Water is essential to our survival.  Did you know that there is a finite amount of water on our planet -for a graphic diagram of that see here –  just that much and no more!  When you look at it that way it becomes so clear how important it is to us all.

Here at Shikshangram we have a deluge in the rainy season and then a couple of months after the rains stop the water supply dries up. So you can imagine water is a high priority for us with all of our children – thirsty children, children who love to play with water, children who need to wash and clean their clothes and splash in the puddles left behind.  A favourite game is making the concrete tiled floor by the washing area really wet then sliding on their bare bellies just like kids will do in the edge of the sea.  But all this needs water  and right now we are trucking it in 4 and 5 times a week.

Solutions were clearly needed with urgency.

I for one have a strong sense that we are shown the way when we have a need  - and this is just what happened.

We have two borewells.. one produces a very little water and the other has always been dry despite having used the best water diviner we could find to test the site.  And an age old solution – one which has been used with wells for a long time in India – bore well recharging – was brought to my attention.

Sankalpa Rural Development Society headed up by Mr Sikandar Meeranayak came to the rescue!  He guaranteed our water supply will be markedly increased!  and his positive attitude was wonderful – when our excavation around the bore well was blocked by stone only two feet down we were ready to give up.. but Sikander convinced us to persevere.  A short time later the digger lifted a huge rock out of the way and we were able to continue.

Sikander said he never did a bore well like ours.  We had our team of children helping out .. sometimes it was like rounding up cats getting them to help in a team and at other times especially when either Satish Moon or Satish Mankar were there.. they all pulled together and huge amounts of work were done in a very short time.  In between they played and raced around.

And now we have a recharge system in place ready for the next rainy season.. do stay posted for the results.. we are very excited about the concept of using the underground aquifers as our water storage tanks instead of having to build huge above ground ones… and what’s more just in the right timing our friends at the Sage Foundation have come to our aid to help us with the funding we need to get all our water supply set up.  A good friend in Pune has donated an industrial output water filter.. so we are up and running – literally .. running water!  Plenty for all our children – for our gardens and for play!

Thank you once again to all those who have contributed to this essential resource . our water supply.

We are growing our kitchen garden!

by Satish Mankar.

Our boys come from the street like shriveled up flowers – but when they get here .. they start to transform into healthy blooms.

Shikshan Gram is already a garden where we are growing healthy children – and now we are growing a garden to feed them healthy food.

We have 69 boys and 36 girls and here they are given everything they need.

We want to help them to become responsible citizens of this country and to teach them good habits, life skills and loving to each other so we provide many different programs.

Every day the children need food.. and this means they need good vegetables. Now we have to go to market to buy our supplies.

But we thought, what if we grow our own vegetables in our own kitchen garden?

And taking this thinking we started work on our kitchen garden.

The kitchen garden will give us many things. Not only healthy fresh vegetables without any nasty chemicals and pesticides, but we will avoid vegetables that spoil very quickly as ours will be fresh picked daily..

And of great importance. the children will have fun while helping in the garden and will rely learn the value of their food because they will have worked hard for it.

They will work the garden themselves and this will teach them to understand the value of effort. It will also connect them to the earth and give an understanding of the importance of our animals and their contribution to our lives.

Most city people have lost contact with the earth and some don’t even really know where their milk comes from. Our children certainly will.

We already have many fruit trees well established and most are growing well – these were planted February 2011.

The children all help with keeping the weeds down around these trees.. and also love going on expeditions up into the forest to plant other trees. And in the dry season they are great at keeping the trees watered.

So our new kitchen garden:

We started by leveling an area next to our banana patch .. lots of stones were there that had to be dug out .. and we used them to make a fence around the garden .. the children all helped bringing the earth to build the soil up and then it was time to get the cow dung as the earth was not very rich.

To me – the smell of the cow dung was better than the most expensive perfumes.. because it is beneficial for earth and all the living things and it brings all the microbes to the soil. If you don’t understand the benefit and the value of the cow dung.. then you can’t appreciate the smell.

The earth where we are planting is not very fertile so we put plenty of cow dung and are mixing compost into it. we will also plant some nitrogen fixing legumes to further build the soil and we collected earth worms from another place where we found them.. and put them into our new garden.

We are planning to make a worm farm out of a damaged black water tank, so that we can breed lots more worms as they are really good for the soil.

It was a great pleasure to see the children helping to bring up the cow dung from the cow shed. They made a game out of it.. and really worked together in teams which is very important..some of them got very creative and used their cycle to carry a crate full of cow dung all together in a team of five. Others carried the ‘topla’ or dish used in construction for carrying things on the head.

And of course they all got really dirty.. but when they had finished.. they stripped off and went swimming in the local pool.

