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| As a result of the program by youth leaders, people in this remote village of Cameroon have taken the initiative to build a road rather than wait for the government or other agencies to help. Hundreds of youth in Cameroon have undergone the Youth Leadership Training Program and are engaged in implementing the 5H program in their villages. |
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| Ariamma, from Udipalya village in Karnataka, stands in front of her new toilet. Through the 5H Program, free toilets have been built for poor families to improve health and hygiene. This initiative has especially brought great relief to the womenfolk. |
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| HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has led and promoted campaigns to end the practice of sex selection in India. |
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Through grassroots initiatives, the Art of Living has empowered rural communities to become partners in the process of sustainable development.
HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar started the 5H Program (Homes, Hygiene, Health, Harmony in Diversity and Human Values) in 1997 to engineer a socio-economic transformation that will eradicate poverty, misery, disease, and ensure peace and harmony among communities. The 5H program is implemented by rural youth trained under the Art of Living's Youth Leadership Training Program In India, 56,146 trained youth leaders are working in 32,000 villages The 5H projects are operating in villages and slums across Africa, Asia, and South America.
86 schools have been set up providing free education to 7,500 children every year in the tribal, rural and semi-urban belts of India, where child-labor, and poverty are widespread.
The Art of Living is pursuing a comprehensive program in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, where farmers have become suicidal due to successive crop failures, and mounting debts. Earlier statistics suggested that one farmer was committing suicide every eight hours. In the 308 villages where the Art of Living volunteers have worked so far, there has not been a single reported instance of suicide. Encouraged by the results, the Government of Maharashtra has requested HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to take up the work in all affected districts. The Vidarbha program focuses on:
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Building community support systems;
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Instilling confidence, and enthusiasm in farmers;
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Promoting alternative farming techniques such as organic farming ,and zero-budget farming, to improve the yield of crops in the long run;
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Rainwater harvesting; and
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Implementing the 5H program for overall self-sufficiency in villages.
HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has inspired numerous initiatives to uplift, and create opportunities for women, especially in rural areas. He has initiated mass campaigns against female foeticide. With female literacy rates abysmally low in some parts of the world, the Art of Living rural schools encourage parents to send girl children to school. At one such school on the outskirts of Bangalore city, 50 per cent of the children are girls, with the numbers rising every year.
Women are given vocational training to reduce economic dependencies, and are given free homes registered in their names. Health education for women covers nutrition, hygiene, and disease prevention, while self-development courses help to instill inner confidence.
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