Bhubaneswar: This coming monsoon, a Khandagiri-based non-government organisation (NGO) is aiming to plant five hundred native fruit trees including the likes of mango, jackfruit, guava, bel, kendu, tamarind and jamun among others in government and private schools across the city.
Native fruit trees which are an excellent source of nutrients are fast disappearing, and the team aims to sensitise the city crowd of their importance. Most importantly, the initiative wishes to reach out to children – to inculcate knowledge of the environment, food, nutrition, security and develop in them a habit to care for it. Work on the drive has already started. Plantation methodology – preparing the soil for plantation and future sustainability of the plant, has been decided upon with the help of well-known environment crusader Sabarmati appa. A long-time critic of chemical farming, the team is currently working on procuring natural fertilisers from goshalas. Simultaneously, schools are being brought on board, based on adequate availability of space, water supply and enthusiasm towards the cause by school officials.
Helping the NGO, Unmukt Foundation, in the cause are Samskriya and Back To Village. Sunil Bhagwani of Trees For Tomorrow has been guiding the team from his past experience of running similar drives across the state, whereas Ar. Siddharth is designing illustrations to spread word of this planet-friendly cause among kids.
“The workload will increase exponentially in the coming month and so we are looking for passionate individuals residing in Bhubaneswar to join our Green Army,” said a member of Unmukt.
It may be mentioned here that Unmukt Foundation was formally started in 2017, with the vision of making holistic, localised and indigenous education accessible to kids; and creating eco-friendly communities across India and the world. To fill up the educational void, regular classes for children are held every week at Unmukt Creativity Center – art class by Abinas, computational thinking by Sambit from Ek-Asha, self-defense training by Buddhaditya and Ashirbad, and dance class by Suprava and Subrat.
In addition to these, the foundation conducts sessions on language, drama, creating products from waste and music.
Other than these regular activities, Unmukt has actively engaged with the community in spreading love for the environment. Various sessions including the likes of making natural colours for Holi, sculpting Ganesha organically, growing your own food, healthy food vs junk food and talk on millets mission, have been organised from time to time in association with a number of outstandingly talented individuals and organisations from diverse fields.
A believer in the omnipresence of Art and Creativity, the foundation holds monthly sessions under its Art umbrella by hosting events like establishing connection through painting, music jam, storytelling and open mic.
The foundation’s creativity center, located at Khandagiri here forms the base of Unmukt’s work. Walls coloured and adorned with paintings, a library in the corner, and an open workspace for meetings – the center represents the soul of the foundation, a starting point in their quest towards undoing the many wrongs of an education system that has paralysed the country’s students since independence.