Thank you Dr. Kusum for stepping in to keep our outreach clinics in the villages running this month!

We are happy to welcome 8 new admissions to our sponsorship program, bringing the number of students we are helping through college this year to 21. We started this week with computer and dance classes and, until Puja, our English teacher is well, we are planning activities such as presentations and discussions on topics of current interest.

Apples! We are feeling very grateful to have been able to purchase 8 boxes of apples, straight from an organic orchard in Chamba district. Our team distributed 3 fresh juicy apples to each of 176 happy primary school children this week.

We are happy to have Dimple, our MA student physiotherapist working with our team to meet and assess the people living in the villages with disabilities in order that we can assess their needs. Whether they have congenital defects or injuries or strokes many have little or no access to even the special services that might be available to them. The families are often very isolated within the community, dealing with difficult situations in very simple village homes. Thank you to our US donors through Timberline Foundation for enabling us to conduct this survey.

Niklas, our Austrian volunteer is exploring his interest in permaculture. He has revised the map of the Nishtha farm with a view to conducting more rigorous experimentation on land treatment, appropriate species, planting according to the lunar calendar and other valuable strategies. The staff have painted river stones in order to clearly label each plot so that accurate records can be maintained.

Monsoon food relief packages were provided to 21 migrant labour families living in precariously built shelters by the fast flowing river by Sheela Village in lower Dharamshala. With rag picking and labouring work hard to come by during the rains we were happy to work with Reena Ginwala to provide enough food to last them several weeks.

Great feedback from the girls who joined the 5 Wenlido workshops led by Ravindra, Deepa and Neelam! Not only had they learned important safety techniques and safe decision making strategies but they had also learned about their own personal strength building confidence and trust in themselves.

A big thank you to Renu Verma who came to us for her 4 week internship from Amity University. She quickly fitted in with our team helping collecting plastic waste from the locality, working on our organic farm, assisting with the children’s program and inputting data to relieve our admin team. She was also a great help during our outreach clinics even talking to the village women about health issues and the importance of a healthy diet and exercise!

During the school holidays Nishtha is offering interesting activities for the children from our village in the Community Center. The children are able to develop their skills in our computer room, read in the library, play games, do crafts and have fun. Nishtha also provides lunch and healthy snacks during the day.

The long awaited new play centre for Nag Mandir area was not only delivered but also, through the hard work of our team installed! An inauguration was held by the children of Rakkar and Nag Mandir area who gave an energetic demonstration of how to climb, slide and swing!. They all enjoyed singing and sweet snacks . Thank you so much to Jenny from the UK who so kindly made this possible.