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"> On 21st April, there were ony 30 children in
Sugadh and about 20 in Amiapur but on 23<sup>rd</sup> April there were about 80
children in Sugadh and about 70 in Sugadh. Its inspiring to witness small acts
making a difference in lives of both children and TCS volunteers. ESI, being a
catalyst is instrumental in providing a space to reflect</span></div>
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to ponder and to learn
what can be done with love and compassion.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">An experience sharing from a
volunteer at Sugadh primary school : by Dipen Adroja : I have been going to</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5N7GmjNlEGQ6dodYIPaov-BK2mLSYKedVVBXqcbHMollttZRVyKSxoXwbSMAZj0YHcqmv5xdhqdsRzoAPk3_DjOjthYxmaQ8dJHCqLQR0wkW6B2jW99mANpbYLfH4TaQSPItuUW_Idc/s1600/45127_3488422028241_1746969034_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5N7GmjNlEGQ6dodYIPaov-BK2mLSYKedVVBXqcbHMollttZRVyKSxoXwbSMAZj0YHcqmv5xdhqdsRzoAPk3_DjOjthYxmaQ8dJHCqLQR0wkW6B2jW99mANpbYLfH4TaQSPItuUW_Idc/s1600/45127_3488422028241_1746969034_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
Sughad from last three days and it was a great experience that I had. The kids
are involved too much in all the activities and they are also enjoying it
thoroughly. I think todays sanitation drive is going to help inspreading
awareness among all the students as well as people around them as it is going
to be a word of mouth.Though these are very small kids still few of them are
holding full responsibility of the school assets however there are certain
challenges that we need to address such as many students of 5th - 6th standard
are not able to write many words in Gujrati which is the medium of education so
we can imagine the level of other fundamentals/basics.So, If we could do
something to uplift this then it can help them in many ways. Though it is a great start but there is still
a long way to go and it is very important for us to keep on going with this
enthusiasm and spirit.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We
do believe in removing dirt from out rooms. But we also believe in throwing it
in the street without regard to the well-being of society. We ate clean as
individuals, but not as members of the society of the nation of which the
individual is but a tiny part.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mahatma
Gandhiji</span></b><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span></b></div>
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Nandini - Service on Wheelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10882337762791847813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356082515690116351.post-62564563696377231402014-05-03T08:25:00.001-07:002014-05-03T08:25:58.136-07:00Anganwadi Renovation at Amiyapur village.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">Anganwadis are the primary centers of
learning for preschool age children in the district.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">In Amiyapur's </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc1HtNdGHnm8peTlg0iqozy3ZMbxU0nRRdRYgwpoKAnjVPCowZf8TLvgP7mNJ_b7uO5G5Gi-Orwkygjn9tHYEsYlH0xqoNKFD3LeELNNPfQUaaOk8mgKJnRWCHVazY7HAD9XnZ4nYTJQ4/s1600/IMG_0831.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc1HtNdGHnm8peTlg0iqozy3ZMbxU0nRRdRYgwpoKAnjVPCowZf8TLvgP7mNJ_b7uO5G5Gi-Orwkygjn9tHYEsYlH0xqoNKFD3LeELNNPfQUaaOk8mgKJnRWCHVazY7HAD9XnZ4nYTJQ4/s1600/IMG_0831.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
school, an anganwadi space was
created but without any of the beauty necessary for true learning.<span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Shailash decided to contribute to the
anganwadi by creating a content-rich, beautiful environment.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">It is only that unclean which appears
to the eye as unclean? If there is even a little dirt on what is white. We feel
annoyed; but the black may have any amount of dirt on it and we care not at
all!-Gandhiji</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">Our goal is to create a learning
space with values at the school. We've
begun an Anganwadi Beautification Project.
Instead of ugly walls, we're painting the walls with slogans and
pictures. We're putting up the </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-7vP6f-61_CQdFz6oouOHIK1Whxry0btl5TmoO1ddjymraynwDdTFg8H0jnLh7E1-XjC-X4cPb1oJVpw7h4rDTYQXNQvYPp_6-reQnsHn6ztewDITF15Y-SuYzlrRScWpr-oWK2HieBk/s1600/IMG_0858.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-7vP6f-61_CQdFz6oouOHIK1Whxry0btl5TmoO1ddjymraynwDdTFg8H0jnLh7E1-XjC-X4cPb1oJVpw7h4rDTYQXNQvYPp_6-reQnsHn6ztewDITF15Y-SuYzlrRScWpr-oWK2HieBk/s1600/IMG_0858.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span style="line-height: 115%;">ABCs, pictures of saints, flowers,
organs, the basics...and writing their names underneath in Hindi and English.</span><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">The government has many free
education resources for children. We're
making sure the children have access to them.
Although the children had access to good nutrition through the
government, we also want to make sure they get brain and motor nutrition
through toys. We're collecting donations
and we hope to have a beautiful anganwadi center for the children of Amiyapur. <span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-kV7vgkMXMPUDHplVSyY-qDkzTBq_19PAm81wVUURs0Rl0PDcH_ss6rvBSZ4xgAidXwtwjcnAvZOo_UPV-i80_d-qh0hyphenhyphensUg0yZsKgjxOSSaG6uxXitFrj8sGZGw0Ra_XvfS6SfTf34Y/s1600/IMG_0844.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-kV7vgkMXMPUDHplVSyY-qDkzTBq_19PAm81wVUURs0Rl0PDcH_ss6rvBSZ4xgAidXwtwjcnAvZOo_UPV-i80_d-qh0hyphenhyphensUg0yZsKgjxOSSaG6uxXitFrj8sGZGw0Ra_XvfS6SfTf34Y/s1600/IMG_0844.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Nandini - Service on Wheelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10882337762791847813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356082515690116351.post-7170032404199621772014-05-03T08:20:00.002-07:002014-05-03T08:20:09.143-07:00Pedhambali Village visit with volunteers from France with NANDINI VAN<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">3 of friends from France visited
India for the first time to volunteer at ESI. None of them had visited any
village and they had a strong desire to witness rural India. Sureshbhai (from
ESI) decided to take them to</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW86KlyJqt83auA189X1Qk0pyyaCvEG6u2cwCRlUjPqLZtVm3lMmaoXtGW8YQyAkMYNcAYkbSKUddl7S1GI9Qk43HHtygo8cUcgn9pE1S5JWD9zQsDLTFGLi9TzVNo_rpc81UgtJoUfkc/s1600/IMG_1233.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW86KlyJqt83auA189X1Qk0pyyaCvEG6u2cwCRlUjPqLZtVm3lMmaoXtGW8YQyAkMYNcAYkbSKUddl7S1GI9Qk43HHtygo8cUcgn9pE1S5JWD9zQsDLTFGLi9TzVNo_rpc81UgtJoUfkc/s1600/IMG_1233.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
village in Nandini to offer an opportunity to
explore India from a different perspective with an experience to understand
work done by Nandini in rural India.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">The visit starte with a graceful
meeting with veteran Gandhians Vasant Dada and Kanti Dada, who have dedicated
their lives in living on Sarvodaya principles. It was inspiring to have a visit
of organic farms taken care by Vasant dada, who is on vegan diet since last
more than 40 years. He took around the
naturopathy center, where they grow herbs and medicinal plants and offers
naturopathy to villagers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">After that we headed to the village
school and had interaction with children and teachers. Following that Suresh bhai took volunteer
friends to a village tour and showed newly built toilets in the village. ESI built 25 toilets for 25 families. We
interacted with families to understand their </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHeY15QDqwKp0D92qO_8qM3ZwzgH6erujanVEjTpAY7Sl0DcTjnKf4iUDFDuxrjSiRibWp5u029L6VJih6FwvOSkvCj91Kogd2bjPxkByRgkEH7SQp0w2YrsmMb81dsr0giZC4q1r9IEg/s1600/Insight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHeY15QDqwKp0D92qO_8qM3ZwzgH6erujanVEjTpAY7Sl0DcTjnKf4iUDFDuxrjSiRibWp5u029L6VJih6FwvOSkvCj91Kogd2bjPxkByRgkEH7SQp0w2YrsmMb81dsr0giZC4q1r9IEg/s1600/Insight.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
needs and to ensure if they are
using the toilets in proper manner. In late evening,we hosted a village
gathering. <o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">A documentary on sanitation was
showcased. Sureshbhai shared with the villagers about the purpose of the visit
of our friends from France. He shared their humble and compassionate intentions
about an equanimous society. </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Dr Harsit Pandit, naturopathy expert
from naturopathy center run by Vasant Dada, shared his experience about good
eating habits for a healthy lifestyle.The gathering was concluded at 11 PM with
prayers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Next day, at 5 : 30 AM, the day begin
with Prabhat Pheri followed by cleaning of a public place by all the volunteers
with help of villagers. At 10 AM we
visited the school and</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0PgafUKStS3Zb1H5tcaCi5vtGqqP6UC7wNb_c6uEe77t2RM5JSypBL0qsl_6hmb8O0PmV5G4Co-X_lyJtrVFgWpgngCuol0-TPdWNZELoGzwc2OgbyUH5h7vLmpl5_JIfaUeXEvy7g-s/s1600/IMG_0028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0PgafUKStS3Zb1H5tcaCi5vtGqqP6UC7wNb_c6uEe77t2RM5JSypBL0qsl_6hmb8O0PmV5G4Co-X_lyJtrVFgWpgngCuol0-TPdWNZELoGzwc2OgbyUH5h7vLmpl5_JIfaUeXEvy7g-s/s1600/IMG_0028.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
interacted with students. All the seven volunteers were
hosted by villagers for sumptuous lunch.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">In the afternoon, village leader
(Sarpanch) and village admin officer along with villagers gathered for a
discussion. It was acknowledged that sanitation
is a way of life, and the village needs toilets for better hygiene and
sanitation. The successful implementation of 25 toilets by ESI inspired
villagers and village leaders requested to build 50 more toilets. A consensus
was there that everyone can contribute in taking this collaborative effort, and
ESI is instrumental in taking this effort to the next level.<span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
Nandini - Service on Wheelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10882337762791847813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356082515690116351.post-61638463857672626082014-05-03T08:14:00.003-07:002014-05-03T08:14:41.750-07:00Multipurpose Hall Inauguration at Pedhamali School<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="line-height: 115%;">International volunteer visit:</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">On 3<sup>rd</sup> Feb international
volunteers from Japan, New York , California and from different parts of India
visited Pedhambali village. For many it was the first ever visit to a village.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">When there is both inner and outer
cleanliness. It becomes next to godliness- Gandhiji.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">The underlying purpose of the visit
was to strengthen the echo system while encouraging Jaldeep bhai’s work and
engaging with school teachers. The visit provided a platform for sharing and
learning amongst volunteers </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW86KlyJqt83auA189X1Qk0pyyaCvEG6u2cwCRlUjPqLZtVm3lMmaoXtGW8YQyAkMYNcAYkbSKUddl7S1GI9Qk43HHtygo8cUcgn9pE1S5JWD9zQsDLTFGLi9TzVNo_rpc81UgtJoUfkc/s1600/IMG_1233.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW86KlyJqt83auA189X1Qk0pyyaCvEG6u2cwCRlUjPqLZtVm3lMmaoXtGW8YQyAkMYNcAYkbSKUddl7S1GI9Qk43HHtygo8cUcgn9pE1S5JWD9zQsDLTFGLi9TzVNo_rpc81UgtJoUfkc/s1600/IMG_1233.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
and villagers.<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span style="line-height: 115%;">ESi is working in the village with
women, youngsters and children since last 10 months. We have witnessed
promotion and inculcation of good habits in students.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">One of the generous multimillionaire
Kantibhai shah, who belongs to the village gifted certain amount to construct a
multipurpose hall for students. Inspired by Jaldeep bhai and Snehal behn’s
devotion, Kantibhai contributed for the welfare of the students of the village.
ESI teams frequent visits coupled with transforming sharings moved Kantibhai
and many other villagers who also contributed their share in the construction
of the hall.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">On the inauguration function, which
was attended by </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqpoqkGXmCiLyPsQZ01e4ZBjB-wT9lztrQ6PPlR2zt18mG768qJvadf7nk_bztvr5mL-m4VAkgZ7UNfNWcA1-X0cAF8ThrzBVodOs-Bxidfo1A2l_VbCBT4FouJV6WdiSZMMf5p2u-18Y/s1600/IMG_1366.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqpoqkGXmCiLyPsQZ01e4ZBjB-wT9lztrQ6PPlR2zt18mG768qJvadf7nk_bztvr5mL-m4VAkgZ7UNfNWcA1-X0cAF8ThrzBVodOs-Bxidfo1A2l_VbCBT4FouJV6WdiSZMMf5p2u-18Y/s1600/IMG_1366.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
ESI volunteers, kids performed on stage and exhibited their
enhanced confidence. Efforts of Jaldeep bhai, Snehal behn and school teachers
were visible in form of dance, drama,
poetry and singing done by students.<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Organizers of the program
invited all the volunteers of ESI
on the dais and introduced. We shared
the humble efforts we are putting in the village. Suresh bhai shared ESI’ goal to make Pedhambali an ideal
village while making every program driven by local people only. ESI is also
creating opportunities for learning and
sharing amongst each other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Mia Tagano, a volunteer from
California built compassionate bonding with students and villagers. On request
she did a peacock dance on stage. Everyone enjoyed and cherished the humility
and cheerfulness of Mia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Uncleanliness of the mind is far mote
dangerous that of the body. The latter, however is an indication of the former.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"> Followed by that, volunteers engaged with
villagers. It was wonderful to witness how smiles became a mode of interaction
as many villagers couldn’t understand English but Smile indeed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">A householder invited everyone in her
home, a simple gathering turned into an auspicious satsanga, wherein many
village ladies joined in and sang devotional songs and bhajans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">It was a day to witness the spirit of
surrender.<span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
Nandini - Service on Wheelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10882337762791847813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356082515690116351.post-35365007211521637652014-05-03T08:07:00.003-07:002014-05-03T08:07:51.263-07:00Amiyapur Medical Camp for Women <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">On 3rd January
2014, 35 women from Amiyapur took part in a free medical camp that ESI, in </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuFCCtPH3vHUBQ4_TQ9GUGB3PeCxDZ58bxS4SIOaQ9bfLSKMzuTEmfkdRR4rQLtAX8Ts2c1_GtRCFn9em5Yipm_Y990kyODygwB_x0eQMyNFNRkDAN7_S6gM8fUI38jtlgtkHJLVM3B00/s1600/20130614_144554.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuFCCtPH3vHUBQ4_TQ9GUGB3PeCxDZ58bxS4SIOaQ9bfLSKMzuTEmfkdRR4rQLtAX8Ts2c1_GtRCFn9em5Yipm_Y990kyODygwB_x0eQMyNFNRkDAN7_S6gM8fUI38jtlgtkHJLVM3B00/s1600/20130614_144554.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
Partnership
with Kanoriya hospital, organized. No men were included in this program, as we
specifically wanted to focus on the gynecological needs of women.<br />
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Women in Amiyapur
are busy throughout the entire day, tending to farming and home duties. It is
rare for them to have free time, or any time to consider how their health is
faring before a problem arises. Given their labor-intensive schedules that </span><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">prevent them from
leaving the house and lack of health awareness and values, the<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">women are prone to
developing preventable diseases that could be challenging to treat given their
poverty level. In addition, given the prevalence of male doctors in the area,
women typically shy away from sharing their gynecological issues.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">For this rea</span><!--[if gte vml 1]><o:wrapblock><v:line
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<td><img height="2" src="file:///C:/DOCUME~1/Abc/LOCALS~1/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image003.gif" v:shapes="_x0000_s1026" width="252" /></td>
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<!--[endif]--><!--[if gte vml 1]></o:wrapblock><![endif]--><br clear="ALL" />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">son, we took
the initiative to bring a team of female doctors from Kanoriya hospital to the
community, sparing the women the expense of transportation, time away from
home, and embarrassment of having to share their problems with male doctors.
