Newsletter - December, 2012

December 17, 2012

Dear Friends,

Greetings from MGVS!

It is our great pleasure to share the news of progress of MGVS efforts out here in the Himalayas in North India with all of you. With the collaboration of your support, we have come a long way, and looking back even just this past year, we are deeply grateful to you for your help, which has made changes in the lives of marginalized persons of this area possible. We have provided some of the highlight stories of the year in this newsletter for you. 

The main area of our development project continues to focus on fourteen villages of the Naugun Valley, located in a remote part of Tehri Garhwal, while MGVS Donk Primary School and MGVS Kaplani High School are still running well on the outskirts of Mussoorie. If you would like to learn more about the details of any aspect of our work, please write to us at mgvs1@vsnl.com  We welcome you to visit us here in India, to share our work with you in person as well.

On behalf of the MGVS team of teachers, community workers and volunteers, I would like to let you know that your continued support, mean so much to us. Thank you for your interest in our work and your prayers of encouragement.

We, all of us here, wish all of you the very best for 2013!

Yours faithfully,

Surender Singh
MGVS Coordinator

Health Awareness in Action

 MGVS Health Social Worker, Raj Kumar assists Govt Auxiliary Nurse Midwife, Mamta Kaushal, during a Mother Child Health Care Day in Jamni Village, in explaining the importance of proper nutrition, hygiene, and immunization.

MGVS Community Health Workers arranged a total of sixteen Mother Child Health Care Day events and three Mother Child Festivals this past year to improve villager awareness about the benefits of immunization, nutrition and hygiene, and to celebrate improved child health. Regular immunization is taking place and superstitions are fading as a result. Understanding the connection between flies and illness is also on the rise and toilet construction is increasing. Consistent awareness follow-ups with the government health workers and midwives of the area have also helped them bring the mother mortality rate down from 7 in 14 villages per year for 2009, to zero for this year.

Networking Saves a Life 

Pushpa Devi at home

MGVS efforts to establish a sustainable network between the three govt. nurses (ANM), seven government-appointed village health workers (ASHA), fifteen village midwives, school teachers of eighteen schools, the one doctor at the public health centre (PHC), seven village council chiefs, and the emergency vehicles and jeep taxi drivers of the Naugun Patti (valley) area, have been ongoing for over two years now. It was this network that saved Pushpa Devi’s life. Her midwife, Chanda Devi, had referred Pushpa’s high risk delivery case (involving extreme anaemia) to ANM Kaushal in July 2011, when she noticed that Pushpa was suffering from extreme anaemia. Dai Chanda Devi vaguely remembered that symptoms of swelling during pregnancy were not good from the five-day Dai (midwife) Hygienic Deliveries Training in March 2011, which you may remember reading about in last year’s newsletter. So she decided to check with the Government Nurse. ANM Kaushal made subsequent visits to check on Pushpa in her village, Jamni. It was during one of these visits, that ANM Kaushal then arranged for emergency transportation through a combination of vehicles, including the MGVS jeep, and Pushpa was rushed to the Public Health Centre. Thankfully, there was then enough time to request a couple of young boys from Class Eleven and Twleve at the Inter College in Naag Raja Dhaar to donate blood that matched with Pushpa Devi’s blood type. Pushpa delivered her baby normally three days later on 7th August 2011 – a sister to her two and a half year old brother.  Pushpa was amazed at the effort put out to save her life, and she thanked everyone.

Women Working Together to Increase Income and Reduce Workloads

Sunderi Devi was elected preseident of the Women Farmers Organic Cooperative in April.

In November 2011, MGVS helped six Self-Help-Group (SHG) women farmers of Village Vikol get started on working together to make life easier through the use of a hand-powered rice threshing machine, which saved them time. The twenty-one women of the SHG also took an interest in learning about PSB (photosynthetic bacteria) and organic farming methods from MGVS. Soon, more women from the SHG worked together to prepare, and sell, 38/40 bottles of Rhododendron Squash at Rs. 5,300/-, after and MGVS squash-making training in March of 2012. Today, eleven of these women have formed a Women Farmers Organic Cooperative, with a little more help from MGVS.  At first the women farmer members had plans in April, 2012, to earn together through apricot oil extraction and masala mixing machines, and they worked out electricity costs, located raw materials, and they set up a centre, and a joint cauliflower and eggplant seed nursery for a start. They also held their own election. However, in November 2012, they are now working on a wheat grinding business, which the Co-op farmers have decided would be a more reliable business. The women farmers are connecting with the farmers of the area to collect grains from the harvests in the spring. If their plan works, it will be a win-win situation for all the farmers of the valley: their grains will be milled locally and the women farmers cooperative will do the marketing outside the valley for an income that would have otherwise fed a middleman. The eleven members of the Co-op continue to encourage the other women of their SHG and the rest of the valley to join them and they are looking into other food processing ventures.

