Paraquay
By Dada Paradevananda
I have been working in Paraguay since 2000. Here we have three schools in total. Paraguay is a very poor country and needs help in every aspect. ERAWS runs one school in Sajonia, a very slum area of Asuncion City . We started this service project about 12 years back to give free education to the poor children of this area. The elderly mother of a member of Ananda Marga had sold this land for a very low price. There we began our first school in 1992 in a small constructed house.
But now by Grace, we have constructed a building for the school. We have two big rooms and two toilets separated for boys and girls. In 2000 with the help of a social organisation we did the construction spending $4000 for this project. We are offering daily food to the children. In our school we have 20 children. We have Jardin and Pre Jardin (children between 2 to 4). Our school teacher is giving education using the play way methods of NHE.
Didi Ananda Sushiila is running two WWD schools in Paraguay ; One in Capiata where we have a primary school with more than 300 children and anther one in Mercado de Abasto with 40 poor children.
We have 2 Master units in Paraguay . The one in Sapucai is run by WWD and the other in Itamoroti is run by ERAWS. In May we distributed 500 pairs of shoes to the poor families nearby. Dada Divyashvarupananda is rector in Itamoroti there and is doing good work in the MU. We have 7 cows; 3 gives milk. We produce cheese and sell to the public. Also Dada planted 1000 marguja fruits plants for commerce purposes. |
Myanmar
A new school has been started in Mynamar. The land and building are purchased and already they had 25 children on the first day. More are expected. Another school will be started in the near future also. |
Stockholm, Sweden
As Director of CNS, Dada Shambhushivananda is collaborating with an ecological research group in Stockholm . Study of Sustainable patterns is the focus of this research group. |
Sarkar School, Taiwan
The Sarkar School has grown to 21 students. Kulapati, Dada Shambhushivananda inspected the school in October, 2005.
Their new web site is:
http://myweb.hinet.net/home8/sarkar-
school/index.html |
Pakistan
In May a preschool was opened in Pakistan unit with 25 students and two teachers. |
News from Haiti
By Demeter Russafov
CENEOH Haiti (Centre for Neohumanist Education) has launched several new programs targeting both students and surrounding community in Port-au-Prince.
continue at the top |
|
USAID has funded the completion of a computer hall with 12 new computers, a fast speed Internet connection, and printing and Xerox services, offering computer certification classes and Internet access. The demand has been great, and all classes have already filled up. Especially excited are the students and teachers, who are now able to access the virtual library for class assignments and information.
The Haitian Karate Association has chosen the CENEOH campus as its national training and demonstration site. An amphitheatre stage has been built to accommodate planned performances. Karate, yoga, and dance continue to take a significant part of the school curriculum. A well-known local artist has also joined the teaching staff, offering classes in drawing, sculpture, painting, calligraphy, and traditional crafts. Several studios have been added for the new school year, and a beautiful new meditation and yoga studio provides a space for classes and meditation sessions. 
Installing solar panels and Internet connection for a village school, Anse Rouge, NW Haiti
Thanks to a $300,000 grant by USAID AMURT-Haiti has continued to expand the educational focus of its development activities. It renovated a community school in the Northwest of Haiti, paying for salaries, uniforms, and other expenses. The opening of the school was celebrated with a grand cultural event by the village. AMURT has started a system of Environmental Education Seminars for teachers, and has expanded its canteen and nutrition program to include the training of community school health and nutrition agents. AMURT's Northwest staff has grown to include 6 agronomists, 3 engineers, and 8 teachers. A solar ovens assembly and demonstration plant, and a factory/demonstration site for bio-sand water filtration systems give full-time employment to 21 local people, and offer classes and training to schools and community members. The first environmental demonstration site has been established in the village of Tite Place , with a fruit tree nursery and sustainable bio-intensive agriculture complex. By December local schools' pupils will begin planting the first of 50,000 mango and avocado trees along mountain slopes and ravines to help stabilize the soil and raise the water table. The objective is to define community managed fruit forests and green belts. The initiative has received a wide praise by USAID, which has become interested in AMURT's blending of environmental education and community development. The agency has committed to supporting an expansion of the activities for the next calendar year.
Guatemala
By Didi Anumaya
The Ananda Marga Preschool Bello Despertar (Beautiful Awakening) in Guatemala was started by ERAWS in 1989 in Limonada, one of the poorest areas in the capital. This year 100 children ranging from 3-7 years old started in January in the two classrooms. Now in October, 76 of them are completing the school year. Since preschools are not obligatory they are highly undervalued and few in Guatemala . The result is that many children in start first grade at the age of seven without any preparation. The difficulty in adjusting to the environment has led to many children leaving their education without even completing first grade. That is also why we have kept the emphasis on the importance of the preschool.
We ask for a contribution of 15 Quetzales (US$2), although everybody doesn't pay. Since it's not enough to cover the costs the local members of Ananda Marga contribute towards the salaries of the teachers and the materials.
This year for the first time electricity was installed in the building. Often the toilet is broken, the roof leaking, and the windows smashed. But the Ananda Marga Preschool continues to be popular among the community, because children having gone here are the best in their class when they get to primary school.
Santa Rosa, California
The Progressive Kindergarten and Preschool had its first day this September. Jyotsna Henry has started this new school initiative with 2 students, but hopes to expand to 7 as soon as she receives the daycare license she has applied for. Jyotsna is also a NHE Diploma Program student and hopes to grow this small school to a full NHE elementary school. |
