SHANTI IN BUDHANILKHANTA

After Marianne Großpietsch founded Shanti in 1992, it quickly became clear how urgently people needed vitamins, primarily from fruit. The fertile Kathmandu valley provides the best opportunities. That's why in 1994 the Lion's Club of Germany, with whom Marianne Großpietsch coordinates, financed property to start an orchard in Budhanilkantha, around 10 km north-east of Kathmandu. This was the birth of the “Life Tree Project”.

Until the big earthquake in 2015 Budhanilkanta was the place for a school, kindergarten, student dormitory and care station for handicapped children. 

The children of parents housed or employed at Shanti are cared for in the kindergarten and later in the school inspired by the Waldorf teaching method. After 5th form, they have the opportunity to continue schooling or to learn a trade. The eight teachers and two kindergarten caregivers are continuously trained in Waldorf pedagogy. There is close collaboration and a friendly connection with the “Freunden der Erziehungskunst” ("Friends of Educational Arts"), who have already supported Shanti multiple times through WOW Day campaigns. 

Here, children born with disabilities find a home. Otherwise, in Nepal they would have to be content with an inhumane life, as there are no facilities for them. All types of disabilities and illness are considered divine punishment. If a healthy person comes into contact with them, this equates to negative energy for the next incarnation. At Shanti, these children and adults receive food, care and a roof over their heads. 

Unfortunately the big earthquake has destroyed the buildings in April 2015, so they had to be pulled down. The disabled children, the kindergarten and the school were integrated in the buildings in Kathmandu Tilganga, and Shanti is looking for another place in the valley of Kathmandu to construct a new building for the school classes and the boarding school pupils.