Any country’s progress is directly connected with rural development. Lasting rural transformation can be achieved only with a holistic approach, one that considers and integrates all aspects including economic, social and environmental. For any change to be sustainable, and it has to begin from within. In rural development programmess run by The Art of Living, the emphasis is on empowering the local communities and making them the torch-bearers of change. The ‘Youth Leadership Training programmess’ (YLTP) gives youth the skills, motivation, and abilities to initiate and lead service projects in their own villages and communities based on their needs. It is this combination of personal inner strength, as well as skills and leadership training that enables them on the journey of rural development.
Approach
The fulcrum of the rural transformation of The Art of Living in India is the empowerment of the rural youth leader, called ‘Yuvacharya.’ These are bright young men and women drawn from the same rural milieu and developed on multiple facets by the Youth Leadership Training programmess (YLTP).
This gives them the skills, motivation, and abilities to initiate and lead service projects in their own villages and communities based on their needs. It is this combination of inner strength as well as skills and leadership training that enables them on the journey of rural development.
Yuvacharyas leverage The Art of Living model of development called the 5H:
- Health – physical, mental, financial, and environmental
- Homes for the homeless
- Hygiene
- Human Values
- Harmony in Diversity
The 5H catalyzes social transformation and aims to eradicate poverty, misery, and disease and to ensure peace and harmony in rural and tribal areas worldwide.
Impact in India
70,000 villages in India
Reached
203,220 rural youth
trained through Youth Leadership Training programmess
165,000 free stress-relief workshops
conducted, benefiting more than 5,688,000 people
52,466 hygiene camps
Conducted, benefiting 7,869,900 people
27,427 medical camps
benefiting 577,400 people
3,819 homes
built, impacting the socio-economic conditions of families
15,000 toilets
built, improving the health of local villagers
1,199 bore-wells
built, offering a regular supply of water
904 bio-gas plants
built, offering alternate fuel solutions
55 model villages
developed
65,000+ people
across 16,500 households benefited from solar lighting
98 solar entrepreneurs
trained, providing clean energy to 4,000 rural families
