An update on the family sponsorship

We don't give updates on this project often, simply because we need to protect the family's privacy. There will always be elements of this project we choose to not write about because of this. Also - the project is fully funded by Cathrine and her family. The project is nevertheless an important part of our work, and now we think a general update is called for.

One issue we are working on at the moment is the family's ownership of six acres of land not far from their current home (their current home is provided for them by the government). This land comes from the father's side of the family, but the family has not had access to the land for several reasons. This situation has lasted for quite some time now (before our involvement in the family). We are currently looking into applying to the municipality to get this matter sorted, but it is a delicate situation that must be handled with care - so this will take time to solve. Still; access to this land is important for the family's future and as this is rightfully theirs, it should be available to them.

Early on we found work for the oldest son, but he had to turn it down since he was illiterate. We were hoping to change this, but his progress is slow and he is often not motivated for literacy class. Our cooperation with him has been a bit difficult for several reasons, but it is important that we listen to what he wants for himself. He wants to work, and to get married, so we will yet again try to find him a job in the area even if he is not really literate yet (he has tried to find work by himself without much success). He will still have the opportunity to come to literacy classes if we wants to. Getting married is of course not a good idea for him, but these kinds of life choices must be his own. We can just hope that he waits a bit longer before finding a wife, given his situation. Finding work for him is a challenge though. After all - being unemployed is more common than being employed where he lives. But we don't give up that easily!

The eldest daugther still attends sewing school,  but we are a bit worried that the quality of her classes isn't good enough after they changed the teacher. She will get extra tuition from Vijay's aunt to make sure she learns what she needs, and she will also be given the opportunity to particiate in the cloth bag project from now on. Her education is part of our plan to give the family an income, together with the sewing machine she got from us back in February.

Several of the children in the family are doing great in school/literacy class, and if this continues there is a chance for some of them to continue to 9th grade/go back to school from July 2018. One of the boys is particulary good at his studies. He participates in our classes in Tikri, but also attends English classes at the Different School. During the day he also studies on his own. There might be a whole different path for him in the future and we will be happy to support him through it all.

There has been some health issues with the children during the summer, but this has been dealt with. Now we are worried about the general health of the mother. We have tried to convince her to go to the doctor's for a check-up for some time, and she has finally agreed (but has to help her brother with the harvest first....). Anyway - this has made us look into health insuranse for the family, as there are some schemes available for BPL-families in India (BPL=Below Poverty Line).

There are also some practical issues with their living conditions we have to tend to - and we will over time. All in all we are happy with the development in this project. The goal is for the family to be able to support themselves - and to give the children an education. This takes time of course, but we see things moving in the right direction.

Literacy classes has started again

Our literacy class has started again after the break, three weeks early. Our teacher, Ravi, has the opportunity to stay in Delhi for his German studies for a few more months, and of course we support him in this decition. His brother Vijay, has agreed to continue to teach in his absence, and as the students were impatient for the class to start again, there was no reason to wait until October. As far as we know, Ravi plans to come back to us from December/January.

The class started on september 11th, but shortly after Vijay got sick and had to take time off to recover. He is now back on his feet and the classes have began again. The classes are still held in front of/inside the house of Aryan's* family and we are grateful that the family allows us to hold the class at their place for now. Most of the children in the family participate in class, so this makes attendence more easy for them too.

We have added two more classes to our literacy project, but as it turns out Vijay gives not six but eight classes a week! We really appriciate his dedication! The classes are held in the morning or late afternoon and he teaches four classes in Hindi and four in English. He has devided the class in two; one group for the more advanced students with good motivation and work ethic, and one class for the ones who struggle more and needs more of his time during class. We are told that some of the students are getting quite good, and some of them might even be good candidates for 9th grade from July 2018. We are especially happy to hear that this includes at least one boy who stopped after grade 8 a couple of years back. This has been one of our goals for the literacy project. We are also told that most of the students have made progress, but of course some of them need more time than others to learn.

We are also happy to hear that Kat, who works as a volunteer for Friends in Khajuraho Association, has joined Vijay in Tikri this past week. She likes to sit in Hindi class to learn the hindi alphabet, and she also teaches English together with Vijay. This must be very exciting for our students, and they also get the best English class possible! Teaching in Tikri is not one of her assignments, but she is more than welcome to be part of our literacy project as long as she wants to!

Vice President Linn

Linn is Ganpati Norway's Vice President. She is from Trøndelag, but moved to Oslo in 2007. She has a master in Counseling Pedagogy and works for The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration. She often works abroad during the summer season, working for Norwegian embassies around the world. She is currently stationed in Beirut, and will return to Oslo in December.

