081-Ananda Nagar & AMURT.txt
Dharmadeva
ANANDA NAGAR: From poverty to model community
Harnessing Human and Natural Resources
Vast tracts of rural India face severe problems: widespread malnutrition,
illiteracy, chronic disease, water shortage, non-productive agriculture,
lack of electricity, and few employment opportunities.
In response to the cry of rural India, the Ananda Nagar Development Society
is creating an ideal developmental program in an area of 110 square
kilometres in Purulia district, West Bengal, which includes 55 villages with
a population of over 100,000. The Ananda Nagar project is harnessing natural
and human resources to develop thriving, harmonious and self-sufficient
communities.
With its novel schemes and numerous research centres in all aspects of
development, Ananda Nagar is restoring hope to the neglected, and providing
a world model for solutions to some of humanity's most pressing problems.
Self-sufficiency & Women's Development
In order to provide food for India's ever increasing population,
agricultural output must be immediately increased without encroaching upon
grazing lands and destroying forests. At Ananda Nagar a novel system of
intercropping and crop rotation is being implemented which, with the use of
biofertilizers and organic slurry from biogas plants, can harvest four
bumper crops a year even on once-barren lands. The 15 model farms at Ananda
Nagar provide training and agricultural extension services to the
surrounding villages.
Small-scale and cottage industries such as weaving, paper and plastics
manufacturing, food processing, etc., function on a cooperative basis to
provide basic needs and full employment to the people.
Uma Nivas, the Ananda Nagar women's centre, is working to uplift the women
through a comprehensive program called WISDOM that includes Women's
education, inoculation, supplementary feeding and growth monitoring, day
care centres and kindergartens, oral rehydration therapy, and mother's milk.
It is a concerted effort to develop "wise women" who will improve the lives
of the entire community. (For more information on Uma Nivas link)
Education and Health Care
The education program started at Ananda Nagar in 1963 to provide a
comprehensive education to the neglected rural people. Today the English
medium primary schools, high schools, degree college ( affiliated with
Burdwan University) and institute of technology provide an education which
develops strength of character and noble ideals as well as academic and
vocational skills.
Regular medical camps and an outpatient clinic administer to the health
needs of the villagers. A modern 36-bed hospital is presently under
construction, with an ambulance rounds in the village. Leprosy control
programs and preventive health care training are nurturing the all-round
health of the local communities.
The Ananda Nagar children's homes provide a new hope to hundreds of orphans.
These children who once faced a bleak future now enjoy a loving family
environment and an excellent education to help them become true assets to
society.
Emphasis on conservation
The water harvesting scheme at Ananda Nagar serves as a model for a nation
where many areas face severe drought due to the rapid depletion of ground
water. At Ananda Nagar the emphasis is on capturing the precious surface
water in a series of wells, small dams, lakes and ponds for irrigation and
domestic consumption.
Massive afforestation and plantation schemes are restoring the area's
ecological balance, and also provide firewood and fruit to the local
population. In keeping with its basic principle of maximum utilisation of
the earth's resources, Ananda Nagar is taking a leading role in researching
and developing renewable energy sources such as biogas, solar and wind power
to meet the energy needs of the local people.
Wildlife sanctuaries, an aviary, botanical compounds and breeding centres
will help to protect the endangered wildlife and fauna not only of India but
of the entire world.
---
Ananda Marga has established such welfare projects as rehabilitation centres
for drug-takers and for inmates of prisons and mental institutions. It sets
up orphanages, homes for homeless men and women, and homes for the aged, not
merely to provide shelter to the needy but to help them develop a sense of
self-esteem and involvement in society. Dispensaries, food co-operatives,
cheap food distribution centres, are also among the many and varied
activities undertaken.
The area of welfare covers the elevation of oppressed minority groups
particularly those of women and racially oppressed groups. Welfare in these
areas is aimed at inspiring these people to overcome social prejudices with
forgiveness and magnanimity of mind, and to re-establish their position in
society by taking an active role in its united development and progress.
"Ananda Nagar" is a model "Master Unit" or cooperative spiritual community
established in India. Many other master units have since been established
all over the world.
WWD is the Women's Welfare Department of Ananda Marga and works to give all
women the scope to discover and expand their full potentialities for their
all-round development (physically, mentally and spiritually). It provides
services and resources for women to collectively utilise their talents and
abilities in a practical way for the progress of humanity at large.
WWD's headquarters are situated at a master unit called Uma Nivas , located
in Ananda Nagar.
---
India has one of the highest concentrations of poverty in the world. Despite
decades of development programs the vast majority of India's poor still live
in its rural areas where conditions are particularly severe for women. In
one extremely impoverished area, the Purulia district of West Bengal, Uma
Nivas started in 1985.