The purpose of the medical </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyaWN5JR_hjZlfGPVlcErUskd4N4JAh96AsQ3ne5mWSJNg3KTvesa95q9LqMouFmIdg68XwHHwrq_c1Q3Jth8hCw8qFtsL3dU5haztQMcl7fiFAdDj0t8Jahtu94Q10Esrf6McPYZsRaY/s1600/DSC_0083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyaWN5JR_hjZlfGPVlcErUskd4N4JAh96AsQ3ne5mWSJNg3KTvesa95q9LqMouFmIdg68XwHHwrq_c1Q3Jth8hCw8qFtsL3dU5haztQMcl7fiFAdDj0t8Jahtu94Q10Esrf6McPYZsRaY/s1600/DSC_0083.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
camp was to give as many health check ups as
possible, catch illnesses, and follow-up with treatment as necessary.<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">In preparation for
the camp, I went door-to-door in Amiyapur with two female volunteers sharing
with all the women in the village about the program and importance of it.
Generating interest was a difficult process due to the lack of health
awareness, education, and busy schedules. In all, 35 women took part in the camp.
Though not a large number relative to the amount of households, we expect those
who are feeling better now and who had a positive experience, will encourage
others to come during the next camp.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="Body" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Silence above all- Gandhiji<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Easily treatable problems were treated on the
spot with free medication and advice. More serious issues were diagnosed and
the doctors conducted the necessary follow up directly.<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">All in all, it was
a successful program that we were happy to undertake.</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Background Information:</span></u></b><b><u><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">ESI has been
conducting sanitation, health, and hygiene related programs in Amiyapur for
over a year. I visit the community every week to conduct follow up, often with
volunteers and MSW students.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Our basic program
structure here (and generally) contained the following activities:</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin-left: 18.8pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 9.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -9.8pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; position: relative; top: 1pt;">•<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Showing
of inspirational movies with community members that support sanitation and
hygiene values, and discussion around them.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; position: relative; top: 1pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin-left: 39.25pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin-left: 18.8pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 9.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -9.8pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; position: relative; top: 1pt;">•<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Bhajans
and satsanghs with residents.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; position: relative; top: 1pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin-left: 39.25pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin-left: 18.8pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 9.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -9.8pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; position: relative; top: 1pt;">•<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Gram
safai. Sweeping of public spaces, trash collection, and distribution of dust
bins made from empty oil cans.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; position: relative; top: 1pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin-left: 39.25pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin-left: 18.8pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 9.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -9.8pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; position: relative; top: 1pt;">•<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Painting
of positive sayings and slogans.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; position: relative; top: 1pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin-left: 39.25pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="Body" style="margin-left: 18.8pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 9.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -9.8pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; position: relative; top: 1pt;">•<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Private
meetings with residents for discussions on how to improve conditions in the
community.</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Bold"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Bold"; mso-text-raise: -1.0pt; position: relative; top: 1.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Nandini - Service on Wheelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10882337762791847813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356082515690116351.post-4635831151085466042014-05-03T08:01:00.005-07:002014-05-03T08:01:58.203-07:00Sanitation (Safai Abhiyan ) Campagin with kids from Primary school.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">“Whenever I have time, I go to
Amiyapur,” Shailesh tells us. “Even though I don’t live there, people consider
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYd7Qle2XJxLp6ki2Qa8AxpIIEaho4Yr_WDlXZ_31uqWjWl6hioAsEqLlAy36LiCUFq0aM5HyPbSxzrsSK6RXBJxudbi7tQtLWfYZJZ8E22y6Fx1hjR_2-AIfVPxCJX_K6H5YAALQK4yk/s1600/Picture+266.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYd7Qle2XJxLp6ki2Qa8AxpIIEaho4Yr_WDlXZ_31uqWjWl6hioAsEqLlAy36LiCUFq0aM5HyPbSxzrsSK6RXBJxudbi7tQtLWfYZJZ8E22y6Fx1hjR_2-AIfVPxCJX_K6H5YAALQK4yk/s1600/Picture+266.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
me to be one of them.<span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">I could even go
there in the middle of the night, and be welcomed.”</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">For the past one year, Shailesh, a
member of E.S.I, has been working on the Amrut Sanitation Project at Amiyapur
(Gandhnigar District), 1 km from the Institute.
He has been dedicating his time and heart to uplifting the sanitary
conditions in the village and educating the children about proper
sanitation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Imagine, once a month, all the
children of the village come excitedly to take part in all-day festivities
called “Safai Divas” (Day of Cleaning).
Waking up bright and early, the children have the chance to come to school
by 7 AM. After a morning prayer, 200
school children are ready with brooms, bags, and dustpans in </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrrNn8oj7agzWtSQDp55V_WLMFhCrOvZ-NA1wsjbM-q3SpM8xUwlsrqYRSvdoltr4bly1lxRKT3Au-EgoMI2AsGPnpuOEfMLFRuNOKfutxBj4TOsWQ5l-w_DhDrYAlnl8UpR46bImQaoU/s1600/Picture+271.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrrNn8oj7agzWtSQDp55V_WLMFhCrOvZ-NA1wsjbM-q3SpM8xUwlsrqYRSvdoltr4bly1lxRKT3Au-EgoMI2AsGPnpuOEfMLFRuNOKfutxBj4TOsWQ5l-w_DhDrYAlnl8UpR46bImQaoU/s1600/Picture+271.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
hand. They are excited by the competition that is
about to take place: whoever collects the most trash and brings it back to
school wins!<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">For 3 hours, the children sweep the
village, collect trash from their homes and surrounding areas, and fix broken
plumbing. When approached by elders, the children fold their hands politely and
say, “Gramjano Namaste, khachro na feko raste (Namaste people of the village, do
not throw trash in the way).” They share their spirit of cleanliness with
village. </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">A little dirty, but happy with
excitement, they compare their piles when they come back to school.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Who has collected the most trash?</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">After sorting, Shailash awards the top three
winners with prizes.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">The top 3 winners
are the proud Safai Seniks (Cleanliness Captains) of the month.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Following the award ceremony and picture
session, the entire group hauls the heaps of trash to the local landfill.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Instead of throwing trash outside their homes
or </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS6lDT1jO3sr9_w5-w1ez_QnhrLU7GUx6Jh3nDlLvr3emGCxWeKz4acQglvoXeWGmy7q8NQXzC0lNfoC4WcL8ZPoBvlS3xAybHP4mG0g5gQCxUa0R9TJHKN8aJtK0yALtEjHOpD_ZyjmY/s1600/IMG_0363.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS6lDT1jO3sr9_w5-w1ez_QnhrLU7GUx6Jh3nDlLvr3emGCxWeKz4acQglvoXeWGmy7q8NQXzC0lNfoC4WcL8ZPoBvlS3xAybHP4mG0g5gQCxUa0R9TJHKN8aJtK0yALtEjHOpD_ZyjmY/s1600/IMG_0363.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
in small heaps throughout the village, the village now has a dedicated place
for trash.<span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">The trash will either be
burnt or composted…and we hope, one day, recycled.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">The children’s hands are dirty, and
now Shailash is provided with a perfect opportunity to teach about
hygiene. Soap and water buckets lined
up, the children learn to thoroughly wash their hands before going home. After their baths, they will be ready for the
next part of the day. </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Safai Divas is not yet over.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Several boys are huddled around
Shailash.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">They are practicing for the
speech competition to be held after prayer.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">
</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">“What is the importance of cleanliness?”</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">
</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">After the second prayer, boys stand up and take their </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpsOpmHffMcetuLn4e0q6xIPPiPogmc7Y-6f0pl5JtaHA1b2H9q747bXm3Vpoe2RVWza53ABBtFRqTRpVcQqnEVBgPH0MlUXeWN7vdMtwlwDj5VTOIRSZY5h3v11xlDxa10J8i9g9uIzY/s1600/IMG_0371.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpsOpmHffMcetuLn4e0q6xIPPiPogmc7Y-6f0pl5JtaHA1b2H9q747bXm3Vpoe2RVWza53ABBtFRqTRpVcQqnEVBgPH0MlUXeWN7vdMtwlwDj5VTOIRSZY5h3v11xlDxa10J8i9g9uIzY/s1600/IMG_0371.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
turns.<span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Loud claps and cheers follow the boys’
speeches.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Three winners return to their
seats with prizes in hand.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">The power of
cleanliness is evident to all.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Noon-time comes, and children are
busy admiring the artwork several of the schoolgirls have done. “What does an ideal village look like?,” was
the competition question. The girls have
spent the past one hour drawing and coloring a perfect Amiyapur. Beautiful sunsets, clean streets, and smiling
people accompany the village scene. In
admiration, three of the girls are selected as the prize winners of the
month. Beauty and art are </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqwwNECYBzhP2_5sn5h2jf1U8-LkpaLF4hw6saqFv_nQtiQDcgyfHVflkJoHFPwko-RlKaCNyLy28ouDVUgWW9ZynBTKe5zl1uEZ2SbIoaHqH0_GkvsLfOCJ9aknMbR0K81H03GWhHXyI/s1600/IMG_0420.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqwwNECYBzhP2_5sn5h2jf1U8-LkpaLF4hw6saqFv_nQtiQDcgyfHVflkJoHFPwko-RlKaCNyLy28ouDVUgWW9ZynBTKe5zl1uEZ2SbIoaHqH0_GkvsLfOCJ9aknMbR0K81H03GWhHXyI/s1600/IMG_0420.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
an important
part of the clean up process. <span style="line-height: 115%;">“Building the trust has been a
process." Shailesh says.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">"I’ve
done small acts like cleaning the streets myself, cutting the children’s nails,
visiting children’s homes.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">This project
is about building trust and relationships,” he adds.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">"I'm here to share the importance of
cleanliness and inculcate good habits in children and the villagers through
these drives.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">I love the children.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Through their work, we will have a beautiful
Amiyapur."</span><br />
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="Body" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am a Muslim and a Hindu and a Christian and a Jew……
and so are all of you. Non- violence is
the first article of my faith it is also last article of my creed.-</span></b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gandhiji</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
Nandini - Service on Wheelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10882337762791847813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356082515690116351.post-12894308990118705792014-05-03T07:24:00.000-07:002014-05-03T07:55:55.026-07:00The pilgrimage tour of sanitation from Vanthal, Amiyapur & Pedhmali villages<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">Since last 1 year we have been working
in the villages of Amiyapur, Pedhmali and Vanthal. Through the medium of our
service on wheels (Nandini mobile van) we </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHqWR0UZtzLFOiVWf8bDs7gH4El3P4GpoXinRfn6Eo2FZ-KDOekJ7P5ysvGo0iEi76qTblnzcHO_5vRc7GpfC3DjZZ__RkePt1Duun6cryJzuMLvG4oK0lmCKIaeBGVTfbctu5nMNNEo4/s1600/IMG_4917.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHqWR0UZtzLFOiVWf8bDs7gH4El3P4GpoXinRfn6Eo2FZ-KDOekJ7P5ysvGo0iEi76qTblnzcHO_5vRc7GpfC3DjZZ__RkePt1Duun6cryJzuMLvG4oK0lmCKIaeBGVTfbctu5nMNNEo4/s1600/IMG_4917.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
integrated a holistic activity for a
period of 3 time in the villages and during these activities, we were able to
establish a beautiful relationship with villagers. Because of the feeling of a
close knit family, we felt the need to introduce them to our organization and
the initiatives of CBCC .</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span style="line-height: 115%;">We chose 80 from Vanthal, 35 from
amiyapur and 65 from pedhmali people
including the youth, the village sarpanch, panchayat representatives, preschool
workers, primary school teachers and the women groups. The selected people were
brought to the ESI campus at Sughad through Bus and private higher vehicles. They were welcomed with great celebrations
that included music and tagging of broom, water drop and latrine model tags.
After that they were provided tea and snacks. We then too them </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
on a campus
darshan that taught that there is nothing called waste and everything is
invest. They were then taken to Sattva
hall where we invited guests like Shri
Dollyben And Shri Manglesh bhai representative from CBCC and ESI Director-
Jayeshbhai. The session started with Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite bhajan –
Vaishnava Jan to. After that the participants themselves welcomed the guests.
