SAIIER 2018:Ilaignarkal Education Centre

Aurohamsadhwani Arts Centre		Isai Ambalam School
Ilaignarkal Education Centre

Entity::Ilaignarkal Education Centre is an anytime school for Auroville workers of all ages and their wards, providing further learning programmes and courses in essential life skills, leadership and personality development for young people, both men and women.

Activities of the year:

April 2017:

• Celebration of Tamil New Year – Organised along with Mohanam Cultural Centre, the event happened at the Visitor’s Centre. The event was organised to create awareness about the culture and educate attendees about the meaningful seasonal festival. Renowned Tamil Siddha practitioner, Mr. K.P. Arjunan conducted a session on “NadiMaruthuvam”.
• Annual Day Celebrations – The celebrations included felicitation of Best Student, Best Youth and Best Staff apart from other cultural activities. Many Aurovilians, students, ex-students, parents and representatives of SAIIER and AV Outreach participated in the event. Best Youth Award was conferred on Krishna Thiruvengadam, who served as a volunteer Rural Social Technologist and helped in documentation of our innovative methods and cultural educational programmes. Krishna has received many awards. This year he has been selected for the prestigious MIT Innovation and Boot Camp 2018 for his work, “Hive: Rural Design Studio”. This will help in realising his vision of bringing children to the forefront of Social Innovation.
• Tamil Heritage Festival – Organised along with Thazhi Foundation, Pondicherry this event was held to create awareness about Tamil Heritage through a painting exhibition. Students of Ilaignarkal with their teacher visited the Archaeological Park near Matrimandir to learn about the ancient civilisation that existed in Auroville region (2,000 B.C – 1,000 B.C).

May 2017:

• Summer Camp – The camp was organized for the children of Auroville workers studying in various schools in and around Auroville. The aim was to enrich the children in extracurricular activities which included yoga, identification of herbs, arts & crafts, Tamil language skill development, cultural activities and self-improvement programmes. Around 25 children participated; 3 volunteers and Ilaignarkal staff facilitated. A field visit was also organized to the Marakkanam village agricultural farm to have an exposure to agrarian life.
• World Heritage Day – Ilaignarkal organized the event collaborating with Thazhi Foundation, Pondicherry. Lectures and presentations were given during the event which had 50 participants from various colleges.

June 2017:

• (Continuation of the Summer Camp.)
• Celebration of World Yoga Day – The day was celebrated with the schools in the bioregion and AV Outreach. Demonstrations of ‘Aganda yoga’ continued all day along from 7 A.M to 7 P.M.

July 2017:

• Launching of Outreach Programme – Kuilapalayam, Edayanchavadi, Irumbai and Kottakarai Panchayat school students explored the curriculum through ‘Joyful Learning Process’ at Ilaignarkal as an annual programme. More than 100 students participated and benefitted from the awareness programme. Our school has adopted Panchayat Union schools to help them to carry on their value-oriented education by providing space, educational tools and resource persons.

August 2017:

• Independence Day Celebrations – The event was attended by village elders, parents and workers of Auroville who shared their concern for AV-village relations through education.
• Celebration of Sri Aurobindo’s Birthday – Photo exhibition on the life and messages of Sri Aurobindo. This was followed by a video session and feedback by participants.

September 2017:

• Eco-system based Leadership Programme for Rural Youth – Workshop for two days was conducted in collaboration with Trust for Youth and Child Leadership (TYCL). There were 43 participants for the workshop from Auroville region. It was beneficial to both our staff and students.
• A delegation of 20 teachers from Thai Thamizhagam School, Tindivanam were hosted to train under the Joyful Learning Programme practised in our school.
• Beginning of Kolu Festival – The traditional festival of dolls celebrated for 10 days as the Festival of Evolution at our school, witnessed a doll exhibition on the theme of evolution aligning with the concept of Auroville’s existence. Awareness programme and cultural activities marked the celebrations.

October 2017:

• Kolu Festival got extended further for 5 days on the request of regional schools.
• Vijayadasami Festival – Inauguration of Bharatnatyam classes for Bharathi Educare beneficiaries, where every Sunday morning children learn classical dance under a trained teacher.
• Siddha Medicine Workshop – Organised for the workers of Auroville, our staff, students and parents; the workshop was conducted by Dr. K.P. Arjunan and his team from Vellore. Dr. K.P. Arjunan is the Head of traditional Siddha Medical Practitioners Association and one of the directors of Ayush (Alternative Medicine).

