LOVE FROM NANDINI VAN

Hello!

So  its been a while since you have been on the Nandini but I am sure that

the memories with Nandini still remain fresh in your hearts. I am happy to

inform that with your help and the help of hundreds of other dedicated

volunteers such as you, Nandini is even today travelling across rural

Gujarat with as much zeal as what it had on it's journey, if not only more!

As a means of keeping interested people updated with Nandini and in order to

give Nandini a voice, I have decide to begin a blog for Nandini, where

experiences of volunteers, photo stories and conversations with the people

met on journeys across villages will be put up. As I am just in the process

of beginning things, it would great if you could contribute to the blog with

your experiences when on Nandini. Do remember that someone somewhere might

just turn a new leaf and want to make a difference in the society by just

reading your story in our blog. Contribute with your story and help Nandini

spread her wings even farther.

Send in your stories or pictures or whatever you have to share about Nandini

to nandini.esi@gmail.com with BLOG written as the subject line.

Hope to hear from you soon,

Suresh

Nandini - Sanitation on Wheels

--

Nandini Service on Wheels

Environmental Sanitation Institute

Sughad, Dist. Gandhinagar

Pin - 382 424, Gujarat, India

Telefax: 079 - 23276127

Employment by cow donation to needy family

Employment by cow donation to needy family

Shri. Late Ishwarbhai Patel, who looked after the Harijan Sevak Sangh at the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad, was also the founder of the Environmental Sanitation Institute. He dedicated his life to spreading this awareness. He travelled from village to village talking to people about the importance of hygiene and sanitation. To enable this process, the Nandini Van, who they lovingly call ‘Nandiniben’, was created to travel into remote interior villages

During one such visit to small villages in Patan district, in Patan taluka, they visited a village called Samoda. The Nandini van was taken for this trip, with 7 volunteers for 3 days. A common practice during these trips is to spend the night with different host families.

One such family is that of Dhaniben Baaskuji Thakor. She is a widow, who lost her husband to an accident, 4 years ago. She has 2 sons, but has no land to their name ad lives in a ‘kaccha’ house. One son is Sachin, is mentally and physically handicapped. The other son, Hasmukh, studies in the 10^th standard. He saw his mother doing labour and working very hard without any help. He then decided to quit studies and does masonry work to help with the economic condition in the house. Based on their situation, it was decided that a cow would be donated to the family.

The Sarvodaya Patra in that village was decided to be given to Dhaniben- and 30 kgs of wheat were given to her family.

A ‘gramsabha’ - village meeting was called for and they discussed who is the neediest in the village. The village came to a common consensus and decided Dhaniben was most deserving of economic help and the cow donation should be rightly offered to their family. Dhaniben and her family were extremely grateful and happy for the donation. They have promised to look after this offering to the best of their capacity and abilities and to pay the favour forward if they ever feel they are not able to do justice to the maintenance of the cow and look after her with upmost care.

The District Magistrate and Collector of patan gave her the money of cow donation. Rs. 10,000 was given to Dhaniben for buy to cow and Rs 1500 for the food for the cow.

Hasmukh today, is able to study and also looks after he cow. This has been of great help to Dhaniben and her family since the milk feeds the family and it can also be sold for revenue. The cowdung also gets used for fuel uses and provides great support to the family.

cow donation with compassion

Cow-Donation with Compassion

Norata is a tiny village in the large Patan district of Gujarat. With a  population of a little over 2000 people, it is also known to be a very religious village. Norata procured this reputation from a famous saint, Narbheram who spent his lifetime there, his life dedicated in service to the villagers.

Norata predominantly has a residing population of the ‘Thakor’ community. This community had a tendency to while away a lot of their time in vices of alcoholism and gambling. Narbheram’s dedicated mission was to inspire and encourage the conversion of these residents. Life long commitment and service to this cause eventually brought about the desired change. Narbheram is today remembered fondly in and around Norata, as the saint who brought about this conversion of the villagers.

Kantibhai Halaji Thakor and him wife Shri Shankaben are resident of Norata village. He possesses no land, and he barely manages to sustain his family by providing labour services to various land owners in the village. He lives with his wife, Shankaben Thakor, and his 7 year old mentally and physically disabled son. Kantibhai also does not have his own ‘pucca’ house and lives with his family in a mid hut.

We approached Kantibhai, after careful consideration and understanding his requirements and limitations of being able to sufficiently provide for his family. We offered a cow for the sustenance and nutrition of his family. A cow provides for required nutrition, especially for his child, and also is a means for income through milk and manure.

Kantibhai and his family were very grateful when we made his offer and immediately offered to use this opportunity to give service to others also. He promised to give a part of the daily milk provided, to other underprivileged children in the village who are in need, and also distribute the manure as fertilizer, instead of selling it.

We provided a cow who also has a calf and Kantibhai was happy with the prospect that his son will also get a young companion to play with.

The cost of the cow provided to Kantibhai is Rs 10,500.

