With your help Eklavya was able to construct a High Quality school at village Aadariyana, to replace the school that was destroyed in the earthquake last year (old school was 5800 sft new is 16000, old had 12 rooms new has 20 including a library, and a science lab, old school had floor seating new has desks ; bhoomi pooja was done on 26 March 2001, school was inaugurated on 26 October 2001; knowledgable people consider it one of the finest projects completed in the EQ rehab area - started quick, executed quickly, done well, good quality, etc etc; in addition to more school were 'repaired' and temprorary 'container' arrange for 25 classrooms)

But more important than the infrastructure is the teachers training programme which is going on, 3 days every month, 9am-6pm, for 34 teachers from 10 schools nearby villages, they all come to this new school building made, and Eklavya organises training. This is going of so well that I cannot describe it. The school building is beautiful, it can be seen, people appreciate it, but I tell you the REAL contribution of Eklavya is in the training which is over two years... and the attitudinal change it is bringing about is to be seen to be believed. All the teachers have on their own decided that they will were a common uniform, they take so much joy in their job its no longer a job from them its fun, this encourages and gives a great start to the day... and so on...

The total money spend on the Aadariyana School building project is about Rs 85 lacs (This does not include any cost of supervision and administration of Eklavya, which is Eklavya's contribution, this also ensures that 100 paise out of 100 paise donor's money goes straight to the project only). In addition about Rs 10 lacs more have been spent (containers Rs 3 lacs, repairing 2 school buildings Rs 5 lacs, and teacher training Rs 2 lacs) giving a total of Rs 95 lacs.

We had received a total of Rs 109 lacs donation, of which Rs 95 lacs is spent and the remaining 16 lacs is kept for the training program and other activities, some of them which have been recently done are :

(a)Inter-school Cultural Programme: On 26th January, 2002 an inter-school cultural programme was organised. Six schools participated and almost 200 students got an opportunity to exhibit their talent. The programme was enjoyed and appreciated by almost 4500 audience. The programme stated at 7.00 p.m. and lasted till 1.00 a.m. and prizes were given away.

(b) Volleyball Tournament: On 23rd February a day-night volleyball tournament was organised on the initiative of the Village Yuvak Mandal. In the tournament 44 teams from Ahmedabad, Mehsana and Surendranagar district participated. The tournament started at 4:00 p.m. on 23rd and went on till 7:00 a.m. on 24th.

(c) Sewing Classes for Women: Gandhiji said, "Educating is a woman is educating the whole family". Umaben of the village volunteered for teaching sewing to the village women. One hundred women applied for the course, out of which 42 were selected and two batches were formed each of 21 persons. The course is of three months and regular classes are conducted every Tuesday and Friday from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. and 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. respectively for each batch. 20 sewing machines were donated by Mahila Dakhita Samiti, Delhi

(d) Discourse on Spirituality: Mr. Tariq Abdullah well-known spiritual healer from Rampur, U.P. spoke to the teachers and students on Spirituality on 18th January, 2002.

(e) The Art of Living Course for the village people: Vyakti Vikas Kendra, India, Bangalore approached us for conducting Art of Living course for the Aadariyana village. This is an internationally approved course for making sound, mind in sound body. The programme was scheduled in February but due to Godhra incidents and riots it was postponed and will be organised in near future.

(g)The Profile of a Wiseman: On 15th March Mr. H. H. Swami Suddhananda of Suddhananda Foundation for Self Knowledge, Chennai spoke to the teachers and students of Aadariyana School and briefed them about the qualities of a wiseman and how to inculcate them among oneself.

(h) On the Spot Art Competition: On 27th March on the Spot Art Competition was organised, 96 students from 7 schools participated.

M/s ABB (who were donors for the Aadariyana school project) has decided to give Rs 15 lacs to make a new school in a village called Zadiyana a few kms away from Aadariyana (where also the school building is completely destroyed in the earthquake, right now they are running the school in 6 containers Eklavya arranged for them). ABB has also committed to give Rs 5 lacs every year for the next four years to sustain various developmental activities in this new school. ABB has requested that Eklavya be its partner in this endeavour and take the responsibility of executing the project.

Eklavya has accepted to take on the responsibilities of making school building in village Zadiyana. This will cost Rs 45 lacs (its a smaller school than the one in Aadariyana), Rs 15 lacs has come from ABB, another Rs 1.46 lacs has come from Prof Daniel Steenstra and his townpeople in England, another Rs 77,000 has come from Monitor Group in India and USA, Rs 14,000 from SHV Energy (a Dutch Multinational), thus we have a total of about Rs 17 lacs, we need 45, so we have a shortfall of Rs 28 lacs.

This email appeals to you to help us raise this amount from your friends and well wishers, you may send your cheques in the name of EKLAVYA EDUCATION FOUNDATION EARTHQUAKE RELIEF FUND to the address given below, you will receive regular email reports of the progress with photos, and of course we'll be very happy to organise a visit when you are in Ahmedabad. Needless to say, you have our firm assurance and deep committment that this project will be completed as well as the earlier one-and something all donors will feel good about and take pride in. Please remember that all amount are important, even if you send Rs 100 or USD 10, it all helps.

Am attaching some photos of the Bhoomi Pooja done on 14 April for the Zadiyana school, now constructed is going on full speed.

Fond Regards

Sunil Handa

 

Seven Havan kunds were prepared. Here Pooja can be seen in progress.	The boys put up a skit highlighting the need for Love and Harmony and not communal hatred.
One school teacher had put up a portable blackboard. He had drawn and written a quotation “O God please bless us so that we forget the pain of the past and create a shining future by doing good deeds in the present”.	One view of the audience (almost the whole village was there.)
The girls of the school put up a very colourful and graceful Garba dance performance.	Another view of the audience.