Special thanks to Gaban who completed his year-long Austrian civil service with us last month. His hugely creative contribution to the garbage facility and our kids play equipment is a source of enormous delight and inspiration.
Rakkar Government school function
Nishtha Director Dr. Barbara and Mohinder our Project Manager attended a very lively annual function at Rakkar Government school where they enjoyed colorful musical performances by the students. The Principal gave special thanks to Nishtha for providing extra nutrition, shoes and sweaters for the children. He requested further help to provide a midday meal for the 9th and 10th classes who are not provided for by the government. Dr Barbara agreed to fund raise to be able to do this so these two classes do not sit on the side hungry while the lower classes eat at lunch time.
January Sports Programme
Nehru Yuva Kendar along with Nishtha youth club organized a 2 day sports programme on 16th and 17th January. This first time event in Rakkar village rallied 6 volleyball teams, 14 Badminton players and 15 athletes who stunned the spectators with their enthusiasm and hidden sports talents. This year the boys put on a fabulous show – next year we hope the event will include the girls of the village.
Nishtha Cricket Tournament
On a chill but bright day the final of the Nishtha Cricket Tournament in which 20 teams took part was held with Dari team beating Yol team by 5 Wickets. The awards were presented by Trustee Radhika Sharma and Dr Barbara along with two of our newly elected Panchayat Members. Well done Mohinder for organising such a great event!
Winter clothing for kindergartens
66 little children in the 6 local kindergartens Nishtha takes care of also received winter clothing in the form of brightly coloured hoodie wool jackets, crocs and socks to beat the winter chill!
Sweaters and shoes for school children
Good shoes, socks and woolen sweaters are expensive essentials that most of the poorer families struggle to afford. Through generous donations Nishtha has been able to distribute these to 236 children in 5 small local schools as the cold weather here in the Himalayas sets in.
Winter Cricket Tournament
Nishtha 2015/16 winter cricket tournament was innaugurated last week to the delight of the local villagers, with a lively match between Yol Eleven and our local Sidhbari team. On a pitch lovingly created using tractors of local clay and rolling using the Nishtha jeep the tournament is expected to involve around 22 local teams competing for the much coveted trophy.
Nishtha 2016 Calendar available now
You can purchase this bright and beautiful full colour calender for Rs 250 directly from Nishtha, or:
In McLeod Ganj:
- India House supermarket
- Bedi travels
- Bookworm
- Moon Peak Cafe
In Kotwali Bazzar:
- Sharma photo Studio on the main street
In Sidhpur/Sidhbari:
- Dyaya Ram supermarket by Sacred heart School
- Nam Art gallery
- My Earth Store opp Gyuto Monastery
To order from within India please contact us – cost Rs. 300 each including postage.
To order from abroad please contact us – cost GBP 5, Euro/US$ 8 per copy.
A Tour of the Schools and Anganwaris who receive assistance from Nishtha
by Philippa Russell
Nishtha helps 3 schools and 6 small baby crèches all run by the government by providing nutritional supplements, infrastructure improvements, clean water, equipment, books and toys and regular visits to support the teachers. On August 3rd, the first day back to school after the summer break, I accompanied our team on their round delivering the fruit and vegetables to familiarise myself with how the programme is running. We have also been asked to help one more very small school so I was keen to visit and meet the teachers.
Children’s After School Programme
Simran’s art workshop
Since the exams in March and the start of the new school year, Nishtha community centre has become the scene of lots of activity after school each day, as well as children fully occupying the library and computer room, we have been running special activities including training children to ride bicycles. Nishtha has at present 3 bicycles and it has been a hard job for our volunteer Gaban’s job to keep them in working order!