Enabling Persons Challenged by a Disability

Kumari Saru of Village Pokhri

The MGVS Team has been working carefully with sixty-six persons challenged with disability and their families across fourteen villages of the Naugun Valley since 2010. Through many meetings with these families, collection of detailed data, connections made with other NGOs and government offices and camps in the area and in Dehradun, MGVS is beginning to help these families access pensions they are entitled to and in some cases changes in quality of life are taking place, through toilet construction and an effort to connect disabled persons with their communities. Kumari Saru of Village Pokhri is a young girl who belongs to a very poor Harijan family. Kumari Saru also has polio. She was able to attend PS Pokhri where she completed 5th Grade, but she could not make the 2.5 km mountainous walk to Gaer HS. Her education was therefore discontinued 7 years ago. She remembers her school days fondly, saying that although she could not play games with the other students, the teacher and students were very helpful to her. She also says that she is happy the “Mussoorie Sanstha” (MGVS) has found her in her village, so that she can be involved in learning again. Kumari Saru says that at first she felt very shy, but meetings with MGVS Staff have encouraged her, and now she would like to find a way to continue her studies: “You people have changed my thinking, and I feel hope to do something with my life,” she said to MGVS IGP Trainer Mrs. Shashi Joshi. Kumari Saru has recently starting participating in a stitching program organized by MGVS 7th February 2012 onwards, 6 days a week, in her home. Trainer Anil of Gaer visits three times a week and MGVS Staff visits her house the other three days. “I can now do hemming and make button holes, and I enjoy learning about stitching,” says Kumari Saru, “because one day I won’t be dependent on others. I will earn an income.”

Women Empowerment Fair

Pramukh, Mrs. Rajni Sajwaan speaks at the Women Empowerment Mela in May.

From April, 2011 to January, 2012, MGVS had assisted with holding many village meetings to organize an empowerment fair for women, with four pradhans (village council chiefs) and fifteen SHG (Self-Help-Group) officers, but progress was slow. Meetings are tricky things in the village setting, as everyone seems to have animals or farm work to tend to. It does not help that the villages of the Naugun Valley are so scattered. However, seven more meetings took place and a Mela (Fair) Committee was formed on 21/Mar/12 under the chairmanship of woman pradhan Mrs. Barna Devi, with 40 members: 27 women & 13 men from 11 villages of the area (3 out of 5 committee officers are women). Letterhead was also created and used to help arrange the event and local politicians were thereby also invited to what was in the end a grand success.

On the 20th of May, 2012, approximately one thousand villagers from the valley and the surrounding areas, attended the Women Empowerment Mela in the remote valley. Many families and schools participated. Government officers operated two stalls at the fair as well. Thauldhar Block Pramukh (Head Chief), Mrs. Rajni Sajwaan, was chief guest and the previous Pramukh, Mr. Jyot S. Bisht, attended the event as a special guest. The mela was the largest community event held in the valley til date. The community was encouraged to own the process all the way, and this may have been why all seven pradhans of the area jointly contributed Rs. 7,000/- toward financing the mela! Local Block officers were surprised at the organizational skills of the people of the Naugun Valley, and soon after the mela, the Veterinarian doctor for the area, finally made a visit to check on the animals in the villages and provide training on goat and livestock care, after multiple requests over two years.

Income Generation Projects Bring an End to Poverty

Sugam Das in his shop

In July, 2011, Sugam Das of Bayar was assisted by MGVS in starting up a Tailoring/Barber Income Generation Project (IGP) in centrally located Naag Raja Dhaar in the Naugun Valley as part of the IGP program for the poorest families that helped eight other families with goat businesses and one family with opening up a Drum-making Steel/Tin shop, this year. Sugam had lost his ability to earn when the shop keeper he was renting from, decided to “renovate” his shop, but then never allowed Sugam to return. With a little bit of social networking, MGVS was able to help Sugam start up his business again in a different location. MGVS also provided him with one pedal sewing machine, two stands, one board for cutting, a chair, barber accessories and one Interlock (Pico) Machine. As a result, from September 2011, to March, 2012, Sugam Das has earned at least Rs. 2000/- to Rs. 2500/- per month from barber work and tailoring school uniforms for the local schools etc. over and above the shop rent of Rs. 400/- per month. The first major changes he made to his lifestyle then came with the double-burner table-top gas stove he purchased and pipefitting he invested in to bring water from the village tap to his doorstep.

