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.

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On 17^th of June 2009, Food for Life Medical Center held a medical camp for senior citizens (55+). Due to mobility issues among the elderly, the camp was held in the residential area of Kikinagala village. Twenty six senior citizens received free health checks and appropriate medicine was provided to them, free of cost. Many of those who attended the camp discovered that they had dangerous health conditions such as high blood pressure, asthma and digestive problems. Many had not seen a doctor in years and were unaware that they had serious and treatable conditions such as high blood pressure. The guiding philosophy behind the camp was to provide free medical check ups, in addition to greater awareness of health issues relating to aging.

Most schools across India remain closed during the long, hot summer days between May and July and with good reason. However, the same summer heat that prompts other schools to close gives Sandipani Muni School good reason to remain open. As around 40% of Sandipani Muni School children live in "kucha houses" i.e. houses roughly made of bamboo, bricks and plastic sheets. These children would suffer greatly if they had no place to go to escape the heat. During the summer Sandipani Muni School seems like a holiday camp to the children: there is cold drinking water, rooms with ceiling fans, a nutritious lunch every day and lots of fun activities. There is a break from regular classes, but the children still benefit during this downtime by participating in fun cultural activities ranging from painting henna designs on each other’s hands to making soft toys, to yoga classes.

On 19^th June, seventeen students from Sandipani Muni School Karate club attended a karate-do competition in Mathura, getting a chance to put their knowledge into practice and test their strength against rivals from other clubs. A total of 95 students from 9 clubs attended the competition. Each match in the competition lasted for three minutes and points were awarded for each time the student made contact with their opponent. Sandipani Muni School students brought back three gold medals, four silver medals and four bronze medals. The gold medal winning students were Mithlesh, 7^th grade, Dharmendra, 3^rd grade, and Mukesh, 3^rd grade. All place-winning students were awarded a medal and a certificate.

High school students from Bates Drive School, Sydney, have been fund-raising to sponsor a child to attend Sandipani Muni School as part of their work in Citizenship. Each week the students are visiting a local apple orchard and returning with bags of apples to sell to staff and parents, with profits going towards their sponsorship project. On average, students sell 70 kg of apples each week. Staff at the school have also been getting behind the fund-raising efforts. Recently, a teacher at the school made two delicious vegetarian soups and sold them as a fund-raiser in the staff room at a lunch break. While eating the soup, staff watched a DVD about Food for Life Vrindavan and were given a chance to purchase skirts, bags and other items made by women at the Food for Life sewing center. Melissa Harris, who has been co-ordinating the fund-raising efforts since she returned from a visit to Vrindavan in 2008, said, "I am really happy to be able to do this service for the residents of Vrindavan, it makes me feel connected to this unique part of the world." The next fund-raising event planned at the school is a raffle to win a day off playground duty. The school principal and receptionist have offered to do the playground duty of the winners. A big thanks to all the students, staff and families at Bates Drive School.

Construction on the third Sandipani Muni School continues on schedule and is set for completion for an inauguration ceremony on October 22^nd 2010. Because we already have 600 children on the waiting list, a temporary school is being constructed at the site so that 150 children can receive instruction when the new academic year begins in July 2009. The temporary school building incorporates traditional building elements such as a thatched roof. The temporary school will have prep and 1st grade classes. Food for Life Social workers will visit homes in Kiki Nagla and surrounding villages and identify the poorest of poor children, whose families cannot even afford uniforms and books needed to send them to government school those who will benefit most from the new school. Like the other two Sandipani Muni Schools, the new school will focus on educating girls and will only admit boys in exceptional circumstances. This is because the education of girls is often given the least priority in poor families.

Amidst tragic circumstances, three new children have been admitted into Food for Life Children's Home. The children's father died in a road accident eight years ago and their mother died of AIDS earlier this year. The children were passed around to different relatives' houses for several months; when Food for Life social workers visited the children at one of these homes, they were begged to take the children into more suitable accommodation. These latest additions to the Food for Life Children's home take the total number of children in the home to fifteen. Food for Life continues its attempts to get funding for a larger children's home for up to 150 children.

For the last month, Sandipani Muni School has had the help of six volunteers from “Group Sup de Co La Rochelle College” in France. The volunteers came up with the idea of utilizing the computer lab at Sandipani Muni school to hold a drawing competition. The students were instructed on how to utilize graphics programs to create their own imaginative designs. Every student of Sandipani Muni secondary school was given the chance to participate in the drawing competition, which ran for 10 days. On 29^th June, the volunteers conducted a special assembly to hand out prizes to the three students whose designs they felt were the most original and creative. The prizes were sponsored by the French volunteers themselves. Thank you to Juliette Panet, Samantha Friess, Kevin Hamon, Maxime Choisel, Marine Paumard and Thomas-Alexis Cailleau for your hard work and innovation of constructive activities for the children during summer break.

In June, Katie Walter of Portland, Oregon, USA visited FFLV to implement a program she conceptualized when applying for the Davis United World College Scholars Program’s 100 Projects for Peace grant initiative. The program is based on training destitute, widowed women and single mothers in the art of "poshak", an embroidery style traditionally used to create clothing for statues of Krishna. The women are part of a collective that will sell their handmade embroidery designs on everything from shopping bags to cushions to clothing. The collective, called Vrindavan ka Gaurav (VKG), aims to tell the stories of Vrindavan and its women through Vrindavan-inspired designs and an interactive website. For more information about this partnership, Vrindavan ka Gaurav, the 100 projects for Peace initiative or Katie Walter, please visit the collective’s website at: www.vkgposhak.com.

Article by: Katie Walter, B.A. International Affairs Major, Lewis & Clark College Portland, USA

In a joint venture with the Indian Government's Ministry of Labour Welfare, Food for Life Vrindavan organized two training programs for "unorganized workers". Unorganized workers are those workers who do day-labouring work or run their own small businesses. Examples are farm workers and construction labourers; those who push vegetable carts selling vegetables in the street and cycle rickshaw pullers. The workshops for unorganized workers are being run all over India and are designed to inform workers of the government policies and laws written in their favour. The workshops are also a forum to discuss social issues such as women´s rights, child protection, appropriate child care practices etc. Instruction was conducted by Dr. Indu Sharma, Education Officer, Gaziabad. Around fourty participants attended each of the two training programs. Both of the training programs ran for two days. Food for Life facilitated the training programs by arranging the venues and by identifying locals who they felt would benefit from the training. Feedback from participants was positive and most agreed to attend a follow up course to track improvements after six months.