What is next? We have already planted the seeds in a place where they can start to grow and then when they are healthy seedlings we will plant them into this new garden.

We have planted brinjal, coriander, spinach, chili, onions, pumpkin, cucumber, bottle gourd and bitter gourd.

This patch is a trial patch.. we plan to make a much bigger area for our kitchen garden soon.

Now we need to make compost, and bio-dynamic preparations so we can have a totally organic garden.

You are most welcome to visit our garden .. and we look forward to sharing some of our fresh and healthy produce with you. And if you feel like making a contribution in the form of plants or garden tools or seeds or anything you think that would be useful for our children we will thank you very much.

Our kitchen garden is growing with love… come and add some of yours to our wonderful compost!!

We would like to thank the trainers are the Basil Academy who have taught us Biodynamic Farming Methods and have been most helpful in our efforts to make our very own biodynamic kitchen garden.

The video says it all…..

please join us in creating this vision .. and building for a better childhood.

Yesterday we waved Renee Lighton goodbye as she headed back to Capetown.  It was very hard to stop the tears flowing as we had a last hug outside the departures gate of the Mumbai Airport.

What a wonderful journey we had..  yes with only one participant but the value we found from Renee’s visit was profound.. and she gave so much and there with no thought of the weather being too hot, or being too tired, or any other excuse for delaying an action that was to benefit the whole.

It was a surprise to both of us to find that it was time for school holidays and most of the children at the Shelter had headed off on various excursions – but undaunted, Renee threw herself into teaching the young Karate Masters in Training an English class twice daily.  What a teacher she is.  She held their interest in the palm of her hand, playing games, laughing, singing and helping even those who’s English was non-existent to start with, and in the short space of just over a week, had everyone practicing and trying out their new skill in language.  We were all singing “Head,shoulders, knees and toes” – almost in our sleep!

So what did we accomplish in this time:

• Brought the level of English language to a remarkable state with only just over a week of instruction.
• Reviewed the set up and layout of the existing shelter and provided substantial recommendations for making the school there more effective.
• Conducted training sessions with Satish Mankar the teacher at the school.
• Purchased furnishings and set up the guest space at the new site to provide accomodation to overseas volunteers.
• Researched and purchased books and training manuals for the teachers at the Shelter School.
• Donated funds for the continuation of the building project.
• Commenced training and collection of necessary materials for the compost heaps at the new site.
• Set up new Facebook page for the Shaolin Training – which is to play a large part in assisting the Shelter to become self sustainable.
• Conducted marketing training and review of marketing materials for fund raising efforts.
• Conducted two introduction meetings with students in Mumbai to promote the Shelter and spread awareness of the work there.

The days were so full – we played and laughed and laughed some more.. and all the while were so privileged to spend time with the young Masters as well as Satish, Yogita and Arybal and his family. We did a road trip extraordinaire to the Ajanta Caves over two long days.. and hiked all over the valley around the new Shikshan Gram site.

What a wonderful three weeks we have had.  We thank Renee deeply and I know that she will join me in thanking all those who helped make this time a memorable and extraordinary experience.

The learnings from being in this simple and peaceful space will continue.  We know Renee will be back.. and we invite you to come and join us and discover what it is that creates this field of attraction to this place of the heart.

The monsoon rains are still with us today.. the land around the new Shikshan Gram site is vibrantly green – and the crickets are screeching their legs together.. seemingly in joy for the steady beat of the huge rain drops.
A couple of them came into my room the other night – uninvited because as they started their racket neither Satish nor I could hear ourselves speak!

Since I was here last in April – the building is almost unrecognizable .. it has grown so much .. and perched right on the top they have built the guest house for me. Including a bathroom with running water and a flush toilet!

What a luxury ..and what joy it was to return to a welcome that overwhelmed me.

The place is buzzing with energy .. thirty young people are living and working here.. training to become Black Belt Karate Masters – and to support the Strong Village Project – the far reaching vision of Satish that sees the possibility of working with the children of the rural villages to educate them, and give them role models that are strong, healthy and respectful to their rights as human beings.

You will be hearing much more about this project in the coming months as it comes to fruition.

And so I have returned home.. to my Indian family … who live the principles that they teach.. that of respect for all human beings and teaching and living by example. It is with great gratitude that I write today as it is rare to have an opportunity to live and work in a place that is so filled with laughter and joy while going about the work that is here to be done with selfless and total commitment. That commitment is seen in every face and and in the energy they put into every task that is presented.This young man had just  completed the gruelling workout required for the grading for brown belt from his
Karate Master Sensai Aryabal – 2nd Dan Black Belt.

Being students of the Shaolin Temple in the Shaolin Martial Arts Training Project is not easy.. they are up at 5.30 .. for a 6am meditation followed by sometimes as much as three hours intensive work out on the training ground.. and then they work on the building project.. these young people are amazing!  They are our future leaders.