Natural Liquid Fertilizers are Doubling Yields

From April to September of 2011, natural Liquid Fertilizer and PSB (photo-snythetic bacteria) trainings were provided on five farms in Lalori, Ghaon Malla and Ghaon Talla villages in one agricultural pocket of the valley where pesticides and chemical fertilizers are also being used. PSB training and follow-ups were also provided in Village Vikol. A total of 32 girls, 85 women and 30 men participated in the trainings and follow-ups. A handful of villagers of the area took the training on as an experiment and continued to connect with MGVS right up to November 2011 with questions and reports on progress. The liquid fertilizer was made from cow-dung & cow urine, bitter grasses, walnut leaves and veggie peals etc. and water. Training on organic farming methods was also provided during farm demonstrations.

Liquid Fertilizer Training in Lalori Village provided by MGVS Coordinator

In July, 2011, the liquid fertilizer was ready in Lalori and it was used by six women farmers on their rice field: in November, 2011, Vimla Devi’s rice was of excellent quality with an increase of twice as much in production. Vimla Devi then prepared another batch of liquid fertilizer, and she continues to use it. Her son, Harish Kotari, has since become interested in growing organic Japanese Rice (similar to a local Garhwali rice) after witnessing the results of his mother’s efforts and hearing about the benefits of organic farming at the Women Empowerment Mela on 20/May/12 from MGVS and Special Guest, Block Pramukh, Mr. Jyot Singh Bisht. Mahavir S. Budan of Village Vikol claims that he has been farming for 10 years and that this year his potato production increased threefold after using PSB. Sunderi Devi, president of the Women Farmers Organic Co-op in Vikol, also used PSB on her rice and found an increase in production from 20 kg to 30 kg. Three other villagers in Vikol have also been using PSB as an effective spray against pests where needed.

Adolescent Total Health

Gender Training with 9th & 11th Class at Naag Raja Dhaar

From 21/Jul/11-22/Sept/11, a total of five participatory Q & A Reproductive Health & HIV/AIDS/STDs follow-up workshops were held in the two high schools and one Inter College: 243 adolescents (97 girls & 146 boys) participated. Discussion was encouraged. The MGVS Adolescent Total Health program focuses on the dynamic connection between the physical health of a teenage/pre-teen girl and boy and their emotional and social well-being. Therefore, MGVS also provided six Gender Training Workshops in the three schools above up to March 2012: 218 adolescent children (109 girls & 119 boys) took part. MGVS also provided opportunities to girls to increase family income this past year through beautician trainings, sewing and knitting centres, which may create income one day. In December, 2012, computer training has also started. These trainings are designed to increase a girl’s pride in herself. An interesting outcome of the gender and health workshops were questions related to determination of sex of the fetus. Students began to ask why the mother is blamed when a girl is born when she is not in control of the biology of fertilization. In February 2012, MGVS interviewed boys and girls of the area at random, and consistently found the boys were very serious in their responses about encouraging girls to study and that they have stopped teasing them. Instead they are helping them to study when they miss school.

Kaplani School Furthers Education Dreams 

Seven Kaplani School Graduates join MGVS scholarship programs for further studies

Ten more students of Kaplani School passed their final Board examinations this year in June (2012) making a total of forty-nine students who have acquired the Tenth Grade Certificate since 2008 when Kaplani School started teaching students up to Grade Ten. Sixteen of these students are studying at the university level now. In July, MGVS initiated a scholarship program for seven Kaplani  School   graduates,  who sincerely wanted  to  further  their  studies  but did  not  have  the financial  support  to  go on.  Four of these students are girls. Currently fift-nine students are enrolled at Kaplani School.

Kaplani School Gains Recognition 

In June, 2012, Kaplani School acquired permanent government recognition for classes up to the Eighth Grade, and MGVS has since applied for permanent government recognition for Classes Nine and Ten. A formal inspection of the school campus is also complete and the Chief Education Officer of Dehradun has sent his recommendation to the state office in Ramnagar for final approval. We are praying the process will be complete soon and that Kaplani School will then be able to provide our own students with transfer certificates. We are assuming that the Heidi Parker Memorial Building, which Mr. Robin Parker so generously gifted to the community, will help us to meet government criteria. Words cannot describe the hope Mr. Parker’s contribution has brought to Kaplani School students in this regard.