Linn loves to travel, and has been on many trips around the world. Most of her longest trips have been to Asia, but she has also traveled to other parts of the world. She has traveled around India on three occations, and on one of these trips she worked as a volunteer for a womens project in Vadodara (Gujarat) for three months. Linn has visited Khajuraho once, but that was on her first trip to India back in 2000, so it is about time she revisits! At the end of this entry you can see some pictures from her last trip to India (with Cathrine in 2009).

Linn is also a talented chef and cooking is one of her hobbies. To be invited for dinner at her place is always exciting and she serves up the most delicious dishes from a wide range of cultures. Linn is also one of the founders of Ganpati Norway and we are looking forwards to have her a bit closer to us and more active in the organisation from December (and not just because we miss having dinner at her place!).

What is the best part of Ganpati Norway and the work you do?

The best part is that our donors always know what we use their money on, and who benefits from their support. The fact that we support both education and small scale projects in a village will contribute to development in the village as a whole, not just individuals. We support basic education and support underprivileged women in a sustainable way.  Hopefully, our contribution means more families have the opportunity to support themselves sufficiently in the future.

It is nice for me personally to contribute in an area of the world I know very well.  I hope to travel to Tikri/Khajuraho soon, and to meet our partners in Friends in Khajuraho Association, see our projects up close and meet children, young adults and women who are participating in our projects in the area.

Cloth bag project started this week

Ganpati Norway has supported the launch of the project and this week the work began in Khajuraho. This is a project run by Friends in Khajuraho Association with support from us. So far we have agreed to support the project with two sewing machines, some additional equipment and salary for the trainer for the rest of this year.

Through this project, underprivileged women get training, acess to sewing machines and materials to make cloth bags without costs (and maybe they'll make other products too later on). The bags are then sold to local shops as a replacement for plastic bags, now forbidden in Khajuraho. The income from the sales goes directly to the women in the project. The trainer is paid seperately so the participants gets all of the income from their products. The trainer, Anushka* is also a woman in a difficult situation, as her husband is an alcoholic. The project only accepts underprivileged women or women with family problems, as these women need to be empowered the most. The project leader is currently Kat from England, a volunteer working for Friends in Khajuraho Association. The project has it own space in the same builing as The Different School, but the women also have the opportunity to work from home.

Read more about this project on the projects webpage and blog. If you want to make a donation (monetary or materials/equipment), contact Friends in Khajuraho Association or us. You can also find information on how to donate directly to this project on this site.

*Names have been changed to protect their identity

Our most enthustiastic boardmember - Torlaug!

This week we will tell you about our boardmember Torlaug. She is from Melbu in Vesterålen (in northern Norway), but has lived in Våler i Solør since 1978. She and her husband have two daughers (Cathrine and Therese) and four grandchildren. Torlaug is an educated social worker and coach and has worked with teenagers with drug addiction and behaviour problems (and their families) for many years. She is currently also working with children placed in foster care for other reasons. Torlaug worked with children and teenagers in the local church for many years, but has not been active in church for a long time now. There are of course many differences between social work in India and Norway, but it is beneficial to our work to have an experienced social worker and coach on our board. Torlaug is an very active woman, and holds pilates- and zumbaclasses at the local gym (which she owns and runs together with her husband).

Torlaug supported Aryan's* family back in 2005 and 2011, and she is our most enthustiastic boardmember, always ready to share what she can on social media. When she heard that Aryan* had died, she immediately offered to support the family long term - which she does together with her husband and Cathrine. Torlaug wanted to do this back in 2003, but it was not possible then. It has been very important to her to do something for other children in Tikri, not just Aryan's children and to create an organisation to make sure everything is properly handled. Torlaug has never been to India herself, but this is about to change as she will travel to Khajuraho/Tikri with Cathrine and Linn the coming winter. She is excited about this trip, but she is also a bit anxious about it all.

What do you think is the best part about Ganpati Norway and the work you do?

Everything!!!!!! I really like the opportunity I have to get involved,  to make a difference and actually see the results of my effort. It does not take much money to make a difference, so just about everyone can be part of "team Ganpati" if they want to. Vio, Vijay and Ravi document everyting and keep Cathrine informed - and she informs the board as she hears from them. It is quite fun to be on the board and see everything that goes on.

