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 local clients 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, held twice a year.  That means a new livelihood for 120 families a year!  We're thrilled that a second Usha sewing school is up & running.  Our students are selling their works locally and are in negotiations with a fashion designer in Bangalore.

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 constructing a temporary clinic in the village and are seeking to hire a weekly doctor until the permanent facility is built.

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 will provide not only micro-credit funding but also training materials and mentorship with existing entrepreneurs and local businesspeople, to launch and grow family-based businesses successfully.  So far, we have begun production of stuffed tigers and expect 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) - 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.  We also plan to provide children's and adults' books in Hindi and English about local wildlife and conservation.  This type of conservation marketing has been shown effective elsewhere in spreading conservation, and we plan to produce a range of materials and programmes.

Munglu's Jungle, a book preserving & sharing the village elder's jungle knowledge and stories, gathered over a lifetime spent exploring the wilderness.  An adult book is planned in the same style as Jim Corbett's memoirs, and children's books are planned which will also teach English and promote wildlife conservation.  The book will feature a narrative of when he was attacked by a leopard at age 70 and survived!  He'll be giving fireside chats to wildlife and education guests and special talks in our school.