Class 7 students participate in English skits directed by students from N. Ireland

Grade Six students from Woodstock School and Kaplani School, who had engaged in a debate on climate change last year, joined together during the monsoon in a tree planting activity at Kaplani School.  However, the highlight of this year’s cross-cultural experience for the students at Kaplani School was a moving skit exercise, which Kaplani School students   from all grade levels performed in English, as part of a three-week long educational program with senior students from Northern Ireland through the NGO, Saphara. Finally, we’d like to share the happy news with you of a different kind of recognition: two students from Kaplani School: Aman Bisht in 6th Grade and Priyanka Bisht in 7th Grade, were selected last week, from within the local Raipur Block,  to compete at the Dehradun District level in a National Science & Poetry & Drawing Competition.

Newsletter - November, 2011 - Part 2

Traditional Birth Attendants participate in training, 2011

Safer Deliveries - A Safer Place for Women in Naugun Patti

All fifteen of the practicing traditional birth attendants (Dai) of the MGVS working area attended a training workshop on safer delivery practices from March 21st–25th, 2011 at the ANM Centre in Naag Raja Dhar. Permission was obtained by MGVS from Govt. Dr. Rana at the PHC in Chaam to hold the workshop with the help of area Govt. ANMs: Mrs. Mamta Kaushal and Mrs. Pushpa Chauhan. Six Govt ASHA health workers of the area also joined the five-day event, where the MGVS Team worked together with the participants on how to reduce emergency situations and the mother mortality rate in their community.

Training was hands-on and participatory: two local pregnant ladies in their ninth month very kindly offered to take turns acting as model patients. A baby doll and a plastic pelvic structure were also used for demonstration, along with numerous other audio and visual aids. The workshop focused on hygiene and infections, risk pregnancies, risks in conducting deliveries away from a hospital as well as assessing risks in time, practical details about getting to the hospital and where to obtain extra gloves in advance of delivery dates etc. The workshop also covered topics related to the health during pregnancy and post natal care of mother and child.

Village midwife (right) learns how to check if baby has turned in the 9th month

The village midwives especially appreciated learning about the physiology of the uterus: Mr. Das is a 75-year old midwife who has been performing deliveries for over 50 years, but like the other women Dais, he had not seen a “map” of the uterus before. The importance of having a birthing place fully prepared before the delivery was discussed by all the participants at great length with MGVS Staff and Kyarda Panchayat pradhan (village council chief) and Chief Guest for the final day of the workshop, Mr. Kirti Dutt Nautiyal. Participants talked enthusiastically about their new understanding of why the birthing place needs to be clean: that it should not be pasted with cow dung, which may contain tetanus, but with clay only, that hot water should be prepared ahead of time for washing hands and arms etc. Delivering babies in a completely different place from the cowshed was also explored by midwives practicing in villages where this is still taking place. Each Dai and ASHA worker was presented with a Dai Kit from MGVS and a certificate  at the  completion of the workshop.

Overcoming Vaccine Fears

Immunization of children under five has increased from 40% to 70% this year in seven Gram Panchayats (village council areas) of the Naugun Valley and ANC/PNC (Antenatal Care / Postnatal Care) for pregnant mothers have increased from 20% to 60%. Immunization and ANC/ PNC are currently taking place regularly in twelve villages of the area. Govt. ANMs: Mrs. Chauhan and Mrs. Kaushal explained that MGVS assistance has improved villager response to government health services, especially in helping villagers overcome fears about government medical help and vaccines. Villagers are also visiting the ANM centres more frequently as a result.

ASHA Pooja Devi administers Oral Polio Vaccine at Mother Child Health Care Day -
Gaer Aanganbari (Pre-School): 7

 MGVS organized five Mother Child Health Care Days, and four follow-up village visits, together  with Govt. ANM and ASHA workers, across  the  valley from October 6th – November 24th,  2010.  Women  and  children  from eleven  villages participated in these events, at which check-ups and immunization of children <5yrs,   pregnant mothers and adolescent girls are performed. Only thirteen mothers and eleven children attended the first Mother Child Health Care Day, held in their own village: Kyarda. By mid November, however, up to forty-three women and forty-nine children from three and four villages were attending these events. One mother walked three hours from her village Bindalkoti (of the far-off Panchayat: Ghiyakoti) to reach an MGVS Mother Child Health Care Day held at the Gaer Aanganbadi (Govt. Playschool) on November 17th, 2010. Twenty-one more immunization events have taken place in 2011, and at least half of these events were organized by Govt. ANM and ASHA workers, independent of MGVS assistance.

