Recent Activities:

• June 30, 2005: Tragically, a former member of the MCF who had joined the Indian Army was killed in combat. Bipin Shah, from the village of Bandrani, had been an active member and supporter of the Raithal children's group before he joined the army as rifleman in the Northeastern state of Manipur. Upon hearing of his death, the children went to his home to comfort the family and offer their help in the home and also held a prayer vigil for him. Shortly before his death he had written a poem and shared it with the children.
  
  
• June 2005: Members of the newly formed MCF chapter in the village of Raithalhas already opened a library of their own. They have also revived the old tradition of planting a "Maiti tree" for every newly-married couple. Under this tradition after the marriage ceremony, the bride and groom would plant a tree in the bride's village. Since the tree represented the woman's married life, her family would tend to and look after the tree as a way of safeguarding their daughter's happiness.
  
  On June 18, they held a quiz in their village, using some of the questions from the PABAM magazine and putting in some of their own. The villagers were extremely impressed to find their children knew the answers to questions they couldn't answer themselves. The Raithal children's group have received a lot of support from of their alumni who are now in the Indian army. Whenever these young men return home they call a meeting of the children's groups, ask them what they have been doing and support them in their activities.
  
  
• June 2005: Thanks to a grant from the Barton Foundation, the MCF has supplied the libraries opened by the children of the villages, Kamer and Sald, with some books. Sudhir visited both libraries to deliver the books and the MCF had them officially presented to the children by members of the community who had been exceptionally supportive of the children's efforts.
  
  

• June 2005: Recently, when small white worms turned up in the drinking water of the village Sald, the village elders immediately called on the MCF chapter, whose members tested the water and based on their recommendation, the villagers treated the water with chlorine. Following a cholera epidemic that claimed several lives including one child in the summer of 2004, the MCF chapter began testing the village's water source on a monthly basis. The kits were supplied by SPECS and provided by SBMA/Plan.
  
  
• April 2005: The children of Sald, Malla, and Lata carried out iodine testing in their communities. Not only did they go to each house and test the salt, they also counseled the members in the household about the need for iodine and the dangers of iodine deficiency.
  
  
• April 2005: In the village of Agora (which was also the epicenter of the '91 earthquake), frustrated with the alcoholism epidemic in the village, the children got together and broke up an illegal liquor shop selling homemade alcohol.
  
  
• March 2005: In the village of Kamer, the children put on a cultural show that kept the villagers transfixed till well past midnight. Along with entertainment, they also proved important messages of awareness about health, the unity of the village, etc. MCF faciltator Sudhir Bhatt who attended the cultural program said that he also noticed that the event provided an important opportunity for people to meet and mingle.
  
  
• August 2004: In the village of Sald, members of the MCF held a carrom and chess competition. They collected an entry fee from the participants, which they used to buy trophies for the winners, including a shield for the first place winner, a cup for second place, and a plate for third.
  
  
• June 2004: SBMA/Plan held 4 back-to-back workshops in the village of Raithal, each involving 100 from around Uttarkashi. The children stayed in the homes of the villagers during the 5-day workshop, creating a very important community interaction. The purpose of the workshop was to teach the children about cooperative groups such as their MCF chapters, why they are necessary and how to keep them strong. The workshops also provided an opportunity for the SBMA/Plan facilitators.
  
  
• June 2004: In the village of Sald, the children have opened their own library. They are collecting school books from each other, which can be borrowed or can be read in the library. The room has been donated by the parents of a member of the chapter.

• January 2004, facilitator Sudhir Bhatt reports that the Malla chapter has really picked up momentum. On a recent unannounced visit to the village, he found that the children were already meeting. Upon listening into their conversation, he found they were discussing the upcoming Pulse Polio drive to inoculate infants against Polio. The MCF members were making arrangements for how they would take those children to get the vaccine whose parents were unable to take them!
  
• See an archive of previous activities in Uttarkashi.

Chapter Information:

Facilitator: SBMA/Plan Uttarkashi
Address: SBMA/Plan, Nikat Jholapur, Joshyara
Phone: 91-1374-223208 (from India 01374-223208)

The Uttarkashi bal panchayts have been among the most active and effective chapters in the MCF. The young people have built relationships with government officials, their village and community leaders and the number of chapters in the disticts continues to expand rapidly.

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General Information and News:

Located in the North-Western section of the Indian state of Uttarakhand, Uttarkashi is a popular tourist destination and pilgrimage site as it offers beautiful trekking and is home to the sources of the rivers Ganga and Yamuna. However the district is prone to natural disasters: In 1971, a flood completely changed the map of Uttarkashi, in 1992 the district was devastated by an earthquake that claimed thousands of lives, in 2004 year the city of Uttarkashi was struck by heavy landslides caused by cracks in the mountains from the earthquake, aggravated by the unusually heavy monsoon rains. Scientists also believe that excessive building and felling of trees may have also contributed to the problem. Although the landslides caused immense property damage, the residents of the area were able to escape to safety. Many people, including some members of the MCF chapter there, had to seek refuge with friends and family.

The average population density in the district is 37 people per square km. The literacy rate is 66.6%. There are 763 primary schools, 212 junior high, and 35 Intermediate (classes 11&12) schools.(Census 2001)

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Other MCF Chapters:
To visit the webpage of another chapter, please click on the links below:

Almora — Bageshwar — Chamoli — Champawat — Dehradun — Nainital
Pauri — Pithoragarh — Rudraprayag — Tehri — Uttarkashi

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