Brickyards, Sugarcane Fields, and AVANI

Today we visited the brickyards, sugarcane fields, and the AVANI school and living conditions of 40 students.  At each location we were greeted with pathways of chalk stencils, gifts, and performances from the children.  For 15 years, the Gandhi Institute has been working to offer services to the children and parents of migrant families.  While the parents are off working either in the brickyards or sugarcane fields, the children attend school and learn life skills to prevent the cycle of poverty.  They learn songs, get meals, and study.  Prior to the work and effort of the Gandhi Institute, these children would be doing the same work their parents had become too familiar with which was a life of long hours, low pay, performing backbreaking work.  The program has saved thousands of children from a life of exploitation. We began the day at the brickyards meeting the parents, children, teachers and the director of the program, Anarada Basole.  Anarada Basole is a life-long activist who was brought up in a family of 1 of 12 children living in the same situation the children she fights to rescue are living in.  She volunteered to become a domestic servant by the age of 6 years old so her passion comes through in her work.  Arrested 27 times for trying to free the children from the chains of child labor and for battling to relieve children of exploitation, she ended up getting a college education in social work.  By using the Gandhian philosophy of non-violence, she studied and printed off documentation of laws that protect children from child labor to prove to the government why these children had a legal right to be protected and ended up finally winning her case.  For years, she was relentless!  She took on companies who were becoming very wealthy from selling bricks and sugarcane at the price of child labor.  Not only do the programs set up by Anarada Basole and the Gandhi Institute benefit these children, but also parents as well.  They make sure the parents are involved with their child's schooling and successes and by helping parents feel a sense of relief that their child is being cared for in a nurturing and loving environment while they are working sometimes until 4 am.  In addition, services are provided for those parents struggling with alcoholism and other issues.  Lastly, we had the opportunity to visit a new domicile that is constructed primarily of clay, has natural light, ventilation, and can withstand monsoons, earthquakes and war.  The architect of these domiciles was actually a participant of the Gandhi Legacy Tour a few years ago and was so moved by the programs that he gave away everything he owned to move to India and help set up housing for the children.  He is now working with engineers from around the world to make these domiciles self-sufficient.  He has been able to interview numerous engineers to come up with clever ways to cut cost to around $18,000 for each dwelling and yet keep the quality of the house.  Each domicile can house 6 girls comfortably, and they also plan on completing them for the boys as well with a courtyard in the middle which both the boys and girls can enjoy.  When talking with Scott, the architect of these houses, he said that he has done volunteer work all over the world, and India by far has the worst poverty he has ever seen.  Scott is also a photographer for National Geographic and can be seen below explaining the various aspects of building a sustainable community.