Additional Rs 500 provided for the transportation costs in bringing the cow to his village and home. Rs 2,000 provided to Kantibhai for the initial needs of the cow, for fodder and seeds, which in future will be looked after by him.

Thus, a total amount of Rs 13,000 has been donated towards Kantibhai Thakor’s family and this amount promises to be well used towards providing a new lease of sustenance to this family in need.

Nandini - A Virtual Tour!

Nandini - Caught in action !

An art workshop in progress . . .
Young girls look on keenly as Jagatbhai draws on the blackboard attached to Nandini.

The Circle of Life...
The volunteers and staff of Nandini, praying before the start of activities for the day.

Volunteers interacting with children in a village.

When in the villages...

The staff and volunteers of Nandini believe that a relationship has to be first built with the people in the villages for only then could it be expected that they trust the knowledge being given to them and accept and imbibe it in their lives. Keeping this in mind, Nandini has a detailed list of activities that it performs in different villages so as to involve the residents of the village and motivate them to take control of their village.

When visiting these villages, the core values that the Nandini team focuses on imparting to the communities are varied, but all tie back to the basic fundamentals of personal and environmental health and hygiene.Here is a look at the activities that volunteers and staff engage in the villages they visit...

•  Prabhat Feri – Through an early morning procession, full with chanting and music, the ideals of our message are intertwined spiritually with the people of the village.

• Gram Safai – For two hours every day, the Nandini staff and volunteers spearhead a village wide cleaning campaign of a neglected part of the village filled with waste.  A particular emphasis is placed on engaging all segments of the village population, including women and children.  Another common activity is cleaning the public restrooms and then painting them to give them a new and clean look.

• Village Rally – At each stop, the youth and children of the village are mobilized and, while chanting many environmental slogans, proceed throughout the village in order to bring awareness of the cause to those members of the community who may still be skeptical.

• Waste bin Recycling – An activity that is a favorite of the international volunteers is where old waste bins from around the village are collected.  They are then cleaned and repainted and distributed out to all of the shopkeepers to affix to the front facade of their shop.  The connection between the shop owners and the volunteers is so pure that the language barrier is no hindrance. 

• Primary School – A focused, interactive presentation is conducted with the primary school students where they are educated about the basics of personal hygiene and sanitation. 

• Women’s Outreach – The women of the village, whether through individual outreach, or addressing existing women’s groups, such as SHGs or micro finance groups, are presented the basics of home sanitation and the vital role they play in the overall health and hygiene of a household.

• ·         Village Youth – While all of these activities take place on a typical Nandini visit,   the responsibility of maintaining this momentum is always given to the youth of the village.  These young men and women are motivated to dedicate a minimum of one hour of their time, as a group, to continuing the message and activities of the Nandini van, every week.

• Tree Plantation – During the monsoon seasons, the benefits of a green environment are not only explained, but are applied.  The people of the village, along with the Nandini staff and volunteers plant trees all throughout their village with love and dedication.

• Engage Unemployed Youth – The Nandini staff go door to door in the village accepting monetary donations from village citizens who see the value of their message.  These total funds are then matched by the Nandini project.  This total sum then serves as an honorarium for unemployed youth in the village who would like to stay engaged with keeping their village clean and healthy.  These young men are compensated with these funds to maintain the village waste bins and tend to the trees that have been planted throughout the village.

• Personal home stays – During these village visits, the volunteers, both international and domestic, are placed with families throughout the village to offer an opportunity for the volunteers to connect with members of the community on a personal level, while imparting practical and applicable knowledge in the areas of home and personal sanitation. 

• Multimedia Show – Every night, the side facade of the Nandini Van transforms to a stage and movie screen for the entire village.  Through an LCD on the side of the van, a projector, and an audio system, the villagers are treated to a series of presentations, jokes, skits, and videos talking about the issues of environmental health and sanitation. 

A journey with a meaning...

We sit in familiar confines, in comfort that we today take for granted. With a fan above our head and access to almost anything under the Sun anywhere, we live in perfect contentment with the luxuries that life gives us, enjoying them all but not acknowledging even one. For most of us the fact that only 36.4% of the Indian population has access to latrines is something we cannot even imagine! In a society such as ours where the gap between the different economic strata is so much that though being children of the same nation, we cannot relate to each other let alone understand each others problem, it becomes extremely important to involve the urban with the rural in such a way that it brings about the empowerment of the masses through interaction and exchange of valuable knowledge. The Nandini - Service on Wheels project is an initiative by the ESI which has transformed the face of over a hundred villages in Gujarat and continues it's journey across villages in the State so as to bring reforms in the area of personal and environmental sanitation.

             As members of a society that enjoys access to education, the one real power that a nation can bestow upon its people, it becomes the primary duty of every educated person to spread the ripple of knowledge to those who have not been lucky enough to have access to it. Nandini gives us the opportunity to help create this ripple and be a part of that group of people who really care and are willing to act to bring about change. Travel with Nandini! Come aboard the bus to empowerment! Be the change you want to see in the world!