Fruit Trees

Bayaar: Chattar Singh cares for apricot tree

In an effort to increase incomes in the long term, MGVS assisted seventy-seven poor farmers in August, 2010 and February, 2011 in obtaining and planting 604 fruit and nut trees. Trees have been planted in villages: Jamni, Bayaar, Gaer, Ghoan Malla, Ghoan Talla, Lalori, Pokhri, Kyarda, Dadoli, Sensari, Vikol and Ghiyakoti. At the time of planting, MGVS Staff provided training to the fruit tree farmers on how to make a “Thawala” (water-holding funnel-shaped depression in the soil surrounding tree sapling) and the proper spacing and planting/care of fruit trees. MGVS also provided pruning training to the farmers in April, 2011. Trees planted in the monsoon include mango, sweet lime, orange, lime, guava, jackfruit, pomegranate, maalta, grape vines, leechi and papaya. Trees planted in the winter include apricot, plum, peach, walnut and apple. Mr. Chattar Singh of Village Jamni is the most enthusiastic of the fruit tree farmers. In May, 2011, 24 of his saplings were doing well, and in August of this year, he  planted twelve new saplings, when MGVS assisted seventy-one poor farmers, in obtaining and planting 441 more fruit trees.

Newsletter - November, 2011 - Part 1

Dear Friends,

Greetings from MGVS!

It is a joy, as it is always, to write to you and share news of progress here at MGVS. Your continued support has changed the lives of so many more marginalized families living in remote communities of Garhwal, this year, and we have included a few of the highlights in this newsletter for you.

This past year we suffered the loss of our mentor, MGVS Founder, Rev. R. C. Alter, when he passed away on the 19th of June. The foundation Rev. Alter laid for helping people with respect and understanding has shaped our work as well as our lives. We are so blessed to have been part of the vision and life of such a wonderful man and friend. We will always miss him. The honor of upholding Rev. Alter’s sincere aim to uplift those in need, in these parts of the Himalayas, together with all of you, is one that I find difficult to put into words.

If you are interested in learning more about our sustainable development program, please don’t hesitate to contact us. It will be our pleasure to send you a copy of our Annual Report and answer any questions. Please take note of our new address, as the MGVS Office has also moved this year, (after seventeen years!):
    Mussoorie Gramin Vikas Samiti,
    Springview, Landour,
    Mussoorie - 248179,
    Uttarakhand, India.

Our phone number and e-mail address remain the same:
    Ph: 0135-263-1437
    e-mail: mgvs1@vsnl.com

The MGVS Team joins me in wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

With kind regards,

Surender Singh
Coordinator, MGVS


UNDERSTANDING DISABILITY - A BEGINNING

Pravesh (l) and Beemal (r) of Suwakholi
at Kaplani School - Oct/11

On April 21st, 2010, Beemal Gaud of Village Suwakholi joined Kaplani School, along with his friend and interpreter, Pravesh Negi. Pravesh has been in school with Bimal since Kindergarten, making it possible for Beemal to study in seventh grade this year through the use of a sign language the two boys created in early childhood. By November 2010, Kaplani School staff arranged visits to three government disability camps and the Doon Hospital for Beemal, so that his family is now receiving a government pension of Rs. 300/- per month. Beemal’s academic performance is average, but he is able to read and write in both English and Hindi.

MGVS efforts to understand and improve the quality of life of disabled persons are also underway in the Naugun Patti area. Beginning in April, 2010, a total of sixty-six families with disabled persons, across fourteen villages, were interviewed at least twice. In December, 2010, MGVS Community Organizer, Dhirendra Rawat, and MGVS Health Staff, Raj Kumar, attended a workshop on Disability, organized by the Community Health Global Network - Himalayan Cluster, in Dehradun, where they had an opportunity to meet and share ideas and information with 40 other NGOs of Uttarakhand. Following the workshop, Dhirendra and Raj shared what they had learned about disability, govt. and non-govt. schemes with the rest of the MGVS team. From February to September of this year, the MGVS Staff then shared, and explained the contents of, a copy of a small information booklet (in Hindi), which MGVS had obtained from the Latika Roy Foundation, Dehradun, with each of these sixty-six families, so that they are now aware of national as well as local government and some non-government schemes/services available to them. Follow-ups with each family are ongoing.

SMALL SCALE POULTRY BUSINESSES MAKE CHANGE

Village Gaer: Salochna Devi feeds her chickens - May/11

There are four people in the Das family: Chaepku Das and his wife Kanta Devi live together in Village Bayaar with their younger son who is in school; their elder son has left the valley in search of work. The Das family lives in a two room house with electricity, but no running water. MGVS had been working with Chaepku Das’ family to ensure that their documents are in order so that the family may access relevant govt. benefits for poor families, but this is not enough keep the family out of debt. So, Chaepku Das decided to start a poultry unit with MGVS  assistance in July, 2010 after he had attended an MGVS training, along with nine other poor farmers, on how to run a small scale  poultry business in June 2010. Chaepku and Kanta started out with 22 chicks. Four chicks died, but from the eighteen that survived, the family was able to sell 9 chickens and earn Rs. 1800/-. Chaepku and his wife then decided to put their earnings into three goats at Rs. 5500/-, and with Rs. 1000/- as a down payment they were able to arrange the purchase. Today the family is raising 9 chickens and their goats have multiplied to eight!      

