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Every year we celebrate Holi, the festival of colors. And every year it’s extreme fun. All the kids from our Open School Project in Delhi came backhome. They brought organic colors – and, as you can see they were used abundantly. No one could escape! At the end we spontaneously decided to go to the […]
I live in Madla, 35 km away from Janwaar, right next to Ken River. The kids love this place. Last year we had our first beach party – it was such a huge success that the kids were demanding to make it an annual event. And that’s what we did. On March 23, forty kids […]
In the last week of February Danny Schmidt, a documentary film maker and skateboarder from Salt Lake City, US, came with his friend Zag for a visit. We’ve been talking for more than a year about this – and finally they came. The two of them stayed in Janwaar Village in our homestays and they […]
The Skateroom is a social entreprise that supports independent NGO’s through art and skate. They are based in Brussels Belgium. They partner with huge brands, first class international museums and well-known artits from around the world to produce – what I call – ARTBOARDS. Paul McCarthy, Ai Weiwei, Shepard Fairey and foundations such as the […]
Together with Prakriti School in Noida we’ve defined a learning experiment for our Janwaar kids because we believe that we need to rethink education for rural villages in India. To receive “good” education in a remote village in India is daunting. The so called “best students”, once they’ve passed 10th or even 12th grade, can […]
Anil (15) is Arun’s younger brother. When Arun was first confronted with the idea that his little brother would join the Open School team, he immediately responded: “No, he can’t.” He said, his parents won’t allow him. But in contrary, the parents said immediately yes. They asked Anil, if he wanted to join and that […]
Arun (17) has “earned” his first brownie points during our Janwaar Castle Skateboarding Challenge in November 2016 when he won the “social award” of the tournament. He wasn’t among the best skateboarders back then but this event sparked his interests – in multiple ways. He started to go to school, his social skills improved and […]
Durgha wasn’t allowed to participate in the Indian Skateboarding Championships in Vishakhapatnam – that was the status when she jumped on the bus with 20 other Janwaar kids in the early morning hours on December 20, 2018. She was too young, the organizers said. The seven year old couldn’t care less. Full of joy and […]
Asha was the first person in the village to get a passport and go abroad. This was no easy feat. As an Adivasi (indigenous people) AND a girl – there was nothing like a green card for the entire process. What a bumpy journey we had to overcome all the hurdles laid out on the way. From intrigues in […]
Ajeet is part of our Open School Project which we’ve started on January 10, 2019. Here is a portrat of him. Ajeet (15) is the youngest in his family and slightly spoiled. He enjoys all the benefits of being “male” and the last one in line. His sisters and mother would do anything to please […]