This page has information about our winter program in India. Click Here to learn more about our Spring and Fall semester programs.
Leave behind the Western, competitive and consumerist lifestyle and learn
what it is like to live well, more lightly and more sustainably at Sadhana
Forest. Dedicated to veganism, appropriate technologies and simple living, the
community works to regenerate the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest near Auroville,
India. Sadhana is an ideal environment to learn to measure and reduce your
Carbon Footprint and contribute to indigenous seed and tree planting, contour
bunding, organic gardening, natural fence building, and compost and soil
management with Effective Microorganisms (EM). Come
prepared to wake early, work hard, live simply, learn a lot, and leave
inspired. Both theory and practice of ecological living and habitat
regeneration will be emphasized along with community building and personal
development. There are countless opportunities for mentorship and learning
practical strategies for living in a post Peak-Oil world.
Check out the student weblogs »
Browse the photo gallery »
View curriculum for this program » (pdf 460kb)
The mission of Sadhana Forest is the
reforestation of 70 Acres of severely eroded Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest in
Tamil Nadu, India. This forest type is found only in South India and Sri Lanka
(only 0.01% of the original habitat remains) and provides rare biological
richness due to its very high species abundance. The Sadhana Forest community,
founded in 2003 by an Israeli couple, Aviram and Yorit Rozin, pumps water by
hand, prepares vegan meals, powers itself via solar, and is comprised of simple
thatched huts (built by community members) and a beautiful natural swimming
hole. This is an experience of what Auroville was like 30 years ago during its
pioneering days! Sadhana, a new community of Auroville, enjoys strong community
spirit and excellent and cooperative relationships with its local Tamil
neighbors.
Located on an earlier site chosen by the Mother for Auroville - a 70 acre area
of land west of the Pondicherry- Tindivanam road - Sadhana Forest, although
named as such, is not yet a fully-fledged forest, though it is on the way to
becoming one.
Although the land has been Auroville's throughout
most of Auroville's history, it was only when Israeli-born Aurovilians Aviram
and his wife Yorit were given stewardship and settled there with their daughter
in December 2003 that things really started happening, though there had been a
tree planting programme earlier on parts of the land.
Read more about Sadhana Forest location »
Earn 4 transferable credits through the University of Massachusetts
Amherst
Course: Independent Study (NRC #596)
Find
out about transferring credits to your home school »
View the full curriculum for this program » |
credit .... Included