November 2017:

• Birthday celebration of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, former Education Minister of India. An exhibition on the life and times of Maulana Azad was conducted. The exhibition was attended by the students and teachers of Outreach schools. A rare book in Tamil on Hinduism authored by an Islamic scholar published in 1950 as per the instructions of Azad was on display.
• Yatra Srinivassan’s Book Release – Release of “Yatra Sirukadhaigal” by Ilaignarkal Education Centre, Yatra Arts and Amaidhikkural group to appreciate the Tamil stories from our region in native language but on an universal theme.

December 2017:

• Karthigai Deepam Festival – The event, held in collaboration with Mohanam Cultural Centre, witnessed recital of hymns, lecture on the relevance of Deepam (sacred holy fire puja with 108 elements), exhibition of different types of lamps, wicks and oil. Lighting of traditional fireworks (karthi) created from natural products (palm flower) demonstrated how to reduce pollution and appreciate Mother Nature.
• Sharing day – Ilaignarkal hosted the annual sharing day which witnessed participants of diverse age groups, ex-students, fellow Aurovilians, scholars and resource person of our peace circle. Nearly 120 people participated in the event and enjoyed sharing gifts.

January 2018:

• Celebration of Pongal festival – Along with Mohanam Cultural centre, African Pavilion and Yatra Arts. The celebration included display of traditional dance forms, games, stalls exhibiting overlapping cultural elements between Africa & Tamil Nadu, awareness talks, rituals, competition and traditional health practice consultation (Siddha medicine). More than 600 visitors enjoyed the sweet rice Pongal and vegetable curry made out of 28 native seasonal vegetables.
• Republic Day celebration – Flag hoisting, rendering of patriotic songs and experience sharing session with the elders in the form of stories of liberation movement and constitution of India, marked the day.
• We hosted a delegation of 16 students from Swadharma, Bangalore for training in Joyful Learning Programme and shared our research materials of our studies on tradition, history and heritage.
• Members of our team participated in the “Walk of Hope” from Matrimandir to Royapettai village to mark the 50th year celebration of Auroville.

February 2018:

• Ilaignarkal hosted 15 senior students from Sri Vigneshwara Higher Secondary School, Sethurapet.
• We facilitated participation in a session organised to address listening to problems of adolescence and training in co-counselling.
• The Mother’s Birthday celebration – Talk on Mother’s vision for Auroville and Auroville 50th Birthday celebrations. We facilitated the reception of hosts from all over the world and the visit by the Prime Minister of India. Our staff and students volunteered in maintaining the roads clean for the PM’s visit.

March 2018:

• We hosted a delegation from AVI USA and shared our school experience in working with AV communities and workers from the Auroville region. The delegates appreciated our efforts taken in the field of Tamil language studies and publication of research materials.

Miscellaneous activities:

• Periodic interaction with nearly 20 female beneficiaries of Bharathi Educare and their families, who receive support for education, health and social awareness.
• Literary circles on Thursdays lectured by learned Professors, writers and poets. This activity has now completed 12 years.
• Revival of “Vaasal” Magazine – Vaasal, a magazine in English designed as an entrance to the world of Tamil language, ideas, culture and heritage was revived after its initial launch in 2012, supported by Jonathan and Radhika, two Newcomers.
• Regular monthly visit of Siddha Doctor under health and healing project.
• Revival of satellite classes – Our staff visited Auroville units and offer classes for further learning of adult workers. Some of the Auroville units benefitted included WellPaper, Naturellement and Transition School.

Outcomes:

• 12 issues of our monthly newsletter “Auroville Seythimadal” in Tamil, which bring the Auroville network together (in return we receive 48 magazines and new books for review).
• Meenakshi’s poetry that appeared in “Auroville Seythimadal” was felicitated by Tamil Nadu Text Book Society and included in the curriculum of Grade 11 of Tamil Nadu Schools and printed in textbooks.
• Good response to “Vaasal” magazine from non-Tamil and native English speakers of Auroville as it progresses into its third edition (summer edition). A new website has been created for the magazine, promoting the language, culture and showcasing recommended sources for enrichment. Vaasal was also promoted by an article in Auroville Today, that showcased interviews with the editors Meenakshi and Jonathan Walton.
• An awareness programme into Tamil language, culture and heritage has become a part of Aspiration and Yucca programmes for Newcomers and pre-Newcomers. The programme has been coordinated by Aspiration Group along with Meenakshi and Jonathan. Ilaignarkal team plays the role of bridging cultures.
• Ilaignarkal is developing more of a Theme Library for workers of Auroville to learn ‘local to global’.

Conclusion:

Ilaignarkal has been providing 42 years of non-stop service in the field of worker’s welfare, which aligned with the 50th year of existence of Auroville.

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