Janwaar Castle paw#1 by ulrike reinhard

issue_01 / NOV. 2016

paw JanwaarCastle Community Organisation (a section 8, Indian Cos. Act 2013, Non-Profit Co.) CIN: U74900DL2016NPL290374 Regd. Off.: F-130, Street No-7, Pandav Nagar, Delhi 110091Phone: +91 80 85548743 | hello@janwaar-castle.org | www.janwaar-castle.in Directors: Mehmood Khan, Mrutyunjay Mishra, Shyamendra Singh PAN No. AADCJ6640F, 80G No. DEL-JE27183-19102016/7655, 12AA No. DEL-JR25543-19102016/6618 Bank: HDFC Bank Ltd., Deer Park, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi - 29 A/c. No. 50200018330071 | IFSC: HDFC0000503 | Swift: HDFCINBB Editors: Mannan Gupta and Ulrike Reinhard

#01

Rajmata Dilhar Kumari

Welcome to Janwaar Castle! Janwaar is a small village in the heart of India, Madhya Pradesh. It’s located in the eastern buﬀerzone of Panna National Park. Until two years ago it was a village like any other village in India. 1000 people following their daily routines in and around their mud houses and farms – no sanitation, hardly any electricity, no jobs. In short: no hope! This has changed. Janwaar has now its own castle, Janwaar Castle – it is not a real castle, but a 21st century castle where everyone no matter which caste, gender, religion or age is welcome. Janwaar Castle is India’s biggest skatepark – and it has become

a unifying trigger for sweeping farreaching change. A group of 12 skateboarders from seven diﬀerent nations has come to built this skatepark. Supported by skate-aid, a German NGO, and local labour they completed what sometimes felt impossible to do. Since then the landscape in Janwaar has changed. The village went on its own journey – driven by its children. What has started as a private initiative by Ulrike Reinhard and Shyamendra Singh has now its legal frame set and has become a not for proﬁt company in January 2016: The Janwaar Castle Community Organisation. This newspaper provides some insights about

our journey. It’s our ﬁrst edition and it is especially printed for our ﬁrst big event: The Janwaar Castle Skateboarding Challenge! Thank you to all our supporters and volunteers – without you the event would not be possible! A special thanks goes to MP Tourism – they’ve trusted us from a very early stage on! Thank you! And last but not least: A very warm welcome to all of you who came from all over India to participate in this event! We are so happy to have you here! It’s you who make the event! Have fun! 1

issue_01 / NOV. 2016

The Jury

Samuel Ferreira was born in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. He is only 19 years old – so he is our youngest jury member. Nevertheless Samuel is an experienced skateboarder – he’s been skateboarding for more than nine years. In India as well as in Brazil. He would love to help India’s skateboarding scene to grow and therefore he contributes to it in many

® Nagesh Wagh

Every competition needs a jury – this is why Julian Dykmans (Belgium), Samuel Ferreira (Brazil) and Nick Smith (UK) joined. They will judge your tricks and runs ...

Julian, Samuel and Nick are very excited to be with us at Janwaar Castle. They know a lot about skateboarding and have been actively involved in this sport for many years. Samuel and Nick are so to speak part of India’s skateboarding scene – they’ve been around for many years now. Together with the three we’ve designed our contest. Here is their introduction.

Julian Dykmans founded Antiz Skateboards in 2001 and was a professional skateboarder for 10 years. He came to Janwaar with the Decathlon team and besides being a jury member he will produce a video together with his colleagues from Blam Studio. Blam Studio does a lot of creative work. It has been 29 years that Julian skateboards and pretty much every session is fun and has a special touch to it. He says: “You just have to ﬁnd the fun!”

Nick Smith lives in Brighton, United Kingdom, and is visiting India frequently. His involvement in Indian skateboarding started when he built the park in Goa in 2003. Today he focuses on Mumbai area where he is helping to build more exciting skateparks. He says it’s been incredible to see the way skateboarding has spread and the positive impacts it has had. Nick is certainly a mentor for many young Indian skateboarders. He believes that initiatives like Janwaar Castle are a beautiful way to bring some fun and excitement to the young rural population of India and to give them something they can make their own. “I also see these kind of ventures as a vessel for showing city youngsters about rural life and nature in a way that they will never have encountered otherwise.” True. That’s all we can add to this statement.

ways: videos, social projects, and helping to build skateparks. Currently Samuel is living and studying in Goa, India and he is deeply enjoying the skateboarding community. For him skateboarding is fun, freedom and overcoming fears.

