Auroville Village Action Resource Center (AVARC)
In March this year ('01) Auroville's Village
Action has inaugurated its new building, officially opened as Auroville
Village Action Resource Center (AVARC). Having outgrown the small office
in Kottakarai they really were in need, and deserving of, the
purpose-built centre in Irumbai, at a distance of 3 kms from their
previous location in Kottakarai.
Hannah Brown, a volunteer and student intern from Sussex University,
U.K., reports:
18 groups of 200 kids taking over..
At the time of this writing (June '01), the new
building has been well and truly initiated with 200 children running
around, singing, painting and creating as part of the annual summer
camps. Things are really rolling now that the move is complete: 18
groups of 200 9-10 yr olds are coming and sleeping in the new
dormitories and making full use of every available space. Every two days
a new group arrives to participate in whichever camp he or she felt most
interested in, choices ranging from sports to dance to medicinal plants.
The new centre will play host to many more such
events, the dormitories and training space enabling AVAG to offer more
and better organised training to the women's and youth groups, village
leaders, teachers, staff of other organisations.
There is also space available surrounding the
centre which, we hope, will eventually be turned into a kitchen garden
and recreation/sports place for the youth groups to meet, fostering
better inter-village and caste relations.
Innovative construction methods
The building was designed by Anupama, an
Aurovilian architect, after much discussion with the team about its
needs. Anupama has a strong commitment to low cost and sustainable
construction methods, and uses as much as possible materials from the
local area. So, given its size and elegant design with many innovative
features, the final cost was relatively cheap.
In the main training room the ceiling is made from
terracotta concave bowls. These were made by the local potters, not only
giving work to the local people the structure, but using less steel and
concrete in the roof (good news for the environment) - and these bowls
have both a cooling and noise-reduction effect on the room as well. The
building's layout is modeled on that of a traditional Tamil Nadu house
with the training room, library and offices built around a central open
space.
March 17th, '01
On the 17th March some 600 villagers came to
celebrate its opening along with Aurovilians and Indian Administrative
Service Officers. They were treated to dances, songs, skits, and
speeches by AVAG staff and the girls from the Life Education Centre (LEC)
as well as posters and charts showing progress in the different AVAG
programs.
For the staff, though, there was still much to be
done before they could fully move in and start making use of their new
base. Plumbing and phone lines needed to be connected and furniture and
files moved. After much overtime and hard work everything was shifted to
the new office and arranged for work to begin.
May 1st, '01
So on May 1st another opening was held, this time
for the staff and connected groups of AVAG to settle in and make the
space theirs. The development workers gave presentations of their
year-end evaluations and then showed their more varied talents in comedy
sketches and traditional dances. The LEC girls presented a beautiful
modern dance piece which had the whole audience in awe. They had
choreographed it themselves with Zerina's help as well as making the
costumes, and showed amazing poise, elegance and rhythm.
Link between AVARC, Palmyra and Harvest
Bhavana closed the morning with a speech which
impressed all. She talked of the growth of AVAG from an uncertain child
to a woman reaching out to help those around her, linking it to both
India and Auroville's development.
Some had had concerns about AVAG moving away from
Auroville, not only in location. But Bhavana managed to set aside and
worries by confirming to all the importance of AVAG's work in the
Mother's vision, and mentioning that in moving to the new place it now
formed an arc with Palmyra and Harvest working with the villages, and
inviting them to have positive relations with Auroville.
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