In the villages surrounding Uma Nivas the women's condition is a microcosm
of the tremendous handicaps women face in India, women are still victims of
social, economic and gender discrimination. They carry the heaviest burdens
of child rearing and agricultural work under deplorable conditions.
Where women suffer, children suffer as well. In this area 98% of women are
illiterate, only 15 % of children go to school, and about 33% of the
children are severely malnourished. Leprosy, tuberculosis, and malaria are
widespread.
What is UMA NIVAS ? UMA NIVAS literally means: the Abode of the Universal
Mother. Traditionally in India women are addressed as "ma" (mother). However
they are not always treated with the respect that this title deserves.
UMA NIVAS seeks to empower women to take their rightful place in society,
helping them to better care for themselves, nurture their families and
support their communities.
EDUCATION AND HEALTH CARE - In the first phase of the project Uma Nivas has
focused on addressing the education and health needs of women and children.
The following projects have already greatly increased educational
opportunities and access to primary care for the local children:
. An all girls high school
. Three primary schools
. Three homes for orphan girls
. Four all girls hostels
. Two homeopathic clinics
. A music school
A natural outcome of economic independence of women is that they begin to
assume leadership roles and participate actively in their communities. With
the help of the public, support for the second phase will begin. This
includes:
. Start female adult literacy training
. Teach sustainable organic farming
. Create small scale industries to generate income for the local women
. Establish an arts and craft training centre.
Ananda Marga's Neo-Humanist Education is a totally new approach to learning.
Unlike other systems which impart only physical exercises and academic
subjects, Neo-Humanist Education provides for the all-round development of
the child's being: body, senses, emotions, intellect, imagination, and
intuition.
Creative movement, coordination activities, yoga exercises, sports, games
and dances, hygiene and nutritious eating are all part of a total system of
physical culture for the health and development of children's bodies ...
Sensorial activities not only refine their sensory perception but also
increase the children's I.Q. A stimulating curriculum of English and other
languages, mathematics, social studies and sciences equip children with the
academic knowledge and skills necessary for the successful pursuit of
higher education.
Creativity and imagination is developed by daily self-expression in arts and
crafts, music, song and drama. Meditation and concentration exercises
strengthen the children's memory and will power, enhance their sensitivity
to others, and develop their innate intuition.
Neo-Humanist Education is thus a harmonious balance between academic
learning, artistic creation and inner growth, that develops the highest
potential in every child. It is not only an intellectual education - it is
an education of the heart.
In all Ananda Marga schools throughout the world, academic subjects are
taught by the "playway method" through delightful games and charming stories
that make every subject come alive in the children's imagination and rapidly
accelerate their learning. Many varied multi-dimensional activities - songs
and plays, stories and games, creative fantasy and dance, arts and crafts -
awaken in the children a joy of learning and a thirst for knowledge which
will remain with them all their lives.
But the creative method of teaching is not the only thing which makes
Neo-Humanist Education unique. The entire curriculum is especially designed
to impart character-building values - to instil in the children moral
courage, integrity, self-confidence, self-reliance, and a spirit of service,
to encourage the students to become active and responsible members of
society.
---
DISASTER RELIEF "Nobody is Unimportant"
AMURT (Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team) is a global relief and
development organisation and is operating in 160 countries, more recently in
Eastern Europe, Far East Russia and mainland China. It is one of the few
non-government voluntary organisations of third world origin, being founded
In India in 1965. Affiliated with the Red Cross, AMURT has received acclaim
for
outstanding service throughout the world.
AMURTEL, a sister organisation, is managed by women and in addition,
responds to the special plights of women and children. Programmes
particularly aim to raise women's standard of health and education and to
allow women to gain greater self-determination and economic independence.
AMURT and AMURTEL's purpose is twofold:
1 - To render emergency disaster relief assistance through the provision of
food and water, clothes, medical care, shelter, education, and other minimum
necessities to victims of human or natural calamities.
2 - To follow up the disaster relief operations with long-term development
projects whose aim is to prevent the recurrence of such a disaster and
provide basic necessities to suffering people.
AMURT and AMURTEL's strength is its vast network of dedicated volunteers all
over the globe. It uses a direct and personal approach and has the ability
to mobilise volunteers immediately. For this reason, AMURT relief teams are
often the first agencies to arrive at the scene of a disaster. Volunteers
tap local resources and work within the social and cultural framework of the
local people as much as possible. Fuelled by their humanitarian concerns,
many members, however modest their skills, are prepared to work with minimum
necessities during emergencies and with oftentimes unsophisticated equipment
and materials.
Vocational and leadership training, employment of local people and the
strengthening of indigenous organisations are encouraged wherever possible.
Emphasis is placed on eventually giving recipients full responsibility for
projects, leading to their socioeconomic independence. Cooperation and joint
coordination with other humanitarian organisations are encouraged so as to
ensure maximum benefits for everyone. Projects take special care to protect
and nurture the natural eco-systems of the earth.