I would like to draw your attention to the remarkable sustainable community/eco-village for the disabled & handicapped:"Shanti Sewa Griha" (Peaceful Helping Home in Nepalese) of Kathmandu, Nepal and its founder/Director Krishna Gurung. Shanti Sewa Griha won second place in the 2008 BBC World Challenge. See:http://www.shelldialogues.com/topics/social-development/world-challenge-2008-finalist-shanti-sewa-griha-nepal
Krishna Gurung* is a visionary and social activist. He is incredibly inspiring, yet even more humble and has accomplished so much in Nepal.
*Krishna Gurung is a founder of a leprosy clinic, and sustainable community for the handicapped whose handcraft businesses are exported worldwide. The community has a biodynamic organic garden on a former wasteland that feeds over 800 daily, a school, a water purification system that supplies over 65,000 gallons of purified water daily to several villages (which has broken down the social barriers of leprosy!), a new hospital serving the poor, and a recycling operation that has residents gathering all the waste paper in Kathmandu, pulping it into a mixture with sawdust and fashioning it into briquettes that are then sold for heating (in lieu of the traditional cutting down of forests).
In memory of his late young son Kevin Rohan, Krishna has now created a new initiative: The Kevin Rohan Memorial Eco-Village to create eco villages for the urban poor. This venture will provide extremely low-cost green housing in Kathmandu and its environs by building homes comprised of recycled bottles and cement. Krishna has made arrangements with all Katmandu embassies and businesses to recycle all their glass bottles that were once dumped into landfills.
It is astounding that so much can be accomplished with so little. If you would like more information about him, please contact me (I am a friend) at LarkBergwinAnder@aol.com. He is in the USA on an extended visit until mid January. I would love to get more attention to his accomplishments as I believe they can be a model for other 3rd world countries (not to mention the industrial nations!
Keep up the good work!
With kind regards,
Lark Bergwin-Anderson
can send jpgs if interested
Comments (5)
probably should have posted this is multiple categories but was not sure how to-if someone else can please do
Hi Lark,
What a touching story. Indeed, this does sound like the Economics of Peace in action and thank you so much for letting us know about it. If Krishna is going to be in Califnornia then please notify him to come to the Economics of Peace!
Chris
Thanks for this same as Kathmnadu we have concept of Pokhara Bio-Dynamic Farm so please could we share some ideas and work b co-ordinationg
krishna
www.volunteerventure.org
Lark -
Great story, which I was put onto by Bill Hutchins who was in Nepal working. I have a friend, a film maker and I am sending her your information. Maybe she will be moved to offer help. Her name is Harriet Getzels.
- Leslie
I do think that these 'facts' need to be verified!
It would appear from this article that Mr Gurung is the founder Guru of Shanti Seva. Closer to the truth is that the enterprise wouldn't have gotten anywhere without the passion and drive of the other co-founder, Marianne Grosspietsch and other dedicated team members.
Investigative questions should be asked as to why Mr Gurung is no longer with Shanti Seva.
Investigative questons should also be instigated into the recent troubles involving the attempted destructive'take-over' of Shanti Seva by close associates of Mr Gurung and KRMEF. Criminal charges, including forgery; fraud; intimidation;coercion of others to commit crimes; incitement to riot; property damage and other even more serious charges will in all probability be served on numerous individuals intimately and VERY closely associated with KRMEF!! Mr Gurung was conveniently absent from the country during these very recent happenings.
Investigation will also reveal that nearly every activity which Mr Gurung claims credit for at KRMEF has in fact been copied from the indentical activities formulated by the Shanti Seva team...and NOT by Mr Gurung in isolation.
Mr Gurung's claim of a Waldof inspired school is a bit premature too...especially as he is illegally using the name 'Waldorf Inspired'. Howver, Shanti Seva does have the authority to use the name 'Waldof Inspired' for their school in northern Kathmandu.
Obviously a lot of straight questions need to be asked of parties independent of both institutions. Hopefully, the truth will prevail.