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.
  

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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
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008

With India rated a 3 out of 4 on the United Nations scale of unsanitary places (4 being the worst), it is clear that there is much to be done in mobilizing local communities and lobbying governments to provide better public hygiene.Awareness of the devastating health problems that result from improper sanitation has been substantially raised among the Sandipani Muni student body, and students are taking an active role in cleaning the local area and raising awareness of the issue in Vrindavan. On the morning of 30^th September, Sandipani Muni School students took to the streets with spades, protective gloves, and wheelbarrows to pick up litter from the streets surrounding the school. When asked why Sandipani Muni students should go out to clean the streets, Radha, 6^th grade, answered "If we clean, other schools will see and also start cleaning". Also accompanying the group was Neal, a medical student from New York, currently volunteering at SMS. He said, "It was a little depressing to see how quickly the wheelbarrows filled up with trash but what this drive did to positively affect these kids' mentality is more important." He continued, "Seeing the way people on the street were watching with interest really made me feel that we are helping to spread awareness of the need for cleanliness among local people". Sandipani Muni Schools will continue to work towards improving sanitation in the local area with cleaning drives on the last day of every month.

We are really making use of our new, bright yellow school bus - as well as transporting 60 children to and from school; we also use it to take the children on outings such as a recent day trip to Agra, a two day trip to Jaipur, a day trip to Govardhan and a day trip to Gokul and Raval.This period of the year is the most suitable for journeys because the weather is nice and many visitors come from all over the world and enjoy visiting tourist destinations and spending time with SMS children. The children selected so far to go on the trips have had lot of fun singing songs during the travel and seeing India's amazing historical sites. For most of the children, it is their first time outside of Vrindavan, and for many - such as the 10 children who were taken to Gokul by a Swiss tour group ledby Syamananda das - it is the first opportunity they have had to spend time with their sponsors. After the visit at the Taj Mahal, one of the accompanying guests said: “it is certainly beautiful, one of the seven wonder of the world… but the real wonder here is the Sandipani Muni School children.” Taj Bassi, a Scotish hotelier who took all the children to lunch at the Ashok Hotel, Agra, said that he was amazed at how well behaved the children were in the restaurant and how quickly they all learned to use a knife and fork.

Kartik is celebrated as the time when mother Yashoda tried to tie baby Krishna up with rope and every time she tried to tie the knot Krishna used his mystical powers to make the rope too short. Seeing her frustration, Krishna eventually allowed her to tie him. This beautiful and mystical pastime of Lord Krishna is especially celebrated in Vrindavan, where Lord Krishna is said to have lived. FFLV and SMS play an important part in the celebrations in Vrindavan; hundreds of locals come every year to see our children perform and be entertained by the professional theater group (Fateh Krishna Swami Ras Mandali) who perform every year for 7 nights at the school. Foreign guests from all over Vrindavan attend the program so it is a good chance for FFLV to promote its activities. This year, as guestsenter the school, they pass several stalls – an information booth where guests are welcomed; an SMS craft stall, where gift cards, painted stones and other items made by the children are displayed; a Social Development stall where bags and clothes made by village women and products from FFLV's paper recycling factory are sold; a child sponsorship information stall and stall giving out water, soy milk and tofu made in SMS Soya milk plant. The broad and beautifully decorated hall was the center of attention for the hundreds of foreigners and locals coming to see the performances.

With the encouragement and guidance of the FFLV social work team, 2 village families have started producing candles in their homes to supplement family income. One villager, Maharaj Singh from Jait village, produced alarge quantity of candles in time for the Diwali festival and made a profit of Rs.10000 in one month. Santoshi and her family, from Ramtal village, have also started making candles. Santoshi says that she was encouraged to start producing candles because her husband has bad legs and cannot do farm work, so she wanted to start a business that her whole family could be involved in. Santoshi has been part of a FFLV microcredit group in her village for the last 5 years. Through her involvement in the group, she has access a savings account and to small loans at low interest rates. Santoshi used her savings and a loan of Rs.3000 to start her candle making business. Before joining the microcredit group, Santoshi had never had a bank account. She had no concept of making regular deposits into a savings account and had no access to finance except through village loan sharks. Starting her own business with saved and borrowed capital is a big step for Santoshi and her family.