The session was inaugurated with lighting the lamp. Then Sureshbhai introduced
the project and the guests to the participants</div>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">Then guests shared their thoughts and
feelings about the project wherein the CBCC </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZBhzjtX_AI88uHGNrGdlRCsRp-lf2wqDJpzHDcXtauxn1BpRCWZGO8cPCjNT6iOg1r0MZqNCMNRG7scpvJUPp4NaDY7ec7N6n4UmV1TNe9GDtukjPeee0cRB9MNj6cqmxbfNEr_mSJDw/s1600/IMG_4922.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZBhzjtX_AI88uHGNrGdlRCsRp-lf2wqDJpzHDcXtauxn1BpRCWZGO8cPCjNT6iOg1r0MZqNCMNRG7scpvJUPp4NaDY7ec7N6n4UmV1TNe9GDtukjPeee0cRB9MNj6cqmxbfNEr_mSJDw/s1600/IMG_4922.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
representative Shri Dollyben also
shared his thoughts on the project and the various activities. Suresh spoke on
importance of toilets and the support of the government on building toilets and
how to avail the support of the government for building toilets. Jayeshbhai
shared his experience about the village and how you can support each other and
build an ideal village. The most important thing that he shared was that the
village will change if you change yourself. How to change bad habits and become
an ideal model for others. How the participants can start this and then
multiple these changes in others. He said
that ‘Trips to the toilet will save trips to the doctor ‘. <b>He spoke about
spirituality and inner cleanliness. He also shared his father’s dedication for
toilet-sanitation.</b><span style="background-color: black; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 1pt none black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 0pt; line-height: 115%; padding: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<b><br /></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ChhKI7WMkGDaAi4bZ6RDh5DiyM11SZo70OepqTWSYP_J3qv0sVHHcQMSxJ0fpKwZOE4XKgmjjksOWWyBi6AF-E8sURQm0swCU_r7nT2jE5xzzphO5jO-s5LNAuzbdyW2-EvAB01Mv_I/s1600/DSC_0110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ChhKI7WMkGDaAi4bZ6RDh5DiyM11SZo70OepqTWSYP_J3qv0sVHHcQMSxJ0fpKwZOE4XKgmjjksOWWyBi6AF-E8sURQm0swCU_r7nT2jE5xzzphO5jO-s5LNAuzbdyW2-EvAB01Mv_I/s1600/DSC_0110.jpg" height="132" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">Lastly Sureshbhai shared the future
steps of the initiative. After a five minute silence they had group photograph
post which all them dispersed towards <st1:place w:st="on">Annapurna</st1:place>
to have lunch. They enjoyed the entire experience and this reflected in the
smiles on the faces on everyone. The volunteer team served food to the
participants. Everyone enjoyed the food like a Prasad. Then they were taken to
the Safai Vidyalaya where they saw the newly built toilet café, learnt how make
ideal home, ideal street and ideal village. And then the </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkes-iTIyx2cL2hVEsJf8p65le_ky3B1R06w-8QqFCqJukaSUFdEzfCfigNnDo4dU_hy0JTCsM33KFNUCeROJSmTZIiC4Rs0GQdY3bIPrLRnHsseWd47HTQjWfWEGEkdbsFgfjJRxbsjQ/s1600/DSC_0353.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkes-iTIyx2cL2hVEsJf8p65le_ky3B1R06w-8QqFCqJukaSUFdEzfCfigNnDo4dU_hy0JTCsM33KFNUCeROJSmTZIiC4Rs0GQdY3bIPrLRnHsseWd47HTQjWfWEGEkdbsFgfjJRxbsjQ/s1600/DSC_0353.JPG" height="132" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Pilgrimage place
Sabarmati Ashram where Gandhiji stayed for 12 years where they learnt about the
life and death of Gandhi, saw Hruday Kunj where he lived. The intention behind
taking them there was to introduce them to Gandhi’s concept of Gram swaraj and
his dream of an ideal village that is self sustainable in all respects. Then we
told them inspirirational stories of Vinoba bhave, Gandhi and Kasturba
Gandhi. We spent more than and 2.5 hrs
in </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij4JusnjbxbFS1CnANHwb0qqaBE_ULvoenHPsDH6yejXT5U8PrUgzL75pN5_i1ho2ZAGTsJ-3GWJWXUM30vlv9Nbg8A3CGFEgMi9OOaCBYbyji1n-peWi8wwnQ8W_r3pjnnR9HrnzLE-k/s1600/DSC_0408.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij4JusnjbxbFS1CnANHwb0qqaBE_ULvoenHPsDH6yejXT5U8PrUgzL75pN5_i1ho2ZAGTsJ-3GWJWXUM30vlv9Nbg8A3CGFEgMi9OOaCBYbyji1n-peWi8wwnQ8W_r3pjnnR9HrnzLE-k/s1600/DSC_0408.JPG" height="132" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Gandhi Ashram. Then we took them to Manav Sadhna where taught how to provide
value based education to little children and how to enhance the talent the
skill in children and help them realize their true potential. Then we also took
them to Ashram school where more than 150 children live and study together and
create and apply good values there in their day to day lives. This went on till
5.30 p.m and returned their villages with renewed spirit and energy.<span style="background-color: black; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 1pt none black; font-size: 0pt; line-height: 115%; padding: 0in;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">They promised to all of us that they
will start with themselves and make cleanliness, a value.<span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Nandini - Service on Wheelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10882337762791847813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356082515690116351.post-23812973201368839002013-12-26T12:30:00.000-08:002014-05-03T06:44:28.224-07:00Overview of Villages and Programmes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>This
summary is given with deep thanks and appreciation to our mentors and
inspiration: Gopaldada, Jayeshbhai and Ishwardada, Kanchanmama, Mahatma
Gandhi, Vinoba Bhave.</i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-tijXCmdlSBtexYb3pXncYP_zll4qqplOgviSmnCBSqfvfZqkjA42qv2WpJZMyd8vluAkmxMHFywbQdmhoYpx5LCwa3kLa6aJi1cIPFIxbVjbgKSbPAC5qgMtSd7IR-0otTm6BijLWUw/s1600/ESI_PhotoCollage.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-tijXCmdlSBtexYb3pXncYP_zll4qqplOgviSmnCBSqfvfZqkjA42qv2WpJZMyd8vluAkmxMHFywbQdmhoYpx5LCwa3kLa6aJi1cIPFIxbVjbgKSbPAC5qgMtSd7IR-0otTm6BijLWUw/s400/ESI_PhotoCollage.JPG" height="125" width="400" /></span></a></div>
</div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Overview of Programmes:</b></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The team at ESI consisting of Suresh,
Shaliesh, Snehal and Nayanaben has given attention and support to three
different villages in Gujarat, India over the past six months. They are:
Amiyapur in Gandhinagar, Vanthal in Ahmedabad, and Pedhamali in Messina. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Through thorough baseline surveys in each community;
we gathered key demographic and infrastructure information that helped us tailor our programmes to suit the needs of each village. We never seek to impose projects and activities
that are not in line with the actual needs of a community, as those kinds of projects are ultimately not sustainable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In all three cases, our efforts focused on the
promotion of sanitation and hygiene awareness, especially the use of toilets,
proper disposal of solid and liquid waste, and personal care (such as nail
cutting, regular washing of hands, and brushing of teeth). In the absence of
such habits and values, disease often results, which proves problematic when
your low level of income prevents access to quality medical care.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of our mottos and guiding values is,
“Action through Interaction.” Forming heart-to-heart relationships with our
beneficiaries is at the core of our outreach efforts. Not only is it a more
humane approach to social service that treats others as equals, but heart-centered relationships are also instrumental to ensuring that the communities have ownership over these development efforts and can sustain themselves after we
leave.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Central to this notion is the appointing of
“Soldiers of Sanitation” in each village location. These are individuals whom we select to be local leaders of sanitation, hygiene awareness, and values-based education for kids. They are appointed because they demonstrate
natural leadership abilities and interest in these values. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some say that the true success of Vinoba
Bhave’s “land gift” movement was not the transferring of land rights to the
poor (which failed from time-to-time), but how many local leaders he inspired
along the way-- how many he inspired to be the change in their local
space, who then inspired others to be the change. At ESI, we have a similar
hope for our efforts, as this kind of change in a community can have
far-reaching results and implications above, for example, toilet construction
or other such singular, hardware-related interventions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Village Details:</b><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Amiyapur,
Thakor Community<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Block/District: Gandhinagar, Gujarat<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Population: 1,723<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Homes: 315<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pre-primary schools: 2 (284 kids enrolled)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Primary schools: 1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our basic program structure here (and generally) contains the following activities:</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin-left: 9.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 9.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -9pt;"> Showing of inspirational movies with community members that
support sanitation and hygiene values, and discussion around them.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -9pt;"> Prabhat, bhajan satsanghs with residents.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -9pt;"> Gram safai: Sweeping of public spaces, trash collection, and
distribution of dust bins made from empty oil cans.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -9pt;"> Painting of positive sayings and slogans.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -9pt;"> Private meetings with residents for discussions on how to
improve conditions in the community.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We like to spend a night or nights in the
community, as we did here in Amiyapur, and share meals and living space with
the residents because it helps make the experience less formal, more
family-like, and creates the right kind of relationships to help the
sustainability of the initiative.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In this case, we also ended up visiting the
community’s primary school twice in a week for some time promoting personal
hygiene habits, such as combing hair, brushing teeth, and washing hands. We try
to make this experience fun and enjoyable for the kids and typically share the
values through songs and drama skits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Women tend to hold the key to a village’s
improvement because their Compassion Quotient (CQ) is often higher than their
male counterparts’. Yet, because of cultural dynamics, they don’t feel it’s
appropriate to take charge in their community. Being sensitive to these
dynamics and, at the same time, wanting women to take more active roles in
community matters, we tend to give special attention and support to them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At our institute and home base in Sughad, we
hosted a group of ladies from Amiyapur to specifically give them this kind of
encouragement. They came and experienced the beauty of our facility that is
steeped in our values, felt the presence of Nature, and came to understand some
of our sustainable, ecological practices (such as reusing of all waste water).
It creates the inspiration, which the women then want to carry back into their
community, as the contrast can be stark, especially when a community is plagued
by sanitation problems and low thinking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #343434;">In this village we also created a soak pit for
the proper disposal </span><span style="color: #444444;">of waste wa</span><span style="color: #343434;">ter.</span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
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<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Vanthal</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Block/District: Viramgam, Ahmedabad<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Communities: Koli Patel, Bharavad, Brahmin,
Panchal, Barber, Harijan, Devi Poojak<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Population: 2,477 (14.08 men, 1089 women)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Homes: 317 (47 with toilet, 19 with toilet
under construction)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pre-primary schools: 2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Primary schools: 1 (359 kids enrolled)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This community has access to the city busy
system via a nearby bus stand, a post office, as well as three temples.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ESI programs in this village closely resembled
those in Amiyapur and included two visits with our mobile “Nandini” van.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Pedhamali</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Block/District: Vijapur, Mehasana, North Gujarat<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Communities: Thakor Raval, Devi Poojak and
Rabari<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">Pop</span><span style="color: #343434;">ulation: 1538 (824 men, 714 women)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Homes: 264 (56 toilets, over half constructed
by ESI, 1 public urinal)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pre-primary school: 1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Primary school: 1 (196 kids enrolled)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Located at a bank of the Sabarmati River, the
name of this village comes from a local temple over 120 years in age whose
central idol is the goddess Pedi.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Urbanization and the development of Ahmedabad
has caused many residents to migrate to the city, decreasing the population,
and changing the cultural dynamics.</span><span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For the reasons cited before, we helped
inspire a women’s group to form. They have started a successful Milk
Cooperative and a savings program, where each member saves Rs. 50/month. To
date, the group, collectively, has Rs. 90,000 in savings, a little under $2,000
USD.</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #343434; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Soldier of Sanitation we appointed in this
village has been particularly effective in inspiring children to take their
education more seriously. Before the appointment, only 90 kids were enrolled in
primary school, and most would drop out. Now, over 300 are enrolled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>More about Soldiers of Sanitation (SOS):</b><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Again, these are individuals we appoint to
continue the programs and activities initiated in a village. It’s never a
compulsory appointment, but one that happens organically, given that the person
always demonstrates natural leadership ability and a heightened interest in
community development and adopting positive values. Our reputation and relative
organizational weight, also, gives these people greater permission to do the
right thing, whereas before they might have succumbed, understandably, to the
social norm of not caring about sanitation values.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The SOS is given a uniform made out of pure
khadi to wear while they are doing work in the village, as well as a shoulder
bag with painted slogans about sanitation on each side. In addition, he or she is
availed a “Sanskar” (values) box, containing a nail cutter, hand sanitizer,
buttons, needle and thread, basic first-aid supplies, hair oil, and a comb to
help perform small acts of service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In two villages (Vanthal and Pedhamali) the
SOS also started the “Home School” experiment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Home School Experiment:</b></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<u><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></u></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Home schooling is an experiment in
values-based education. We sponsor the education of ideal teacher candidates,
who then receive training at the Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram and PTC College in
education, sanitation, and hygiene values. They are then paid a humble stipend
to share these values forward in their homes to their community’s children
after school.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In both Vanthal and Pedhamali, the appointed
Soldier of Sanitaiton also started home schooling. These experiments, as of the
publishing of this article, have been occuring for four months.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Geethabhen is the teacher from Vanthal. She
comes from a poor family and so the small stipend she receives greatly assists
the family. Geethabhen’s home school is open on Saturday and Sunday for two
hours each day. There is time for teaching, safai, as well as games.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6aV71ivafsminxmZboPiwny8OpTi8OfGo_BhUTu9gF3b3I5kywyrTCIcGTXiXbMb0jSwFBdQwBCIAbW0tNa5fUB_wcnySTExoyKkd6ZGuDA317cCsoPlo4TRqCO3OdtMj7ptS7ndjq64/s1600/Be+the+Change+LOGO+%5BConverted%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6aV71ivafsminxmZboPiwny8OpTi8OfGo_BhUTu9gF3b3I5kywyrTCIcGTXiXbMb0jSwFBdQwBCIAbW0tNa5fUB_wcnySTExoyKkd6ZGuDA317cCsoPlo4TRqCO3OdtMj7ptS7ndjq64/s320/Be+the+Change+LOGO+%5BConverted%5D.jpg" height="172" width="200" /></span></a><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In Pedhamali Village, Jaldipbhai and his wife
Snehalben, offer daily home schooling daily for about 20 kids. They are
devoted to the cause of improving their community’s living standards and
consider their home a “people’s home,” a home for all. They particularly enjoy
attending to medical issues that come up in the community and are known to
escort people to the doctor and oversee their care.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Based on our extensive experience with this
kind of training, especially witnessing the efforts of Manav Sadhna on the
Gandhi Ashram through their values-based Angwandi program, we know that this
style of education profoundly changes the lives of kids growing up in poverty
for the better. Interest in education grows. Self-respect and care increases.
