For our first project we looked to a region where much of the world’s products and services are outsourced, yet many fundamental needs are unmet: India. Infinite Earth teamed up with Dr. Prabhavati Dwabha, the director of a rural development project in northern India. Dr. Dwabha’s decades of experience in establishing and running clinics, primary schools and vocational programs in below-poverty-line villages served as an invaluable resource and our collaboration continues with several current and future projects.
In the pursuit of our goal to create self-sustaining facilities for communities in need, Infinite Earth sought to improve the conditions of a hand-looming center in the north Indian village of Chamba in Uttaranchal, India. For this project, an edition of 30 prints was produced collaboratively by two of Infinite Earth’s founding members, Alona Harpaz and Mika Rottenberg. Titled, Infinite #1, the edition was named after the organization and its mission. Infinite #1 is the first in an infinite series of artistic gestures in the interest of our mission. Funded through the sale of Infinite #1, a new building was constructed and two existing dilapidated looms were replaced with twenty new looms. Inaugurated in 2008, the new hand-looming facility has drastically improved the working conditions for the local women. The center is owned and operated by a local women’s initiative in the village and overseen by a local manager appointed by Dr. Dwabha and Infinite Earth.
The women of the Chamba looming center are developing a skill set that will enable them to become increasingly self-sufficient. The women have taken the initiative to organize a class to teach young women how to properly use the looming machines and they are working together to promote their own methods of production. The center supports their independent projects and proceeds go towards improving the living conditions of the women and their children. The center is currently producing Angora scarves made of 100% natural products and fabricated in a process that is human and animal safe and environmentally responsible.
Infinite Earth seeks to create links between the communities involved in our projects and in keeping with that vision, existing projects will help to fund future projects. The Angora scarves made in the Chamba looming center serve as examples of a successful project and we hope they will inspire support to fund Infinite Earth’s next project: a scholarship program for young women and children.
Other Projects
Infinite Earth has enabled other projects such as the purchase of new school desks for “Ramana’s Gardens”, a home and school for orphans and destitute children in Laxman Jula, Rishikesh. In 2008, Infinite Earth supported the purchase of new floor mats and fresh water containers for an elementary school in the remote mountain village of Hoonkhal, in Theri district. In 2009, Infinite Earth continued our support and involvement with the Hoonkhal School and funded the students’ uniforms and books for the academic year.
Infinite Earth donated 1000€ to fund the travel of two women from Orissa, India to attend a course in Germany on Ecovillage Design and Development for Urban and Rural Settlements through Gaia Education, a programme of the Global Ecovillage Network
Future Projects
Infinite Earth’s next project is a scholarship program for children and young women in India. Our organization wants to initiate a „web of change“ in the world. We hope to create opportunities for development through scholarship and education that will inspire and lead to positive changes. As the project comes to life, we will post updates on its progress.
infinite earth 2010 | Creative Commons-Lizenz
