Sambhaav Trust - Ecological Education and Restoration in Government Schools

Project Brief: Working with at-risk Government schools and the children on environmental sustainability education (learning and teaching around water and food systems) and on-ground restoration work to resolve water and nutrition scarcity.
Project Type: Alternative Education (description)
Primary Focus: creating resources (description)

Secondary Focus: health and cleanliness

Area: Rural
Supporting Chapter Contact: Austin
Status: current / ongoing
Project Steward: Rangakrishnan Srinivasan
Project Partner(s): Ashis Panda
Other Contacts:
Project Address: , C/o Kunjbhari Sharma and Chhagan Gurjar, ,Village Nandu,Alwar,
Rajasthan  301410
Tel: 011-91-7926305041
Stewarding Chapter: Austin
Aug 2024AustinUSD 12778
Feb 2024AustinUSD 12156
Aug 2023AustinUSD 12223

Total = $37157

Sambhaav will focus on:

Environmental sustainability education (learning and teaching) around water and food systems - which are two basic essentials for living, with at least 20 secondary schools (6th standard and above) and senior secondary schools (9th standard and above) each year. Total children reached will be about 4000 per year at about 200 children per school per year.

On-ground work to resolve water and nutrition scarcity and quality issues with at least 10 secondary (6th standard and above) and senior secondary schools (9th standard and above) each year. Total children benefited will be about 2000 per year, at about 200 children per school.

While there are many educational initiatives around conservation, there are not many that combine education with solid on-ground practice around conservation, involving participation from the stakeholders involved, such that it leads to lasting and real change.

This programme will be executed in Jaipur, Ajmer and Tonk districts of Central Rajasthan and Alwar, Dausa and Bharatpur districts of Eastern Rajasthan. Physiographically these districts are located in the East Rajasthan Uplands and the Aravalli range.

This programme will focus on working with rural Government schools and children studying in them. By the nature of Sambhaav’s focus of working with communities on a participatory basis, this will extend to work with farmers and pastoralists of the villages in which these schools are located. The communities belong to a range of communities - SC, ST, OBC and General in terms of caste categories.

Eastern Rajasthan
C/o Kunjbhari Sharma
Village Nandu, Talaab Panchayat, Rajgarh Tehsil
Alwar, Rajasthan

Central Rajasthan
C/o Chhagan Gurjar
Village Heerapura, Phagi Tehsil Via Renwal-Manji
Jaipur, Rajasthan
Sambhaav Trust is a voluntary development organization that works towards the sustainable development of urban and rural human and natural resources with a long-term objective of bringing about change – physical, social and attitudinal.

Sambhaav accomplishes its mission by building local / community-level leadership in urban and rural areas using the medium of constructive and organizational work around water, land, forest, pasture and natural resource restoration, conservation and management.
Sambhaav, started in 1999, has been working on the rejuvenation and revival of ecological systems along with rural and urban communities. They have worked extensively in the Thar desert as well as in North and Central India.
Major thematic areas of work include:
Conserving and restoring land, water and natural resources; Strengthening livelihoods of farmers and pastoralists; Improving access to quality water, food as well as income as result of the above activities; Building local governance systems and community-level leadership

As part of Sambhaav's work in Central and Eastern Rajasthan, Sambhaav came across at-risk and vulnerable government schools with no potable water for the children and the staff. The infrastructure of water conservation is defunct with no community participation and awareness. This project is to address this situation.