Participation in community service goes up. Belief in dreams blossoms.
Compassion grows. And habits are adopted that decrease the likelihood of
becoming ill. </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: #0400; mso-bidi-language: X-NONE; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Nandini - Service on Wheelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10882337762791847813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356082515690116351.post-8844916410196789262013-12-26T11:02:00.000-08:002014-05-03T07:24:31.848-07:00NSS and Holistic Development Program in Pedhamali, Amiyapur & Vanthal Villages<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Introduction<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcirLpRKjX-jlfQ-waHsOMbOt3e3U4UP4lWMz8jB3THV9h3t2t-L76h6T44YXdZkejkfQMt_QrkIa5jOU43YLXvEd7xxSWlYVxF50dXv5tFPeS-Zjm1lhoIjXaUmebYezPs0M7DvNx4T4/s1600/NSS_Amrish1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcirLpRKjX-jlfQ-waHsOMbOt3e3U4UP4lWMz8jB3THV9h3t2t-L76h6T44YXdZkejkfQMt_QrkIa5jOU43YLXvEd7xxSWlYVxF50dXv5tFPeS-Zjm1lhoIjXaUmebYezPs0M7DvNx4T4/s320/NSS_Amrish1.jpg" height="151" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Sanitation Project is being run in the villages of
Pedhamali, Amiyapur and Vantal with the support of Rishibhai. The principal goal of this project is to
change the sanitation habits of the villagers, specifically in the areas of
personal hygiene and use of toilets. There is also an emphasis on changing
waste disposal habits. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Along with the construction of toilets and the creation of a
sanitation complex in each of the schools in the three villages, the
Environmental Sanitation Institute (ESI) is focusing on the development of a
primary school curriculum to teach children about the importance of personal
hygiene. A <i>“Safai Sadhak”</i> living in each
village has been hired to facilitate this integrated and holistic process. Every week, one school day is devoted to
engaging students in a dialogue about how everyone can participate in creating
the best school, the best homes and the best village possible. The school sessions use various approaches to
engaging the students, including “Ideal Home,” “Ideal School” and “Ideal
Village” competitions as well as action-based learning. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Starting the last week in October, the Safai Sadhaks
conducted “Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice” surveys in each village. The information gathered in these surveys is
used to better understand the needs of the community and developing future
projects.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> NSS Students and ESI
Activities in Pedhamali & Vanthal Villages<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisWZxBQ7v-CRsHpCGy7OfBcE2wFfJeMQ5iyzi4JkKIHZcdRnxCC-VSS5zweVzlN1J2bf8DsKUyk3OXOmHMdv-NcAcS46-rzhNvvyunWuGjZAw4jc2ETdH3wI1ySE58WsKX8t18GZJJtSM/s1600/NSS_Amrish6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisWZxBQ7v-CRsHpCGy7OfBcE2wFfJeMQ5iyzi4JkKIHZcdRnxCC-VSS5zweVzlN1J2bf8DsKUyk3OXOmHMdv-NcAcS46-rzhNvvyunWuGjZAw4jc2ETdH3wI1ySE58WsKX8t18GZJJtSM/s1600/NSS_Amrish6.jpg" height="169" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Every year, student members of the National Service Scheme of
the famous Ahmedabad LD Arts College work in villages throughout Gujarat with
the support of ESI. This year, ESI recommended that the student camp be held in
Pethamali to strengthen the ASP’s work.
For one week, from November 3<sup>rd</sup> to November 9<sup>th</sup>,
50 students from the NSS visited Pedhamali village to serve the community and
learn from them. Through their dedicated yet humble investment of head, heart
and hands; they formed deep connections with many of the villagers. The
students experienced not only the warm hospitality of the community, but could
be inspired by the spirit and generosity of the villagers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For seven days, we all worked together on the following
activities.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Arrival and Welcome</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">: The villagers gave the students a traditional
welcome. The students set up their
accommodations in the local primary school and interacted with the teachers,
children and youth of the community. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Opening Ceremony: </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">In the village’s main temple,
Jayeshbhai of ESI gave an engaging presentation to the students and villagers
about the purpose of NSS and about healthy life habits. Jayeshbhai’s spirit and ability to connect
deeply with people of all walks of life set an inspiring tone to the start of
the activities. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEJS2uIChbWvluxIO-a5WRE8gQoIMnAf5YvIF2aPSMiR03XPZGBb8i6B5aFdPSzTxuns0Mi14GppSf6EVjMu6bO5vTTqChQbjdPe7PFEhWZdJjDov6HGeJp8AIbKHJa7MwgQCO5SElc3I/s1600/NSS_Amrish3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEJS2uIChbWvluxIO-a5WRE8gQoIMnAf5YvIF2aPSMiR03XPZGBb8i6B5aFdPSzTxuns0Mi14GppSf6EVjMu6bO5vTTqChQbjdPe7PFEhWZdJjDov6HGeJp8AIbKHJa7MwgQCO5SElc3I/s1600/NSS_Amrish3.jpg" height="158" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Morning Chanting: </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Every morning at 5:30, the students
walked around the villages singing bhajans and dhuns, and saying slogans about
sanitation, health and de-addiction. After that, they sit in prayer and
discuss what they will do.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Cleaning: </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">In small groups, the students swept
the streets of the village section by section. These created opportunities for
students to interact the week, every street had been cleaned. The students
become a living embodiment of the ASP’s sanitation message, and channels
through which the message can be conveyed to the villagers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Outer and inner
cleanliness effort: </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">At
the centre of Pethamali was a public urinal which had become a dumping ground
for waste of all kinds and so was not being used. Because of its central location, symbolic and
practical value, it was an ideal place to concertize the values of cleanliness
and community service and offer a useful gift to the village. Students, ESI members, village youth and
adults worked together to 4 containers of waste from the area, clean the urinal
properly and build a soak pit for safe urine disposal. Once it was clean, it was painted with bright
colors and decorated with messages about cleanliness and welcoming words. When completed, an inauguration was held,
complete with bhajan singing, prayers and ribbon cutting ceremony. This was a
unique experience for all, to bring to life the idea of a urinal being as clean
and beautiful as a temple. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1sjw_kjjIJJ2671CBA85-HnOGQA0PG5lZ9QpL-beUvI-jhUFZGfvNRhs4gjg4l6Y3WpM2HJFKxBvjfxoTdjZvJKJH_Uz4H-LQ_8ORsJxvFRTIpLv_GkGi4H-vjf0k330uoMR4n-BIKRA/s1600/NSS_Amrish5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1sjw_kjjIJJ2671CBA85-HnOGQA0PG5lZ9QpL-beUvI-jhUFZGfvNRhs4gjg4l6Y3WpM2HJFKxBvjfxoTdjZvJKJH_Uz4H-LQ_8ORsJxvFRTIpLv_GkGi4H-vjf0k330uoMR4n-BIKRA/s200/NSS_Amrish5.jpg" height="170" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Because the labor
was infused with love and dedication, it had profound impacts on both the NSS
students and the villagers. Though at
first the students were reluctant to enter the urinal, over the course of the
cleaning they saw the impact of their service on the site, and became
increasingly motivated to contribute to its beautification. They experienced the transformational
potential of service work. The sustainability of the effort was also clear as
the villagers had taken on the responsibilities to maintain the cleanliness of
the site in the days following the inauguration. The urinal was free of garbage
and children played outside of it safely.
Furthermore, despite the fact that there is no water source inside,
villagers made the effort to visit a nearby home to take water from there and
clean the urinal inside after use. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Dustbin behavior change
program</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">: Over 150
empty oil tins were collected from outside the village. Sitting in the centre of the town, ESI
members and NSS students cleaned the bins, painted them and turned the
otherwise waste material into dust bins decorated with the words “Give me
garbage”. Some of the bins were placed
in the public places, such as the school and the temples, and also one was
given to each shopkeeper. We also took advantage of moments when many villagers
were together to present the dustbins to individual women, explaining to them
about the work that was done to create the bins, how to use them and why. In front of their neighbors and community
members, the women vowed they would use the bins and also motivate their neighbors
to do the same. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Home stay: </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">For most of their stay in the
village, the students lived together in the local primary school, participating
in food preparation, serving and cleaning.
However, on the fourth day each student was hosted by a family, working
with them, taking meals together and sharing the messages about the importance
of sanitation. Upon arrival, each of the
students brought a dustbin as a gift for their host family. This experience was pivotal for creating deep
heart-to-heart connections between the students and the villagers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Animal Husbandry and Cattle Camp: </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Animal
husbandry is one of the two principal occupations in Pedhamali. 18 months ago, the women of the village
created the Women’s Milk Cooperative Society to get a fairer price on the
market for the milk they produce. In Mehesana district, it is the only all
woman-run milk cooperative. To support the Cooperative and its members, we
organized a “cattle camp” with 5 veterinary doctors from the area, who treated
over 80 cows and buffalos. Additionally,
a local dairy expert was invited to speak to the women of the milk cooperative
about milk handling and the income generation possibilities of secondary milk
product productions. The 60 women in
attendance were enriched and inspired by the opportunity to learn from this
woman leader from another community.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Cattle Trough Masonry: </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">For many years, stagnant water has
accumulated regularly in front of a local cattle water trough because it is
used for laundry, leading to increased mosquito breeding and potential malarial
risks. As the community had designated
this as a priority, we bought 3 tractors of sand to infill the area in front of
the trough. From midnight to three o’clock in the morning, with the help of
several villagers, we built a small channel to ensure the water would run off quickly
instead of stagnating. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Soak pit for disposal
of waste water: </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Upon
arrival in Pedhamali, we noticed that waste water from people’s homes was
running onto the roads. Thanks to ESI
expertise in the area of rural sustainable technology, we built 8 soak pits in
individual homes using low cost and waste materials: broken bricks, cracked
earthenware pots and coconut fibers.</span><span style="background-color: black; border: 1pt none black; line-height: 115%; padding: 0in;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Village Rallies</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">: To bring to life the messages about
de-addiction, we paraded through the streets of the village with a giant
10-headed Ravana puppet, with each head representing a different vice, chanting
slogans about de-addiction. Similarly,
after workshops were offered separately to the men and women of the village
about HIV/AIDS, we led a rally to share the messages of prevention and the
importance of getting tested before marriage with the whole village.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Evening Programs:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Values-based Theatre
Performance: </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">The
students performed a series of skits that they had written themselves, each one
focused on a different problem faced by the community, based on what they had
observed during the day. Many villagers were touched by the engaging and
humorous performances, never having seen that type of drama before. Sureshbhai, “Suchita Sadak” also gave an
engaging talk about the mission of the ASP and the work that Jaldeepbhai
(Pethamali’s Safai Sadak) and Snehelbehen have undertaken over the last 5 years
and their devotion to the village.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Water budgeting</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">: In Pedhamali, nearly half of the
homes do not have a way to turn off their water taps, leading to large volumes
of water waste and making it difficult for water to reach homes at higher
elevations. Two local experts from the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA)
were invited to share some of the best practices and innovations in water saving
technologies that are being experimented in the district. They explained an
upcoming pilot project for Pedhamali
that would see every home equipped with a proper tap. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Spiritual songs: </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">A famous local bhajan singer was
invited to perform in the village, singing songs that made connections between
inner purity and external virtues such as cleanliness and de-addiction. Several other performers dressed in
traditional garb and performed short skits to make the presentation more
engaging. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Community Marriage</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">: We visited every home to personally
invite the villagers to the “wedding” of Jaldeepbhai and Snehelbehen. The couple had married three years ago, but
very few of the villagers had attended the wedding, so everyone was excited to
participate in the wedding. Dressed in traditional village wedding clothing,
Jaldeepbhai and Snehelbehen came to the temple in a car and accompanied by all
of the excitement, firecrackers and dancing as is custom. During the wedding ceremony itself, we
integrated discussions about the issues of dowry, child marriage and child
labour. Various men took the role of
“Goddess”, dressed as women, and walked around the crowds supposedly collecting
money for Snehelbehen’s dowry. In fact,
the money will be used towards projects in the village. Over 7000 rupees were collected, showing the
villagers how much collective wealth they have and how much they can contribute
towards the good of everyone. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Closing ceremony: </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">The chief guest at the closing
ceremony was a devotee of Swami Sacchidanand, a famous saint in Gujarat. He gave a presentation integrating scientific
knowledge with spirituality and discussion of values, giving many examples
relevant to the realities of the villagers.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Nandini - Service on Wheelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10882337762791847813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356082515690116351.post-5076033476045442722013-12-26T10:27:00.000-08:002014-05-03T07:25:55.966-07:00“Maitri” Volunteer Stay in Amiyapur Village<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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--</style><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Introduction</span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b>
</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrUPJS4zT0HIpWF5QK-NslMW6-IYxiLIeXpTHHQXgxPPP_ySQS-HdkRerlzN8cGqX4WvxB91TiUDLTqaRFi-mgEVUVLku-ZUXE9TziVhopQmDXEHfZWt68zd2j0EmtuGG2NoATNSmBBs/s1600/AmiyapurStep3_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrUPJS4zT0HIpWF5QK-NslMW6-IYxiLIeXpTHHQXgxPPP_ySQS-HdkRerlzN8cGqX4WvxB91TiUDLTqaRFi-mgEVUVLku-ZUXE9TziVhopQmDXEHfZWt68zd2j0EmtuGG2NoATNSmBBs/s1600/AmiyapurStep3_1.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Amiyapur village is one of the three villages where
the Amrish Sanitation Project (ASP) is being run with the support of Rishibhai,
along with Pedhamali and Vantal. Amiyapur
village is a village of about 1,800 people, composed almost entirely of quite
economically disadvantaged members of one caste, the Takor community. Education
levels are also quite low. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Over the last two months, Shaileshbhai has been working in
Amiyapur as the Safai Sainik. The
Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) survey has been conducted during the
time. Additionally, with the help of the
government, we have renovated and rejuvenated the primary school, and we are
currently working on changing the personal hygiene habits of the children. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> Nandini Van</span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">The Nandini van was parked in the central public place of the
village. We set up mobile exhibition composed of 55 panels about the themes of
sanitation and water use. Nandini van
was also on display as an “ideal home” that villagers could visit. All day, both were visited by village women
and children, and 2 maitri volunteers gave tours.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Sureshbhai’s <i>Nandini
van</i>, its purpose and method attracted multiple volunteers from several
cities in India, including Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, etc. 29 of these volunteers
gathered together for a 2 day program in the village of Amiyapur, near
gandhinagar district. The spirit of the retreat was an act of <i>shramdaan</i> –(Labour love) offering one’s effort
with love. This effort was facilitated by the <i>Amrish sanitation </i>program, which means ‘nectar’.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Through <i>Amrish</i>, a
family of donors is striving to make their dollars reach the poor in Gujarat.
