The Rural development Program of The Art of Living is predominantly driven by the yuvacharyas. The yuvacharyas are the youth from the local communities in the villages who have undergone the Youth Leadership Training Program (YLTP). This gives them the skills, motivation and abilities to initiate and lead service projects in their own villages and localities based on their needs.
Only a strong spiritual foundation brings self-esteem and self-confidence that is unshakeable. It is this combination of personal inner strength, as well as skills and leadership training that ensures the long-term effectiveness and sustainability of this programme.
The 5H program aims at ensuring that every rural area/village has Homes for the homeless, Health care, Hygiene, Human Values and Harmony in diversity. Set up in 1997, 5H catalyzes social transformation. The program aims to eradicate poverty, misery, disease and to ensure peace and harmony in rural and tribal areas worldwide.
The individuals and communities at the grassroots become self-reliant both socially and economically, this ensures the effects of the program are long-term and sustainable.
5H Achievements
- Reached 40,212 villages
- Trained 203220 rural youth in YLTP
- Conducted 165,000 free stress-relief workshops benefiting more than 5,688,000 people
- Conducted 49,500 hygiene camps and 25,950 medical camps benefitting 5.6 million people
- Planted 1,10,90,000 trees
- 3819 homes, 16550 toilets, 1152 bore-wells and 904 bio-gas plants built
- 55 model villages developed benefiting 115,000 people
- Trained over 6000 people in organic farming
Rural Electrification : Light A Home
Light A Home initiative laid its foundation during October 2012. The aim of this initiative is to bring clean and affordable lighting to 360 million people in India living in 74 million rural households who do not have access to electricity. A majority of these people rely on kerosene and other fuels to meet their lighting needs, which is hazardous to both their health and to the environment.
Till now, the Light A Home Project has touched lives of more than 6,000 such people by providing solar home lighting systems to 1,100 such homes in Bihar, UP, Assam and Jharkhand. The vision is to reach out to 1,00,000 unelectrified homes by 2015.
Organic Farming
The Art of Living has been conducting Chemical Free Farming Workshops since 2007. Over the past years, more than 32,000 farmers have taken up the workshop. The workshop covers techniques for organic farming, making the farmers aware of the harm that is caused by the usage of chemicals in the fields and how the yield decreases gradually due to the usage of chemicals.
Join the revolution for change
- Are you inspired and ready to take on social responsibility?
- Want to be focused and be the part of the change you want to see?
- Are you ready to be committed and build a team of leaders?
Then join the Family - Contact a YLTP Coordinator
Hands Up for Kids in Nairobi
Hands Up 4 Kids empowers the children of Kenya, providing the tools for managing mind and emotions, alleviating poverty and building a healthy, sustainable environment.
One of the many projects The Art of Living Foundation, IAHV and Hands Up 4 Kids are involved in, is with the Nairobi Children’s Garden Home & School.
