Project Description
The Ramnagar Eco Community Centre
A centre promoting environmental projects, education, health, education, sustainability issues, social welfare, community enterprise through Fair Trade employment, recycling, and small-scale organic agriculture. Based in the rural village of Ramnagar, deep in the Sundarbans, the Eco Community Centre would use photovoltaic, and wind turbine energy to provide electricity for the building, surplus electricity would be provided to the local community. Water harvesting and compost toilets would demonstrate sustainable practices.
ECO CENTRE
A new sustainable building would be created which demonstrates sustainability in action by having zero carbon energy emissions. the Ramnagar Eco Centre / School would be a base for the promotion of community-based environmental enterprises in biofuel production, in smallscale agriculture, garbage collection and recycling, social welfare projects in health, education, and employment.
The Eco-Community Centre would be the focus for community based sustainable food production, these include organic honey production, and organic mushroom growing and other small-scale agricultural projects.
FACILITIES
In the fields nearby, a community woodland will be planted out, which will have two beneficial effects, one it would help stabilise the land and thereby help protect it from tsunami and cyclones, and two not only will it provide recreational space for the community, the trees planted would take in carbon dioxide, a cause of “global warming”, but the trees would also produce a seed which can be turned into bio-diesel. That bio-diesel would run water pumps to irrigate the land in the drought months From the Ramnagar Eco Community Centre we will provide the following:
A Primary School for children aged 5-12
Spoken English and Computer Classes
Health Programmes-Family Planning advice
First Aid Clinic
HIV / Aids Awareness
Environmental Education
Garbage Collection & Recycling
Sustainable Energy Generation
Tree Planting Scheme
Employment Opportunities using Traditional Handicrafts
Small-scale Agricultural Programme
As well as promoting an education and environmental syllabus, the Centre would provide a low-cost education service for local people in spoken English and computer training. In addition, it is possible that an outreach service based in a vehicle run on bio-diesel and using photovoltaics could deliver educational courses to schools farther afield.
Handicrafts
At the same time, a unit providing handicraft training using traditional methods would give much needed economic help to local people. A small-scale handicraft unit will be set up, the handicrafts made would be of an international export quality. Most importantly the production, trading and marketing of the handicrafts would be on a Fair Trade basis. This would raise income levels in the villages, especially for women and girls. There would be an increase in employment in the locality and the Centre would be a focus for community action and issues confronting the 2000+ people who live in and around Ramnagar, and other surrounding villages today.
PRESS RELEASE
Indian man travels 5000 miles to thank people in York
Tarun Ghosh a community worker from Ramnagar West Bengal India has travelled 5000 miles to York to thank the John Lally International Foundation and the staff of the Lush Cosmetic shop in Coney St for a gift of £6000 to help a poor village in the Sundarbans, India.
Mr Ghosh runs a small NGO (non-governmental organisation) helping villagers in remote villages. His organisation, known as Immanuel Human Research & Development Programme, provide a school for 40+ young children, a rudimentary health service, and work training for women to support themselves and their families.
A BIG THANK YOU TO LUSH FOR SUPPORTING OUR WORK IN RAMNAGAR
