Author: Ulrike Albert

I took over the sponsorship of Bonifast in February 2023.

Bonifast comes from a very poor family. He grew up in a small village with his eight siblings. Since his mother died, he no longer goes to school because he has to look after his two younger siblings. They are a little older now and thanks to the sponsorship he has a great chance of going to school again. He moves to his cousin in the city.
Bonifast is 14 years old and is in the third grade. Due to external circumstances such as moving to a new location and starting at a new school, he has not achieved his grade goal. That is understandable. But he definitely wants to continue attending school because he knows how important it is for him. We visit him in his new home with his cousin. He is a quiet boy and seems very serious. We meet him several times and he slowly starts to thaw out.

It's worked out! While we were still in Meghalaya, we launched a fundraising appeal via WhatsApp. This found open ears and hearts. After just a short time, thanks to generous donations, the five young women were able to secure their own financial foundations. A room was made available to them. To save costs, the "new entrepreneurs" were painting themselves. They were clearly enjoying it. The paint wasn't even completely dry when the sewing machines they needed were delivered and set up.
And it beginns! Gerhard can even be there at the opening of your new business!
Here you can already see some interesting sewing results:

Since the beginning of December, women have been trained on sewing machines at the Tailoring Center in order to build their own livelihoods.

How did that happen?

In our Kuno No. 7 in August we presented the “Sewing Machines” project:

NABARAD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of India) has offered 3-month sewing courses to train needy women.

For this purpose, we at Khublei successfully asked Kuno for support in the newsletter:

Thanks to the uncomplicated and spontaneous actions of some of our sponsors/supporters, Rev. Manbha was able to order the 20 sewing machines on site after a short time. They were delivered, set up and then we got started. The courses began in December and our women are eagerly involved - with the desire and the now tangible possibility of building their own existence and thus escaping the spiral of poverty in the back of their minds!

Would you also like to support a project at Khublei?

• We regularly present special projects in Kuno in cooperation with our partner Rev. Manbha, JHDS and NABARD. You are welcome to subscribe to our newsletter at info@khublei-indienhilfe.de request.
• On our homepage we offer permanent projects to secure the livelihoods of particularly needy families. These include poultry and pig rearing, beekeeping and more. You can find these at Corona call for help.

A small village that felt like it was at the end of the world: But not at all! On this day, the place was buzzing with activity, as the new millet mill was installed, connected and inaugurated. Gerhard was there at the event.

In Germany, such an event would be lost in the daily routine, but not in Samanong: Here it was a day of celebration for the whole village! ?

This is an aid project that we supported with our association as part of our Corona projects: "Processing of agricultural products in self-help groups". The villagers were trained in cultivation and processing. Cost: 570 euros/one-off!

Up until now, 3 families in Samanong have grown millet and fed it to the pigs. Processing the millet was hard work. Look at the photo: You can imagine how hard it is to move the big stone. Now there is a new, modern mill. The whole village benefits from it. There are now 20 families who grow millet and can now process it more easily and better thanks to the new mill. The grain is ground and the flour is used to make cakes, bread, etc.

And that is exactly what the villagers do: They process the millet flour, bake millet cakes in grill ovens donated by us and sell the products in the town of Jowai, where our partner association JHDS has recently opened a small shop selling regional products (including handicrafts).

A long and adventurous journey takes us over bumpy roads, if you can call these fortifications that, to the village of Khahnar.

We were able to experience the hospitality of this place on our first visit there in 2018. We learned at the time that the children here urgently needed an extension to the Upper Primary School, as it was bursting at the seams.

And now the time had come:

On February 27, 2022, Gerhard, our first chairman, was able to attend the inauguration of the new classroom, the construction of which we financed through the association, during his visit to Meghalaya. And not only that: He was allowed to cut the ribbon for the opening during the ceremonial ceremony!

The whole village was on its feet for the occasion. Solemn speeches were given, the church blessing was given, people celebrated, danced and no one could resist the good mood: It was a wonderful day and our association can be proud to support these people, parents and children of Khahnar in their development and education - to help them to help themselves so that they have a better perspective for their lives!