In a recent competition at Nimbark Shishu Mandir school in Vrindavan, SMS children competed in two different genres, patriotic singing and folk singing, winning 3rd prize overall. The folk song competition was a celebration of local art and groups were asked to sing a folk song in the local, Brijbasi dialiect. SMS children sang a song called “Before we will give the butter you have to give us the cash” (Makhan jab doonji, pehele nakad daam doongi). For the patriotic song competition, the children showed their patriotic spirit by wearing white dresses with orange turbans and green waste bands - proudly showing the colors of the Indian flag. The competition and place getters were reported in a local newspaper -The Hindustan. For 3rd prize, each team member was given sketching materials and some snacks. The children were all thrilled to have one prize and to get a mention in the newspaper.

Recent heavy rains have caused flooding all over Northern India. The worst area hit was Bihar, where thousands of people were drowned or made homeless. Authorities feared that the Tajewala dam in Harayana would burst, so thousands of gallons of water were released into the Yamuna river, causing major flooding in Vrindavan and surrounding villages. Many people who lived by the bank of the Yamuna river in Vrindavan had their houses washed away. Most of those affected were subsistence farmers or poor laborers, living in huts or roughly made houses. Many lost everything, their homes, all their possessions and livelihoods as crops were washed away. Shelters were organized for the flood victims in two government schools. Around 60 families were housed for one week and FFLV staff was there every day to help out, supplying the victims with fruit and whole wheat biscuits. As part of our disaster relief efforts, FFLV medical team also traveled to remote villages along the Yamuna river to treat outbreaks of diseases caused by the heavy rains and flooding. One of the Sandipani Muni school doctors and two FFLV social workers traveled out to the effected villagers to provide medical care and counseling to the victims. Flood waters have gone down enough so that victims can start rebuilding their lives and things are getting back to normal in Vrindavan.

A radio program last Sunday with 3 songs, tabla drum playing and a story narrated by SMS children was a roaring success. The program was broadcast at 5pm on Sunday 12th October, on MW 198.6 and thousands of people in Vrindavan and Mathura listened to it. The programmers gave an introduction about Sandipani Muni School and the work it does with poor children and the children showed what they have learned through music and story telling. Mitilesh, from 7th grade, narrated a story she learned in school, about a jackal crow and deer who were friends. The story goes... There were three were friends Jackal, crow and deer. Crow used to fly out every day to find food for them. One day the crow found a field of corn so and the three started going there every day to eat. The farmer was upset at all his crops being eaten so he set a trap and caught deer in his net. Crow told the jackal to cut the net with his teeth but jackal said that he was fasting for ekadasi and couldn't do it (actually he was thinking that when the farmer kills the dear he might be able to eat some). The crow thought of another plan and told the deer to pretend to be dead and then jump up when the farmer removed the net. When the farmer removed the net the deer started running and the farmer threw an axe to try to kill her but the axe hit the jackal... Brijesh Chandra, who has been working at SMS for the two years as deputy principal and was previously a compare on All India Radio, was instrumental in coaching the children in how to present on radio and getting them on air.

Diwali is sometimes described as 'Indian Christmas' - everyone wears new clothes and children receive gifts. Due to a kind sponsor, Diwalicelebrations at SMS included the gifting of hundreds of saris to mothers attending a parents meeting at the school. In most places, Diwali is a 3 days holiday but at SMS, students came to school to celebrate. On 29th October, the second day of the Diwali holiday, children came to school to celebrate Govardhan Pooja together. In the morning, students and teachers made a beautiful replica of Govardhan hill - using ladus, burfis, sohan papris and toffees. At 10:30am, celebrations began and children sang and danced around the model of Govardhan hill. At 12:30pm, a feast was served with treats like paneer sabji, poori and the sweets from the Govardhan hill model. 50 guests attended and they watched as the children sang kirtan and danced ecstatically. One guest, Taj Bassi from Scotland who has been helping out at FFLV for one month, was particularly sad to leave.He stayed a few days extra just to celebrate Diwali with SMS students but was finally forced to return to his work in Scotland.Over the last month, he has been a big help and all are sad to see him leave. Diwali is a time to remember the importance of friends and relatives. Here at FFLV, we feel very blessed to have such a big family - made up of people who help out in many different ways.