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The floor plan
Shanti Devi moved into a tent to be near her house when we first started to build. She has helped at every step, carrying water, rocks, timbers, and brick. Today she even tried her hand at filling in the cracks with mortar. Finally, she can see what her new home will be like. This is a very spacious home. On the right of this picture is the entrance door leading to a large sitting room. In the left foreground is the kitchen, and behind it, a bedroom. We require a toilet for every house, but the owner has the option…
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Brick Seva
For weeks now, we have been laying foundations and pouring the cement columns for house after house. It is critical work as the columns we build, firmly anchored and with extra reinforcement, will make an “Amma House” one of the safest in the valley. Today we started brickwork and it put everyone in a great mood to see our first house take shape. Our local workers have much experience laying brick and are fast and efficient. We all chipped in for “brick seva”, including Shanti Devi and her son, the family who will receive this first house. – Scotti
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Learning and Teaching
I have tried to point out some of the positive aspects of village life here. We can learn from these people, but there is also much that we can teach. Yesterday I watch ten older ladies learning to write for the first time. Their faces were beaming with joy at the opportunity to learn something new at this stage of life. Amrita educational outreach program is called AmritaRITE (Rural India Tablet Education). It begins with the well established Anganwadi (morning kinder-garden). We support the teachers with tablet based programs to improve reading, writing, math, and general knowledge. With the help…
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The house across the river
I see this building every day. It is directly across from our place of stay. It is always busy with people working around it. This morning at dawn, I noticed the light in the lower right window and finally realized people are still living there. Last night, Umesh asked how much I paid for the my cozy down sleeping bag. $130 US. How do you reconcile those two worlds? – Scotti
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A simpler life
Everywhere you go, you see them. Women carrying heavy loads on their backs. Mostly it is huge bundles of grass or tree limbs for their cows, but I have also seen a full gas cylinder weighing 70 pounds in a basket. This scene is repeated around the world in most agricultural communities. The striking thing here is how happy the village women appear. They often work in groups of 3 or 4, talking and laughing the whole time. They will stop with a full load on their back to talk with a passing friend. Younger women work alongside their elders…
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Men with mules
Who do you call when 10,000 kg of cement show up at your doorstep? Men with mules of course. Today we received a full truckload (200 – 50 kg bags) of cement. This is enough to build less than three houses. It took just five hours for six mules and their five handlers/loaders to move it all up the mountain to a community storage room in Batwadi Sonar where it will be kept dry and secure. Tomorrow we receive another truck load. Good thing they did not arrive together as planned. Br. Mukesh reminded me, “It is said that a…
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Tin Schools
Just 100 yards further down stream from the house seen in the last post, two of the three schools in Chandripuri were washed away. Both are operating again in temporary metal buildings. There is no heat anywhere here, so all buildings are cold and damp in winter. At any school, the day begins on the sports field or a rooftop, in the warmth of the sun. They march around, sing songs, and do other formal activities. Then with everyone warmed up, they will move into the classrooms. So for now, the tin buildings you see warm up quickly and are…
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The most beautiful home site
This is one of the most beautiful home sites I have ever seen. A perfect view of the Himalayas rising over yellow terraced fields of mustard. Sitting alone on this beautiful plot of land will be a single house, our ninth in Batwadi Sonar. It’s owners will be the Singh family, Lakhpat, his wife Manju Devi, their daughter Annu (13), and son Rohit (11). I wish that were the whole story. The pink staircase in photo below is all that is left of their 5 room house in Chandrapuri. To the left in the photo is a brick building…
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Vocational Education and Training at Uttarakhand
An important part of Amma’s rehabilitation work in Uttarakhand is the Vocational Training Program. It is off to a great start. Three centers have already been inaugurated — in Ukhimath, Gupthkashi, and Agastyamuni — and local trainers have been hired. Each center will offer economic empowerment through Computerized Vocational Education and Training programs (CVET) and social-democratic empowerment through Life Enrichment Education (LEE). Fabric Painting is the first program and a batch of 20 students is underway at each center. During the first session students were asked to make a simple drawing to evaluate their skills. The results were amazing as…