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Loved by all Shivraj, a thirteen year old boy from Janwaar, is midway through of the first scholarship ever provided by Janwaar Castle. It was made possible by Sanjoy Roy and the way it happened, it’s a real network story. Vicky Roy, our Janwaar Castle documentary fotographer, was posting pictures of the Janwaar children on Facebook. Sanjoy saw these fotos, added a comment asking for the boy’s details. So Janwaar Castle came into play, we’ve met Sanjoy and he provided the scholarship. The true power of pull! Now the first six month of Shivraj’s scholarship are over. He went to Prakriti School in Noida, a school which cherishes the principles Janwaar Castle stands for. Together with them we designed a customized program. Shivraj was brushing up his basic skills in English, Hindi and math. Bharti, the principal of Prakriti, says: “I feel, Shivraj has got a purpose now to do things in a certain way. And he knows why he has to put effort and what it will lead to.” He is ready for the next step now. November he will fully spent in Janwaar – he can’t miss the challenge and Nyjah – that’s for sure! In Decem-

ber his program will continue at Prem Singh’s Kisan School in Banda. There Shivraj will learn about organic farming and how to run a farm – skills which are crucial in Janwaar. Shivraj’s mother is very happy about this, because she thought she would lose her son to the city. “I don’t think he will come back to work on the farm like his father,” she said. But he will – it’s part of our mission to prepare the kids for a better life in the villages and not to send them oﬀ to the cities. Watching Shivraj over these six month in Delhi always brought a smile on our faces. He has tremendously grown as a person. He was the silent leader of Janwaar Castle before he left. He deserved this scholarship because without being asked he took responsibility and he got things done. Silently and humbled. Never in the front row. Loved by all – the adults and the kids. And he was appreciated just like this at his new home. Julie and Mrutyunjay, the parents of the hosting family, will surely miss him. They’ve said : “Shivraj has become a caring elder brother to our kids and a helping younger brother to us!”

Ajay is one of our best skateboarders and the poster boy for our competition. He is a daredevil with a “do ﬁrst, think later” attitude. Outside the skatepark, he is living on the edge. He only goes to school frequently and most of his free time he is tremendously bored. He doesn’t know what to do – there are hardly any options for him in the village. And what he learns from the elders isn’t very encouraging. In a world where women aren’t seen in the streets, unemployed, drunken men hang out in various corners of the village gambling and chewing tobacco. This is village life and the younger male generation is easily tempted to follow their elders’ foot-

steps. It’s a tricky balance between the skatepark – where no gambling and tobacco is allowed – and the village reality. Ajay is good at heart and funny by nature. But he’s struggling badly between these two realities – he is gambling as often as he is going to school, he is betting and even chewing Gutka. He says, he doesn’t feel good in the village anymore: “Everyone I used to hang out with, is becoming an adult.” Everyone with whom he does hangout, is gambling. At the skatepark, we openly raise this topic and we are very clear that gambling and chewing tobacco is not acceptable at all. And we talk with Ajay and he keeps promising that he will stay away from all of that. But more often than not he falls back. Therefore Ajay is currently banned from skateboarding. He respects the decision but when he comes once in a while to the skatepark you can clearly see him longing for the board. It breaks our hearts. In skateboarding, he has found his passion but he hasn’t found his way yet to set himself free from village restrictions.

I want to break free …

Janwaar Castle Skateboard Challenge November, 12.-14. 2016 / Janwaar 4 km off Panna-Satna Road, MP http://challenge.janwaar-castle.org

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Ulrike Reinhard talking with Asha's mother (left)

I believe I can fly! Asha is a teenage Adivasi girl. She left school before completing 11th grade. Most of her time she used to spent helping her mother at home or her father in the fields. The skatepark has turned her life upside down. It all started last year in June when we had our first summer camp. Vivek, a Teach for India fellow from Delhi offered daily English lessons to everyone interested. And Asha attended. She came every day and learnt impressively well. She was truly engaged and she had a lot of fun. At the end of the four weeks we’ve asked Asha if she wanted to learn English properly and if she was ready to go to England to do so. Asha just smiled and nodded. She saw her chance and today she says: “These days everyone needs to know English. It is used for any job you do.” At that time we didn’t know what we’ve started. When we first came to ask her parents for permission to take her abroad we were astonished to hear a clear cut no. We felt like providing a once-in-a-lifetime chance for their daughter – and we couldn’t understand the “no” at all. Today things look different. Obviously, the parents had to say no. How could they let their daughter go “videsh” (abroad), when they don’t even know what abroad is? How would they know? These people hardly go beyond the village borders … All they saw was that they would lose their daughter. It took eight months, constant follow ups and a dozen people to convince Asha’s parents. Even the Maharaj of Panna made an appearance at their doorsteps. 4

