Our trustees were delighted to attend the reception hosted by the British High Commission on the first day of the India vs England match and to meet Deputy Commissioner Caroline Rowett. Thank you to Mr Arjun Dumal for providing tickets for Shaksham and the cricket enthusiasts on our team to attend the 3rd day of the test match. Sadly the match ended early so they could only visit and admire the beautiful Dharamsala stadium.

With winter receding and the pretty white blossoms of the wild pear trees emerging across the valley heralding spring, our team enjoyed a picnic lunch and party followed by our weekly staff meeting out in the open air.

Despite our sign on the Rakkar bridge asking people not to throw their trash in the river, here are our team cleaning up the mess. Water is so precious and yet people have no respect for natural resources. What can be done to make people more aware?

On a rainy afternoon Ravindra encourages the girls to read and enjoy the story books in our Library. Reading has the power to transform our minds!

We were happy to welcome Mr Abid Siraj from SIT (School for International Training) and his group of 12 US Students who were eager to learn about the work Nishtha does in the rural villages of Himachal Pradesh. Dr. Barbara welcomed them into the clinic and described the variety of patients we see and the very particular holistic treatments we specialise in. Vijay Kumar then took them to the Community Centre, introducing them to our library and computer facilities which are available for the groups of children and young people who join our programs. He also introduced our environment program and fascinated them with our plastic block making

machine.

Did you know that the most effective way of reducing global heating is to stop putting organic waste into landfill. Methane, which is responsible for one third of global heating, is generated in landfill dumps when waste food and other organic matter decompose in an oxygen depleted environment. Separating your kitchen and garden waste and making compost is so easy and obvious. Why does everyone not do it?

Over the past month we have called the girls who attended our adolescent girls trainings last July to four one day follow up workshops run by our doctors and Ravindra and Vijay. It was wonderful to see the girls again and to be assured that they had not only retained most of what we discussed but also that they have become more confident and enthusiastic to attend further trainings at Nishtha.

Glorious calendula picked on the Nishtha farm

Everyone at Nishtha really appreciated having Sapne, a student maths educator from Saje Sapne with us as an intern for the past two and a half months. She was loved by the students she taught and fitted in so well, helping with all our community centre programs from school nutrition distribution and environment awareness events to participating in the workshops, sessions for disabled children and single women’s events. Thank you Sapne – we will miss your cheerful smile and ready helping

hand!

Despite the drought – or maybe even because of it, we harvested a bumper crop of pure organic turmeric on our farm this week. All the beds in the patient’s room are now taken up with the chopped corms drying before they are taken to the mill to be ground into wonderful rich orange curative powder. We will have plenty for sale this year!