A series of workshops for 100 local teenage girls is being held in our Community Center this month. Ravindra, our doctors and computer trainers present an exciting medley of games, discussions, interactive talks, videos and power point presentations to keep the girls attention. In one day they pack in lots of information about health and menstrual hygiene, personal safety and identity ensuring that the girls enter adult life with confidence and awareness.

Providing information about how the body works, how to take care of it, why it goes wrong and how access appropriate medical care goes a very long way towards building women’s confidence in themselves.

Traditional methods are still used to harvest the wheat here in Himachal where temperatures rise and thunder is in the air.

In 2002 we purchased the house next to the health clinic which was simply built and in poor condition. Extensive repairs and improvements were undertaken during 2003-4. The house provides a large well lit workshop room, the computer room, a library, a multi purpose room, a small kitchen, storage and filtered water. It provides space for workshops, meetings as well as for children and adults to learn, play and come together.

Schools up and running again! Our team is busy each Monday, organising and delivering fresh vegetables and fruits to supplement the children’s mid day meals.

To celebrate the arrival of hot sunny days in the mountains the staff enjoyed a picnic to Jankhni Devi Mandir above Palampur. They enjoyed the peace and quiet, cooking together and singing and dancing until long past time to go home!

Great work from our sturdy volunteers painting a colourful number spiral at the Nishtha Playground on which the children can play.

Our farm team picking beautiful golden calendula flowers. The bounty of nature provides us with these wonderful calendula flowers which have immense healing power. We use it joyfully in our clinic to treat poorly healing wounds, ulcers and skin irritations.

Our three lady doctors are available on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturday morning. The Clinic is open for drop-in patients from 9-12am. Please call 9882895838 for afternoon appointments.

Dr. Deepanjali is again out and about visiting outlying villages talking to the women about their health issues. This important program encourages women to understand how best to look after themselves and adjust their lifestyle to improve their health.