Bhim Das and Salochna Devi have four small children, and they too live in a two room house, in Village Gaer. They decided to start a poultry unit with MGVS assistance in July, 2010, with 27 chicks. Seven chicks died, and from the twenty that survived, the family sold 11 chickens and earned Rs. 3025/-. Bhim Das was encouraged by the success of the business and so on November 2nd, 2010, he purchased 29 more chicks through a government scheme, at Rs. 15/- each. He  adjusted space for the new  chicks  in  the   poultry  house MGVS had helped him build, by fitting in wooden planksto make another storey: the chicks were placed above. In July, 2011 the business earned Rs. 6,200/-. Currently, Bhim Das is working on building another chicken house, and his family is eating the eggs laid by four hens. Salochna and Bhim have opened savings accounts for each of their children and they are depositing what they can each month. MGVS has also ensured that Mr. Bhim Das is accessing his right to 100 days employment through the MANREGA scheme. The poultry business is ideal for their family, says Salochna, who needs to stay close to home with the children when her husband is away at work.

MEMORIAL TRIBUTE TO REV. ROBERT C. ALTER

1926-2011

Rev. Robert C. Alter

On Sunday morning, June 19th, 2011, MGVS Founder, Rev. Robert Alter, passed away in his sleep. Please join us in prayer for his wife, Mrs. Ellen Alter, and his children and grandchildren who have lost their loved one. A memorial service was held at St. Paul’s Church, Landour Cantt., in Mussoorie on 1st August 2011. 

MGVS is grateful for the moments we have had with Rev. Alter. He truly lived a full life, a life of meaning and giving, humility and such positive upliftment of the people around him. Villagers living in and around Mussoorie still remember Rev. Alter as “Paani Sahib” (Water Sahib) for the first MGVS project - the 3.5 km Patrani-Donk drinking water pipeline, completed under Rev. Alter’s leadership. The pipeline was laid with low-cost PVC pipes for   14   families  at  a  time   when   the   government refused to acknowledge that these families needed water  because their homes were so out of the way, until MGVS showed that it was possible to bring water to the area, in 1985. The pipeline has been repaired with GI pipes in many places since that time, and it continues to be functional today, with some of the original PVC piping intact.

During Rev. Alter’s fourteen years of leadership as Coordinator, he also implemented a holistic approach to development issues, including health, women self-help groups and women empowerment melas (fairs), organic (sustainable) farming and income generation and appropriate technology. He approached village problems, with the villagers, and the MGVS team, bringing about ever-innovative and effective results.

Rev. Alter is sure to live on in the family folklore of the rural people of this area, for many generations to come. The foundation he laid for helping people with respect and understanding has shaped our work and our lives. MGVS has been so blessed these past thirty years, to have been part of the life of such a wonderful man and friend. We will always miss him.

Rev. Alter’s Life and Achievements

1981 - MGVS is born: Rev. Robert Alter and CRSC friends
camp out together with villagers of
Chamasari to learn about village needs.

Rev. Alter was the youngest of four brothers. He was born in Srinagar, Kashmir in 1926 to American missionary parents, and he started living in a different part of the Himalayas, in Mussoorie, at age five. He graduated from Woodstock School in Mussoorie, in November, 1943, at the height of WWII. Rev. Alter managed to get passage on an American troop ship headed for the US  and  his  studies  continued  at  Westminster  College  in  new Wilmington, Pennsylvania in  July of  1944.

In 1948 Rev. Alter  returned to  Mussoorie where  he  married  Mrs. Ellen Alter,  who  was teaching English at  Woodstock  School  at  the  time,   and they  both  stayed  on to teach at the school until 1951. Rev. and Mrs. Alter then went to America for higher studies in 1952, where Rev. Alter attended Yale Divinity School, and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1955. From 1956-1965, Rev. and Mrs. Alter served in central Uttar Pradesh, where Rev. Alter started an economic development programme for village Christians. During this period, he also completed an M.A. in Rural Sociology from Cornell University in 1962.

Rev. Alter's book - "Water for Pabolee."
Cover shows Patrani-Donk pipeline
where it connects between the two villages.

Then, in 1966, Rev. Alter returned to Mussoorie once again when he was asked to be Business Manager at Woodstock School for one year. From 1968-1978, he also served the school as principal. Under his leadership, schooling Indian students was introduced.

