November 8th was a big day on Rakkar ground when 150 kids from 6 local schools joined our team of community activists and sponsorship students in a full day of sports, games and fun. As the children arrived they were registered and shown the variety of games in store for them, each well organized by one or two of our team.
Dental Camp – October 25th to 30th
Nishtha was very pleased to be able to host a very successful dental camp in October 2014 held by an eminent dental team from Austria. Dr. Anita Strobl, her dental student daughter Viktoria and her friend Bjorn, along with Dr. Martina Pommer and her daughter Lucy arrived fully equipped to be able to set up a complete dental clinic at Nishtha. During their 5 day programme they saw a total of 192 patients including Tibetan nuns, single women, local people and the school children. The Nishtha staff, students and single women activists all took their turn to assist in the clinic ensuring a high quality of hygiene and efficiency. It was a very busy but rewarding 6 days.
International Widow’s Day 2014
A Rally organized by the Nishtha Single Women’s group ‘Ekal Nari Sangathan’ marked International Women’s Day in Dharamshala this year. Starting from the main Post Office, 135 women from four different blocks covered in our programme marched in procession to the District Commissioner’s office. They carried banners and chanted slogans about their demands which include a review of the pension scheme for single women, free medical treatment for single women and their children, fast track courts for single women’s cases, easier issuing of the below poverty line ration card, provision of land to those single women who don’t have family and financial support and free bus services and holidays on Women’s Day for women working in the Government.
Environment Day Report
To celebrate 2014 Environment Day a puppet play “Bhagwat” was prepared by Sangeeta with 14 local school kids to promote Nishtha’s Clean Green Rakkar program which has been successfully functioning for over 200 households in Rakkar village. In addition, an illustrated handout was produced which explains how to segregate household waste in three languages: Hindi, English and Tibetan. This handout will be given to every household involved in our programme as well as to the local shops, schools, temples and so on.
Nishtha Natak Mandali performs “Bhagawat”
Nishtha Natak Mandali is made up of 14 enthusiastic children. The play has more than 20 characters so some children were assigned 2 – 3 roles. According to their skills, interest, dedication and ability to modulate their voices, each child received a role he or she could play with ease. The idea of the play was not only to give out a message on environment awareness, but also to tell subtle things to the kids which they can carry back with them.
Nishtha Children’s Theater Workshop
by Sangeeta Dass
When I planned a visit to Nishtha to hold a theater workshop with the children who come to Nishtha for the after school programme I was ready with a comedy play to do with them. My last experience holding a theater workshop at Nishtha 2 years ago, was outstanding and I was now certain that I could do a bigger play with the children. The local children have such a keen interest and talent for exploring any new medium. So I designed the workshop in a way to focus on their skills and on specific aspects of theater.
Nishtha at Rakkar Mela
Our local village fete is held on 31st May and 1st June every year. It is a big event for the village when everyone comes to enjoy the fun of the wrestling, side shows, trinket and food stalls. Nishtha puts up a stall there in order to make the local people aware of what we do, to advertise our social programmes.
International Women’s Day 2014
International Women’s Day is celebrated every year in Rakkar Village on 8th march . This year the programme was held at the village hall near Nishtha clinic and Community Centre. All the member of Nishtha celebrated this day enthusiastically . After long hours of preparation, they were excited to do their performance. So at 10:00 a.m. our program began.
Art Refuge Volunteers
From 4th March-7th March 2014 we were joined by 3 young artists Karen Peakin, Sophie Martin, Louise Smurthwaite who worked with our anganwari children and the children who come to the Community Centre for the after school programme.
Clean Rakkar Environment Project – My first month
by Atreya Shankar
Read Atreya’s blog by clicking here.
It has been one month since I started helping the Nishtha team with its Clean Rakkar Environment Project. This document serves as a report for the month’s progress.
In recent years, Rakkar has been experiencing increasing development. With this development, there has been an influx of higher-end packaged goods from cities. Because there is no proper disposal system for these goods in the village, their packaging often lands up littered around Rakkar- sometimes in beautiful areas like natural rivers and ravines.
