Message from the President
Building

The cylinder of clay in front of me is intimidating. Memories of being the kid in elementary school with the worst art project come flooding back. I’m out of my comfort zone. Somehow I’m going to turn this into a representation of the Hindu god Ganesha complete with elephant head?

Then our teacher, the wonderful Savitha Rao, steps to the front of the workshop. At her instruction, I cut off the first slab of clay (using the knife I brought that was way too big and looked like I wanted to hurt someone). Along with 20 other sculptors, I began. With my first tentative step, I sought advice from the teenager sitting next to me who a bit shyly, but kindly, showed me what to do. To my other side was Roxanne Näschen, President of Sambhali Germany, who happened to be visiting. Roxie reassured me I was heading in the right direction.

As I took those first steps, I knew I would be fine because I had a caring and skilled teacher and was surrounded by people who would support me—people who would help, not laugh, when I made a mistake.

You’ll read about what happened at these workshops led by Savitha Rao in Carlea Bauman’s wonderful Donor Spotlight article Where Community Building and Fundraising Meet in One Joyful Intersection.

The slab of clay, a metaphor waiting to be born if ever there was one, brought to mind all of the building and shaping that is a part of Sambhali Trust’s programs every day. As I stared at the clay, I had visions of other things that are being built, and the courage of the builders.

Some building is literal. Like the recent expansion of the Jaisalmer office because, a year and a half into Sambhali’s projects, there is need for more room for programs and visitors.

Some building is figurative, like the girls who will do whatever it takes for a chance to build a new life for themselves, one where they are educated, where they can earn a living, where they can raise their voices.

I think of the courage of the girls from rural village of Setrawa who were the first to join Sambhali’s Sheerni Boarding Home in 2012. Here they are soon after they arrived in Jodhpur:

Their dream was to be the first women in their families to graduate from secondary school. Then they built upon it. Here they are earlier this year, college students hanging out in my room for a pizza and spa party:

No, not all those original boarding home girls made it to college, but all far exceeded the education of their mothers and grandmothers. Their leadership has already built a legacy, seen in the younger boarding home girls who now confidently see their own path to college ahead.

This year, the foundation that the original group of boarding home girls built stretched to the city of Jaisalmer. Families there had heard of the success of the Sambhali boarding homes and this fall 14 girls were willing to travel five hours and far outside their comfort zone to join the boarding homes in Jodhpur, a long dusty ride for a chance to build their new futures.

Already other builders are ready—girls like Sapna* who is now on the waiting list to join a Sambhali boarding home. Her story, written by Rajshree Rathore, Sambhali’s Head of Education Services, beautifully illustrates how Sambhali’s success builds dreams:

In a family bustling with love and laughter, seven-year-old Sapna shares her days with nine siblings, the melody of their laughter echoing through the arid landscape. Yet, amidst the warmth of familial bonds, Sapna finds herself yearning for the embrace of knowledge that school promises.

Her father, a dedicated welder, forges a path for his children's future with sparks that light up their modest home. But the journey to education is not an easy one. Only two of Sapna's siblings, her brothers, tread the dusty path to school, leaving her with the thirst for learning.

Sapna dreams of becoming a teacher in her community. Though she has never stepped into a classroom, every day, she makes her way to the Sambhali Primary Education center, eager to grasp the basics that will pave her way to a brighter future. Her family, understanding the value of education, is willing to send her to a boarding home, recognizing the potential that glimmers within their daughter.

As Sapna waits to be enrolled in the boarding home, she carries the spirit of Sambhali in her heart—a spirit that brims with resilience, hope, and the promise of a better tomorrow.

Becoming the first educated women in their families is hard, but what makes the building easier are some of the same supports I had in my Ganesha workshop. The boarding home girls are surrounded by caring and skilled teachers and other staff, and by the other boarding home girls—sisters who will support them when they make a mistake.

The Ganesha workshop I attended happened outside on a hot and humid September day in Northern Virginia, with gray skies and the threat of a downpour in the air. When a few raindrops fell I worried. What would we all do with our multiple pieces of wet clay were the skies to open? The rain stopped. Then about a half hour later a few more ominous drops fell. Miraculously they stopped. Building isn’t easy, and it isn’t without risks, but you must keep building.

The stakes were a whole lot lower for me at the Ganesha-building workshop than those facing the boarding home girls—a massive understatement to say the least—but I like to think there is a good omen when the kid who came in last in art class managed to make a recognizable Ganesha.

I’ve got a lot of inspiration.

Shereen Arent
President
Sambhali U.S.

*Names of minors have been changed

Me with workshop leader Savitha Rao and President of Sambhali Germany Roxanne Näschen