In the Media (Sri Sri Ravi Shankar visited Vidarbha district in Oct 2007):
Project Vidarbha - Swavalamban(Self-Reliance) Program
Vidarbha region in Maharashtra, India has been affected by farmer suicides since 2005.Statistics in 2006 suggested a farmer was ending his life every eight hours. With the Maharashtra government drawing help from different quarters, they approached the the Art of Living Foundation to intervene.
“There has not been a single instance of suicide in the 151 villages we have worked so far. There are about 1,000 villages in the Amravati region of Vidarbha. The current suicides are happening in the other villages we have yet to reach. We are training more youth leaders to reach out to all the villages.” - Project Coordinator Jayant Bhole
Till date, 1086 youth leaders trained by The Art of Living have reached out to 151 villages of Amravati region of Vidarbha. Of these 55 youth leaders are working full-time in this project with the help of local villagers.Through these programmes more than 90,000 lives have been touched.
VVKI founded by Poojya Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, prepared a practical multi-fold action plan under ‘Project Vidarbha - Swavalamban Programme’. Under this, local youth leaders are trained as part of the Youth Leadership Training Programme (YLTP). These youth leaders and their team of volunteers then take charge of one or more villages. They implement the project at all levels: Stress-elimination programmes like YLTP, The Art of Living Part I course, Samagra Arogya Shibirs and other relevant projects like Organic Farming, Zero-budget farming, Rainwater Harvesting, Hygiene, Construction of toilets.
These Programmes are being conducted by the trained youth leaders since August 4, 2006. They teach stress-relieving breath techniques to help boost the farmers’ morale and also alternative farming practices to give them a better yield in the long run.
“The Art of Living has given a new lease of life and stopped the suicides. This is what Guruji (Sri Sri Ravi Shankar) is able to do, for which the Government is very happy. I am happy that the organization has given farmers the strength to live. The government is grateful that AOL is working in Morshi and Amravati districts. I request them to take up the other six districts as well.” - Viasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister, Maharashtra
Over 4,512 villagers have also learnt The Art of Living’s breathing technique, Sudarshan kriya which has reduced stress levels. The courses received a tremendous response from farmers with 16,000 locals from Morshi Taluka, Amravati, taking the course in 14 days. Pimpalkhuta, Nimbhi, Nerpingalai, Udkhed, Riddhapur Tiwsa, Hivarkhed, Vadsa, Kolvai are a few other villages where the courses have been conducted.
“Before Art of living, there was depression and debt everywhere. I'm confident that with the zero budget farming taught in the course, the produce will improve and debts will be cleared,”- Devendra Borde, a farmer from Vidarbha district.
“I am confident that things will get better. The pranayaam and Sudarshan Kriya have made me a stronger and happier human being. I was so encouraged by the natural farming sessions that I started cultivating my fields once again,” Anand Rao Sabde, Nimbhi Village (Morshi district)
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