Anandwan

Anandwan ( _mr. आनंदवन), literally, "Forest of Joy", located near Warora in Chandrapur district in the state of Maharashtra, India, is an ashram, and a community rehabilitation centre for leprosy patients and the disabled from downtrodden sections of society. It was founded in 1951 by noted social activist, Baba Amte.

Baba Amte developed Anandwan to be a self-contained ashram (which could be described as "a kibbutz for the sick"). Residents are self-sufficient in terms of basic subsistence through agriculture. Land fertility in the region has been revived and is maintained by using organic farming techniques and micro-water management. In addition, the ashram has various home-based, small-scale industry units run by the residents that generate income to cover additional requirements [ [http://www.schweitzershospitalfund.org.uk/anandwan.html Dr. Schweitzer's Hospital Fund (UK) - Anandwan] ] .

Baba Amte also shaped Anandwan as an environmentally-aware community to have practices in place for energy utilization, waste recycling and minimizing usage of natural resources that might otherwise lead to their depletion. [ [http://chanda.nic.in/htmldocs/anandwan.htm The Miracle Worker Baba Amte - Collector's office, Chandrapur district] ]

Anandwan today spreads over 200 hectares and has two hospitals, a university, an orphanage, a school for the blind and a technical wing. More than 5,000 people are dependent on it for their livelihood.

References

Further reading

*cite book |author=Levinson, David; Christensen, Karen S. |title=Encyclopedia of Community: From the Village to the Virtual World |publisher=Sage Publications |location=Thousand Oaks|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=t1geOjQ6R0MC&pg=RA2-PA725&dq=Anandwan&as_brr=3&output=html&sig=ACfU3U3Vn1PmNHSfevJeMApPf8zbeBBn7Q |year=2003 |pages=725 |isbn=0-7619-2598-8 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=

*cite book |author=D.K. Oza. |title=Voluntary Action and Gandhian Approach |publisher=National Book Trust |location=New Delhi|url= |year=2002 |pages=|isbn=81-237-0142-X |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=

*cite book |author=Hans Staffner, S.J. |title=Baba Amte: A Vision of New India |publisher= Popular Prakashan |location=| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=2p93lOn-p3YC&pg=PA10&dq=Anandwan&as_brr=3&output=html&sig=ACfU3U2PZC2VqOWpe14RyWN5pAPAVjR6hA |year=2000 |pages= |isbn=81-7154-674-9 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=

External links

* [http://mss.niya.org/projects/anandwan.php Maharogi Sewa Samiti: Anandwan]
* [http://www.schweitzershospitalfund.org.uk/anandwan.html Dr. Schweitzer's Hospital Fund (UK) - Anandwan]
* [http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=313 Anandwan - Maharogi Sewa Samiti]
* [http://chanda.nic.in/htmldocs/anandwan.htm The Miracle Worker Baba Amte - Collector's office, Chandrapur district]