Amrish has been implemented in 3 villages and in each village, the purpose is
to spread the message of sanitation, though a combination of inspiration,
information and instrumentation.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Through these activities, the goal is to promote awareness of
sanitation, and make them self-sufficient. The primary goal was to sow the
seeds of interest in sanitation and cleanliness, respect for the task and
nurture these seedsover time to ensure sustainable cleanliness. In Amiyapur,
the residents were familiar with Nandini and Suresh bhai, and welcomed the
group, but did not know the specific agenda of the retreat. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The internal journey of each of the volunteers was to give
their heart spontaneously to each person they interacted with, to keep their
hearts open in all circumstances and to surprise everyone with love. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In keeping with this spirit, the group started the day with
prayer. This was followed by discussion on how to remove uncleanliness from the
village, and how to encourage creation of clean habits, using the instruments
of love and inspiration. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Shri
Jayeshbhai and Sureshbhai created 5 teams from the volunteer group, over the 2
day period:</span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw65sME5pLNrX3y1FfQXzXbokhCQULRAvZIieCryoe5Zmo1kot2bYJZZNHw6ecFJSYYGGzFTqkc-9EfLJeHHL5FHo06Ysvtmr_xZ60A2LihFYrIW51Ngt5ZfcyDAFDD3jEhTAWLzD1qvU/s1600/AmiyapurStep3_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw65sME5pLNrX3y1FfQXzXbokhCQULRAvZIieCryoe5Zmo1kot2bYJZZNHw6ecFJSYYGGzFTqkc-9EfLJeHHL5FHo06Ysvtmr_xZ60A2LihFYrIW51Ngt5ZfcyDAFDD3jEhTAWLzD1qvU/s1600/AmiyapurStep3_2.jpg" height="200" width="173" /></a></span></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Sadhak</span></i></b><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> (worship) team</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> – </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> Shri Jayeshbhai is also part of this team and he
gave amazing way to entire team. This team undertook the tasks of sweeping and
cleaning the entire village. The 6-7 people who were part of this team cleaned
all areas of the village, including the banks of the lake (a site for multiple
activities including bathing and washing clothes) and the village school. The
volunteers dedicated the whole day to cleaning the village. Seeing the volunteers
(some of them highly educated) cleaning the village for over 8 hours created
curiosity, interest and inspiration in the villagers.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl3113iA1PCK8cJcjQ48NrYHqOs3UwqkJyvrBjFa_JNL1IieIMamN7LcpxCznpm4Srz-RezvR0WgGBJdIRXiMGcWMGMgyucl3ZgXSj_R5nyHp8dSlQ9NuPmb6wgPPQqVj3lxBBD8s2hnQ/s1600/AmiyapurStep3_6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl3113iA1PCK8cJcjQ48NrYHqOs3UwqkJyvrBjFa_JNL1IieIMamN7LcpxCznpm4Srz-RezvR0WgGBJdIRXiMGcWMGMgyucl3ZgXSj_R5nyHp8dSlQ9NuPmb6wgPPQqVj3lxBBD8s2hnQ/s1600/AmiyapurStep3_6.jpg" /></a></span>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"> Sahaj</span></i></b><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> (spontaneous service) team</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> –</span> This team was guided by Suresh-bhai
who played the role of an older brother to the other members. Their first task
was at the village <i>Otalo</i>. An Otalo is
the central meeting place of a village, usually centered around a tree or group
of trees, with a low platform around it where the elders of the village meet
often. The team cleaned the Otalo and painted it with slogans. Second, public walls were also cleaned and
slogans about sanitation, clean water, etc. were painted in beautiful letters
to attract people as well as convey the message. The third action was to create
dustbins from old discarded oil barrels. The team created 22 such barrels, and
painted attractive designs on them to beautify and attract the passerby. These
dustbins were placed at crucial spots in the village, especially near the roadside
shops. The team requested the shopkeepers to promote cleanliness by encouraging
villagers to throw trash into the dustbins and not onto the street. Thus the
shopkeepers and others (such as school teachers and anganwadi workers) were
involved into making the rest of the village use the dustbins.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></i></b></span></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Karuna </span></i></b><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">(compassion) team</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">– This team engaged the villagers by going door-to-door and talking to
the villagers. At each house, the volunteers engaged the children of the
children of the house with love, playfully cutting their nails and washing
their hands, and explaining to them why they should wash hands after each
activity to not let germs spread. By offering love to the children, the
volunteers naturally engaged the parents, and they also offered their thoughts
to the parents on how hands should be washed after all activities, particularly
because their hands participate in the act of preparing food. Provided personal
hygiene care to villagers. Went door-to-door with soap, bucket and towel to
wash hands and cut nails of all of the villagers. Also gave head massage with
hair oil, applied oil to dry, chapped skin, and bathed the elderly. This team was headed by Mukeshbhai, a
renowned monk from Santramandir Nadiyad monastery. Because of his love, compassion and deep
spirituality, the villagers accepted the <i>Karuna</i>
team into their homes for such intimate service.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOeu1MtpvEONYADEPvJunuxi53u78YT4n_hvOpSTDVArck_VCatvozAmPVsm5-1Cv54aT4WtySU9Z6DIL4SyAyWoObsML9rJzbidg0CnohKr9hec6gsdUcZ1kgksYt-ZPGBn_4RTQQB3s/s1600/AmiyapurStep3_trio.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOeu1MtpvEONYADEPvJunuxi53u78YT4n_hvOpSTDVArck_VCatvozAmPVsm5-1Cv54aT4WtySU9Z6DIL4SyAyWoObsML9rJzbidg0CnohKr9hec6gsdUcZ1kgksYt-ZPGBn_4RTQQB3s/s400/AmiyapurStep3_trio.png" height="156" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Shanti</span></i></b><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> (peace) team </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">–</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">
Embodying the spirit of karma-yoga, this 4-5 member team put in the hardest
work as laborers to construct waste water disposal facilities. Until then, the
village had no mechanism of disposing of waste water, which would be left in
the open. The <i>shanti</i> team explained
to a few families in the village how the open waste water could lead to
mosquitoes and flies, leading to germs and disease. They suggesteda <i>soap pit</i> as a healthier option, and
demonstratedit through construction at one house. This involved hard labor,
using bricks and cement to create the soap pit. Each action in the construction
proved to be an action of educating the villagers. A number of villagers came
to watch the construction, and offered their help and tea and water. The
reaction to the construction of the soap pit was immediate, with the home
members expressing happiness at having the on-site waste disposal.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Saunderiya</span></i></b><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> (beautification) team </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">–</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">To represent the beauty of the task of
sanitation, this team translated their inner spirit to outer beauty. They went
to a home in the village, and humbly offered, in the spirit of service, their
services of cleaning and beautifying the home. Most of the family members were
surprised at the unusual request, but were also agreeable because of the loving
nature of the request. The team followed three steps: (i) <i>swachchata</i> (cleanliness) – they carefully removed most of the articles
in the house and cleaned the entire house; (ii) <i>vyavastha</i> (organization) -With the input of thefamily, they
re-organized the items back in the house; and (iii) <i>sundarta</i>(beauty) - decorated the home with slogans and art. </span></span></span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Each of these activities complemented each other to create a
beautiful ecosystem in Amiyapur. The combination of inspiration and love, along
with information and instrumentation created a situation that empowered the
village. The villagers who became interested and involved were designated as
its<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>keepers, leading to a self-sustaining ecosystem. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Maitri Volunteer Stay</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">On December 1<sup>st</sup> and 2<sup>nd</sup>, we
arranged the two day program at Amiyapur village with the help of Nandini van
(link) and “maitri” volunteers. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6gf5UwIoAdQXlbonNcZSxYi0qQmYPX1ZboJnY3OntCDJkMdi2CarJNkr11FJ7bfY0-jeyeU4DLCknttGVVSAFPVw7CNGyCeu1eI-HuOxMh9icU2OV1ujvVRjBfl_zAU8e_BwghBhpvXw/s1600/AmiyapurStep3_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6gf5UwIoAdQXlbonNcZSxYi0qQmYPX1ZboJnY3OntCDJkMdi2CarJNkr11FJ7bfY0-jeyeU4DLCknttGVVSAFPVw7CNGyCeu1eI-HuOxMh9icU2OV1ujvVRjBfl_zAU8e_BwghBhpvXw/s1600/AmiyapurStep3_7.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">On December 1<sup>st</sup>, 28 ESI volunteers from all over
India walked through the streets of the village, singing bhajans. When they arrived at the village central
square, they sat with the villagers in prayer and introduced themselves. Sureshbhai and Shaileshbhai took the maitri
volunteers on a tour of the village, to show them the types of facilities are
present and to explain what the ASP project is trying to accomplish in
Amiyapur. The villagers were invited to
light diyas at the doorway of the Nandini van along with the volunteers.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The maitri volunteers slept and ate with host families in the
village. For their work of “action and
interaction”, they were divided into 5 groups. Each team took on a different
type of service work in the community.
Each team was also headed by one “captain,” a person very experienced in
spiritual and village development.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Made and distributed dustbins. They collected 25 empty oil cans throughout
the village, and cut off one end with the help of a local blacksmith. After washing the tins, they painted them with
the words “Give me Garbage” and distributed one to each of the village
shopkeepers. When they distributed them, they made a sacred request to each one
of the shopkeepers to put their waste in the bins, and to teach everyone else
to do the same. They also wrote 15
slogans about water, sanitation and spirituality on walls in public places,
such as the “all religions” logo painted on the wall of the primary school. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Evening Program:</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In the evening, we gathered together the villagers to
introduce ESI and ASP. Each of the
maitri volunteers introduced themselves. Jayeshbhai and Sureshbhai also talked
about what they want to accomplish over next 2 years, and what support they hope
to get from the villagers to accomplish this work. We performed a skit and put
on a multimedia show about sanitation and rural development. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Amiyapur Visit with
Dollybehen and Mangleshbhai</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">On December 12<sup>th</sup> (12 / 12 / 2012), Dollybehen and
Mangleshbhai came to visit us at ESI Sughad to experience firsthand the work of
ASP. Sureshbhai and </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmMYN_AO2eQoDxMki9HXW36rk9N48KgtPfKn-DNTNbCRrWQRJULaTZq7oGIqr8BFGkXiOxR9FrYewzW-j2ediykkFUU7Ftr9HLrGMWqnC2m-BJoExKAbFJz94BdKvbupxNEi1-W_0BUIo/s1600/IMG_5118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmMYN_AO2eQoDxMki9HXW36rk9N48KgtPfKn-DNTNbCRrWQRJULaTZq7oGIqr8BFGkXiOxR9FrYewzW-j2ediykkFUU7Ftr9HLrGMWqnC2m-BJoExKAbFJz94BdKvbupxNEi1-W_0BUIo/s1600/IMG_5118.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Shaileshbhai met with them to give them an overview of the
work being conducted in the three villages over the last months, and the plans
for the months ahead. They were also
greeted by Jayeshbhai, who was holding a space of sacred silence and meditation
for the day. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Dollybehen and Mangleshbhai then
came with Sureshbhai and Shaileshbhai to visit Amiyapur. They were greeted by the children of the
community, </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAguJvfHlLpqNvm1FfaoKtqbf8F1jjsaEW9X6AvUjBh9huCoftSIFCktaIBQodiO34rArrTCRYhd2F1psvrcklWKeegvqsYg22HOI8stOxdX-Jtvm0tOlPhebPMUlWXz0uI0Qx_qEXjHk/s1600/IMG_5122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAguJvfHlLpqNvm1FfaoKtqbf8F1jjsaEW9X6AvUjBh9huCoftSIFCktaIBQodiO34rArrTCRYhd2F1psvrcklWKeegvqsYg22HOI8stOxdX-Jtvm0tOlPhebPMUlWXz0uI0Qx_qEXjHk/s1600/IMG_5122.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">with whom they spoke about the importance of cancer prevention. Sureshbhai and Shaileshbhai took them on a
tour of the village to show them the work that had been carried out during the
“Maitri” visit – the dustbins, soak pit, etc.
