My first project with Leadearth, an 8 month leadership project aimed for social and environmental entrepreneurship. An Adam LeAdam initiative together with MASA. I was volunteering with an ecological community that focuses on reforestation and water conservation in Tamil Nadu, South India. I knew very little about Sadhana Forest going into the project and had no expectations; it turned out to be one of the most wonderful places I have lived. Sadhana Forest is one of the many communities which comprise Auroville, the same city where my brother Aaron had studied abroad (and my family visited) five years ago. It began in December of 2003 with the goal to transform 70 acres of severely eroded, arid land on the outskirts of Auroville, into a vibrant, indigenous Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest and to spread knowledge about sustainable living through human unity. After spending a few days in the bustling city of Mumbai arriving to such a peaceful and beautiful atmosphere was just what I needed.
When I first arrived the community was up to around 120 volunteers from all over the world. In the busy season volunteers are requested to stay one month, in the summer and monsoon seasons only two weeks. Since it is run by volunteers the only costs are mainly infrastructure. The buildings are constructed with granite posts (locally mined without dynamite), local bamboo and eucalyptus trees and thatched roofs. They are beautifully constructed and designed to stay surprisingly cool in the southern heat.
At Sadhana there is even balance between work and play. Wake up call, which usually consisted of lovely singing and music, was at 5:30 am so we could try to get most of the hard work done before too much heat. First work was mainly working in the forest unless you had another weekly responsibility such as cooking breakfast or watering the garden. Breakfast was at 9, followed by second work at 10. Second work consists of the little responsibilities needed to keep Sadhana running smoothly. Jobs such as hygiene, which means stirring the composing toilets twice a day, emptying them if they are full and cleaning the bathrooms (not always the most popular job, but I did it for a week, and I never realized how heavy pooh was!). Some other jobs are sorting waste and recycling, checking the roofs for bees and termites, gardening, construction of beds and community infrastructure, cooking, cleaning communal buildings and more. Though these probably don't seem like any fun, I never found them too bad since you are almost always working with a great person. Lunch was at 12:45 and the afternoons were free.
Each afternoon there would be two to four workshops available to all volunteers. These changed depending on the volunteers at the time. I was amazing at how many talented people came through Sadhana and offered to share with the community. Workshops included many different types of yoga, including a personal yoga practice of Astanga yoga which I have now been following every morning since the end of March. Others were permaculture, various art and spirituality and connectedness workshops, non-violet communication (NVC), how to make stuff awesome stuff out of waste, veganism, capoeira, African dance, vegan chocolate ball making and many more.
The reason I loved Sadhana so much was the experience of community. The visions of Sadhana Forest focus around reforestation, water conservation and educating about sustainability; none of which could happen without the energy and dedication of the volunteers. It was the most open and loving group of people I have been a part of, and I’m truly proud to say I was. There is defiantly something to be said about everyone sleeping together, waking up (very early) together, working together and eating together. That may sound like a little too much for some, but because there were so many of us you were constantly interacting with different people. I especially enjoyed getting to share every meal together (which were all vegan, non-processed, no sugar by the way), instead of just feeling like volunteers that came and went I really felt like we were a family. If you get sick, there is always someone there to take care of you and be with you in the Healing Hut, or if you just need someone to talk with or escape on motor bikes into Auroville to get some ice cream and chocolate it’s easy to find a companion. After just three days of staying at Sadhana Forest I unexpectedly lost a best friend from University and had to return to Vermont for a week. Leaving my friends and returning to India was really hard, but I know that I was lucky to be able to return to such an environment like Sadhana Forest to help me get through the hardest time in my life.
Living and working in a sustainable eco-community was extremely educational on many levels. I gained knowledge surrounding sustainability and the environment, but I also gained knowledge about myself. I was inspired by so many of the volunteers and what they had to share with the community and the world. I increased my awareness of my actions, myself and my role in communities and created a new sense of value for the importance of being a part of a collective people.
If anyone is interested in learning more please visit www.sadhanaforest.org. There you will also find a place to make donations; the energy at Sadhana is focused on their main goals and visions of sustainability and not fundraisings so every little donation is needed and helps so much!
Hannah Davis,
MASA LeadEarth FEB2011
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