Stomy

Mukesh, our Art and Music Teacher, lost so much during the recent disaster. A photo of the devastation in his village was in the local Dehradun paper. We asked permission from that publication to use the photo on our website and Facebook page and promised to give them a photo credit. At the height of this horrible disaster, they thought only of themselves and said no. Beni, KHEL’s General Manager, decided to lend Mukesh KHEL’s camera and gave him paid time off to go back to his village to document the disaster. Mukesh traveled through dangerous areas to bring us this report:‘My name is Mukesh Singh. I am the son of Mr. Gyan Singh of Village Ganga Nagar, local area Patwari Pshalidhar, Sub division Ukhimath and District Rudra Prayag. My family lives in the village of August Muni. I am a teacher at Lakshmi Devi Academy (LDA), KHEL’s school for underserved children in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.People from my area in the mountains need more basic living help, and basic food. It is about 180km (111 miles) from Dehradun, and about 20 km (12 miles) from Rudra Prayag to August Muni. It might not seem like a far distance, but with broken roads and mudslides, it is very dangerous.It was 16-17 June when we lost our home in Mandakini River, which comes from Kedarnath. In this flood my family’s home and shops were all washed away, along with more than 30 other homes. Before this disaster we had 4 shops and a 6 room home; now we don’t have even a single room. All the families who lost their homes are living in tents, renting rooms from some people who didn’t lose their homes, or have been [...]

Judy-Ann E., a teacher at The Blake School in Minneapolis, MN, commits a portion of her summer break to take Blake student volunteers to OpCamp, a summer camp for underprivileged children in Mineral Wells, TX. As always, the volunteers and the kids had a wonderful experience! But this time they wanted to do something special for the school district of West, TX, where there was massive explosion at a fertilizer plant earlier this year. The towns of West and Mineral Wells are almost neighbors, and the explosion affected many people, businesses and schools in the area. Three of West’s schools were damaged and even with government aid and a full scale investigation there isn’t currently enough money to rebuild all the schools. Judy-Ann arranged for KHEL’s small grant to be used to show solidarity with the West School District and the people of West. After returning to Minnesota, she sent us this report and photos:‘Service breeds more service!With KHEL’s grant, we purchased 100 4" x 4" canvasses and markers.  If you will recall, the fertilizer plant that exploded in Texas destroyed schools. Since the kids of Mineral Wells receive a service by being able to attend Op Camp, I thought it would be good for them to do a service project for the West, TX, schools.These photos are of the mural the Op Camp campers made for West School District where the explosion occurred. The campers, with the help of our great volunteers, painted squares and helped assemble the mural. Then, everyone put their initials on the outside border edge of the canvas.  The smiles on the campers when they saw the what they had created was incredible! The community of Mineral Wells will deliver [...]

The monsoon rains in June were disastrous. In Uttarakhand, boulders, mud and pieces of the Himalayas gave way under heavy rainfall and erosion. The well organised Indian military evacuated thousands of tourists and pilgrims but the people of the mountain areas who have lost everything have nowhere to go; many of them are stranded in the mountains or are slowly making their way to Dehradun, where KHEL is located. There are many people unaccounted for; the probable missing and dead will be at least 6-10,000. Entire villages are buried under several feet of mud; hundreds of homes and businesses were swept away, and several holy sites were badly damaged or have disappeared. The Indian government and many NGO’s are working hard to restore some semblance of normality and safety to the area. This isn’t going to happen overnight, or even within a year; for many mountain people, going back to their former lives won’t be an option – homes, businesses and family members are gone. Insurance for replacing lost property is non-existent, as is life insurance for those who have lost family members.At KHEL, we’ve only started to assess the damage. Shiv Puri Colony, where Lakshmi Devi Academy (LDA), KHEL’s school for under privileged children is located, was flooded twice. The first round of flooding filled LDA with two feet of water and mud. The second flooding tore away the wall that holds back the Rispana River, causing severe damage to many homes, businesses, roads and drainage and sewage facilities. Like many of KHEL’s staff, Mukesh, LDA’s art teacher, has family in the mountains. He’d gone up to his village to get engaged; two days later, his family’s business was completely destroyed, and his family’s [...]

Beni, KHEL’s General Manager, has had intermittent internet connection because of the severe monsoons in Dehradun. In between cleaning water and mud out of his own home and helping his wife, Kamli, with her City Councilor duties in the flood ravaged colony of Shiv Puri where Lakshmi Devi Academy (LDA), KHEL’s school for underserved children is located, he found a few minutes to take some photos and send this report:‘There are a lot of NGO’s sending supplies for the mountain areas but most of it is sitting in Dehradun and the food donations are rotting. At this time all the focus is on the tourists/pilgrimage people. In a few days most of them will be able to go home but the losses to the villages in the mountains are terrible. Many people have lost their family members, homes, farms, businesses and animals. Many mountain people use mules for transporting goods to markets to sell, so the loss of the animals makes it impossible for them to make any money. Some farms are okay, but the roads are all gone so they can’t sell what they have grown. It will be a big challenge for all of them to survive, especially in the winter. There are already camps around Dehradun where the mountain people are coming. They will need help with food, clothes, medicines and other needs. We’ve had a really hard time here in Shiv Puri Colony [Beni’s living room is pictured above]. The Rispana River which comes from the flooded Rajpur hills has twice broken the stone wall that protects the Colony, on June 16th and 25th. On June 16th LDA was flooded with two feet of water. On the 25th morning about 3:30am, [...]