Dollybehen and Mangleshbhai were very moved by witnessing the deep
connections that they Safai Sainik had made with the villagers in such a short
period of time. They were inspired to
carry out similar activities in their hospital, especially to help families
suffering from the effects of alcoholism.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilpFxb0r8hI5hkAGhHGaSw167PvW2ueImiFoTBaSvxcX5iwvZYQOsbMLK7N0KFCfk501j51a1FQFZ4XZQm2qeI1gjqWDynVihVNSwCvlbGYUObIkaHaodIkEf6OCppZPO0tyGn1vhdTZY/s1600/IMG_5129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilpFxb0r8hI5hkAGhHGaSw167PvW2ueImiFoTBaSvxcX5iwvZYQOsbMLK7N0KFCfk501j51a1FQFZ4XZQm2qeI1gjqWDynVihVNSwCvlbGYUObIkaHaodIkEf6OCppZPO0tyGn1vhdTZY/s1600/IMG_5129.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Nandini - Service on Wheelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10882337762791847813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356082515690116351.post-73695311150931121222013-12-26T09:29:00.000-08:002014-05-03T06:51:30.280-07:00Building Model Villages – Amiyapur, Pedhamali and Vanthal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Part of ESI's work we are to help seed values, practice and habits of sanitation; and let the
action spring forth as a result of the values. As part of this, he has set up
an experimental program in three of Gujarat’s villages – Amiyapur, Pedhamali
and Vanthal. His goal is to develop these villages into ‘model villages’
through extensive interaction at multiple levels, and change the hearts and
minds of the people first, in order to make the practice self-sustaining. In
turn, these villages would be examples for other villages, and word about
sustainable sanitation can spread by word-of-mouth from village to village. He
believes that the word about this will spread organically to multiple
locations, and the neighboring villages will gain their own inspiration by
watching the ‘model’ villages.</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhATMQHgzMWzIAXKyFsVWKcHuaZ0ApyKcYVzsBZI_SP1BzGVBaxXsRXW6u9uKhrXaDGg-pjdQi_dfZ5dqgirEyWCqwWMwjRDpzBAVwvsUXJDoXFi4Rs0DdnjdFRili05J7QrnYrvbAqO-U/s1600/DSC_0003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhATMQHgzMWzIAXKyFsVWKcHuaZ0ApyKcYVzsBZI_SP1BzGVBaxXsRXW6u9uKhrXaDGg-pjdQi_dfZ5dqgirEyWCqwWMwjRDpzBAVwvsUXJDoXFi4Rs0DdnjdFRili05J7QrnYrvbAqO-U/s1600/DSC_0003.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Compared to typical NGO programs
that involve ‘government programs with people’s participation’, the idea is to
change the hearts and minds of people by creating ‘people’s programs with
government participation’ – that is, the initiative would be owned and operated
by the people, with financing from the government. Thus, Suresh bhai’s
‘program’ involves getting to knowing the villagers, and building minds and
mutual understanding, and to take responsibility for improving their village;
rather than building the facilities for them. By reaching out to their hearts
and connecting deeply, and demonstrating goodwill through small acts of
kindness and service, Sureshbhai finds it easier to change habits. His
demonstrations of sanitary facilities through his </span><a href="http://nandiniserviceonwheels.blogspot.in/p/nandini-van.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nandini Van</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
usually convince people of the benefits of improved sanitation practices. Once
the seed and motivation is sown, it becomes easier for people to begin to take
responsibility for improving their families, homes and villages. This has
inspired the villagers in Amiyapur, Pedhamali and Vanthal to create their own
model villages. The villagers petition the government for financial help while
demonstrating their own motivation and independence, creating an ideal system
where the drive is from within, thus improving possibilities of sustainability.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sureshbhai’s first step involves
visiting villages and setting up personal connections, and becoming a part of
the village. After convincing the villagers about his mission being beneficial,
and with the villagers as the primary drivers, as described in Article 1, he
obtains agreement from <i>all of </i>them to
set up a systematic program for the village’s sanitation and beautification. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Following that, an initial survey
of the basic practice in the village is performed. Baseline Survey: A KAP survey that obtains
information about Knowledge, Attitude and Practice. This is through speaking
with individual householders, panchayat leaders, school teachers, anganwadi
workers, all at the personal level to understand the current state of
sanitation in the village.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Two key types of practice have
been established to complement Sureshbhai’s visits and to keep a continuous,
ongoing practice of sanitation in each village. The first is the establishment
of <i>safai sainiks</i> who are local
representatives within the village, and the second the visits of various
volunteer groups who perform hands-on service in the villages.<b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></i></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Safai Sainiks and Outreach</span></i></b> </span></span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf0g7FiEZt5MQxfZyVncci2tGIwms2Z6cLeb0YenR185yfKapub3hb7iTtlbEwqyUDKpT14qWVe9d_PfVr-NeMdpQ_HGn4EiGoFMTLv0QRv-deOQka6Z06wcgt_VtbyZybZ-PHUk6QjKk/s1600/DSC_0187.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf0g7FiEZt5MQxfZyVncci2tGIwms2Z6cLeb0YenR185yfKapub3hb7iTtlbEwqyUDKpT14qWVe9d_PfVr-NeMdpQ_HGn4EiGoFMTLv0QRv-deOQka6Z06wcgt_VtbyZybZ-PHUk6QjKk/s1600/DSC_0187.JPG" height="132" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One of the most important
features is the establishment of a local representative of sanition, called a <i>Safai Sainik</i> ("soldier of
sanitation")<i>. </i>The <i>Safai Sainik </i>is a representation of the village’s commitment to
sanitation. Three <i>Safai Sainiks</i> have
been established in each of the villages -- Shaileshbhai in Amiyapur,
Snehalben in Pedhamali and Nainaben in Vanthal. Each <i>Safai Sainik</i> is equipped with a sanitation kit containing hand
sanitizer, nail cutter, towel, comb, soap and oil. The <i>Safai Sainik </i>visits the village school for 2 hours each day to
develop hygienic habits in children, and to reinforce them each day. The daily
session consists of an hour of conceptual learning of sanitation followed by an
hour of practice, and of reinforcing their daily learning through various
activities.The curriculum they follow in teaching follows a 7-step approach to
sanitation – involving the importance of sanitation and the personal, home,
family, village, state, country and world levels.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The <i>Safai Sainiks</i> having volunteered to serve the village,have
established with the villagers a record of working with <i>bhakti</i> (devotion) and friendship. Due to this, their words and
actions and reminders for sanitation practice are considered a help and meaningful
in the village’s growth. The <i>Safai Sainiks </i>put
up slogans in the village about cleanliness, use of water, waste disposal,
world peace, etc. to inspire the villagers on a daily basis. The <i>Safai Sainiks</i> follow the IEC method –
Information, Education and Communication. They regularly conduct awareness
campaigns in the <i>gaonsabha</i> (village
council meetings) when all the village comes together to talk about issues
affecting them. They are involved in closely monitoring the awareness levels in
the village on various issues of education and sanitation, survey the villagers
to understand their needs and knowledge levels, and organize follow-up visits
by Sureshbhai and other members from ESI (Environmental and Sanitation
Institute) in Ahmedabad, as well as organize volunteer visits and help identify
action items within the village. The <i>Safai Sainiks</i>
follow up with Sureshbhai regularly, and in especial detail before his monthly
visits to each of Pedhamali, Amiyapur and Vanthal.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">More <i>safai sainiks</i> are being trained from other villages. About 90 such
representatives from several villages visited ESI and Sughad recently, for a <i>safai yatra</i> ("tour of sanitation"). They
range different sections of society – some with their Masters degrees in Social
Work or in Rural Study, and others who are less educated and from the poorer
sections of society.They visit ESI, view the different designs of sanitary
facilities, the recycling, composting and other processes used at ESI. The tour
is also complemented by a visit to the Swaminarayan temple in the vicinity,
where the visits offer their work as an act of service. In gratitude for the
service that Sureshbhai and others at ESI provide in taking care of them
during their tour, their devotion in explaining the processes of sanitation and
training them for the <i>safai sainik </i>job;even
the poorest of the poor visitor does offer up at least Rs. 10 from their
pocket. Now all the trained safaisainiks help clean their individual villages
once a week.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One successful output from this
outreach program is <i>safai sainik</i> is
Gita-ben, affectionately called by her village children as Gitaben <i>Maa-sthar</i> ("equal to mother," and a pun on
the Hindi word for ‘teacher’). Each Saturday and Sunday, she imparts value-based
education to the kids and untouchables in her village, on topics such as
sanitation, nutrition, cleanliness, and education<i>.</i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Safai sainiks</i> like Gitaben organize dramas and street plays at
night in the village, perform the survey work and analysis required before
volunteers can take up a specific program for implementation, follow up with
comparative analysis after an action item has been implemented, and follow up
with Sureshbhai and ESI following their visit<i>s.</i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Volunteer visits in Pedhamali</span></i></b> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sureshbhai brings in a number of
volunteers from various groups to these villages. These may be student groups
from across India, groups from abroad, school children as well as youth. The
volunteer groups serve multiple purposes – the volunteers are able to view the
needs of villages, and serve directly the groups they want to benefit. The
villagers, on the other hand, have an opportunity to interact with them.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As part of the National Social
Service (NSS) program in India, 60 college students, in the 17-20 age range,
were assigned to each of these villages, for a period of 6 days. These students
were involved in a number of activities – the primary ones being creating
dustbins, cleaning public toilets and making them fit for re-use.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The volunteers identified the
need to clean up the villages, and to first have clearly designated and
designed spots for disposal of garbage. They decided to first create
dustbins/garbage cans. The volunteers collected large oil barrels that were
thrown away as trash, and used the same trash to create beautiful trash
(garbage) cans. They cleaned up the oil barrels, cut them into the right size,
and painted them. Finally, they painted slogans on each dustbin that remind
people about sanitation and cleanliness. In the process, the student-volunteers
created 300 dustbins for the three villages. They decided to sell the
beautifully painted dustbins for a nominal fee of Rs. 5. Having watched the
students work with great energy and devotion over the few days, the villagers
were enthused and impressed, and many purchased the dustbins they created for their
homes and courtyards.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In Pedhamali, the volunteers
worked on cleaning up the public toilets which were created by the government
but had become trash-dumping sites and no longer usable. The volunteers started
by offering a prayer, and dedicating their work of cleaning to the village as a
service. The combination of service and spirituality inspired not only the
volunteers but also the villagers, and they realized that it was a labour of
love to clean and maintain the public toilets. <b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></i></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Response in Pedhamali After Volunteer Visits</span></i></b> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After the NSS camp was held in
these villages, there was a clear increase in demand for the dustbins that the
volunteers had created. Much more awareness was created during the 6 days of
the volunteers’ stay. After watching volunteers clean toilets and treat it as a
purifying practice, and learning of the hygiene benefits, several women wanted
toilets in their homes. Because demand was organically created from within, the
villagers decided to get the toilets by applying for government financing. They
proactively approached the government and applied for funds under the Indian
government’s <i>Nirmal abhiyaan,</i> which
finances construction of sanitation facilities for families below poverty line.
In fact, 25 new toilets have already been built and there is demand for a 100
more from families around the villages. Because the villagers now became
self-motivated, the entire process took simply a few weeks<i>.</i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Volunteer Visit to Vanthal Village:</span></i></b> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Vanthal village has a very strong
anganwadi program, with a strong focus on improving its kids’ future.
Unanimously, the villagers have seen the benefit of educating their children
and approached the DEO (District Education Officer) to construct a new school.
The government offered strong support and has approved Rs. 25 lakh for a new
school that covers classes 1 to 8, facilitating most of the children in the
village to be able to study until high school while staying in the village with
their families.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Like in Pedhamali, Sureshbhai
brought an NSS team to visit Vanthal and identify opportunities for improvement
as well as service. In Vanthal, the biggest issue was to improve water
pipelines. The existing pipeline was about 25 years old and was leaking in
several places. The NSS group decided to create 5 soap pits as a demonstration.
As always, the idea was to create inspiration and momentum for activities that
villagers could take up on their own and sustainably implement in their
village, independent of external support.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The villagers liked the idea of
constructing such pits to control the leakage of the pipes and several
expressed interest in watching the process so that they could learn and
construct for themselves, and be able to solve their own problems. Because this
construction was significantly more expensive than the work at Pedhamali, the
volunteers required that the villagers make a monetary contribution. Within a
short time, Rs. 7000 was collected from people across the village.