Watch this space!!

I am so excited today.  Satish sent me photos of the Biodynamic Course which Satish Mankar and two others attended at the beginning of this month.

This is result of a chain of events that can only be described as wonderful synchronicity.   Just before I left for India last November, Sahaja (my sister) lent me a copy of the movie One Man, One Cow, One Planet – and I was inspired.

Our new site at the Shikshan Gram Shelter has such a great area for a garden.  The vision for this garden is to create an organic garden that will sustain not only the children and their carers and teachers who live with them, but also create an overflow of produce which can assist them to become self sustaining.

The vision goes on.. and the connections we have made in relation to this are wonderful.  A local friend.. Mr Dinesh Balsaver – who lives not far away and takes care of the marketing for a group of local organic farmers also popped in to say hello and before you know it.. we were discussing Biodynamic methods.

After some searching on the internet we were able to discover a course being run by the Basil Academy and we have sent three of our people to attend the course.. accompanied by Mr Balsaver.

They are all back now.. and are very excited about the possibilites of the new discoveries they have made and the promise to produce healthy and biodynamically charged food from our very own garden has come just that big step closer.

From healthy food, comes healthy children, from
healthy children our future is born.

I am so grateful to have been a link in this chain of events.

With thanks also to the work of Rudolf Steiner from whom comes the science of Biodynamic Farming and Agriculture.

Shazar (volunteer).

Ready for Meditation

Here are some more images sent to me from Satish Moon.. of the very successful Summer Camp that was just held at the new site of the Shikshan Gram Shelter.

They had 350 children attending – cared for by the group of 30 Shaolin Temple members who are in training as role models at the Shelter.  Of course the staff of the Shelter all pitched in and were incredibly busy over this five days.

Being given a dance lesson from a Bollywood Choreographer.

It was a wonderful success, with visiting Bollywood film star – Yusuf Hussain as well as dance demonstrations, Karate training, Chi Gong meditations and so many wonderful activities for the children.

At the end of the camp, all the children were veryproud to receive attendance certificates.. here being presetnted by Nandini Chandraratam – Satish Moon and suported by Yogita Moon.  It was a wonderful end to the celebrations.

The Shaolin Summer Camp for Children of many villages is happening now at the new building site for the Shikshan Gram Shelter .. click on the link here to see the flyer for it.

Summer Camp

And now we have the first photos in.. this has been clearly an inspirational event – and when you understand the motivation behind this event, it becomes even more exciting.

It is the vision of Satish Moon to create role models for the Strong Village Project. This project is a far reaching plan to help the villagers of Maharasthra to have a better life – to reduce alcohol and tobacco additiction, to educate the people, to minimise violence and to set new standards so that the children are cared for and do not need to end up in care facilities such as the Shikshan Gram Shelter.

The aim of the Shaolin Summer Camp is to bring the children of as many villages as possible together to give them new role models and demonstrate healthy patterns of behaviour. The leaders at this camp intended to gain the trust of the children so that future connection with the villagers will come from a position of trust and respect.

These a few of the pictures just in from the Camp which concludes tomorrow morning. We are looking forward to sharing much more with you in the coming time.

[Show as slideshow]

Yesterday 30 people gathered at the new Shikshan Gram site – the first group to come who are in residence for five days.  They are a group of committed individuals from all over Maharasthra and for this five days will follow an intensive program designed to begin their one year training to prepare them to take on their position as leaders and role models for the children of the villages.

The Strong Village Project is launched with this five day camp for the leaders.

They are all well educated, and adepts in karate and spiritual Buddhist practice.  They have taken on this work willingly and with a deep committment to help to change things in rural Maharasthra.

All of them have the potential to be employed in good paying work – however they have chosen to assist in this Strong Village Project - where they will receive nominal pay and lodging, as they have been inspired to join Satish Moon’s team to make a change in their land and the people of their land.

We will be bringing you much more news of this project in the coming time but for now let me leave you with an image of a team united in their purpose and ready to move forward.

And the kitchen is being used for the first time during this camp..
basic, but producing good wholesome food for the team.

The Kitchen at Shiksham Gram New Site

The new Shikshan Gram home is going up in leaps and bounds.  Here is a short video of the concrete mixing and pouring.. no big trucks here to make the concrete, back in and pour it out.. it is all done by hand.. but the work progresses very quickly with the enthusiasm and effort of the team of workers that Satish has employed.

This is the concrete slab flooring for the toilet block.. a line of 14 units which as you will see are going up very quickly.

If you would like to be a part of this amazing project and feel that supporting our children is a worthy cause – we will be very grateful for all possible contributions.