FFL Vrindavan is dedicated to the poorest of the poor, educating and guiding them in pursuance of a fulfilling life, enabling them to become exemplary members of society. FFL Vrindavan is also dedicated to protecting and developing Vrindavan’s natural environment.

Our work includes:

• food distribution
• basic medical assistance
• training courses for women
• drilling for drinking water and constructing water tanks
• assistance to the elderly and the disabled
• distribution of clothes
• environmental projects and education
• taking care of cows
• providing primary school education for disadvantaged children.
  

• FFLV photo gallery
• Rupa's Vrindavan Diary
• Send us a message
• Contact nearest FFLV centre
• Save our Girls Fund
• Donate

E-news is also a forum where you can share with us your thoughts, suggestions advice and practical inputs.
As the credit is entirely yours for our works and achievements, we will be very happy to receive your feed back. Please email to: info@fflvrindavan.org

e-News Archive

June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October-November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008

Dear volunteers and past visitors,
We have created a special space for you on FFLV web site – just to share your experiences with our readers. As past visitors, you are our best ambassadors to spread awareness about FFLV far and wide. You can contribute your impressions, ideas, suggestions, memories of past visits, photos and anything you would like to tell visitors about FFLV. Eventually, we would like to get a group set up so that 'Friends of FFLV' can network with each other, so let us know if you agree to have people contact you. Please send contributions to secretary@fflvrindavan.org

A soy milk plant has been installed in our secondary school, thanks to Dr. Vikash Pandit (Jagannath Mishra das) and family from Canada. The plant will help us to provide fresh soy milk to the impoverished children from the school and nearby slums. Soy milk is a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to supplement the diets of large numbers of children and it is our mission to give nourishment to as many children as we can. The children were deprived of the much needed protein and vitamins due to the soaring milk prices that have more than doubled in the last few years. Even in Vrindavan (the land of cows), there are not enough cows to provide milk to the rapidly increasing population.

Vrindavan is a city of temples and visiting these is a big part of the residents’ lives. As one of our summer holiday activities, 30 children from the third grade went to the beautiful Naya Rangji (colorful) temple. The children were told to write what they saw in the temple when they got back to school. One of the students wrote “...in the temple there is a gold pillar. There are three doors and ten windows. Outside the temple, there are many statues and inside the temple there is a statue of Radha and Krishna. We played music in front of the Lord!”

Construction of FFLV paper recycling plant is complete. The purchase of paper recycling machine was funded by a grant from the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP). The recycling plant will collect paper from Vrindavan municipal area and help in improving sanitation. As a complimentary business to the paper recycling plant, FFLV will also be establishing a workshop to produce paper products such as notebooks and gift cards. The workshop will employ local villagers and it will be an important asset to the community and the environment.

This month, with the help of our dedicated volunteer Richard Stocker from USA, and the help of sponsors who are kindly supporting the project, we were able to give rations to 15 families. These families will receive rations every month. Each family gets basic food stuff such as oil, flour, salt, sugar etc. This will take some of the burden and worry off these struggling parents. The families who received rations are all well below poverty line, most are single mothers, who only have part time work and have 3-4 children to look after. Often they come to the school asking for work but we can’t employ all of them. These women want to work for livelihood, but they also have to look after their children, and do all the housework. As these women do not have modern facilities such washing machines and running water, most of their time is spent in housework itself. However, many find work for a few hours a day, cooking and cleaning in private houses but this barely covers the rent of a simple room or hut without even basic facilities such as a bathroom.

FFLV medical team is working hard to treat an increased number of patients due to the heat and early monsoon. Dr. Gour, the village outreach doctor said “every summer we get increased numbers of patients with boils and other skin diseases. This is the result of the heat, combined with poor hygiene.” The medical team sees over one 100 patients every day and visits a different village on every day of the week. Many villagers come for problems that seem small like an infected cut or boil, but these small problems can turn deadly if not treated with antiseptic or antibiotics. A pharmacist also travels with the doctor and hands out disinfectant creams, cough medicines, eye drops, antibiotics and other much needed medicines. This is particularly a relief for women who often have little means of going out of the village to get medical care for themselves or their children.

The children who stayed in school over the summer break have produced many beautiful crafts. There are Deity dresses, shoes for Thakhur ji, and “Kalpa Vriksa” (desire trees) made out of tulsi beads and semi precious stones. The making of these trees was taught to the children by a volunteer from Germany, Murlidhara das, who went to Jaipur to source the semi precious stones.
If you are interested in any of these products please contact info@fflvrindavan.org