Additionally, the volunteers also required that the unemployed in the village
participate and learn these skills so they could be usefully employed when such
construction was needed. The volunteers brought the required material and
demonstrated the construction of soap pits at 5 different spots in the village,
that would work as a good measure until the entire pipeline could be replaced<i>.</i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Response in Vanthal After Volunteer Visits</span></i></b> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After having constructed the soap
pits, the villagers had an increased awareness of the extent of problems with
the water pipeline in the village. More importantly, they began seeing
themselves as the primary movers in solving these issues. The NSS camp
motivated a Village <i>Panchayat</i>
(Council) meeting, with the elected members as well as the common villagers
present, and created a venue for discussion. In the presence of Suresh bhai,
they discussed ways of solving the problem, and Suresh bhai presented his
thoughts from experience at ESI and multiple other villages. Eventually, the
council decided that the best long-term solution would be to replace the entire
pipeline in the village, over time. They also came up with a clear execution
plan – that they would put up 10% of the funding as collateral and proof of
commitment to the State Government, and the remaining 90% of the funding would
come from the government. All the manual labour involved would be from the
currently unemployed youth in the village, who would be educated and trained in
such construction (by ESI) before the project starts. The Panchayat also
created a ‘Water Committee’ in the village, consisting of 12-13 people drawn
from all sections of the population – men, women, youth, old people, to
maintain diversity and capture opinions from all sections of the village
society.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thus far, the villagers have
stood by their word – 10% of the project’s budget has been collected from
within the village, and submitted to the government, along with a petition to
construct the new pipeline. The first check from the government has also
arrived, allowing for an enthusiastic beginning to the new pipeline project. <i>(Note: We will follow up with multiple posts
on the progress of this project.)</i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Response in Amiyapur after Volunteer Visit</span></i></b> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In Amiyapur, there was a
different focus to self-improvement in the villagers. They decided, after the
volunteer visit, to focus on reconstructing the broken compound wall of the
village school. Unemployed youth would contribute their time to create a
well-built campus for the children. (<i>Note:
We will follow up with multiple post<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>s on the progress of
this project.</i>)</span></span></div>
</div>
Nandini - Service on Wheelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10882337762791847813noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356082515690116351.post-7333449340475699312013-12-26T08:50:00.000-08:002014-05-03T06:53:01.674-07:00Nature Camp along the Sabarmati River, Sapteshwar Mahadev<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdQ384AfUCATq6OicA-B5P71VYFQETYCGYWYgJw4pT-rojOc_TOSV3j05bYJc3QzSYYcDOBXv0awtGoToYpoGEhaIZXJwHk6cEq4oZocOEj-mzbPkUR8lRu-tIaz5R4q8gck_ja9XrFTs/s1600/CSR_Forest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdQ384AfUCATq6OicA-B5P71VYFQETYCGYWYgJw4pT-rojOc_TOSV3j05bYJc3QzSYYcDOBXv0awtGoToYpoGEhaIZXJwHk6cEq4oZocOEj-mzbPkUR8lRu-tIaz5R4q8gck_ja9XrFTs/s1600/CSR_Forest.jpg" height="132" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">A key part of Sureshbhai’s
method for improving sanitation in villages is training kids to viewing
sanitation in a fun and positive way and inculcating good habits in them. They
are taught to view nature as a sustainer of life, and to maintain cleanliness
is a part of the nurture and sustenance we provide to nature in return.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sureshbhai conducts learning
pilgrimage tours and nature camps as part of connecting with nature and feeling
a deep interdependence, for sustainability of sanitation activites within
villages. Most of these have children involved, who are very excited to travel
to new places outside their village, and to learn more about the world. A
learning pilgrimage tour in Feb 2013 involved 100 children at the primary
school level traveling to Somnath, Dwarka (holy places associated with Lord
Shiva and Lord Krishna in Indian mythology) and the Gir forest for a 2-day
learning experience. The immersion in nature also involved prayer, singing
bhajans (devotional songs), cooking by themselves, having lunch and dinner
together, deeply connecting with nature and spirit.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Similar to the learning
pilgrimage, Suresh bhai conducted a 2-day nature camp during 13-14 April, with
35 kids from Pedhamali village. The program revolved around the combination of
Nature and God, and was set around the temple of Sapteshwar Mahadev on the banks
of the Sabarmati.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">April 13, 2013</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">None of the children had traveled
as far as the Mahadev temple before and spirits were high during the journey.
On the first day, the children built rope tents near the temple. Next followed
a circle of sharing, which included thoughts about “Why are we doing this
activity?” Each child talked happily about his or her ideas and expectations of
the retreat. Towards the evening, they also cooked together and ate a meal
together at the campsite. During their activities of cooking, cleaning, eating
and washing up, the kids used the water from the Sabarmati River; and
naturally, the conversation turned to water. The kids spontaneously began
speaking about how the river gives us water without asking for anything in
return, how it nurtures trees and plants, purifies naturally, and so on. They
were filled with a deep appreciation for all they had received from Nature.
Before going to sleep at night, they all concluded with songs of gratitude for
Nature and God.</span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </b></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span><br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">April 14, 2013</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the 14</span><sup style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, the day
started early, at 5:30 in the morning. At the stroke of dawn, everyone was up,
sat for a group prayer, and followed by a laughter circle. (Laughter circles
are a common practice in India, where laughter itself is used as a therapy to
induce joy in one’s oneself, wakes up the physical body and move to). As the
camp was right next to the Sapteshwar Mahadev temple and it was a Sunday, the
tourist rush started early. All the previous training the children had been
receiving came to the fore and they swung into action, to clean the area around
the temple. All 40 of them decided to clean the area around the temple with
bhakti (devotion) and dedication. They reasoned that it was an incredible
opportunity to clean the area – all the dirt and garbage they had dumped on
Mother earth until that day, they decided to replace with cleansing activities.
They organized themselves into groups for collecting garbage, managing it, and
separating it (into compostable, recyclable, etc.). With their indomitable
spirit, the kids made the garbage collection a deeply fun and engaging activity,
instead of treating it merely as a duty.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After this, the kids went for a
1-1.5 km trek in the hills nearby. They hiked up until a cucumber farm, and visited
the farmers who owned the land and cultivated the farm. They were offered
cucumbers by the farmers and they happily snacked on the cucumbers and khakra
(crunchy cakes) that they had brought along with them from home. Traveling back
towards camp, they learned how to find water by digging a deep ditch,
identifying clean water to drink, and quenching their thirst. Slowly, they began
to appreciate the magic of Mother Nature – how she has given them water, a
place to stay, nourishing the food they eat, even at such a remote location.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">They followed up with games in
the cool water that refreshed and relaxed them after the trek. Suresh bhai
asked them to stand in a silent circle in the water, feel its coolness and
connect towards it deeply. To feel gratitude for the life-giving abundance in
which they were standing, and the protective hand of Nature all round them. To
feel gratitude towards the earth for its fertility and beneficence. After
centering their hearts in Nature, they children began to associate each of the
entities in Nature with an object of reverence. Themes in their conversation
that stood out were – the Earth is like a Mother (<i>dhartiimaa</i>), trees are temples (<i>vrukshmandir</i>),
and mountains like blessings (<i>pahaadaashirvaad</i>).
By associating personally with each of these entities, they felt a deep
gratitude and bhakti for all.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To share their feeling of joy,
abundance and reverence, the children spontaneously decided to serve the
pilgrims and tourists coming to the temple with small acts of gratitude. Though
they did not know the pilgrims personally, they felt they could show their
gratitude to the world by passing it on through acts of service. Some of the
children cleaned the public toilets around the area, some spend their (little)
pocket money on tea and gifted them to thirsty and tired tourists, some began
to cut the nails of children who were visiting the temple, some helped decorate
the stalls of street vendors, some helped wash dishes at food stalls around the
temple, and others cleaned and beautified the general area around. Unbidden,
they came up with several out-of-the-box acts of creativity, joy, fun and
sharing, that Suresh bhai’s eyes filled with tears on more than one occasion. Instead
of teaching the kids, he felt he came away with a lot he had learned from them
instead.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Following a snack break, the
group left the temple area at 4 pm to return to Pedhamali.</span></div>
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Nandini - Service on Wheelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10882337762791847813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356082515690116351.post-35893396008909013712013-12-26T08:45:00.000-08:002014-05-03T07:04:15.898-07:00Prem Pratistha Mahotsavat<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Vanthal and Amiyapur Villages</b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>T-Temple and T-Toilet </b></span></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This ceremony was conducted as an
experiment in love – a way of connecting</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGoHSJkn-DhXV76vtB0nbquzTN6TQ5NoVVP-O_VhGid1NCEtS16TCNlwkMiznDQHaYTb3pcDuemPfhaelW2B47PRR-L3MN5Cl1juw-wV4Uq3mfEqmJvikutK-hs7KU1oc4kQ0Xewxsrr4/s1600/Amrut+sanitation+programe-0506+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGoHSJkn-DhXV76vtB0nbquzTN6TQ5NoVVP-O_VhGid1NCEtS16TCNlwkMiznDQHaYTb3pcDuemPfhaelW2B47PRR-L3MN5Cl1juw-wV4Uq3mfEqmJvikutK-hs7KU1oc4kQ0Xewxsrr4/s1600/Amrut+sanitation+programe-0506+%25281%2529.JPG" height="132" width="200" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> the internal purity of heart to the
external cleanliness of sanitation practice. The experiment arose from Jayeshbhai’s
thought of how a deep understanding of toilets, their spirit and their use can
be inculcated in the poorest of the poor villages.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The fundamental spirit of this
event was that the same essence that goes into the building and inauguration of
a temple can also go into the inauguration of a toilet. In Indian temples, after
carving an idol from rock, a ceremony called <i>Praan-Pratishtha</i>(installation of life)is performed. Here,a mere
rock in the shape of a deity is transformed, through faith, into a
representation of the Divine. Once the praan-pratishtha is performed, people
who would have kicked the piece of rock will now bow down to it. Similarly,
Jayeshbhai suggested a ceremony of prem-pratishthaa (installation of love) for
toilets; so that people could understand their spirit and inculcate them as a
representation of sanitation into their lives. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm6SxdW8I5sv-ORFxzrigqITGLSSMDOlcd-N-odKC_zyrJyCdcG5CXVivPcovWidUIsDPhmWH8FWm_QSu0Wr-tewR1Bm8Ene7YLum0KasfD1dhSLGWnkbTRIFq8bEqrR1Y3TjIzq87SvY/s1600/Amrut+sanitation+programe-0506.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm6SxdW8I5sv-ORFxzrigqITGLSSMDOlcd-N-odKC_zyrJyCdcG5CXVivPcovWidUIsDPhmWH8FWm_QSu0Wr-tewR1Bm8Ene7YLum0KasfD1dhSLGWnkbTRIFq8bEqrR1Y3TjIzq87SvY/s1600/Amrut+sanitation+programe-0506.JPG" height="132" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The <i>Prem-pratishtha</i>ceremony was conducted in both Vanthal and Amiyapur
villages, by selecting six of the poorest families, from different communities.
All the toilet designs were Ishwarbhai’s designs, that included in them an
understanding of who the users of the toilets were, their habits and their
practices. Accordingly, six toilet designs were chosen. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Announcements of the <i>shauchalayprempratishthaan</i> (toilets
installed with love) ceremony were made beforehand, and each village had a
special day allocated for this event. The volunteers from ESI explained to the
assembled villagers their understanding of sanitation. They drew analogies to
explain that just as T is for temple, similarly T is for toilet. Just as a
temple is a place where the heart is purified, the toilet is a place where the
body is purified. So, they can both be treated with due respect for attending
to a human being soul (mind) and body. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Preparations were made in full
swing for the events. ESI volunteers cleaned the streets andfilled potholes in
the roads with dirt. Decorative garlands of mango leaves were placed at
different places in the village indicating an auspicious event. In front of
each new toilet constructed, a colorful rangoli </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkuPFQ9qfdRumQSbVgefPe6bcHavPhAj9lc53oKxKuJHuziGIQA-C-MwqZ2CO5skiWJQXYXawFiI-hHhLRUl_sJygMEGCBCRb0cLNrDqelArve0bfC_QIGVkLzbInU-it4kGFndODF5O8/s1600/Home+page0513.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkuPFQ9qfdRumQSbVgefPe6bcHavPhAj9lc53oKxKuJHuziGIQA-C-MwqZ2CO5skiWJQXYXawFiI-hHhLRUl_sJygMEGCBCRb0cLNrDqelArve0bfC_QIGVkLzbInU-it4kGFndODF5O8/s1600/Home+page0513.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">(pavement design) was also
created. Volunteers paid special attention to children in schools, explaining
to them their understanding of sanitation and why it is necessary. They also
explained the significance of the special toilet installation ceremony, thus
inculcating in children a natural interest in the regular use of toilets. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The ceremonies were conducted on
22<sup>nd</sup> July 2013 in Vanthal and 25<sup>th</sup> Oct 2013 in Amiyapur. For
both these ceremonies, a lot of officials were invited. The Ahmedabad district
Panchayat head, the block magistrate, Taluk Development officer, the head of the
DRDA (District Rural Development Agency), local government officials, Michelle
(from the US President’s office for Community Development), Siddharth Sthalekar
from Moved By Love, were among those present. The assembled villagers shared
with the community their opinions about the use of toilets, the </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDbWJZnmMAx0XQWF3ks9sB0OXmBkyiSMEIA5KwgSGEA6ip982d_WfqnLqG-lvSQvd__FZpjRSoVShjbMscJtSqYWlrxEJOyLrQZWCH873DUjZFhRq_QV834jdjZwO6VNSdULZddrfw09g/s1600/DSC_0301.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDbWJZnmMAx0XQWF3ks9sB0OXmBkyiSMEIA5KwgSGEA6ip982d_WfqnLqG-lvSQvd__FZpjRSoVShjbMscJtSqYWlrxEJOyLrQZWCH873DUjZFhRq_QV834jdjZwO6VNSdULZddrfw09g/s1600/DSC_0301.JPG" height="132" width="200" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">reasons for
their current sanitation conditions, thus giving a voice to the common man in
the presence of government representatives. ESI volunteers shared with the
community different drawings of toilets, and the specific designs of toilets
for different users and communities, and their thoughts on use and maintenance.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">For the inauguration event, all
the assembled guests and villagers went to each toilet and lighted a lamp at
each location. Two-minutes of silence was maintained at each toilet to absorb
its significance, a coconut was broken at the entrance to each new toilet and
the coconut pieces distributed as offering</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlPh0rHjqAVK6tn6PC0ghTg2WdPPEnvGZAzR3cJ7qV09gLV-A5L2o1k5lEM72jD-ka3zgRzfVp_nmSYqDgo0f7R9yjPzTOsD1nf7NzJd3YHVLl9I5V27Aq8PC1v5iNQ3dj8P5pNApoW9M/s1600/DSC_0372.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlPh0rHjqAVK6tn6PC0ghTg2WdPPEnvGZAzR3cJ7qV09gLV-A5L2o1k5lEM72jD-ka3zgRzfVp_nmSYqDgo0f7R9yjPzTOsD1nf7NzJd3YHVLl9I5V27Aq8PC1v5iNQ3dj8P5pNApoW9M/s1600/DSC_0372.JPG" height="132" width="200" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> to the crowd. (In India, each