The rains haven’t stopped. A rescue helicopter crashed, killing 20 people. Many, many people still need to be evacuated. Swami Veda Bharati has collected over rs7 lakhs (about US$15,000) in the past few days, but much more funding is needed, now and in the future to rebuild homes, re-settle families and repair the extensive damage. Dhyana Mandiram Trust is a well respected, trustworthy organisation. Any funds you donate will be used to help victims of the disaster who are being cared for by the Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust (HIHT). Please donate!Photo courtesy of The Hindu. Photos of missing people posted at Jolly Grant, near HIHT.

Would you like to donate to the victims of the recent Uttarakhand tragedy? KHEL’s very good friends at the Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust (HIHT) have been helping many of the victims free of charge. Here’s a few words from HIHT on how you can help:To donate funds within India, you may deposit the amount in A/c no 10548876117 of Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust at State Bank of India, Railway Road Rishikesh. IFSC is SBIN 0001180. Donors are requested to please send the details to our e-mail address pb@hihtindia.org so that a receipt can be sent to them. The amount can also be sent by check/draft made in the name of "Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust" payable at Rishikesh, and send the same to Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust, Swami Ram Nagar, Jolly Grant, P.O. Doiwala, Dehradun 248140.To donate funds from outside India, please send a check/draft made in the name of "Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust," to Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust, Swami Ram Nagar, Jolly Grant, P.O. Doiwala, Dehradun 248140, India.These funds will be used to support the victims being treated at HIHT, many of whom have walked out of the mountains and are turning up malnourished and with gangrene in their wounds due to the warm, wet weather. More ways to donate coming soon!

The bad news from north India’s recent flooding continues. Beni, KHEL’s General Manager, is working hard to find out if anyone from KHEL – families of children, families of teachers – have been adversely affected. Beni’s wife, Kamli, a previous employee of KHEL, is a City Councilor for the Shiv Puri area where KHEL’s school is located. She’s working hard, too, to help the whole community. One of our teachers, Mukesh, was away at his village; his home is intact but his family lost their shop, which is the majority of their livelihood. Manohar, KHEL’s Community Outreach Coordinator, had a severely flooded home but he’s been able to get the water to drain out. We’ll let you know when we have a full damage report for Lakshmi Devi Academy (LDA), KHEL’s school for underserved children in Dehradun.

The devastation created by record setting monsoon rains in Uttarakhand has affected KHEL, too. We don’t have a full damage report yet, but Lakshmi Devi Academy (LDA), KHEL’s school for under served children, was swamped by over two feet of water. This is not just a problem at LDA; the surrounding area, Shiv Puri Colony, was originally a migrant slum settlement and there is very little infrastructure for drainage. Newer migrant communities form along the edge of the Rispana River, making it even more challenging for monsoon rains to drain away from the Colony. Beni, KHEL’s General Manager, and other staff rushed to LDA to move furniture upstairs and bail the water out as best as they could; they were too overwhelmed by the emergency situation to take any photos. Some of the homes of our teachers have been damaged, too.

Our teachers enjoy a day of swimmingLakshmi Devi Academy (LDA), KHEL’s school for underserved children in Dehradun, is on summer break. To celebrate the end of another successful school year, faculty and staff spent an afternoon at Sahasradhara, a popular swimming beach near Dehradun. Beni, KHEL’s General Manager, hosted this event to honour his wife, Kamli, who is a former KHEL employee; please join us in congratulating Kamli on her reelection to the post of City Councilor!Good bye and Good Luck to our 8th graders!We said goodbye to our 8th graders and LDA is closed for the summer, but KHEL’s work continues: We are upgrading security at LDA to deal with numerous break-ins; so far, nothing of value has been stolen. We’re adding grills to all the lower level windows and replacing doors that won’t close properly. This is a costly project estimated at rs80,000 (US$1,800) and we would appreciate any donations. In addition, we need to hire a night security guard to discourage further break-ins, which will add at least rs3,000 (US$70) to our monthly expenses. After the security upgrade is completed and thanks to a generous donation from Gopal D. of Trinidad, we will be upgrading our computer equipment. This will greatly enhance the education of our students, and will make it easier for Manohar, KHEL’s Community Outreach Coordinator, to keep accurate records.Our experimental Medical Aid Program is in its third month. We have committed rs5,000 (US$110) per month to help students and their families become healthy so that they can participate in their own success by studying or working. More details about this aid will be on KHEL’s website and Facebook page soon. Another generous donor, Mohini P., has made it possible [...]