WORLD VILLAGE PROJECT
HUMAN BEING FIRST. INFRASTRUCTURE NEXT.
In January of 2018, Lokaa envisioned THE WORLD VILLAGE PROJECT; To create sustainable villages thru holistic education, sustainable economic progress, social transformation and by developing strong bonds with Mother Earth.
Lokaa’s vision is to create 5 sustainable villages around Ekam and later develop more such healthy village communities through out the country, in collaboration with the government. The children of these villages are nurtured into true world citizens; not bound by any form of discrimination such as caste, creed, religion or class.
OUR CHILDREN OUR FUTURE
Santhoshpuram, a tiny settlement set in the foot hills of eastern ghats of southern India, was the first of the 5 villages to be picked for the world village project.
Attempting to construct a village by merely focusing on its infrastructure is not the kind of development Lokaa envisions.
A village is a congregation of people, a commune. Our work of reconstructing a village begins with the creation of an extraordinary individual. To us, a village is it’s people. The individual is the core of our development project! Their physical, emotional and spiritual well-being is at the heart of our sustainability vision.
The creation of the first world village – Santhoshpuram was funded by LOKAA FOUNDATION and was successfully completed & inaugurated in December 2019.
WE ARE ONE
Another monstrous challenge that rural India suffers is the curse of social discrimination in the name of caste. And these people belonging to the lowest rung of the caste system are ready targets of exploitation. For centuries they lacked the will. They have no will to fight back, no will to excel, no will to succeed, or no will to make a difference to themselves or others. Their courage is broken with ages of oppression.
Our mission was to win the trust of the whole village and to make them conscious of their dignity as equal children of mother earth. One after the other, the elders emerged out of their shells in Santoshpuram . We saw the first sign of this awakening when this village organized and celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi, a colorful Indian festival. They had for ever been mute witnesses to this celebration organized by the upper castes in the neighboring villages. This was a major break away from the oppressive, undignified tradition. Over a period of time now, we have made the villagers an integral part of the planning of the sustainable development of their village. They have found their voice.
BREAKING THE WALLS
The third major milestone was to awaken the villagers to a greater connection with their neighbors. Our team chose individuals who were wiser and opened their hearts to greater compassion and feeling of family.
These People were equipped with special skills necessary for the emergency requirements of the village. Some of them were trained in CPR and emergency medical care. With this newly acquired skill they have saved many puppies, goats and cows from snake bites and even villagers who casually choked on their food.
TOGETHER TIME
We have also created a beautiful community hall with broadband internet connection for children to be connected to the rest of the world and to learn from educators from across the world. For the village to have their celebrations, their weddings, their birthdays, their festivals, for the village to meditate together, and for the village women to have their vocational training. So the community hall acts as the fulcrum of the entire village.
Along with the villagers our team has also created a community organic farm where every member of the village works in the farm and the produce is distributed collectively to the entire village.
Every family has also being contributed with a Gir cow, two hens and some goats. So the family is self- sufficient and the villagers can live off the milk selling the extra milk of the cows.
At one end of the village is a giant tree around which the villagers come together to perform their cultural dances – the pundari bhajan the other end of the village is the community barn where all the animals of the village are housed.
BUILD A HOME FOR A FAMILY
The homes in these remote villages consisted of 3 to 4 feet walls made of loosely packed mud and stones & plastic sheets and dried leaves for the roof, making it extremely difficult to live, especially during the rainy season. We designed the entire village of Santoshpuram from the scratch by providing roads, groundwater harvesting facility for each home, proper drainage system, by building new concrete homes for each family of the village with attached bath and toilets, verandas for the families to sit and spend time together and proper drainage system for every home.
EDUCATE A CHILD
We also sponsors school supplies, school tuition fees for most of the children for the academic year. We welcome volunteers who could teach english, math, music, dance, arts and crafts, calligraphy, sports, computer or any other skills online.
CONTRIBUTING THROUGH SKILLS
We conducts regular skill development programs especially to the women and young people of the villages. They are given vocational training like tailoring, embroidery, bangle making, bag making, jwellery designing, homemade food products. These trainings are aimed at crating additional earnings for the women right at their homes.
MEDICAL CAMPS
We also conducts Free Medical Camps every month in 150 villages. A total of 201 free medical camps to address issues in Gynaecology, Pediatric, Dental, Cardiology and general health have been conducted by qualified medical practitioners. Medicines were supplied to beneficiaries of nearly 33,000 people in the 1000 villages that surround Ekam.
Health Clinics provide services with experienced practitioners in the rural areas providing essential medicines free of cost. Patients were given Ayurvedic Medicine for preventing Dengue.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
You can contribute to building a home
You can build a home for the families in the village.
You can provide educatioN
You can sponsor school supplies and tuition fees, for one child or many children for the academic year.
You can aid in healinG
If you are a doctor or a specialist in any field you are welcome to offer your services and medical supply to these villagers.
You can share your expertise
If you are interested in volunteering then you could join us in the Happy Hearts Fest. You could even contribute through your teaching skills in any subject that you are adept at.
If you are skilled in any vocational training you could offer your vocational trainings too.
Santoshpuram is the very first world village that has been established and the foundation hopes to replicate the same in 4 other villages in the coming years. We invite you in participating in the new model of development which is “HUMAN BEING FIRST, INFRASTRUCTURE NEXT”
In this new model lies the future of our earth. We call for all people who are engaged with development work at any level, who are passionate about nurturing and bringing about a difference in these villages to step forward.
Developing a village or a community without transforming their consciousness will only recreate their old problems in new ways. Cultivating a joyful, connected, and courageous state of being is at the heart of our mission of the world village project.
– Lokaa Foundation