The Annadhana Book Project aims to preserve India's traditional knowledge by encouraging children from indigenous communities to write and publish stories about their interactions with nature and experiences helping their parents. The project will organize creative writing workshops in 50 rural schools to document ecological traditions and reconnect youth with their cultural heritage. Students will learn storytelling and illustration skills, with the best stories published and others made available online. The goals are to enhance respect for local cultures and their environmental wisdom.

1. REVIVING INDIA’S TRADITIONAL
KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM.
BY ANNADHANA BOOK PROJECT
Giving voice to the wisdom of
India’s traditional people by
encouraging their children to
write and publish their own
environmental stories.

2. India is the last big
repository of Traditional
Knowledge Systems with
skills and expertise in the
fields of health and ethno-
botany, water harvesting,
forest management,
agriculture, animal care,
textile, architecture...

3. To preserve Traditional
Knowledge, it is therefore of
utmost importance to make
children aware of the significance
and relevance of indigenous
practices and skills and thereby,
instill a sense of pride and
confidence about it.
The all-important traditional
ecological knowledge
developed by India’s
traditional people over
many hundreds of years of
intimate interaction with the
natural world is today on the
verge of getting lost for
ever.

4. Annadhana Book Project aims at:
Giving to rural children an opportunity to share
with the world through the medium of story writing
their adventures and learning while…
grazing cattle
roaming jungles in
search of wild
fruits
fishing and catching
crabs at the river
hunting birds
helping parents with the harvest…

5. The project will also be an opportunity to:
1. Discover and document India’s Ecological Traditions.
2. Enhance respect for local culture, its wisdom and its environmental ethics.
3. Encourage pupils to learn from elders and respect their knowledge.
4. Create awareness about the importance and relevance of indigenous
practices.
5. Reconnect native youth with the land and its culture emphasizing ancient
connections to the natural world.
6. Explore ancient traditions and build a modern life that "re-discovers" a
natural harmony and balance with nature.

6. PROGRAM
Annadhana Book Project will organize Creative Writing Workshops in
SCHOOLS and NGOs working with children of indigenous communities
set in remote rural areas. To capture India’s cultural as well as
ecological diversity, Annadhana is planning to hold its program in about
50 rural schools around the country.
During the workshop, the students will be introduced to
the art of story writing, and illustration.
The 5 days workshop is addressed to children aged 10
to 15 years old.
The best stories will get published by a leading
publisher of children’s books. Others will be made
available online in downloadable ebook format.

7. Part of the program will also be:
- the organization of a trip to nearby villages
where students will help with the
documentation of local practices in the field
of agriculture, health traditions, biodiversity,
water harvesting, forest management,
vernacular architecture, textiles, crafts…
- the setting-up at the school level of a
Traditional Knowledge Exhibition where
students will display local tools, baskets,
crafts…
The entire program will be documented in print as well as audio-visual media.

8. You run a school in a forgotten corner of India
and would like to participate to Annadhana Book
Project to Revive India’s Traditional Knowledge
and Wisdom.
Contact Muriel Kakani at
annadhanaproject@gmail.com
Suggestions welcome.