India House Building Update
David Albert
Dear friends
Please forgive this form letter, but I wanted to communicate with you as
quickly as possible. Some of the families on this list (and others of
you as well) have contributed to a small fund I formed with the proceeds
from my homeschooling book "And the Skylark Sings with Me"
(www.skylarksings.com) to help build 10,000 cyclone-proof houses in the
coastal areas of southeast India. The funds were to be used to purchase
two cinder block-making machines. These houses which people in the
villages are being trained to build themselves are replacing homes
made of mud and straw, with thatched roofs that rot easily, which are
wet inside (with children sleeping on the floor) during the entire
monsoon season, and which are often destroyed in seasonal flooding.
I am pleased to report that the machines were purchased in February and
building is now under well underway. Each house requires 600 blocks and
contains 352 square feet of living space (this can be a little more than
double an average poor familys current living space, if you can believe
it!), plus a veranda, with space for a kitchen garden and cattle shed at
the back. These villages are made up of 11,000 families whose ancestors
had been landless laborers for up to 700 years, but now have regained
land peacefully through the efforts of my Indian mothers organization,
Land for the Tillers Freedom (LAFTI). As a result of her work in land
reform, she has now been formally nominated for the International Right
Livelihood Award, which is the alternative Nobel Prize awarded by the
Swedish Parliament, and given to individuals or groups who making a
lasting difference in the lives of communities through dedication to
human rights, social justice, community development, and environmental
restoration.
I now have pictures of the blocks being made through a joint effort of
men, women, and children, and the pride in the faces of the people is
impossible to describe. I will try to find a way to post the pictures
on the web sometime soon. My mother takes special pleasure in reporting
that in her previous housebuilding efforts, trees (which are very scarce
in coastal South India) had to be cut down to fuel the firing of
bricks. Cinder blocks, which provide excellent insulation against the
heat, can be made from all locally-available materials and require only
sun and water (both of which they have aplenty) for curing.
Meanwhile, my fathers struggle against multinational-based prawn
companies that continue to cut down mangroves and salinate the soil in
violation of Indian law, continues apace. In one village, when people
went out to protest the destruction of their livelihood (the rice
fields), the corporation hired goon squads to sit fire to all 35 homes.
I am grateful to announce that the people have now completely rebuilt
their village in cinder block with your help (and that of a small
Italian aid agency.)
For those of you who are homeschooling children who might be able to
appreciate all of this (and how we homeschooling families have managed
to make a difference in such a far off place), I invite you to have them
write to me with any questions they might have about India, about life
in a village, or about how we can all make difference in working to make
the world a better place for all of us. I promise to answer all
questions as best I can.
David Albert
(P.S. For those of you who would still like to contribute we can
still use funds (and its tax-deductible!), make a check out to the
Gandhian Foundation, and send it to me at:
Skylark Sings
1717 18th Court NE
Olympia, WA 98506
Another way you can contribute is to purchase a copy of Skylark directly
from me: $16.95 (free shipping, and Ill even sign it for you!)
address as above. Thanks!
--
"And the Skylark Sings with Me" is to homeschooling what Tom Paine's
"Common Sense" was to the American Revolution."--Greg Bates, Common
Courage Press. To read a sample chapter or the foreword, and to get
information about ordering a signed copy, visit www.skylarksings.com or
send an e-mail to shantinik@...
Please forgive this form letter, but I wanted to communicate with you as
quickly as possible. Some of the families on this list (and others of
you as well) have contributed to a small fund I formed with the proceeds
from my homeschooling book "And the Skylark Sings with Me"
(www.skylarksings.com) to help build 10,000 cyclone-proof houses in the
coastal areas of southeast India. The funds were to be used to purchase
two cinder block-making machines. These houses which people in the
villages are being trained to build themselves are replacing homes
made of mud and straw, with thatched roofs that rot easily, which are
wet inside (with children sleeping on the floor) during the entire
monsoon season, and which are often destroyed in seasonal flooding.
I am pleased to report that the machines were purchased in February and
building is now under well underway. Each house requires 600 blocks and
contains 352 square feet of living space (this can be a little more than
double an average poor familys current living space, if you can believe
it!), plus a veranda, with space for a kitchen garden and cattle shed at
the back. These villages are made up of 11,000 families whose ancestors
had been landless laborers for up to 700 years, but now have regained
land peacefully through the efforts of my Indian mothers organization,
Land for the Tillers Freedom (LAFTI). As a result of her work in land
reform, she has now been formally nominated for the International Right
Livelihood Award, which is the alternative Nobel Prize awarded by the
Swedish Parliament, and given to individuals or groups who making a
lasting difference in the lives of communities through dedication to
human rights, social justice, community development, and environmental
restoration.
I now have pictures of the blocks being made through a joint effort of
men, women, and children, and the pride in the faces of the people is
impossible to describe. I will try to find a way to post the pictures
on the web sometime soon. My mother takes special pleasure in reporting
that in her previous housebuilding efforts, trees (which are very scarce
in coastal South India) had to be cut down to fuel the firing of
bricks. Cinder blocks, which provide excellent insulation against the
heat, can be made from all locally-available materials and require only
sun and water (both of which they have aplenty) for curing.
Meanwhile, my fathers struggle against multinational-based prawn
companies that continue to cut down mangroves and salinate the soil in
violation of Indian law, continues apace. In one village, when people
went out to protest the destruction of their livelihood (the rice
fields), the corporation hired goon squads to sit fire to all 35 homes.
I am grateful to announce that the people have now completely rebuilt
their village in cinder block with your help (and that of a small
Italian aid agency.)
For those of you who are homeschooling children who might be able to
appreciate all of this (and how we homeschooling families have managed
to make a difference in such a far off place), I invite you to have them
write to me with any questions they might have about India, about life
in a village, or about how we can all make difference in working to make
the world a better place for all of us. I promise to answer all
questions as best I can.
David Albert
(P.S. For those of you who would still like to contribute we can
still use funds (and its tax-deductible!), make a check out to the
Gandhian Foundation, and send it to me at:
Skylark Sings
1717 18th Court NE
Olympia, WA 98506
Another way you can contribute is to purchase a copy of Skylark directly
from me: $16.95 (free shipping, and Ill even sign it for you!)
address as above. Thanks!
--
"And the Skylark Sings with Me" is to homeschooling what Tom Paine's
"Common Sense" was to the American Revolution."--Greg Bates, Common
Courage Press. To read a sample chapter or the foreword, and to get
information about ordering a signed copy, visit www.skylarksings.com or
send an e-mail to shantinik@...