Monday, September 29, 2008

Eco Village

Shanti Sewa Griha has developed several centers- the main one is located in Kathmandu city near Pashupatinath temple, where so many poor and disabled people come to beg from the pilgrims. Krishna Gurung uses the phrase "from beggars to givers" to describe the philosophy of Shanti. Their goal is to get people off the streets and to give them a place to live, eat, work and get free treatment. Its convenient location makes all of the services easily accessible to those who need it most.

They also have built an eco village about 8 km outside of Kathmandu, in Buddhanilkantha, on a spacious piece of land, where 90% of the people living there have leprosy, of which about 70% had previously been beggars. It is also home to several abandoned children with severe disabilities. In addition, there is a Waldorf school that also serves the nearby villages.
All of the buildings at the eco village have been built by the leper community living there, in the style of traditional Nepali village houses. There is an organic farm which is worked by the lepers and provides fruits, vegetables, milk and eggs to the Shanti community.
I hope to spend a few days there later this week to get to know the people and place better. These photos were taken on a short tour and I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to do it justice.






1 comment:

katie said...

i love the second photo - the detail of those rugs is great. i also like the higher perspective on that tire swing shot... workin' it...