Govinda (association)

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The Govinda e. V. is a non-governmental organization that was founded on June 7, 1998 as Govinda Development Aid. V. was founded by six nurses in Aalen . These were Rocco Umbescheidt, Roman Cieslewicz, Yvonne Sperka, Alexander Rettenmaier, Sybille Reissmüller and Elke Böhmer. These had set themselves the goal of positively influencing the living conditions of people who live in a world in which people starve to death every day, although there is food surplus and in which inequalities and injustices are constantly being (re) produced. As early as 1996, the team formulated the plan to build an orphanage in Nepal , started collecting campaigns for this purpose and set aside half of their own salaries every month for this purpose. In addition to financing the projects, the founders wanted to be socio-politically effective and inspire other people with their own actions to also make a direct contribution to changing grievances in the world. The founding of the association followed the first stay in Nepal, which took place in March 1998. On January 9th, 2003 the association "Shangrila Development Aid" was founded with its seat in Zurich, which supports the work of Govinda e. V. supported from Switzerland.

Projects

The first project of Govinda e. V. was the orphanage "Shangri-La" in Kathmandu , which was founded shortly after returning from the trip to Nepal. In 2016 the orphanage offered space for 50 children. Shangri-La literally means "the place where you can unite the sun and moon in your heart" and came into English usage with the meaning "paradise on earth". In the meantime, the first children and young adults have left the orphanage after finishing school for the further reintegration project.

In 2002, the association was able to open the Shangri-La School near Kathmandu. In particular, 230 children from poor, caste-free families or families affected by leprosy can receive an education here. On the one hand, the school is financed by school fees from children from wealthy families, and on the other hand, school sponsors in Germany cover the costs of poor children. In total, more than 500 children attend the school.

Over the years, other projects were added: a training center in which schoolchildren and orphans are trained in the areas of housekeeping , agriculture , pottery , carpentry , electrics and IT and receive a certified qualification for this. In addition, there has been a reintegration project since 2008 that accompanies young people into an independent life.

In several projects in West Nepal, more than 5000 people in different village communities were trained and supported in the areas of education, agriculture, health and engineering in order to enable sustainable development in the region.

The Shangri-La Development Association (SDA) was founded in 2014 and introduces former children of the orphanage to work as development workers in their own country after their training or studies. SDA's projects are located in the south of Nepal. Together with the local population, sustainable measures are being implemented in the health, agricultural and educational sectors.

The severe earthquake that hit Nepal from April 2015 prompted the association to provide emergency aid. As a result, 36,414 people in 126 communities in 11 districts were supported with 55 tons of relief supplies within a few weeks. During the 2015 monsoons , extensive aid was provided, both in the medical and hygienic areas and with five temporary schools. The reconstruction projects were completed in August 2016 with the construction of 104 residential buildings, an education center and a community hall. The houses were built in the form of an "owner-driven reconstruction". H. the families affected were involved in the planning and construction. The reconstruction was the first in all of Nepal in which new earthquake-proof houses could be built. Construction of four schools in Makwanpur began in October 2016. In total, Govinda e. V. 12 schools in Nepal.

Areas of responsibility

With his Nepalese partner associations Shangri-La orphanage , the Shangrila International School Trust and the Shangrila Development Association is committed to Govinda orphans , people from war zones and rural areas, disadvantaged of the caste system and because of ethnic affiliation and due disadvantaged by origin and tradition women.

aims

The projects are designed to enable people in Nepal to become independent, responsible and critical citizens of Nepalese society.

Awards

Govinda was recognized as the winner of the startsocial federal award with distinction among the best 20 projects nationwide in the Chancellery in 2007 and as the winner of the Baden Württemberg honorary award (1st prize) in 2011. The honorary work for Nepal in 2004 and 2015 was recognized with the Filippas Engel Foundation Prize. The founder and long-time chairman of the association, Rocco Umbescheidt, was voted Aargau of the Year in the canton of Aargau (Switzerland) in 2015. In 2016 the association received the highest national honorary award in the audience award category with the German Engagement Award.

Publications

Three documentaries have been released about the work of the association: Heaven over me (2004, in collaboration with filmmaker Christina Voigt), The Forgotten Children of Western Nepal (2007, in collaboration with filmmaker Christina Voigt) and The Children of Shangrila (2014, in Collaboration with AV Medien Film und Fernsehen, Stuttgart). In 2009 the book The Children of Shangrila: Stories from Today's Nepal by Christian Platz (author) and Christoph Gysin (photographer) was published about the children of the Govinda orphanage.

Members

The association had around 680 members in 2016. There are sponsors in the action groups in Germany ( Aalen , Berlin , Dresden , Mönchengladbach , Leipzig , Stuttgart , Würzburg , Ulm ) and in Switzerland . Around 115 local people are employed in Nepal.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Elke Hartmann: Generation Generös. In: Focus Online. April 10, 2000, accessed March 1, 2012 .
  2. ^ Cantonal Tax Office Zurich: Notice of exemption. (PDF) March 26, 2004, accessed November 7, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Govinda e. V .: Shangrila Orphanage. Retrieved November 6, 2016 .
  4. ↑ Michael Wood: Shangri-La. In: BBC. Retrieved November 6, 2016 .
  5. ^ A b Federal Government: Shangri-La: Orphans on the Roof of the World. (No longer available online.) In: www.bundesregierung.de. Archived from the original on November 4, 2016 ; Retrieved November 3, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bundesregierung.de
  6. ↑ Schwäbische Post: A praise from Unicef. Retrieved November 3, 2016 .
  7. ↑ Social Department Ostalb district: template - 185/2011. In: web.ostalbkreis.de. Retrieved November 3, 2016 .
  8. ^ Aalen University: Aalen University - News for the future of Nepal. In: www.hs-aalen.de. Retrieved November 3, 2016 .
  9. ^ Augsburger Allgemeine: Reconstruction after the catastrophe. Retrieved November 3, 2016 .
  10. ↑ az Aargauer Zeitung: Aargauer of the Year: This is how Rocco Umbescheidt used the donations in Nepal. Retrieved November 3, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Govinda e. V .: Annual report 2015. (PDF) Retrieved on November 6, 2016 .
  12. ^ State Ministry of Baden-Wuerttemberg: Honorary Award "Really good!" awarded. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on November 4, 2016 ; Retrieved November 3, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / stm.baden-wuerttemberg.de
  13. ^ Don Bosco Medien GmbH: Filippas Engelsspuren. (PDF) In: Filippa's Angel Traces. Filippas Engel Foundation, 2009, accessed November 3, 2016 .
  14. ↑ Heike Boomgarden: Fillipa's angel. In: www.heike-boomgaarden.de. Retrieved November 3, 2016 .
  15. ↑ Tele M1: Talk Daily - Rocco Umbescheidt: Aargauer des Jahres 2015. In: Tele M1. Retrieved November 3, 2016 .
  16. ^ Federal Government: Recognition for honorary office. In: Federal Government. Retrieved December 6, 2016 .