"The aim of this programme is to uplift individuals, families and communities so that they become self-reliant both socially and economically."

The 5H Programme - Social Transformation & Community Development

5H works to:

• Raise standard of living in impoverished areas around the world
• Enable the people in these areas to create their own solutions
• Educate on mental, emotional and spiritual levels
• Create a grassroots model for progressive social change
• Give every human being a chance for a disease free body and a stress free mind
• Foster harmony in diversity and cultural tolerance

The five main areas of 5H focus are:

• Health - Basic health care for every member of our society
• Homes - A Roof over every Head
• Hygiene - Provide clean drinking water and sanitary conditions for all
• Human Values - Sustaining development through Human Values
• Harmony in Diversity - Bringing the World Together

Through these areas of focus, AOL seeks to create model villages. Following are parameters:

Quantitative :

• 70%Voters population should have participated in awareness camps (Nav Chetana Shivir).
• Villagers should get together for community celebration at least once a  week
• Village should be 100% clean from garbage. There should be a garbage disposal system in the village – run by the villagers.
• Chemical free farming is practiced over 10 of the cultivable land
• Rs.100,000 worth of projects have been taken by the villagers for village development.

Qualitative:

• Villagers have been motivated to rise above politics and work for village development.
• Majority of villagers are aligned with the developmental projects
• Water disposable system must be made - no water logging around bore wells / pumps / drainage system.
• Clean drinking water is available in the village.
• Primary health care center must be made for the villagers basic medical requirements.
• Information center - where villagers can get information on chemical free agriculture, government schemes for development, etc.
• All children must go to school
• People to be rooted in their tradition and culture.
• Volunteers core group is ready to take on the work independently, with 5H youth leader as an external facilitator.

A few examples of model villages ( out of the 26 so far) are Chakaura, chilla, chattha, kamlar, kevta, puvarka, sikri, gutila and mendha.

The long-term goal is for far-reaching social transformation leading to the elimination of poverty and disease.         

For more information on the 5H actitivies, please visit: www.5H.org

Hinjawadi Seva Projects

Human Values :First Nav Chetana Shivir –

Photos: http://in.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/someshwar_koshti/slideshow?.dir=/7e9escd&.src=ph

Videos: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=4E981D00B48A24E3

Human Values: 2nd Nav Chetana Shivir –

Photos: http://in.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/someshwar_koshti/slideshow?.dir=/55aascd&.src=ph

Videos: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=A032779D6145C1E1

Human Values: 3'rd Nav Chetana Shivir - Biggest with more than 350 participants

Photos:  http://in.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/someshwar_koshti/slideshow?.dir=/b986scd&.src=ph

Videos: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=8F58FE1AD91F361E

Hygiene: Cleanliness Awareness Program with Actual Cleaning of School and Surrounding Place –

Photos:  http://in.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/someshwar_koshti/slideshow?.dir=/8e43scd&.src=ph

Videos: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=96B8B358B03DB102

Human Values: 4'th Nav Chetana Shivir –

Photos: http://in.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/someshwar_koshti/slideshow?.dir=/dc25scd&.src=ph

5'th Nav Chetana SChivir –

Photos: http://in.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/someshwar_koshti/slideshow?.dir=/b4a8scd&.src=ph

Health:  Medical Camp

Photos: http://in.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/someshwar_koshti/slideshow?.dir=/20aascd&.src=ph

Seva Activities

Art of Living helps villages win Nirmal Gram Puraskar

The Art of Living’s 5H Program has helped eight villages from Maharashtra make the cut for this year’s Nirmal Gram Puraskar, which was presented by President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam on Friday. Thanks to the Art of Living’s initiative to build toilets and educate the villagers on personal hygiene, the villages could meet the strict parameters for the award which include access to household toilets, absence of open defecation and maintenance of public cleanliness.

Every house in the village of Kapsi, Dhumalwadi, Sokasan, Dangirewadi, Khutbav, Waki, Nidhal and Jadhavwadi uses a personal toilet built by the Art of Living in collaboration with the villagers. Under its 5H Program, the Art of Living has built over 500 toilets in Maharashtra, of which 100 are in the Kapsi district. 5H stands for Health, Homes, Hygiene, Harmony in Diversity and Human Values.

The award represents a major shift in the mindset of the villagers towards personal hygiene. “It is easy to construct a toilet, but it is difficult to motivate the villagers to utilise them due to the old habit of answering nature’s call in the open,” says Dr Madhav Pol, Satara district seva co-ordinator of the Art of Living. Art of Living volunteers, who started working in these villages in 2004 and educated the villagers about the disadvantages of the age-old method of defecating in the open. So far, over 3,575 sessions have been conducted to spread the importance of personal hygiene.

As an appreciation of the role played by the Art of Living, the Kapsi village panchayat requested Dr Pol to receive the award on its behalf.

“Toilets have led to a better and healthier lifestyle for the whole village, especially women,” says Dr Pol. Earlier the villagers would answer nature’s call in the open, leading to wide-scale breeding of mosquitoes and disease-carrying insects. In the absence of toilets at home, women were forced to endure punishing restraints and had to wait until dark to defecate. Apart from affecting the dignity, safety and sense of privacy, the absence of lavatories had a devastating effect on the health of the women with many suffering from gastroenteritis almost all the time.

“The toilet construction and other programmes of the Art of Living have brought people together to work for the betterment of the village,” adds Dr Pol. The Art of Living has been working in several villages in Maharashtra and in India. Its interventions have helped 151 villages in the Vidarbha region end the tragedy of farmer suicides. In Kapsi alone, several activities such as zero-budget farming, rainwater harvesting and smokeless chulas are being implemented bringing about revolutionary results. Thanks to 28 check dams constructed under the 5H Program, the water table of the drought-prone village has gone up so high that the village can withstand two years of no rainfall.

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