New school to be built - help us to help more children!

The development is situated in the Kiki Nagla area of Vrindavan, which comprises of several large villages. That area is fairly distant from our current schools and facilities, but despite the distance, we have been
accommodating a large number of children from that area in our existing schools in the town of Vrindavan.
We have acquired a large plot of land that will facilitate our entire master project, providing a complete solution to the local community.

The overall project will include a nursery, primary and secondary school, an orphanage, housing project and a hospital. In total the new campus will provide education for 1440 children.

With kind help and a generous donation from a Gujarati family from Stanmore, we have already built a hospital that was officially opened in October 2008.

The cost of the kindergarten, primary/middle school which will educate 1,008 childern is £400,000 of which £300,000 has already been raised leaving a shortfall of £100,000.

Project Sustainability

All of our schools and students are maintained by child sponsorships. Only £25 per month covers one child’s total educational and medical needs. Sponsors are people from all over the world, with the majority from UK, Italy, USA, Spain and Germany.

FFLV plans to continue and expand this sponsorship program in order to finance the running of future schools. Sponsorship is vital to maintain the running costs of the schools.

That is the point at which any further increase in average global temperatures will spell disaster for billions around the world - ranging from flooding of coastal areas to severe drought in inland areas. The Vrindavan area is already facing the impact of climate change.

The name Vrindavan means literally ‘forest of Vrinda', Vrinda being the name of the tulsi (Indian basil) plant. Now the tulsi forest has gone, and all that remains is dry dust that increasingly cannot be cultivated unless we make some drastic changes to the environment.

Our partner Food For Life Vrindavan Society has made a start, but needs your help.

With sponsorship from Fruit Tree Foundation, USA and the Earth Restoration Service (UK) in the last two years, over 3,000 trees were planted by Food For Life Vrindavan Society (FFLVS). The trees planted have a survival rate of 85%. This is a high rate and remains so, because we ensure that we match the trees to the needs of the people who will look after them, as well as to the local environmental conditions.

FFLVS plants trees in public areas and ensure that our teams of cleaners water these regularly. The planting and maintenance for a year of a single tree will cost just £14.

We are seeking sponsors for new projects in the current year. FFLVS offer fruit saplings to poor families to ensure that they have some benefit in the welfare of the tree. A programme of tree planting with families will cost £400 for 250 trees of differing varieties.

This is a practical programme addressing a part of the nutrition needs of the poorest whilst at the same time, ensuring the re- greening of Vrindavan. With trees, the soil is less likely to get eroded, ensuring not only its continued viability, but actually improving it through bringing back elements of the normal eco system that have been missing. If we all do a little to change the lives of those who need our help in a practical way, we will achieve fantastic things!

We are extremely proud of our health guides, but more importantly know that we must continue with the social development programme. According to UNICEF, the state of Utter Pradesh in which Vrindavan is, has a maternal mortality rate of 700 deaths per 100,000. (China has a rate of 60 per 100,000).

If you are have an interest in social development and are interested in fully developing grant applications, please contact us directly.

Food For Life Vrindavan Society has been helping villagers run co-operatives and micro-credit schemes for a number of years. We want to take the next step up and set up a credit union. We need someone with experience of running credit unions, as well as investment management of funds in a credit union. If you are interested in helping others in a truly practical way, and are prepared to spend the necessary time to develop a business plan, please contact us immediately.

We have established around 80 micro-credit schemes in India. The micro credit schemes have been successful, but have not resulted in participants setting up bank accounts or seeking finance for new business ideas. We now want to take these participants up to the next level and seek professionals who can assist in setting up a credit union.