All Creatures Great and Small & Naz Foundation

I recently had the opportunity to visit the animal sanctuary run by Anjali Gopalan.

I was contacted by Claude who is in charge of composting at the sanctuary.  They have a something like 1/2 an acre of a vegetable garden from which they feed their staff and center for children who are affected by HIV in Delhi.

I came to test the soil, which the results should be coming out soon, for general nutrients and also testing for heavy metal contamination.

The organic farm/animal sanctuary was beautiful. It was so touching to see all of the animals taken such good care of by Anjali and her staff, the animals are visited weekly by the employed veterinarian.  The animals that make their way there are typically in critical condition.  They may be missing limbs, or have broken bones, orphaned, blind, etc.  They had a small monkey who was paralyzed they were feeding, I also saw a calf who was rather disoriented as he was blind. A small pup couldn't quite keep his tongue in his mouth, he was missing a part of his jaw.

I asked Claude, is it possible to get prosthetics for these animals, is there such thing as a prosthetic jaw?  Claude looked at me and smiled, "Well just because they may look a little funny, doesn't always mean that their quality of life is any lower or they are less happy.  This one still eats normally and plays normally, just because he looks different doesn't mean he hasn't the right to be, or shouldn't deserve to be around."

Of course I didn't mean it in the sense that something ought to be done or else. But it's always a good reminder, for us all when we are ever seeking perfection and improvement.  I guess there are those who feel that way, that a dog with three legs may not live a happy life.  I didn't get that impression from the animals here. Their very presence really touched my heart.  You could definitely tell they had a good life, and had so much love, they were love. And it was beautiful to be there.


 They had many animals, they had donkeys, horses, cows, one camel, emus, baby monkeys, over 200 dogs, cats, peacocks, chickens, and baby deer who were very very adorable.

They also had a pond of fish :)

 They also had such a beautiful big and open kitchen

They recently purchased more land so they could expand the amount of land that the animals could have.  Claude is very keen on integrating as many permaculture principles as he can into the design as well.

As of now his compost his a mixture of old farm soil, ash, compost/fresh greens, straw and newspaper.  The crop looks awesome, he bought some simple soil pH tests, which indicated that the soil and the compost were rather alkaline -- about 8.0

Our thoughts were to maybe decrease the amount of ash used in the  compost.

Yet, it will be interesting to see the results from the soil lab because we also don't really know how accurate those tests might be.

In this picture you can see their system for watering, they put in these tubed pipes so that they only need to water into the tube, so the plant receives directly the water that it needs.

I am a little apprehensive about this method, just because watering the soil isn't just about making sure the plants get the water that is needed, it is also important to take care of the soil itself and the organisms that break down organic matter for the plants.  It would seem like a good idea to water the soil periodically to keep the soil itself alive, but I guess if there is limited water on site, of course the plants themselves will be prioritized.  

Most amazing eco-commercial you will ever see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iIkOi3srLo&feature=youtu.be

Please share :):)

This commercial actually makes me want to do all the things it says to 'not' do!

Brilliant.

Could you imagine if we all decided to do those things?? What a different world we'd live in :) 

Gorukana

An Eco-resort located between the eastern and western Ghats, in beautiful forest- Biligiri Rangan Hills, a 3 hour drive from Bangalore.

The location is beautiful!  Not only is it surrounded by nature, but what really is special about the place is the people that it this place supports, the Soliga tribe.  The Soliga tribe have been living on their own in the Biligiri Rangan Hills, for hundreds of years.  They are a beautiful example of people who know how to live one with nature.  Most all of their food comes from the jungle.  They do grow finger millet, but apart from this small organic growing operation, everything else comes from the jungle.    They used to be semi-nomadic - meaning they would spend one year in a location at a time, where they would farm millet and build temporary homes, although they are also completely capable of sleeping out in the open!

I met a few people from the tribe and I felt I was only bursting with questions.
They are very sweet, genuine warm hearted people.  I was about ready to move in!

They are so one with nature, let me list a few of what they had mentioned to me:
- They have a remedy for cobra snake bites, derived from plants, they learn how to stay calm
enough to not allow the poison to kill them for 2 hours, until they have access to a plant remedy.
  I had read that some 95% of people who die from snake bites, actually die from shock not the poison. I mentioned this to the man I was speaking with and he believed this to be true, he said that within the tribe, they learn how to stay calm, under these circumstances.
- They have a medicinal plant for those who have jaundice, which they can heal the person in 3 days with this plant.
- They have the ability to smell if a tiger, or another predatory animal is around.  They were saying that a tiger has a 'chili' spice smell to it, and other animals have other kinds of smells that they can recognize from a distance.
-They worship nature.  The name gorukana- means forest god.  They see themselves as completely entertwined with nature.
- Mosquitoes and leeches are common in the forest, however to these people it doesn't really bother or affect them, they know that these insects come and they go.  When they bite, they bite, and they just let them be until they are finished.
- There are 5 clans (family groups comprised of maybe about 50-100 ppl per group).  Men and women from different clans are allowed to marry.  They only have love marriages.  Once two people fall in love, the tribe sends them off to live alone in the forest for a few weeks to see if they are really compatible. So after a couple of weeks, the couple decides if they would like to get married or if they actually are not so compatible together, either outcome is accepted.
- All tribal's can readily identify each and every plant in their forest, as well as animal- including birds.
-Even the 3 year olds, can readily identify which mushrooms are edible in the forest!   
-They have no caste systems, not even in modern Indian society can they be placed in a caste since their connection to modern India is that old! They do speak a similar enough language to the local language - Kannada, but different enough that it is distinguished. 

