Left: Irrigation work on Shram Dan, a community workday every Sunday morning. Anandwan takes care of its needs directly. Take shelter, for example: they build these Egyptian-inspired houses (above and below) whose walls are dried soil blocks, and whose roofs are fired bricks. The high arched ceilings provide breezy cross-ventilation and the roofs, whitewashed with limestone, reflect sunlight. Anandwan’s gates before.a group of 5 to 10 year old children accompanied me. Despite having been bom and raised in India, my jeans, beard, backpack and curiosity made it obvious that I was a guest from far away. When I told them I came from the United States they replied “You are at war with Iraq!”. They watch the news every evening on the community TV in a chowk [public yard]. Physical barriers, whether crippling diseases or miles of barren land, cannot isolate Anandwan. In fact. National news sometimes originates from here. Anandwan is one of the cleanest places I have ever seen in India, the result of strong feelings of responsibility among its inhabitants and conscious habits in dealing with'communicable disease. The children walked with me a half km towards the main office buildings where I was to introduce myself. They were coming from a late afternoon game at their school, and were returning to Gokul [The Child Haven], a dormitory for children of leprosy patients in the infectious stage of the disease. The parents see their children often, and the evening separation at Anandwan is no problem since the traditional Indian extended family has been extended to include the entire town. The Anandwan hospital currently serves 1800 patients. The doctors are provided with food, shelter, clothing and a small stipend as are all other community members. One of the resident doctors gave me a guided tour of the hospital. We walked through a number of well-kept wards, a laboratory, kitehen, and office, meeting patients who had no complaints about the care. Since I’m a native speaker of Marathi, the most common language of this state of Maharashtra, I was able to communicate with everyone. Although some people travel to Anandwan from around the country, most come from this region: Amte realized long ago that it was impossible for all leprosy patients to move to intentional communities. For those who cannot come, Anandwan runs many extension programs. No matter the handicap, everyone at Anandwan works. Current and ex-patients attend to all of the daily chores: gardening, milking cows and water buffalos, office work, cooking and cleaning. For many decades Anandwan residents produced everything they needed except salt and kerosene. Nowadays, the community finds itself stretched thin, due to increasing numbers of new patients, who come through an open door policy for anyone with leprosy or any other disability. Luckily with the help of sister communities such as Som-Nath, where recovered patients farm, they are able to meet their needs and produce an excess to sell. The quality of produce from Anandwan’s communities is the best in the region. Back in the 1950’s, when Amte began to sell excess at the local market, he asked people to pay whatever they felt was fair for the beautiful vegetables. At first the other farmers thought they were being undersold, but eventually Amte’s pricing encouraged them to chastise wealthy consumers if they didn’t pay enough. A problem arose when people realized tlie food was grown by victims of leprosy: buyers worried about infection. Rain Winter/Spring 1992 Volume XIV, Number 2 Page 23
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