In the Spring of 1981, Rev. and Mrs. Alter started working on an action outreach programme of the Christian Retreat and Study Centre, Rajpur Dehradun, which evolved into MGVS – Mussoorie Gramin Vikas Samiti (Mussoorie Village Development Society). Rev. Alter served MGVS as Coordinator for 14 years until 1995, when he retired to Wooster, Ohio, in the US. After his retirement he assisted MGVS with reporting, funding issues and visitor groups from time to time. In 2001, he completed Water for Pabolee, a book about his life and work with MGVS. He dedicated the book to the people of Chamasari and Kanda-Jhak; Chamasari was the first area in which MGVS worked.

Rev. Alter continued to visit MGVS and his home: Oakville, in Mussoorie, each year, up until a few months before his death. On April 26th, 2011, during his final visit, the City Board of Mussoorie honored Rev. Alter at his home in Mussoorie with an award for lifetime achievement. The citation included described the award as “honoring him for a life led with great dignity and selflessness, a life rich with God's grace and the blessings of nature - a life which has touched so many other lives, regardless of all man-made barriers of religion and caste and creed and [nationality] - truly. Bob Alter is a man of his time, a man of Mussoorie, a man of the universe.”

1985 - MGVS staff and villagers witness the fruit of the first MGVS endeavor: water in Patrani
Village. Rev. Alter explains the next developments of the Patrani-Donk drinking water
pipeline to the pradham (local village council chief) of the area.

Newsletter - November, 2010 - Part 2

SAKLANA VALLEY COMMUNITY VALUES GENDER
AND HIV/AIDS AWARENESS

MGVS has worked for many years with the people of Saklana Patti, with the women and the men, as well as teenage girls and boys, to raise awareness regarding Gender issues and HIV/AIDS. And as MGVS prepared a phase-out of our activities from the valley in 2009, both the people of the valley and the MGVS team were concerned that awareness activities should be able to continue in spite of MGVS. Therefore, MGVS assisted the community in setting up set up a Gender- HIV/AIDS Forum on September 8th, 2009, as a joint effort of the two High Schools and one Inter College of the valley. A government women’s organization, Mahila Samakhya, which has taken an interest in promoting Gender awareness and trainings in the area, was also invited to join the Forum as a participating member.  Mahila Samakhya provided Gender Sensitization training in the schools, this year, as MGVS prepared to phase-out of the area, in the place of the MGVS Gender program, and Mahila Samakhya has plans to continue doing so in the future. They have also agreed to fund the costs of prizes etc. for awareness events in upcoming years. The Forum has plans in place to hold awareness events each year. The Forum organized Gender & HIV/AIDS awareness events in 2009, and MGVS guided the Forum through the process, encouraging confidence.

Jaanki Rana is awarded second prize at the Gender Debate, Nov/09

BOY SPEAKS OUT FOR GIRLS’ RIGHTS

On November 25, 2009 (International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women), the Gender/HIV AIDS Forum organized a Gender Debate at Satyon Inter-College, in Satyon. A total of 423 children attended the event: eleven students presented speeches on Gender Issues. First place went to Ankur Thakur, 10th Grade student of Satyon Inter-College. He argued that there is an unjust difference between boys and girls, that a girl cannot go to “check-out” a possible groom for herself. Boys go, however, to “check out” a possible bride, and if they do not like what they see, the father of the girl walks with his head lowered in his own village. He pointed out that former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, was a girl, that Bacchinderi Pal, who has climbed Mount Everest, is also a girl. Then he sang a song for the audience: “I swear by the river, I swear by the fun, and the joy we feel, that the binding of women, like the weaving of the carpets and the shawls, the binding will stop… Women, change, you stand up and change and the times will surely change.” Jaanki Rana, 10th Grade student of Marora high school, spoke about the disappointment in the voices of parents when they announce they have had a baby girl. The debate was a positive activity and the newly-formed Gender HIV/AIDS Forum of the area was really encouraged by its success. ABOVE: Satyon Inter College Grade 10 student, Ankur Thakur, addresses judges and fellow students of the Saklana Valley on the differences in their community between boys and girls, Nov/09

Sayton Inter College Grade 10 Student, Ankur Thakur, addresses judges and fellow students of the Saklana Valley on the differences in their community between boys and girls

HIV/AIDS AWARENESS CONTEST

On December 1, 2009 (World  AIDS Day), an HIV/AIDS Painting & Essay Contest was held at Marora High School, also organized by the newly established Gender/HIV-AIDS Forum of Saklana Valley. All three high schools of the valley participated. Children took part by making posters and writing essays during the event, showing how HIV/AIDS is spread and how it is not spread. First, second and third prizes were awarded: Rajat Negi (9th Class) won first prize for the poster competition and Ankur Thakur (9th class) won first prize for the essay competition. The other contestants were awarded participatory prizes. Prizes were handed out by Chief Guests, Mr. Dinesh Rawat of Rani Chori University, and Mr. Harshdev Unyal, Area Panchayat Head. The Principal of Marora High School, Mr. J. P. Gaud, was especially impressed with this programme, because he had never witnessed an activity of this sort in the school, where after training has been received, a public competition takes place, and the audience is also engaged in discovering who has understood the most on the subject, as opposed to the usual formal testing/examination method of assessing knowledge.

