Give Farm training to Indian HIV Families

Living at Snehalaya we are fortunate to receive many of the organic seasonal produce that’s grown at our Himmatgram farm.

In past posts we have often expounded on the delights of the intense flavors of juicy mangoes, tasty okra, carrots, sweet corn, spinach and much more that's grown by the community who reside there.
As I write this ripe tomatoes and aubergines can be seen growing in the fields in abundance and are ready for picking.

Over the years the Himmatgram beneficiaries are getting pretty adept at growing a wide range of fruit and vegetables, and being the adventurous souls they are, they're also game when it comes to experimenting with growing something new.

So it was with some excitement and anticipation we recently sowed the seeds that will hopefully become the Artemesia Annua plant.

This was first brought to our attention a while back when an USA supporter Susan Paul relayed to us the plant's benefits for people who are taking Antiretroviral Therapy (ART).
Susan was a nurse in New York when people began displaying symptoms that at the time nobody knew anything about.
In time the virus was given the name HIV and when tested you were either negative or positive.

As you know millions would go on to get AIDS and the horrendous death toll began to rise all around the world.

Susan went on to become a full time professional practitioner in Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine.

She came across the Artemisia Annua plant (in Chinese medicine known as Qing Hao).
Originally used on patients suffering with Malaria to reduce fevers, it came to her attention that it was being used to great effect when treating people who are on ART, she noted that ART created a lot of heat and this could cause patients to suffer further complications.
When Qing Hao was administered it would lower body temperatures created by the drug.

Susan would later bring her work and knowledge to India, taking care of people who were sick with AIDS related illnesses.
She struck upon the great idea to cultivate Artemisia Annua here.
Unfortunately all attempts to grow it came to no avail, mainly because of high temperatures, it's worth noting that Artemisia grows in abundance on Afghanistan mountains.

Trying to replicate this in India you would be forgiven for thinking this was near impossible but Susan was informed by a friend that there was a farmer known as Mr Wagh who had success in growing the elusive Artemisia Annua.
A few of us decided to pay Mr Wagh a visit to see if we could get some tips.

When we arrived he informed us that he knew of Snehalaya and had always wanted to get involved in someway.

He conveyed to us that this beneficial plant was basically a weed and needs little attention, he instructed us to mix the seeds with lightly moistened sand, make sure they were covered after sowing and sprayed with a little water every day.
He wished us luck and told us to get in touch should we require further assistance.

Luck is really on our side as an enthusiastic supporter from Ireland who works in the Pharmaceutical business, kindly donated a large number of the Artemisia Annua seeds.
When it came to sowing, help was at hand from 2 of our Volunteers who are studying MSC Agriculture and Rural Development at Ramkrishna Mission Vivekananda University, Kolkata and gave some great advice and help.

Your help and support is making a difference for the residents of Himmatgram to continue with their agricultural vocational training and also cultivate skills for future endeavors such as this.

If this all goes according to plan it could help alleviate a lot of suffering for our beneficiaries who are on ART. 
Keep your (green) fingers crossed.

Links:

• Visit Our Website.

Thank you for your support of our organic farm. You are helping children like Shivaji whose mother died of a HIV-related illness a few years ago. Although the seven-year-old’s father is also HIV+, Shivaji himself is negative and since his mother died Shivaji and his father, who looks after our 15 dairy cows, have been living at our Himmatgram.

Shivaji is really smart and speaks very good English which is why his father recently made the decision to move him to our Rehab Center where he can more easily attend our English Medium School. Living there also means he has 260 friends to learn alongside and play with as well as take part in the program of activities we arrange for our children outside of school time. He is settling in really well, he is getting very good marks in school and is a big fan of playing marbles with boys his own age. Although the father and son miss each other, they are only 7km apart and with our van travelling to and from our farm to deliver food from our Rehab Center three times a day they have plenty of opportunities to see each other.

Also making the 7km between our farm and Rehab Center is our brand-new water pipe. It has long been an ambition for our organisation to reduce our costs by pumping water from the dam at our farm to provide fresh drinking water to our 350+ beneficiaries and staff living in our shelter home. It may seem like an easy task but the railway line running between our two projects proved a major stumbling block in laying the pipeline. After many negotiations with the Indian Railways authorities we finally received permission to lay the line under the train tracks and the water started flowing earlier this month. We are already making substantial savings by reducing the number of water tank deliveries we require each day.

We also recently opened our new Agricultural Training Center, just outside the boundaries of our farm. This means that the agri-entrepreneurs studying on our agriculture technology course have their own specially designed accommodation and teaching facilities to learn more about farming processes and techniques and also means more interaction between the students and our farm residents. The center blends into the natural landscape and has been cleverly designed to maximise natural light and ventilation.

Your support enables us to keep cultivating the lives of our beneficiaries and also the facilities we offer and the projects we deliver to them. Thank you so much for investing in our growth.

Links:

• Visit our website