auspicious activity includes the breaking of a coconut and its offering to God,
and the pieces of the coconut are eaten by devotees as a blessing). </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The assembled guests and
community members then had conversations with each of the six families that
volunteered to have a toilet constructed in its home. The family members were
active participants in the toilet construction, so each of them shared their
experiences of the process. All were unanimous in the idea that they wanted
toilets for family sanitation and safety (this was a primary concern for women)
and that the construction was a fairly straightforward process. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As part of the event, everyone
ate food grown locally and the spirit of “think globally, act locally” was fulfilled.Various
sanitation items such as nail cutters, </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVJBfptX4k_bV_RJdeIe2XiTdx-pIgV5rhiP7jv7M0QSEG4cFmuwxSmgW8nCxiBv1iI9B5b5Ce_YcYZ-fGswi7mapCP6ESBsiN2kq-V0E0sRcoy42Mu5MeaS4rKCNDnXPX8-xKGleF988/s1600/DSC_0375.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVJBfptX4k_bV_RJdeIe2XiTdx-pIgV5rhiP7jv7M0QSEG4cFmuwxSmgW8nCxiBv1iI9B5b5Ce_YcYZ-fGswi7mapCP6ESBsiN2kq-V0E0sRcoy42Mu5MeaS4rKCNDnXPX8-xKGleF988/s1600/DSC_0375.JPG" height="132" width="200" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">soaps, <i>doyas</i> (mugs with long handles to draw water from pots), etc. were
distributed by Siddharthbhai, Jayeshbhai, Michelle, and others. By interacting
with the community, a bond of trust was established. There was also a
discussion of how people can start with themselves and their families and make
a change in the village’s sanitary conditions. For example, how often
nailcutters should be used, how doyas should be used instead of dipping hands
into drinking water, etc. was discussed. Each person came away with many
different small ways in which they themselves could be the change in
transforming their village.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The discussion between the
villagers, ESI and government officials continued to span multiple other
topics. For example, discussions of why the Harijan and Bharwad communities
were very different, with little interaction, was initiated. While people
thought that these communities were different and could not mix, others pointed
out that unless they unite, they cannot change the state</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhygfL3f7ASVXH2-BdAbwko34Adute2GDM0YKGAMIGSmahkFKROPF1E3-wghsd3XppjCwAXdungob3qB_la4zu4EG3yDXtQlcepB2KYLfBJmYXiswu4f341BNeAP9TZ5RIlg5ljjauw7ck/s1600/DSC_0408.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhygfL3f7ASVXH2-BdAbwko34Adute2GDM0YKGAMIGSmahkFKROPF1E3-wghsd3XppjCwAXdungob3qB_la4zu4EG3yDXtQlcepB2KYLfBJmYXiswu4f341BNeAP9TZ5RIlg5ljjauw7ck/s1600/DSC_0408.JPG" height="132" width="200" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> of the village. Just
as both a needle and thread are required to stitch a cloth, similarly both
these communities should unite to transform the village. This discussion, being
on a sensitive topic, was mediated by Dollyben and Mangleshbhai who support the
amrit sanitation project. The mediation by ‘external’ agencies helped to
maintain equanimity in discussion and sow seeds of thought in the villagers’
minds.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This event, being one of a kind
and indeed, the first of its kind, drew considerable media attention. The
ceremony in Vanthal was broadcast on television and viewed all across Gujarat. Invisible
ripples from this event still reflect back to Jayeshbhai and Suresh bhai. One
very visible and happy outcome of these ceremonies was the sudden increase in
demand for </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-t8qyxeK5w_NyqmRmhUDwtiQ3T0vezYzDGIhVneIqT5bvYgcVUcYSSWlUxzeaJhjIZVePrgdLE5oQqETSVQ6HmUDZseFeIaL8BiKj9FlR4TrSyinL4BXzQV548tKy1xY4cFQm9GJODRU/s1600/DSC_0495.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-t8qyxeK5w_NyqmRmhUDwtiQ3T0vezYzDGIhVneIqT5bvYgcVUcYSSWlUxzeaJhjIZVePrgdLE5oQqETSVQ6HmUDZseFeIaL8BiKj9FlR4TrSyinL4BXzQV548tKy1xY4cFQm9GJODRU/s1600/DSC_0495.JPG" height="132" width="200" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">household toilets and toilets in schools. Since these events,
atleast 50 new toilets have been applied to by householders to the government
(which funds toilet construction for families below the poverty line) in Vanthal
and another 25-30 toilets in Amiyapur. Through the ceremonies, both awareness
and visibility of toilets have spread, such that now toilet construction has
become a demand-based program that begins at the grassroots level instead of
through a top-down approach. Thus the
combined efforts of the community, government and NGOs (such as ESI); brought
together and supported by invisible, behind-the-scenes forces, has begun to
bear fruit. </span></span></div>
</div>
Nandini - Service on Wheelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10882337762791847813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356082515690116351.post-57064580994193384582013-11-26T08:30:00.000-08:002014-05-03T07:05:08.789-07:00Ripples From Village Activities<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The seeds sown by ESI volunteers,
especially Nandini and Suresh bhai in the three experimental villages of
Amiyapur, Vanthal and Pedhamali have begun to sprout in small and beautiful
ways. We write about some ripples seen in each village and inspirational ways
in which ladder-leaders have begun to grow. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In <b>Amiyapur</b>, the villagers have begun giving full support to
sanitation and educational activities, forming a whole support structure for
each other. This is seen in small acts. School children in their play used to
damage plants in the school premises when the fence was open. Now everyone in
the village takes responsibility for the maintenance of the school’s plants;
and someone closes the fence so that plants are not damaged. Shailesh bhai, who is the village’s resident
safai sainik (soldier of sanitation), receives welcoming smiles from everyone
and is indeed treated as a family member. The changes are most keenly seen in
children. They have formed their own groups of about 20 each, where they
monitor each other’s personal hygiene, such as washing hands before eating,
washing feet when entering the house, and cutting nails. Each group maintains
cleanliness in school, by keeping their shoes in line, praying together, and performing
small activities of kindness for each other. The children now have begun to
teach each other, in a child-to-child approach, raising awareness from a young
age and being in good company of each other. The demand for toilets in
individual homes has increased. As awareness increased, seven toilets were
constructed in village homes, without even requesting government support.
Another 25-30 homes have applied for government funding to construct toilets,
particularly after the shauchalayprem-pratishthaan ceremony. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Some <i>inspirational people in Amiyapur:</i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><i>Shobha-ben Thakor </i></b>is a 10<sup>th</sup>
grade educated villager. Her husband works in ONGC as a driver, but also drinks
a lot and thus cannot support the family financially. She has 2 children who
are currently studying. She has been a true hostess, offering unconditional
hospitality to any volunteers that arrive, even by the busload. She is a
believer in teamwork, and is one of the first to step forward for any
activities in the village. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><i>Asha-ben</i></b>, popularly known
as Smiley-ben, is always smiling. She never appears unhappy, despite having no
home of her own. She is ready to offer services such as making tea and food as
soon as the volunteer groups arrive. No matter the size of the group, she is
willing to offer her hospitality. she sees the volunteers group. She is now
constructing a house, little by little, but doesn’t begrudge anything to
visitors and volunteers who arrive in the village. Her home is always open to
the children of the village, who are guaranteed to never come back empty-handed
from her house. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><i>Ajay Thakur </i></b>is a
differently-abled child, who is mentally challenged. He infects others with the
spirit of sanitation. It is a common occurrence to see him holding someone’s
hand, taking them to a dirty place; and begin cleaning it with a broom.
Inspired by him, others begin to join in the cleaning up. Ajay also has an
amazing affinity with solar power. He has a solar light and charges his cell
phone using a solar charger. He also teaches other people how they can use his
solar-powered devices instead of electricity. ESI volunteers are hoping to
train Ajay in building and operating solar panels so that the village can
become self-sufficient and solar-powered. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Vanthal</b>, being an interior village, was first visited by students
from the NSS. Inspired by the activities and the transformation in the village,
the women of the village planned to visit ESI and learn more for themselves
about sanitation. After their visit, they have grouped together to clean the
village, cut kids’ nails, clean the school, etc. on a weekly basis. The
children of Vanthal have formed a beautiful family-like relationship with
Suresh-bhai and Nandini, and call him often to ask when he and other volunteers
will visit them next. Naina-ben, the Safai Sainik assigned to Vanthal, conducts
classes two days a week on personal hygiene and sanitation. She has now begun
to see that the villagers will not eat without washing their hands. They will
bring buckets of water from a distant tap if needed, but will not each before
washing. The villagers have also volunteered to contribute 10% from their own
incomes despite being below poverty line, so that they can get government
support to construct toilets at their homes. The villagers have automatically
formed a water committee and a sanitation committee, where the villagers meet
once a week to clean the village, repair water pipes and potholes and improve
cleanliness in the village. The
villagers have also become proactive about education. Gita-ben Sarola, who is a
primary school trained teacher, supplements the village school by <i>home-schooling</i>. Her home-school is
called <i>Patangyu</i>, meaning butterfly. Each
Saturday and Sunday, all the village children are invited to her home, where
she teaches value-based education, artistic handcraft-based work, and
encourages their innate abilities and talents. She creates activities where she
teaches children about expressing their love for each other, the dangers of
addiction, the positive thinking, etc. Everyone who has been to Vanthal before
is surprised about the extent to which change has been seen in the village, and
the amount of positivity in the villagers. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>Some inspirational people in Vanthal</i>:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><i>Gita-ben Sarola</i></b> is a
primary school teacher trained at Gandhi ashram’s PTC (Primary Teacher Training
Center). Her father has passed away at a young age from tuberculosis, and she
and her three siblings were raised by their widowed mother. When Jayeshbhai
visited them during a village visit, he observed her keen service-minded spirit
and asked her to train for the PTC at Gandhi ashram. She conducts a home-school
in Vanthal where children learn at their own pace, by getting the teacher’s
individual attention. She combines her knowledge with values of service and
contributes to an all-round knowledge for the children. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><i>Farida-ben </i></b>comes from one
of the poorest of poor families in Vanthal. She has eight children whose
upbringing she has to take care of. However, in spite of her economic and
financial difficulties, she takes time to join in every village improvement
activity. She helps in safaisainikNaina ben’s <i>anganwadi</i> by grouping the children, giving them food, helping them
group to clean the village, etc. Her husband cooks the midday meal for the <i>anganwadi</i>in the village. Farida ben
collects buckets of water to water all the plants in the village; which becomes
a difficult job in the summers, when atleast 25 buckets of water need to be
carried around. She is an example of one of those who have nothing of their
own, but still serve through their spirit. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><i>Chanchi-ben</i></b> is a
panchayat member in Vanthal. She is about fifty or fifty five years old, but
works with the enthusiasm of a youngster. She is a member of the water
committee in the village, and has brought her valuable life experiences to the
committee. While she is uneducated and cannot even sign her name; she leads and
organizes the women of the village, host volunteers when they visit, and is popularly
known as the ‘volunteer mother’. Everyone pays heed to her voice because of her
experience, selflessness and dedication. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In <b>Pedhamali</b>, the awareness spread by Nandini has spread in quite
different ways. The women of the village have gathered themselves into a group
of about sixty. They have decided to use the group to create emotional,
economic and financial support for themselves. The women meet monthly to have
bhajans, satsang, perform small acts of service, and encourage each other on
their journeys. Also, each of them saves Rs. 50 from their earnings each month
and deposits it with the group, to form a little nest egg that can form an
emergency fund for their families. Children have similarly formed groups where
they collect plastic waste thrown about, and put it in a recycling collection. A
marked change in the children’s habits has been seen due to Nandini’s regular
visits. Several of the children who used to be addicted to gutkha (tobacco)
after watching some of the older people, have now stopped its use due to
awareness of its effect on their body and mind. Snehal ben, the safaisainik in
Pedhamali, started a ‘milk cooperative society’ that is run entirely by women. The
women have formed a partnership with DoodhSagar Dairy (a dairy company), to
which they package and send milk from their village, and earn sustainable
livelihoods. Snehal ben and Jaldeepbhai, a married couple, have been running a
home-school similar to the one in Vanthal, from the past four months. They
provide an all-round curriculum including book studying, hand-based work
andencourage other innate talents in the children. Most of the children choose
to stay with them in the loving atmosphere they provide, especially when they
come from homes that include addiction or abuse.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>Some inspirational people from Pedhamali:</i><b><i> </i></b></span></span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><i>Jaldeepbhai
and Snehal ben</i></b>are a married couple who believe in Gandhian thought, and
spend their time as representatives of ESI in Vanthal. Five years ago,
Jaldeep-bhai went to Vanthal to volunteer his time for a year, and transformed
by his experience, decided to dedicate his whole life. Before their marriage,
he asked Snehal-ben if she would be agreeable to such a lifestyle. They are
both interested in work rooted in non-attachment, particularly related to
health issues. <span style="color: red;">They do not even have a home of their
own, and live in others’ houses in the village. </span>They serve the entire
village’s health needs, such as taking people to hospital, performing first
aid, etc.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><i> </i></b></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><i>Kanti
dada and Vasant dada</i></b> and 90 and 78 years old respectively. Both are
practitioners of naturopathy people, and are so fit as little children; so much
so that most people are taken by surprise. They both decided to remain
unmarried, and 60 years ago started naturopathy and khadi work. Vasant dada in
particular, eats everything raw, and does not cook any food. They have both
saved money over the years and started workshops and classes to inspire other
people towards naturopathy.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><i> </i></b></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b><i>Daksha
</i></b>is an 18-year old who is passionate about bringing change in her
village. She hosts volunteers, cooks food, and shows them around the village.
Although she is from one of the poorest families in the village, she is willing
to use her skills to serve others. </span></span></li>
</ol>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Nandini and Suresh bhai’s visits,
facilitated by Amrish Sanitation Project and ESI, have thus begun to show their
effects in the increased awareness among the villagers in all the three
villages. The effects are seen most noticeably in the children, who are the
focus of Suresh bhai’s campaigns as well as the villagers’ efforts. The
children are more sensitized, aware, and helpful to each other, and a marked
improvement in health and a feeling of community have begun to show themselves.
All the results of the positive efforts are seen in the children’s sense of
well-being and their happiness. Indeed, this gives meaning to the phrase ‘it
takes a village to raise a child’.</span></span></div>
</div>
Nandini - Service on Wheelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10882337762791847813noreply@blogger.com0