Hello from Ben and Prashant!

Prashant Kumar is a  community artist  and upcycling designer. Ben Reid-Howells is an  educator , community organiser and musician. We are just two people, independent of any government, corporation or NGO and entirely supported by the communities around us who are as passionate about this work as we are. Help us to make this project a reality!

THE BIHAR PROJECT

THE PROBLEM.
We are working in Arrah, Bihar, a so called “backwards state” and a place that is developing very quickly and very unsustainably. Unplanned urban sprawl has led to health issues caused by open sewage, environmental issues due to loss of green space, and social issues due to no model for affordable housing or sustainable sourcing of energy. Much of the work that is happening in other regions of India to address such issues simply isn’t happening here in Bihar.

OUR WORK.
We are working to create a model for self-reliant and sustainable housing. We are constructing using upcycled waste and natural materials, integrating solar, wind and water filtration systems and introducing urban gardening to the area. The result will be a home that treats its own waste water, runs on renewable energy, grows its own food and is affordable to local middle-class families. 

LONGTERM VISIONS – A skills training centre for the next generation.
Bihar is Prashant’s native state and after years away he is now returning to do this work and to begin a long term process towards a more sustainable future for the people and land of Bihar. The model-home we are now building will become a skills training centre that Prashant will run: a place where people will learn the skills, perspectives and ethics required to lead a new chapter of sustainable development here in Bihar. 

A COMMUNITY PROCESS.
For us this project is defined by the community around it. Throughout the Bihar Project we are hosting volunteers from Bihar, India and international travelers and professionals. Along with the construction work, we are engaging with the local community, doing workshops in local schools and colleges, conducting sessions with neighbourhood children, and other emergent community programs: engaging different people from a diverse mix of socioeconomic backgrounds. We believe that the whole world is one family, and this is what drives us in this project in Bihar and in the other projects of the Vasudhaiva Ride. (See more on the Vasudhaiva Ride below).

See more of Ben and Prashant's story and previous work.

HOW WILL THE FUNDS BE USED?

The funds you donate will go directly into the creation of this prototype self-reliant home and future skills training centre. Here’s how the breakdown of the costs.

Construction . This includes labour costs and materials costs: eg. bamboo, clay roof tiles, urban farming set-up and lots of local mud!  $ 10,500 USD.

Sustainable energy systems : solar and wind energy systems, water filtration systems and low-tech drip irrigation systems for the urban farm. $ 5,000 USD.

Upcycled waste material: So far 6,000 glass bottles, 200 old tyres, oil drums, scrap metal, wood and more: the materials that Prashant is using to transform into upcycled products for the furniture, garden, lighting and other features.  $ 2.000 USD.

Program costs: From hosting volunteers to delivering workshops at schools in surrounding towns, this covers the human costs of this work over the six months of this project: the team working to make this project a reality! $ 2,500 USD. 

WHY CROWDFUNDING?

We are working to create a model for sustainable, self-reliant housing and the foundations for a future skills training centre. We don’t have any NGO or corporation behind us, but we are passionate to make this work happen. Just as this project is inspired by the needs of the community around it, we are striving to keep this a community owned endeavour, rather than corporate. And that means crowdfunding. We believe in creating a future of sustainable livelihood and resilient housing and we need your help to make this possible!

We are lucky enough to be working at a very grassroots level, with Prashant as a local to the region we are in, and we believe that people should be able to support projects like this without supporting the bureaucratic fees of large scale NGOs. This is a way to give directly to an on-the-ground project.

Any support you can give will help us make this project a reality. Please share this story, join us in Arrah until the end of December (2017) and give what you can!

WHY WE'RE EXCITED. :)

We've seen the success of our first two projects, and are now connecting with organisations, government schools, artists and organisers across India and beyond to make this project a great success. What we need is the funds to make it happen!

Any support you can give is a huge help. 
Join us in making a sustainable future for Bihar a reality!

THANK YOU!

Yours in One world, One family,

-Prashant Kumar and Ben Reid-Howells

For more on who we are, how the work is going and more on the Vasudhaiva Ride, find us online at the links below.

Facebook  |  YouTube  | Instagram |  Website  

Vasudhaivaride@gmail.com 

_________________________________________________

The Vasudhaiva Ride.

In January 2017, we left our jobs, homes and most of our belongings to set out on the  Vasudhaiva Ride:  a two-year series of diverse collaborative projects working towards peace, sustainable living and community wellbeing.

See the origin story here.

We are working towards the vision of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam—the whole world is one family. To do this, we are collaborating on projects and sharing stories of people working in radically different ways towards a more united world. We are doing this to provide an alternative global narrative of hope, resilience and union, as well as facilitating the exchange of resources for such work. Two projects have been completed so far. We are currently working on our third project. See more on the our first projects below.

__________________________________________

Project No.1: Accessible Education in Mumbai

In our first project took place at a public school in Jijamata Nagar, a slum community in inner city Bombay. We worked with Meenal Srinivasan and  EDUCO , a program that brings child-centric, innovative pedagogy to underprivileged students. We led workshops with students on peace-work and sustainable living, and a teacher-training program on experiential education.  Learn more about this project on accessible education.

Soul Riders: Economic Times of India Article.

________________________________________________

Project No.2: A Home from Waste 

In our second project we worked with Nivedita Bagh to create a zero-waste design process, local knowledge and upcycled waste and natural materials to build a community centre and affordable home (1,500 USD) in Pushkar, Rajasthan. 

What emerged was a model for affordable, sustainable, locally sourced housing.

International travelers joined and worked alongside local villagers. We created a mud house with glass-bottle walls: a home, community centre and a statement of what a transnational community can create with hard work and a solid vision.

Learn more about this project on affordable housing.

Thank you for your support!

To make these projects possible we need you to join us. Please give what you can and share this work far and wide!

Yours in One world, One family,
-Prashant and Ben.

www.vasudhaivaride.com