We become official skateboarders!

Last year 21 of our Janwaar kids participated in the Indian Skateboarding Championships in Vishakhapatnam, Tamil Nadu. We were very successful and won many medals. This year these championships become even more important as they are a qualifier for international competitions and even the Olympics, where skateboarding will be for the very first time an […]

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The Rainbow Dream Camp

Before I start writing about the camp itself and why our girls went there, I want to thank everyone who made this possible. Thanks to all the friends who donated to make this happen – once again, the support came from all over the world! Thank you! The skatepark has changed a lot in Janwaar. […]

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What skateboarding can do!

A few days ago, Clara from the The Skateroom, which financed parts of our new skatepark, asked us for some quotes. She wanted to know what kind of impact skateboarding has in the village and in the lives of our kids. Here are some of the quotes we got: Jagprasad and Jalsa Bai (Arun’s and […]

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Ramkesh in Noida

Last week Ramkesh came to Noida to visit our Open School kids. Arun did an interview with him. On Saturday 21st September I interviewed Ramkesh Adiwashi. Ramkesh lives in my village, Janwaar, in Madhya Pradesh. He was with me when I made a skateboarding tour in Europe. He is a good skateboarder. He came for […]

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Sachin’s newly found freedom

Since 5 years I am now in Janwaar. I only saw little Sachin running around like this: He was always wearing something around his head to protect the open wounds from dirt, he had pain and was restricted in his movements. One day I asked Vicky Roy, a Delhi-based photographer who frequently came to Janwaar, […]

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A study

Gaëtan Depecker, a social work student from Belgium, HoGent, asked us to answer a few questions on skateboarding and social change in India. He is doing a little research about how skateboarding can promote gender equality for his bachelor thesis. He wanted answers from the organisation itself and from one of our skateboarders. Anil took […]

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A visit from Art Ichol

Two weeks ago I went to Art Ichol to drop a catalogue for a friend of mine. I always enjoy the 2.5 hours ride from Madla to Maihir, it’s beautiful landscape and only a few cars are on the road. The motorbike knows its way, so the ride is almost like a meditation session for […]

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A Reading Lab

At our Villa Janwaar we had books right from the beginning. Mainly picture books for the little ones. Hindi, English and bilingual. The little kids, even though, they cannot read, love the books. More often than not I see them in the Villa sitting and flipping through them. Yesterday we got book shelves for all […]

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Out-of-the-Box

Instead of sending out emails – as we did earlier – we’ve now created a newsletter. We call it Out-Of-The-Box! It will provide you out-of-the-box news from Janwaar and our rural changemakers. It’s more like quick shots, not as deep and profound as our newspaper and book. It’s a way for us to say thank […]

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Kyra’s Book Bank

Kyra is a teenage girl in Mumbai who really cares a lot about those who are not as fortunate as her. A few years ago she started collection books from friends & family and passing them on to kids in the slums of Mumbai. I’ve met her a few months ago in Mumbai and we […]

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