It was a long, long difficult process. And one we started to think would never get anywhere. What kept us going was Asha’s strong will and persistence to explore. She used to say to her father, “I am too young to get married. I want to study. It’s important, because without good education I will end up working as a laborer, too. If I study, I can find a good job.” Asha’s mother understood much faster. She said, “ The villagers would ask us how we could think of sending our daughter abroad. Aren’t we scared? Yes, we are, but our daughter convinced us to let her go. She kept telling us: “Let me go. If I do well, I can achieve something in life!” During these eight month Asha’s life has changed. She advanced to the “mother of the skatepark” and truly became a role model for many other girls. She is the keeper of the locks and keys of the boxes where all our skateboards, paints, books are kept. Everyday, at non school hours when the other kids are free from school, she comes to the park, cleans the bamboo house and opens the boxes for everyone. She has taken ownership and responsibility. When she’s on the skateboard, she feels like flying. “I feel the clouds are within my reach,” she says. Her activities at the skatepark go far beyond skateboarding; she does anything and everything she feels like. Sometimes she is painting or reading a book. She practices English with other kids or they are just laughing about dayto-day issues. Asha is always ready to take the first step. She gains respect

and love over and over again and no one envies her for going abroad to learn English. Everyone feels that she really deserves it. Now with her parents and her papers ready, the passport process has begun.

It’s a long road Asha has decided to take. She will manage and she will grow walking down her path. And she certainly will encourage other girls in her village to live their dreams.

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issue_01 / NOV. 2016

Buffalos or arts?

Karan among his buffalos holding a bowl he has made at Art Ichol

Karan is torn between the arts and the buffalos of his family. He loves both. The big challenge is how to combine them. Karan is the youngest son in his family and the last one at home. His father is desperately depending on him. The buffalos, the cows and the tractor are Karan’s domaine. And he manages it well and all alone. A great help. A help the family cannot afford to lose. Karan dropped out of 10th grade because he didn’t like school. In the beginning he used to come to the skatepark but he stopped because he is a little older than all the other kids so he felt displaced. One day he came and brought us a 3D-model of our skatepark. It was made out of mud and it was exact in scale and included every single detail of the park. Stunning. A few weeks later he brought a small bamboo house. He told us that his mini house even had a running fan. And it had. And then he showed us the small little toys he made out of mud – Janwaar mud, which makes his products strong, he said.We decided to take him to Art Ichol, an art center two hours away from us, with unusual facilities. It’s a place which one would expect in Connecticut or Upstate New York, but not in rural Madhya Pradesh.

When we arrived, Karan was blown away – he immediately fell in love with this place. He easily connected with the local artist in residence and they exchanged ideas and processes for hours. From the minute Karan walked into Art Ichol he had a wonderful smile on his face. His eyes were glaring – this boy had changed. Ambica Beri, the founder and owner of Art Ichol, generously oﬀered him that he could come and stay and work when ever he wants. Back in Janwaar we went to see his parents. We had various long long conversations why it would make sense to let Karan go and do arts – a ﬁeld which is beyond the parents’ imagination. Nevertheless his parents and most importantly the father would love to let him go – the big unsolved question is though: what will the buffalos do? No one can take care of them except Karan’s father. But he can hardly work more than he already does. So we are in a dilemma. Finding help is not so easy … Currently his parents have agreed to let him go for one week per month for the next six month – during this time all of us will work on a longterm solution which is not yet in sight.

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by visitng the Centre between Satna and Maihar on the Khajuraho-Bandhavgarh Highway.

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a creative escape

M IH R

issue_01 / NOV. 2016

Let it flow! Over the last three years Janwaar, as the entire Bundhelkand area, was facing serious droughts. Water was more scarce than ever. This year in April the water hand pumps in Janwaar were running dry. Two months earlier than usual. The women had to walk 4.5 km in the heat of the day to get some water. Bad quality water. It lasted for another three weeks. By the end of May the last pump was dry. No more natural water. A (deadly) thread for the villagers and their animals. Where ever we went this sweet smell of scruffy meat was in the air. Almost in every field we saw dead animals lying. At the official side meetings over meetings were arranged how to cope with the situation – the government wasn’t able to provide suffcient water for everybody. In Janwaar once in a while a truck with a water tank arrived – but it wasn't enough. People were standing in line for water – and again bad quality water. It was a mind changing experience for us. We decided to fix at least the water drinking problem in Janwaar.

At the local government school.

