An year back I moved back to my ancestral home and land in Malsain village, Uttarkhand, near Pauri Garhwal with a vision to introduce and develop a model for sustainable living in and around my village. My dream is to live in harmony with nature with a minimalist and healthy lifestyle. At this initial stage my focus is on promoting earthen buildings and natural farming in the region. With this I would like to work on small-scale innovations utilizing renewable sources of energy and locally available resources,  and help local entrepreneurs to go green hence building a local economical unit by developing sources of income which are ecologically sustainable. This initiative is banking on community driven sensibility. I want to connect with more like-minded people and work together to fulfill our goal.

Goals of Malsain Hills project are:
a) to establish a sustainable, eco-friendly  and self sufficient model in our rural areas combining traditional knowledge with a scientific approach by natural farming and by using earthen architecture for housing

b)to facilitate and help creating opportunities for local entrepreneurs to find green sources of income

c) to re-establish original eco system and diversity by planting indigenous varieties of trees

d)to conserve and promote local arts by setting up local gallery and market in the farm

e) to provide a holistic space for retreats and workshops

f) to build a community of people who are looking to live in harmony with nature  

Our achievements so far with the help of our volunteers, local community and donations of our supporters include-

a) Land was abandoned for ten years without any farming taking place. Project team revived few areas of the farming land and many crops have been produced and harvested since then sustaining partially personal food consumption at the farm. Crops being grown at the farm include local millets and grains from Uttarakhand area called Barahnaja as well as vegetables like cauliflower, beetroots, chinese cabbage, pumpkin, tomatoes, gourd, herbs like lemon grass, thyme, oregano , and medicinal plants like Ashwagandha.
b) About 300 trees have been planted in the surrounding forest area and about 200 trees in the farm property like fruit and forest trees including indigenous varieties. A food forest is being developed.
c) Poly house was installed in winter of 2018.
d) Restored traditional 150 year old house in the farm property.
e) Rain water harvesting and water conservation system has been set up by using traditional principles like check dams, swales and ponds.
f) Basic living fencing using wood and thorny bushes  was installed to protect plants from animals
g) Relationships were established with local villagers to help them with their ongoing projects by giving them marketing strategies and increasing their clientele,  and help diversify their source of income by giving them ideas for new start ups for example helped set up a laundry service as a new source of income for the locals. Also promoted ideas of reforestation, waste management  and sustainable living in the local region
h) Hosted volunteers from all across the world who contributed to farm projects and exchanged knowledge  from their farming experience. Volunteers got the opportunity to live in a growing sustainable farm very close to nature, learn farming techniques and earthen architecture, as well as learn local culture. This volunteer program promoted eco tourism in the area.
i) Provided teaching classes to local children to strengthen their standard school curriculum learning
j) Provided space for local children to engage in sports


In order to continue achieving our goals, below are our immediate needs:

1. For water irrigation system, pipelines, pump and water tank are to be installed for the starting area. Costs estimated are:
Pipeline 20,000 INR
Pump 10,000 INR
Water tank 10,000 INR after govt subsidy

2. For the rising need of accommodation for volunteers and farm visitors who want to learn about the farm and contribute to its activities , new community area, dorms, kitchen and toilets need to be constructed. Costs estimated are 3,50,000 INR based on quote 700 INR per square ft and project area being 500 square feet. Also tent spaces are planned to be provided to visitors for which the estimated cost is 25,000 INR per tent totaling to 75,000 INR for three tents.

With the help of above needed funds, we can continue our journey and realise the vision that we have set for Malsain hills project that is to create a space for everyone participating in our project to learn to live a sustainable life in beautiful setting of nature offering a high quality of  life and opportunites of livelihood and self development. We intend to provide complete transparency to our donors with financial records of where their donation was used along with proof of pictures on how the progress of the work has been. This is a collaborative project of sharing and learning supported by our global community donations whether monetary or otherwise. We look forward to make Malsain HIlls family become bigger with your participation.

www.malsainhills.com 
https://www.instagram.com/malsainhills/