A day at the Udayan children village

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#india13

The contrast hardly be bigger between the vibrant life in Jaipur and the little place called Udayan, an hour's drive away from the city center. After a bumpy road along some fields lined with coppice and high grass the entry gate takes us into a dwelling. The little houses are surrounded by trees in the middle of a desert landscape. Some cows and geese are wandering around the houses and there is a basket ball court. Udayan is home to some 60 orphaned or abandoned children from all over Rajasthan. Some of the 3 - 18 years old have already gone through things in their lives that are difficult to immagine. The children's village is the centerpiece of the work Vatsalya, my client, is doing. The organization gives these kids a shelter where they can recover from their trauma, go to school and live a healthy life in a secure environment.

The team decided to spend a volunteering day at the children's village involving some manual work and and a bit of breakneck, or I lets rather say breakhand, kabaddi, something like an version of Indian rugby with no rugby ball where almost everything is allowed. Some impressions from our day at Udayan........

Thanks again all for coming..it was a great day!

Sandra

Thousand Colors, Thousand Scents

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We started the day with our first yoga session with Sashi on a bright Jaipur morning. Enjoyable as it was relaxing even though we really must have looked miserable to our instructor. For the next month everyday at 6:15am this will be our pre-breakfast morning routine.

We were then picked up by our friends from Morarka Foundation and taken to headquarters. What a day it proved to be, here are some experiences we had to name a few: - Admired and shared the passion to develop India, promote healthy food, preserve the world and increase farmers' welfare - Discussed and entertained ideas about creative business models, value chains, distribution and marketing channels, IT infrastructures for a dynamic and growing organization - Visited organic food, and spices production sites smelling of wonderful masalas - Learned how organic pesticides are made firsthand - Observed the vermi-composting process and about earthworms that makes the germination much more efficient in natural ways - Amazed by hydroponics to grow plants soil-less, and tray-cultivation experiments - Positively surprised by the delicious taste of organic garlic and onion cookies - Felt real comfort by trying on some organic cotton & bambu fiber t-shirts that are not only soft but also are anti-microbacterial, deodorizing and UV filtered - Enjoyed historical excerpts of Moghuls and Marwaris, silk road and spice roads - Feasted on wonderful organic dishes and sipped chai Even though I am really missing my wife having come to my assignment right after my honeymoon, the upbeat and diverse team, intellectual exchanges & business challenges, and the dynamic & colourful city of Jaipur will help me in getting acclimated it seems.

At the production facility

Tray Cultivation

Hydroponics

Vermi-composting

Organic Pesticide

Organic onion and garlic cookies

Erman Akdogan