Construction to Combat Climate Change

Dear friends, 

We have made great progress on the outlet air shafts of our system of Cooling without Air-Conditioning!!!

Two Shafts have been completed and fixed, with just the fixing of the top ventilator remaining for the second one.

The first outlet air shaft is fully functional.

The purpose is to remove hot air from within the building. WITHOUT electricity.  Just using mechanical energy!

Please watch the attached video which we have made specially for you.  You will see what your donations have helped realise!

(https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uNex2ozkhEgCJpgXEWPoLKfhpiK8-0kN/view?usp=sharing)

It is raining here now, and you will see that the system is functioning even in the rain!  The workers have also observed that when it is hotter outside, the ventilator spins faster.

Please know also that in additon to the two Outlet Air Shafts, your donations have also been used for various sundry Repair and Maintenance tasks for the building including replacing the Auto-Phase changer of the electrical system, pads for the floor polishing machine, fencing repair, and roof repair works plus needed furniture. A booster pump needed for the SF roof has been bought, plus some trees planted. Work is on towards the future cafetaria with making a green wall of "curtain plants" which are coming along really well.

We're also very happy to share an extract from a wonderful letter we received from a Foundation which donates regularly to Auroville. This time they chose to donate to our project with these words :

"We recognize the importance of your project and believe that finishing the special building of the Auroville Language Laboratory, particularly its system of cooling without Air-Conditioning, will greatly benefit the community and contribute positively to environmental sustainability… Your commitment to promoting sustainable building practices is commendable, and we are excited to support your efforts in this endeavor. We believe that the impact of your building will extend far beyond the immediate participants and create a sustainable foundation for future projects….. We are confident that this investment will yield significant returns, both in the form of reduced energy usage and in setting an example for institutional buildings worldwide."

Of course, we will need to complete the whole system (that means the rest of the inlet shafts, the other outlet shafts, the 3 cooling towers, and the remaining windows on the second-floor roof level, besides some sundry masonry work.  So all help is needed and welcome.

Do remember us on GIVING TUESDAY. It's coming up soon, in just about 2.5 weeks, on December 3rd.  (Which, incidentally, is also the International Day for Persons With Disabilities).  We will have access to incentive funds on that day, so please include us in your year-end giving, and please spread the word to your family, friends, and colleagues.  We invite you to once again look at our project page (https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/construction-to-combat-climate-change/) and share it widely in your circles.

All donations will help us complete our special building.  If there are people you know who might consider a monthly, recurring donation to the project, please encourage them to set up such a donation on December 3rd!

Finally, please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn : 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitaradhakrishnan/

I occassionally write there about our Tomatis work, the Language Lab, and also about our building.

Here's a sample post documenting an amazing Tomatis moment. It's had over 1200 views.

Also, we have finally re-done our website.  Please have a look : https://www.aurovillelanguagelab.org/

With much love and gratitude from our whole team!

Come visit us in Auroville!

Mita

Links:

• July to Mid-November Outlet Shaft Progress
• Preparatory Work (It took A LOT of detailed preparation)!
• Our Activities

Dear friends,

In the report sent last week, I had promised to add several attachments.

You're all busy people, so our team has worked hard to share with you lots of photo collages and two short videos so you can see the work you are supporting and participating in from afar.

1. The Building : Watch Tapas at work with Mano and Iyyanar and see one of the mechanical ventilators you helped buy, in this Stop-motion film on the detailed preparatory work on the Outlet Air Shafts.
   
   
2. The Building : Listen to the Dean of Civil Engineering and two other Deans from an Engineering and Technology college in our home state of Tamil Nadu sharing how they found our building amazing, and how they call on all universities, colleges and institutions to follow our example to make an impact on global warming. PSNA Deans visit to ALL.
   
   
3. The Lab : Flip through the PDF of Photo Collages to see the Lab in action with regular classes, free evening programs, visits to the Lab, etc. Human Unity in action!  You also get to see our inner team on the last page.
   
   
4. Tomatis : The Program Book IFNRCON2024.pdf of an important conference I attended, of the Indian National Federation of Neuro-Rehabilitation, where I was asked to present on "Insights into Alfred Tomatis Methods from the Auroville Language Lab".
   
   The initial pictures are of me with Dr. Sunil Narayan, Organising Co-Chair of the conference, and Chief of Neurology at JIPMER (India's No 2 Post-graduate Medical College and Hospital), and Dr. Be, a fellow Aurovilian and Ayurvedic doctor, who also made a presentation, on Ayurveda and Stroke. Dr. Suganthi, Chief of Physiotherapy at JIPMER is also in the pic.  It was a marvelous conference, and an honor to be invited to speak about our work and the theories and approach of Dr. Alfred Tomatis!
   
   
5. Tomatis : No photos of the adults and kids on the program, for privacy reasons, except for two :
   - that little baby was in her mother's womb when she did the first two parts of her Tomatis program, and the mother came back to finish her program after the little one was born!
   - And a boy doing the program, who on the last day of his first block of listening training, wrote and gifted me the most incredible poem that brought goosebumps all over and tears to my eyes.  Tomatis:Thank you for your support and love....
   
   Just reading that poem made me feel that all the difficulties and the struggles we went through to bring Dr. and Mrs. Tomatis' work to Auroville and India, all the struggles and challenges of creating the Lab from scratch, of constructing our building...  all of it, was worth it!  
   
   It's incredible how he uses the language of slavery and liberation to describe what the program has done for him.  
   
   What a privilege it is, to be able to do this work!!!
   
   
   
   

And finally, an appeal.  July 10th, Wednesday, is GlobalGiving's very special Bonus Day.  This is to encourage donors to give larger amounts, which will be matched; the larger the amount, the larger the match!   We would be so grateful if you could participate and donate to us again on that date, starting at 9am EDT.  

We are working on two outlet air shafts at the moment.  We would like to get the funds to finish all 25 outlet shafts as per our building design.  

We invite you to participate and to please share our link as widely as possible to anyone who could possibly give a larger gift, especially to all who want to make an impact on climate change.  

And all who believe in education, in the potential hidden in special needs children, and the importance of resolutely doing good in an insane world:

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/construction-to-combat-climate-change/


Thank you so much!

Mita,
On behalf of our whole team at the Auroville Language Laboratory