the special school that i have been working at in dharamsala is only a temporary solution to the need for a school that supplies specific educational resources to a vastly under-represented population. a few years ago a former CCS volunteer (my program) was involved in the special school program and fell in love with the kids. upon ending his volunteer time he found out that the program was temporary and was to be terminated shortly due to lack of organization and funding. when he returned to the states he felt his calling and started his NGO "harmony through education." his idea was to set up schools for the mentally and physically differently-abled populations in developing countries and provide a jump off for these kids and their families. over the last few years he has been raising money and planning to start his first school in dharamsala, india. the money has been raised through donations and fundraising events thus and grant money is in the works. the vison for the future includes opening schools all over the globe and providing viable and sustainble help accross many levels in the community.
his website is located here:
http://harmonythrougheducation.org/
the kids in the pictures at the website are the ones that i am currently working with and we will be moving to the new school on its own land in the next few weeks! i have spent some extra time painting and cleaning the house, that is HUGE, and is the former residence of the dali lama's sister. the new space will boost legitamacy and will hopefully increase awareness and participation within the community for this population. it is really powerful to be around a truly grassroots orginization that is full of promise and vision.
hopefully this project goes well and adds another piece to the puzzle of over-turning the current global-mainstream-dominator-paradigm that leaves certin groups out, does not plan ahead and is not mindful of all its actions. as we move into the future and are surrounded by seemingly boundless infomation, communication and technology, we need to take stock of all members of this earth and consider how we can serve the world as we serve ourselves. there is no doubt that the world is changing and new ideas are rising to battle the widespread issuses facing our world, but there is no one solution and no save all approach that can deeply fix our globe and transform our thinking. it is about creativly finding many solutions to push back the ills and failures of the past and collectively modifing behavior to piece-by-piece unite this world and create one that will last and encourage us all to strive for and achieve true peace, bliss and love..... its all about baby steps. lets walk together.
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