Clothing & Water Filters for the community - come see the wonderful visit by Retired Principal Home Secretary Nanhey Singh to distribute water filters and clothing to the community!

Usha Sewing Schools to teach local women how to sew with a machine.  Once certified by Usha Int'l. Ltd., each lady can start her own tailoring business to serve clients locally and nationally, and to make products for our Cottage Industries program.  In total for our two schools, we currently have capacity for 60 students in our 6-month program.  That means a potential new livelihood for 120 families a year!  We're thrilled that a second Usha sewing school is up & running.  Our students have been selling their works locally and negotiating with a fashion designer in Bangalore, and we are aiding the search for additional clients.

Clinic, with a full-time doctor and dhoula (local nurse).  After an initial period running the facility, we plan to upgrade it to a sleep-in hospital.  The nearest medical facility is 60km away (37 miles), and the prime needs in this community are for snakebite, malaria (especially infants), and childbirth complications. Target partners: Lions Clubs & Doctors Without Borders.  Currently, we are holding medical camps in temporary facilities until a permanent facility is built.

Medical Camps - We're thrilled to have hosted our first medical camp in Kanha!  More than 300 people came to our multi-specialty clinics, and many conditions were diagnosed and treated, including diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, gynecological issues, malaria, tapeworm, & more. This poor community was treated by a staff of qualified doctors for the first time!!!!!  Follow-up treatment was provided in Nagpur, and additional trips with medicine and medical staff are ongoing.

School for 100 village children, using curriculum and teacher-training provided by the Loreto Day School, Sealdah, which has trained over 1,000 teachers for 20,000 students in over 400 centres across Kolkata (Calcutta).  Loreto is the order of nuns to which Mother Teresa belonged.  We also plan to offer training in English, computers, and more.  Until the school is built, we will continue to give toys, biscuits, and other items of use to the children.  Feel free to visit our Loreto school photo album.

Cottage Industries to help local people make items to sell to the fast-increasing flow of tourists, as well as to start other businesses serving the broader community.  We are investigating micro-credit funding, as well as training materials and mentorship with existing entrepreneurs and local businesspeople, to launch and grow family-based businesses successfully.  So far, we have introduced a design of stuffed tigers and hope to expand to leopard, cheetal, sloth bear, and other animals of the Kanha forest.

Employment at the Tiger Center.  We also have a policy to use local materials, furniture, soft goods, food, laundry service, and other local goods and services, where available.  This extends our employment reach beyond our own Center into the broader community.

Educational Materials (English & Conservation) - ITC has generously included photos of our wildlife and our website address on 25 million children's writing tablets, for distribution to schools across India. What a fabulous way to capture children's interest and begin the journey to conservation for children and their parents!  In the long-term, we also hope to produce children's books in Hindi and English about tigers, their habitat, and conservation.  Further, our multi-lingual flashcards (currently in development with our local artist) will make learning English fun -- an increasingly important skill for employment in many parts of India today.