 |
|||||||||
  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||
       |
        |
    When Asif Iqbal and his colleagues arrived in the small village of Kishankot in the northern Indian state of Punjab, they were ready to restore a temple. What they ended up doing was restoring a community’s sense of itself.Asif and a group of other United Nations Volunteers came to work on Kishan Mandir (Krishna’s Temple) as part of a project to restore a cultural site and develop a sense of community. In Kishankot, 50% of the population is Sikh, 25% Hindu and 25% Christian. The temple’s walls are decorated with pictures depicting Hindu and Sikh themes. Asif, who is a social scientist, and his colleagues, including conservation specialist Prashant Gadpaile, quickly realized that they would have to work hand-in-hand. The temple restoration would only succeed if the community flourished. However, the village had no facilities. The school was ill equipped, there was no qualified doctor and a large majority of the villagers had drinking and gambling problems. Many of the men had to migrate seasonally to different parts of India to find work. The UN volunteers began by identifying health, education and horticultural activities that could be linked to the restoration process. Asif found that when given the opportunity the villagers were willing to do many things. Children and young people became involved in gardening, the local library, a recreation and sports club and in non-formal education. The UN volunteers worked with women, children and the elderly, took part in education classes and did detoxification and counselling work with the families. Every household was given an opportunity to contribute to the restoration of the Mandir either in cash or kind. Art conservators organized clay modelling and drawing workshops for children. Prashant, who worked on restoring the temple’s precious yet deteriorating paintings, encouraged the young men to learn how to take care of the temple by not drawing on the walls or smoking in the temple area. Asif and the other social scientists organized Mohallas — or street corner meetings — to explain the restoration work and found themselves addressing social issues. At one, an old lady complained about her bad eyesight and others confirmed that all the ladies in the village had the same problem. The smoke from the chulhas or cooking stoves was damaging their eyes and the UN volunteers suggested the women use smokeless chulhas. Involving the whole community in the restoration work gave people a sense of belonging to the Kishan Mandir. This was crucial to ensure the temple’s maintenance and pass on the necessary technical skills. Conservation architect Munish Pandit trained two local masons in restoration work and is confident of the temple’s future. The temple restoration project is supported by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the UN Development Programme (UNDP); and the United Nations Volunteers (UNV). Seven national UN volunteers—social scientists, art restorers and conservation architects—took part in the project, which was implemented by the Cultural Resources Conservation Initiative (CRCI), a voluntary group of conservation architects. FIND OUT MORE about how the UNESCO works to protect and preserve cultural heritage as part of a community’s development. Go to the links next to Asif and the village elder. ADDITIONAL CULTURE STORIES: Afel keeps his culture alive Raki runs her own show | A treasure is safe Article from "UNV" News September 2000 Photo credit: Gurmeet S. Rai |
  |
 |