Greetings from Aramango!
shantinik <[email protected]>
I just thought it would be fun to sending greetings to all my friends
from Aramango! This is in northwest Italy (not too far from Turin),
in the Piemontese region. (Go get out those maps!) An interesting
place, especially because folks don't really speak Italian, but a
local dialect (Piemontese) -- doesn't matter much to me, as I speak
neither!
So what am I doing here?
Having completed my new homeschooling book (Homeschooling and the
Voyage of Self-Discovery -- out March 1, you can read a little bit
about it at www.skylarksings.com, though my site is also going
through an upgrade), and two books on the uses of storytelling --
"The Healing Heart-Families: Storytelling to Encourage Resilient and
Healthy Families" and "The Healing Heart-Communities: Storytelling to
Build Strong and Health Communities", also out on March 1, I am in
Italy working with the original author to bring out an English
edition of a book about my Indian "parents" -- on their land reform
efforts, and their struggles against multinational prawn farming
interests that are destroying the coastal areas of south India. It is
a profound and very moving story, and I feel very privileged to be
involved in telling it! Last night, I got to address a group in
Milan -- there is quite a lot of interest in Fair Trade,
globalization, and third world issues here, and they were shocked
when I explained how ignorant about foreign issues the American
public is generally speaking.
Public meetings here BEGIN at 9 o'clock, and people bring their
children! (so I got to speak a little bit about homeschooling, too,
which is not unknown here, but relatively rare.) But mostly it was a
celebration of my parents work on land reform, community development
and child welfare.
Homeschoolers have been part of it, too. Last year, with royalties
from "And the Skylark Sings with Me" and with contributions from
homeschoolers, we managed to purchased two cinderblock making
machines, so that people in this desperately poor area of South India
can build their own cyclone-proof housing (they formerly lived in rat-
infested mud and straw housing that would often be destroyed in
floods.) The local people make bricks, sell them into the cities at a
profit, and use the profits to buy more raw materials to build their
own homes. And since cinderblock doesn't require any firing (as do
more traditional bricks), it saves very scare lumber resources, and
is very good on the environment. We hope to build (or help people
themselves build) 10,000 homes -- these are people who were landless
laborers (from "untouchable") castes for some 8 or 10 centuries, and
through land reform struggles, 10,000 families (70,000 people) now
have land. But the pollution of the land by multinational prawn
interests, backed by the World Bank, has been terrible! We brought
plenty of pictures and slides.
My mother also collects children -- by the side of the road, living
on the margins of garbage dumps, under bridges, and we now have about
140 children living in hostels in 3 locations. Most of them
are "adopted" (supported, not brought to Italy) by Italian aid
agencies, and many the donors were at my public meeting last night.
So, for me, my work with homeschoolers and with social development in
India -- both among my great loves -- is coming together, and I feel
privileged to be allowed to be part of both of them. And I get to
drink wine and eat the most wonderful cheese. I'm a lucky guy!
from Aramango! This is in northwest Italy (not too far from Turin),
in the Piemontese region. (Go get out those maps!) An interesting
place, especially because folks don't really speak Italian, but a
local dialect (Piemontese) -- doesn't matter much to me, as I speak
neither!
So what am I doing here?
Having completed my new homeschooling book (Homeschooling and the
Voyage of Self-Discovery -- out March 1, you can read a little bit
about it at www.skylarksings.com, though my site is also going
through an upgrade), and two books on the uses of storytelling --
"The Healing Heart-Families: Storytelling to Encourage Resilient and
Healthy Families" and "The Healing Heart-Communities: Storytelling to
Build Strong and Health Communities", also out on March 1, I am in
Italy working with the original author to bring out an English
edition of a book about my Indian "parents" -- on their land reform
efforts, and their struggles against multinational prawn farming
interests that are destroying the coastal areas of south India. It is
a profound and very moving story, and I feel very privileged to be
involved in telling it! Last night, I got to address a group in
Milan -- there is quite a lot of interest in Fair Trade,
globalization, and third world issues here, and they were shocked
when I explained how ignorant about foreign issues the American
public is generally speaking.
Public meetings here BEGIN at 9 o'clock, and people bring their
children! (so I got to speak a little bit about homeschooling, too,
which is not unknown here, but relatively rare.) But mostly it was a
celebration of my parents work on land reform, community development
and child welfare.
Homeschoolers have been part of it, too. Last year, with royalties
from "And the Skylark Sings with Me" and with contributions from
homeschoolers, we managed to purchased two cinderblock making
machines, so that people in this desperately poor area of South India
can build their own cyclone-proof housing (they formerly lived in rat-
infested mud and straw housing that would often be destroyed in
floods.) The local people make bricks, sell them into the cities at a
profit, and use the profits to buy more raw materials to build their
own homes. And since cinderblock doesn't require any firing (as do
more traditional bricks), it saves very scare lumber resources, and
is very good on the environment. We hope to build (or help people
themselves build) 10,000 homes -- these are people who were landless
laborers (from "untouchable") castes for some 8 or 10 centuries, and
through land reform struggles, 10,000 families (70,000 people) now
have land. But the pollution of the land by multinational prawn
interests, backed by the World Bank, has been terrible! We brought
plenty of pictures and slides.
My mother also collects children -- by the side of the road, living
on the margins of garbage dumps, under bridges, and we now have about
140 children living in hostels in 3 locations. Most of them
are "adopted" (supported, not brought to Italy) by Italian aid
agencies, and many the donors were at my public meeting last night.
So, for me, my work with homeschoolers and with social development in
India -- both among my great loves -- is coming together, and I feel
privileged to be allowed to be part of both of them. And I get to
drink wine and eat the most wonderful cheese. I'm a lucky guy!
[email protected]
In a message dated 1/23/03 8:41:01 AM Eastern Standard Time,
shantinik@... writes:
Thank you so much!
*~*Elissa Jill*~*
unschooling Momma to 3 beautiful brilliant people
Loving partner for life to Joey
terrible guitarist, fair singer and happy woman.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
shantinik@... writes:
> So, for me, my work with homeschoolers and with social development inSo are all the children and people you're helping.
> India -- both among my great loves -- is coming together, and I feel
> privileged to be allowed to be part of both of them. And I get to
> drink wine and eat the most wonderful cheese. I'm a lucky guy!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Thank you so much!
*~*Elissa Jill*~*
unschooling Momma to 3 beautiful brilliant people
Loving partner for life to Joey
terrible guitarist, fair singer and happy woman.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]