Spring is coming into our valley, but even among the flowers there is plastic waste.
Stop polluting our nature!

To celebrate the end of their studies, the Nishtha Team organised a trek up the mountain with the sponsorship students. On the way they enjoyed the beautiful mountain environment and picked up all the litter they found on the path. They had a great time cooking a wonderful lunch together and will remember this happy day in nature with their friends.

I am Anna, a 4th year medical student from Austria. I had a wonderful three weeks internship here at Nishtha Health Care Clinic where I was very well cared for. I not only learned a lot about homeopathy and acupuncture, which were completely new to me but I was also able to expand my knowledge about allopathy in a practical setting with patients. The doctors were all very welcoming, translating what the patients were saying and always explained everything in detail to me. Twice a week I would join the Health Education Clinics Nishtha holds in the outlying villages which were always really interesting. I highly recommend doing an internship here.

Puja Anand and her winter camp students presented a really fun and thought provoking series of skits and songs to Nishtha students in the CC last Sunday. We all thank you for a great afternoon!

Regular improvements, repairs and maintenance of the playground and water filter equipment are are carried out by our team. We do it so that your children can come and play safely. Please ask them not to abuse the equipment or throw their snack wrappers on the ground. Keep Rakkar village beautiful!

Do not spoil our natural forests! Glass Bottles and broken pieces of glass are dangerous. Please take your garbage down to the village collection point and leave the area clean and beautiful for your next visit!

This month our college students have two weeks holiday so we invited them to join our team to learn about our organic farm and the Clean Green Rakkar program. The 18 students were divided into three smaller groups so that it would be easier for them to understand what was going on and easily ask questions when they didn’t. Each group first visited the farm where Sunil and Vandana showed them around. Mohinder then gave a thorough explanation of the concept of natural farming that included the harmful effects of pesticides and chemicals on the land. The students also learned about the compost unit as well as the rich dilution made from food waste and worms that feeds the farm and the eco-san toilets. They then took part in cleaning up selected garbage hotspots on the hillside where people hold parties, leaving rubbish such as empty and broken liquor bottles lying around. Mohinder worked hard to motivate the students to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Plastic and to talk to their families and neighbours about disposing of their waste more carefully.

Turmeric, that glorious golden elixir of health grows bountifully on the Nishtha farm. At last today, after days of stormy wet weather, the sun is out so the harvested corms can be laid out in the sun to dry.

Two months into their on-line course in Maths Matters, Shalini and Kanishka, our tuition teachers talk about how delighted they are to have learned how to teach basic maths using different techniques that interest the children. They say that when they started the tuition class this year the children were reluctant to do any maths. However, these great maths games, and the new teaching skills they have acquired, have transformed the children’s interest and enjoyment in working with numbers and shapes.

The on-line course enables Shalini and Kanishka to talk with their tutor about the challenges they face when teaching and to work out ways to hold the children’s attention and respond to their questions. They have learned many interesting maths games that only use commonly and naturally available materials such as stones, paper cut outs and classroom objects.