RID POVERTY & HUNGER IN 50 INDIAN TRIBAL VILLAGES

There was a time when it would rain 6 months in a year in the Nilgiris.  There was a time when the South west monsoon would set in on June 1^st, regular as clock-work. No more. This year, the monsoon has still not set in. On our resource farm, there is a spring and by careful conservation Jaikumar our farm manager and Jayalakshmi our manager in charge of medicinal plants and herbs are keeping things going. Our farming thrust is taking off---- Nimmi our project director is going full steam ahead with sussing the market, creating niche markets for baby carrots and peppinos in nearby Bangalore. Thirty new farmers have joined us-- meaning that they have started the transition from inorganic to organic agricultural practices. Our Farming team is run off its feet--- mentoring, monitoring and travelling long distances to remote areas. Kookal Thurai is a farming belt near Kotagiri- a big town in the hills. It is an aggressively chemicaly- driven vegetable growing area. The first farmer from there has approached us for guidance. This is a significant event for Earth Trust. We hope it becomes the thin edge of the Organic wedge there. A group of farmers from Erode, a town in the plains 270 km away, visited us. They were part of a co-operative called ‘Uyir’---Life.

On the Health Programme front, Mala and Meera our health workers are busty at Melkowatty village. Around 20 women attend both the Income Generation programme training and the health Programme. The basic course having been covered, they are running the Advance Course which includes teaching massaging techniques and preparation of medicinal oils based on traditional recipes with value addition. The 3 month course teaching the women to knit, sew and other soft skills is over. We are having a base-survey done to facilitate a one-day health check-up camp. This is being organised by Earth Trust in association with a teaching hospital in Coimbatore.

We celebrated World Yoga Day in the Government school at Odaikadu on 21^st June-the Summer Solstice. The total strength is around 68 children. The Middle-school, 6^th to 8^th standards has around 20 children. They participated in the celebrations. The Head-master and senior teachers could not match the children’s effortless bending and stretching!!These children are from the lowest economic strata.

Our shop- Earth Trust Organics is picking up and at 11 in the morning on our market days- Mondays and Thursday, there is frenzied activity—farmers bring in their produce, customers dropping in, consignments being packed and sent to our buyers in Chennai Calicut, Bangalore and sometimes even as far away as Mumbai.

We sign off for now. As soon as the photographs come in, we will send them.