I really feel for Aryan's* widow, being left alone with nine kids and no income. What a horrible situation to be in! I have helped the family before through Cathrine, and I have heard so much about them that I feel I know them. It will be very exciting, and emotional, to finally meet them myself in a few months time. I will probably cry, not just once but several times during this trip - I am sure of it! But it will be worth the emotional turmoil! I just hope I don't get sick while I'm there - I am a bit worried about that....

It is also very important to me that Ganpati is not primarily about Aryan's* family, but about children and young adults in Tikir. The literacy project is therefore the most important project in my mind. I would love it if there was something we could do so that the kids learn what they are supposed to at the village school and don't need extra tuition to become literate. That way we could spend more money helping kids with their education passed 8th grade instead. But that is not an easy problem to solve I'm afraid. The clothbag project is important too, and might become very important in the long run - giving women an income and a network  - and it is also an ecofriendly project. This project is not "ours" though, as it is initiated by Friends in Khajuraho Association, but we support the project and we're involved. And it is great that we can bring clothes with us when we come to visit - and that Vio/Vijay distribute the clothes to underprivileged families in the area. So... I said "everything" is the best part - and it is not far from the truth!!

Boardmember Therese

Therese grew up in Våler (in the Solør district), a small village close to the boarder between Norway and Sweden. During her studies and early career she lived in Oslo, Fredrikstad and Myre (in Vesterålen) . She now lives in Våler again, with her boyfriend (Stein Roger) and their two daughters. She is a physical therapist as well as a trained acupuncturist and runs her own clinic. Before they had children, she and her boyfriend worked as a fosterhome for teenagers with drugs and behavior problems, and took part in their treatment/rehabilitation.

Therese's big passion is horses. As a mum to two small girls she rarely finds the time to go horseriding on her own, but she takes her children to the stable as often as she can.Therese has traveled quite a bit, but has not been to India (yet!). Together with her sister (Cathrine) and her parents, she helped Aryan's family in 2005 and 2011 and is therefore an important part of Ganpati Norway's background story.

What is the best part of Ganpati Norway and the work you do?

The work Ganpati Norway does in Tikri is something I know my sister has been dreaming of doing for a very long time, and I know how important this is to her. I have heard stories of Aryan* and his family since 2003 so they have been a part of my reality for many years. This is one of the reasons why I chose to get involved. 

But - I also think the work Ganpati Norway does is both good and important. And we decide and control everything! We decide what we want to do, after advise from our partner Friends in Khajuraho Association, and we know exactly how our money is spend down there. We are also able to see the direct link between the money we spend and the impact is has, and this is the best part of the organisation in my mind. We are small, and so are our projects. We can follow the kids in our project up close. We know their names, how old they are, and their background and their living conditions. We also know a bit about their dreams and hopes for the future. And then we try to help them with what they need to get there in the long run. I really like that part too.

Meet our boardmember Espen!

In the coming weeks, we will introduce our boardmembers, and for our first blog entry on this topic, we chose Espen. Espen is Cathrine's boyfriend since 2009 and they have two small children together (Cathrine is head of the board). Espen was born and raised in Lofoten, but has lived in Oslo since 2003. He works with IT security in Cyberon Security (he also owns a small part of this firm). Espen likes to work out, doing heavy weightlifting several times a week, and is also a certified personal trainer. He is really passionate about his favorite soccerteam, the norwegian team Rosenborg from Trondheim.

Espen has been to India once, and also visited Khajuraho and Tikri (he went to visit Aryan's* family who lived in Tikri). Further down in this blog entry you will find pictures from his travel experience in India.When Aryan's* children contacted Cathrine, he was the first to suggest that he and Cathrine should support them longterm in cooperation with Vio and Vijay. Without his initiative, Ganpati Norway would never have been founded.

What do you like the most about Ganpati Norway?

I have been to Tikri and visited the family we support there and I know how different their lives are compared to mine. When Aryan's children contacted my girlfriend and it became clear to us how severe their situation was, it was obvious to me that we should do something for them long term so that they have a chance at a better life. And then it grew to become more thant just about this family! I really like our literacy project where we give children and young adults a chance to learn how to read and write in their native language, to do basic math and even some english. I hope we can support underprivileged children through secondary highschool and/or other kinds of formal education too in the future. That would be amazing!

Most people are so busy with their own "stuff" that it would never occur to them to step up for strangers far away. So was I. But suddenly we had this amazing opportunity more or less handed to us. To be involved in work like this was a new experience for me when we started, but I really enjoy it. Knowing that my small contribution can change lives on the other side of the planet.... it is nice to think about.