Poster prepared by Satyon Inter College Grade 10 student, Rajat Negi, Dec/09

EDUCATION STANDARDS IMPROVE FOR RURAL CHILDREN
AT KAPLANI SCHOOL

This past year marks the ninth year that MGVS Kaplani School has been providing an education past the Primary School level to the children of villages in the mountainous areas surrounding Kaplani Village, on the outskirts of Mussoorie. Today, a total of 30 students (17 boys and 13 girls) have acquired matriculation certificates (Grade 10), including nine more students who passed their final 10th Class Board examinations this year in March 2010. All nine students have gone on to further studies (Grade Eleven) at Inter-Colleges in Mussoorie, showing a shift in the value that the larger Kaplani community is now placing on education. One of the nine Kaplani School graduates for 2010, Lokendra Thapa, made his school proud this year, when he scored the highest marks in the Mathematics paper of the final Board examination, for the whole of the Mussoorie area: 82% - Ist Division.

Lokendra Thapa lives in Village Bata Gaon, on the outskirts of Mussoorie

Fifty-nine students are currently attending Kaplani High School: thirty-two girls and twenty-seven boys. On April 6th, 2010, at the start of the new school year, Kaplani High School welcomed Miss. Neetu Singh as a Science Teacher. MGVS is hopeful educational standards will improve for Kaplani School students now that each of the five Grade levels in the school has one teacher each.

The MGVS Kaplani School HEIDI PARKER MEMORIAL BUILDING
is Now Open!

On April 26th, 2010, the new Heidi Parker Memorial Building was opened formally. This marks the end of a construction project, very generously funded by Mr. Robin Parker (Woodstock School alumnus ’48), which was started five years ago. It has been a real treat for the students of Kaplani School to sit through classes during the monsoon rains this year, with dry books and dry feet! The new building has made all kinds of other changes possible for the students of Kaplani School as well – a Science lab, individual desks for each student, computers etc. The Kaplani School has received many blessings through the special joint efforts and continued support of many friends that have left the MGVS Team and Kaplani School Staff and students without words and truly grateful.

Mr. Robin Parker opens the Heidi Parker Memorial Building to the community on 26th April, 2010

KAPLANI SCHOOL STUDENTS & IRISH STUDENTS LEARN TOGETHER

Kaplaini School students share cultural activities with students from Ireland

From July 12th - July 18th, 2010, and from July 26th – July 29th, 2010, two groups of approximately 18 high school students and three teachers each, visited from Northern Ireland and spent time teaching Kaplani students some Science, English vocabulary and grammar, crafts etc. Saphara of Nothern Ireland arranged their visit. Both sets of students also participated in many cultural exchange activities including singing and dancing and Hindi speaking.  After four days of teaching at Kaplani School, each group of Irish students then trekked down to Donk Village to work with Donk Primary School for a day. The Irish students prepared their lessons for the classes they taught at each of the MGVS Schools, which really helped make the experience an especially intense opportunity for the Irish students themselves as well as the Kaplani High School and Donk Primary School students. Kaplani School staff also had an opportunity to discuss different teaching methods with the teachers from Ireland. A highlight of the two visits was a Science exchange, which took place in the new Science Lab, generously set up by Saphara themselves for the students of Kaplani School, in the recently completed Heidi Parker Memorial Building.

Neelam Rawat of Millage Masrana analyzes a soaked raisin as part of a Science exchange program with Irish High School students

The group leader was Dr. Christine Burnett, Director and Founder of Saphara. Saphara is a non-government charitable organization that has been working in partnership with MVS since 2008.

Director of Saphara, Dr. Christine Burnett, trekking up from MGVS to Donk Primary School, July/09

MGVS FOUNDER VISITS MGVS KAPLANI SCHOOL

In the last week of November 2009, MGVS founder, Rev. Robert Alter, Mrs. Ellen Alter and MGVS Founding Member, Mrs. Saroj Kapadia, visited Kaplani School. Their visit was a moment grace for the students and the teachers.