School’s in! “When the skatepark started, some kids lost sight of school and ran to the skatepark. Now with the “no school – no skateboarding”-rule, the attendance has increased. The good skateboarders attend school most regularly,” says Avadh Dahayat, the principal of the local government school. “The different volunteers coming to Janwaar Castle bring in a mix of excitement and learning,” he adds. “Because of the Westerners the kids have started using English in daily life and thus are learning a lot faster.” What he basically says is that we at Janwaar Castle add to the school and do not compete. Even though our learning methods are different – experience based learning at Janwaar Castle, and ex-cathedra teaching at the school – we slowly figure out a way how to improve the learning environment as a whole. We are aware that we can’t change the existing system but we can add and build something new which makes 6

the old obsolete. Avadh and his teacher team are with us. What we are trying to do with the help of Prakriti in Noida (see also p. 3), a Kisan School in Banda and a maker space in Shenzen, China, is to pilot a model school where the village children practice, experience and learn what they really need in their daily lives. We are convinced that children in very diﬀerent environments and circumstances require learning that is relevant to them and their lives. Often this is not building based, white western European and aimed at university entrance, but local, community based and aimed at improving their, and their communities’ lives. In Janwaar it can be that children build their own skateboards, the farmers learn how to manage and set up a self-suﬃcient farm, a few houses can include homestays or the girls and women start stiching cotton clothes – a craft which has disappeared from this area but which used be famous and popular.

Paniwalla in Janwaar

We hired the paniwalla (picture below) and we don’t know how but he and his team managed to find a water source which is extremely rare in this part of the world. In only 50 feet depth they discovered a rich water resource. We dug a tube well and installed a solar power water pump which is now pumping up 5000 liter a day. We’ve provided four taps for all the villagers right at the main street which runs through the village – easy accessible for everyone! And later in the month when Kelle and Nyjah Huston and their “Let it Flow”-team are here they will install water filters, fix some broken pumps and we'll have a small inauguration party for the entire set-up. A big thank you to Vicky Roy, our documentary photographer, who gave his fotos for free so we could sell them to our “friends & family”! And another big thank you to all of you who bought a foto or two to make this project become reality! It’s done! Let it flow!

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Goldie, Ramkesh, Deepa and Arun All four are outstanding skateboarders and they all belong to the core of our Janwaar Castle skateboarding team. They skateboard daily, they are in a nice way ambitious and they try to avoid to stand in the ﬁrst row. They go to school – Ramkesh and Deepa give us once in a while a little headache, but overall they are trying their best to make an appearance at school. While Goldie always attended school more or less regulary, Arun only joined the classes when he understood that skateboarding goes strictly along with schooling. “No school – no

skateboarding!” The Janwaar Castle rule #1. Meanwhile he is one of the toppers at school. What is binding the four together lately is that all of them will go abroad. The two girls aim for Australia and the boys for the US. Their goals: to learn better skateboarding and to learn English. The idea was born when Isabel and Gary, both living in Australia, voluntered at Janwaar Castle! Blown away by the enthusiasm of the Janwaar kids, they’ve invited the two girls to their country. Goldie and Deepa will visit diﬀerent

skateparks in Melbourne, skateboard at new turfs and interact with skateboarders. When asked what Australia will be like, Goldie said: “Who knows … Isabel told me it’s very nice. I will go there to learn as much as possible and to skateboard.” For Indian girls in a village it’s quite an unusual thing to engage in outdoor sports and to travel abroad. But Deepa and Goldie they love their boards and they are ready to face this challenge. Arun and Ramkesh will be heading to the US – they have various options, the locations aren’t decided yet. But it

looks like that California is calling. When you ask them what they think about their trip you’ll only see bright eyes and big smiles. It’s way beyond their imagination. But they trust us and they are open for the unknown. This is wonderful to observe. We’ve applied for the passports and we'll take them for the interviews soon. The plan is to take oﬀ next year during summer break. The parents are ready to let them go. In all four cases we were surprisingly lucky – the parents have been supportive from the day the idea was born. Respect!

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Skateboarding with the world champion

It’s probably the dream of every skateboarding kid to skate an entire day with the world champion. Nyjah Huston and Janwaar Castle make this dream come true: The winner of the First Janwaar Castle Skateboarding

Challenge will do exactly this! She or he will spend a full day with Nyjah. We will take care of the kid’s travels, stay and we’ll host her/him truly like a winner when she/he returns to Janwaar :-)

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All of us are very excited about Nyjah’s visit – preparations are in full swing. Nyjah’s mother, Kelle Huston is a great manager and communicator! With her we organize everything. She is strictly focussed and very much

to the point. It’s fun working with her. All in all 13 people will come all the way from California to visit Janwaar Castle. Their trip will take more than 36 hours one way! We’ll pick them up at the airport and guide them trough their first train journey in India. Nizzamuddin Railway station in the evening hours is always an experience! Their team includes skateboarders, filmmakers and the “Let it Flow” people. Let it Flow is a foundation, founded by Nyjah and his mother, which tackles water problems. Their main work is focussed on repairing wells and broken water pumps and they install water filters. So during their visit they will also work. In Janwaar at least seven water pumps are broken and wells need to be fixed. The water hand pump at the government school will be the first to be repaired. In addition to that they will install filters where needed. A big thank you to the 101India team and especially to Avijit who produced and directed “The Barefoot Skateboarders” – without this video all this would never ever have happened!