I spent 3 days at this eco-resort.  On the second day, the tribals put on a cultural event for us.  They were so happy and proud to just be able to share a little bit of their culture with us.  But actually, I felt like the truly blessed one that they were sharing their beautiful traditions with us.  They began with drumming, and then slowly both the young and the older came dancing out around a bon-fire, wearing white skirts and leaves around their heads.  They performed with such joy, you could just feel that their entire selves were immersed in happiness and vibrancy!

They sung absolutely beautifully!  Then they welcomed all of us who were watching to come dance with them!  Such a beautiful evening to be with all of them!

While we were there we also had the chance to see a few animals, and tiger footprints!  We saw a giant squirrel, bison, an eagle and a lengur.  Our guide was one of the people from the tribe, he has been trained as a naturalist, meaning, he has learned the english names along with scientific names of all of the plants and animals in the forest.  They are so skilled at identifying everything, even the birds, they readily can identify the sounds they hear.  Our guide had extremely sharp vision!  I would only be seeing a dot in the distance and he would happily reply as to which bird it was.  Absolutely incredible!  

The accommodations were surprisingly comfortable, for being so remote, it compared if not surpassed a 5 star hotel.  Also the cooks were amazing!  The food was incredible and they were so accommodating towards our dietary needs.  We asked for no milk, no ghee, no paneer, and little if not no oil.  So suddenly they started preparing so many dishes without oil, not even a question to us as to how they should do it, they happily prepared the food and the food was amazing. 

What else is special about this place is, it happened because of one person.   The founder, Dr. Sudarshan over 30 years ago, made the decision to dedicate his life to a social cause.  When his first interactions with the Soliga tribe began, they were a little wary of him.  But he was patient with them, and was able to help them with a few modern medical needs, which allowed a trust to be built over time.  Today he has set up an NGO which supports their schools and medical facilities. The system has been set up in a way that actually most of the facilities are also operated by the tribal's themselves.  This enables them a necessary bridge to the modern world, which they once used to fear, but now, with more understanding and a relationship to it, they have come to see it with new eyes.  They are very thankful to Dr. Sudarshan's efforts because, as the modern world grows, their home becomes more difficult to live in, so a relationship with the outside world is necessary at this point.  Esp. now that the government has made it illegal to hunt in these forests among other regulations.  So it's a beautiful relationship which has formed.  And we have this amazing opportunity to stay at Gorukana, and to interact with people who live in a way in which the rest of us could learn a lot from.

Amazing.  

http://gorukana.org/

Pictures to come. 

Charity to schools in need

November 17, 2010

Today I went out with Vanya, her charity organizer David from England and other important members from Earth Trust. David came with some donations and today we visited a school to see how we could help them out. The kids had prepared a song for us, and a few presentations about some of the wildlife in the area. It was all in their local language but we had some translators who dubbed us in on what it was about.

The parents even performed a song and a dance for us!

Their wish for the money that was going to be donated to them was to buy some tiles for their bathrooms since the floors were dirt, and it is difficult for them to keep the area clean and sanitary.

(this last picture of an outdoor wall is what they use for the urinal)

When the kids and parents were told that we had the money to give them for the tiles, I cant tell you how happy they were! They were smiling, clapping and so grateful! Their second wish was to have building materials to create a few vermi-compost pits, so they could produce their own compost that could create some income for the school.

David had only one request if the kids were to be granted the materials, that they would write journal entrees about the building of the pits and the creation of the compost. The kids happily obliged.

We all went outside for some group pictures. Right after the kids came up to us, so excited. They asked me my name, where I was from, what my parents names were, if I had siblings, who they were, and how old they were. They asked me what grade of school I was in. I thought that one was the cutest question. I told them I was no longer a student. They were shocked. I just smiled.

This day changed my life. Just seeing how little some schools actually have, but how blessed and grateful every child is for what they do have. Incredible experience. I feel so blessed to have been involved in this process today.

(if you have the opportunity to donate to Earth Trust, do it, it's really a miracle worker in India)
http://www.friendsofhope.org.uk/ - here is the contact info for David

Jungle Tour

September 28th 2010

Bobbi took us out on the jeep today. We tracked wild boar, white tailed deer and elephants! They looked liked huge boulders from far away! Much harder to spot than I would have imagined. We also spotted a bengalese eagle owl. They are about 2 feet tall and they hunt in pairs after other smaller birds. One owl will will chase the smaller bird while the other owl will attack.



I felt like I was living in the discovery channel today.





We also saw sambar- a large deer and the barking deer.

And..I learned today that chicken still actually live in the wild some places! In India they are called jungle fowel, and they are very noisy, but flighty. I heard them make really funny calls but never got a chance to spot one.

The aromas that drifted through the jeep while we toured Bobbi's land smelled of curry leaves, cumin seeds, dirt and sage.

The funny thing about India is, no matter how remote you think you are, it perhaps isn't that remote.

Villagers still have access to the pond on Bobbi's land and every Tuesday they do their puja ceremonies (religious ceremonies). It probably wouldn't be that big of a deal if they didn't leave the place trashed after they left.



The puja alter, right next to the pond.



the pond.



a fraction of the trash left.

I have plenty of more pictures of the trash, but I'll keep at that, because I just got angry after seeing this, and there really isn't much to that can be done about it.

But even with the Puja ceremonies on Tuesdays, the place is amazing. It's amazing that just four years ago this land was all farmland, and now it easily supports all of these animals, no problem. The only animal that is missing is the monkey! The trees haven't yet grown tall enough for their protection against the cats.

We finally got a chance to get out of the jeep and take a hike up one of the hills.
We saw the 'blue mountain range' or the Nilgiris. I saw no animals on my hike, but I did carry a rock and a stick. It felt better than being empty handed even though I doubt it could have done anything in the case of tiger.










That night we sat on the rooftop again, watching a lightening show for over an hour, no rain or thunder but each time the entire sky would light up as if it were day. It was amazing.