Two new land campaigns

On Sri Aurobindo’s birthday 2014, the Acres for Auroville (A4A) land campaign – a collaboration between Auroville International and Lands for Auroville Unified (LFAU) – was launched. Its target was to raise funds for Auroville to buy urgently needed plots in the Matrimandir Area and the International Zone. The idea was to prepare a collective gift for Auroville’s 50th birthday – the gift of a unified physical base – by creating a momentum of solidarity among the greater Auroville family. In addition to raising awareness of the City of Dawn’s priority need, the campaign had several other successes in what could be called a very encouraging first year:

– after 11 months, 98% of the fundraising goal was reached

– in June, the Land Board purchased a major Matrimandir area plot, financed by A4A donations. This new Auroville land has become an integral part of Mahalakshmi Park and the Educational Zone near Deepanam school

– 22 accounting reports have been presented to the Auroville International Board and to the Land Board, fulfilling our promise of keeping fully transparent accounts

– so far, about 345 donations have been received. All donors received Donor Recognition envelopes containing the Campaign Certificate (designed by Emanuele), an Auroville earth card, and Loretta’s DVD “The Message of Flowers: The Life and Work of the Mother of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram” (which she has donated to the campaign)

The A4A team of Mandakini Lucien Brun (Auroville International France), Aryadeep, Sigrid and Jothi works in tandem with Sathish, and with Kumar and Guna of the Unity Fund. While Acres for Auroville began before the arrival of the new Land Board, A4A has been working as full collaborators with the new Board team since their arrival.

The team is extremely gratified and encouraged by the support that has come from all quarters of the greater Auroville family – Aurovilians, senior Ashramites, ex-Ashram students, contacts of Auroville International Centres and the Centres themselves, as well as other long-term donors to Auroville. Many have donated repeatedly or sent monthly contributions. According to Divya of the Land Board, “A4A has become a buzzword in fundraising enthusiasm. Auroville and the Land Board are truly grateful to the AVIs for A4A and for donors’ responses!”

“How encouraging it is to know that the extended Auroville community and so many friends and well-wishers around the world have contributed to make A4A Phase 1 a success!” said Friederike, Chairperson of Auroville International. “It was hard to imagine a year ago, when the campaign started, that such a concerned and generous response would be forthcoming, given the global financial crisis and its repercussions on available individual resources.”

“We see the campaign as a consecrated action,” explains Mandakini. “So, at every Darshan since August 15th, 2014, we have sent out inspirational letters and fliers, calling for action. In between we publish campaign updates. We have also made a campaign Powerpoint presentation and a short fundraising film (Sergey was the filmmaker).” She highlights the importance of the AVI-LFAU collaboration and the role of Aryadeep: “Acres for Auroville could not have existed without him and the donor respect that he’s built up over the years.”

The next phase

Encouraged by the first year’s results, A4A has moved on to its next phase of targeted fundraising for Auroville’s land. Phase 2 of the Acres for Auroville campaign was launched on August 15th , 2015, targeting the city area as a whole, the 4 zones – Residential, Cultural, Industrial, International – that encircle the Matrimandir, Auroville’s heart. This new target is in response to the Land Board’s specific request to help purchase land for a coherent, consolidated urban centre.

Unspent Phase 1 donations will be held in trust for future purchase opportunities in the Phase 1 area (the Matrimandir and International Zone).

Also on August 15th, the GreenAcres campaign for land purchase in the Greenbelt was launched. This new campaign is led by Sigrid, with the rest of the LFAU team participating whole-heartedly. The goal is to purchase 20 plots in the Greenbelt corresponding to the Land Board’s priorities in regard to water, consolidation of existing Auroville land and other parameters. Resource persons in the campaign are Priya (Green Group and Buddha Garden), who has been actively supporting with information and writing, as well as Martin Littlewood (ex-AVI UK,) and Joss (Pitchandikulam and SLI). Anita P., with her professional skills with eco-projects, has also joined.

“It took one year to get GreenAcres set up, and finally it all came together!” says Sigrid. “GreenAcres is the start of yet another ‘impossible’ task, and it became clear that we need to contact new donors. We hope that Aurovilians and well-wishers can help us link to NGOs and individuals particularly interested in ecology who can see the Greenbelt’s potential as an existing and expanding eco-resource centre.”

As a first step in this direction, Martin S. and Vikram from Auroville Green Practices have linked their www.green.aurovilleportal.org website with www.colaap.org, the official site of Lands for Auroville Unified and the two campaigns. Like A4A, GreenAcres will have Donor Pages on COLAAP, a Success Barometer (in green), and the same type of accounting (but since it is not an AVI-initiated project it will not send its accounts to the AVI Board for review).

In preparation for these two new campaigns COLAAP has been upgraded, and it is now a much richer Auroville land action and information resource. It provides information on the City and the Greenbelt, on the campaigns and their news, in addition to hosting the Donor Pages for both campaigns. A4A Phase 2 and the Green Acres launch, along with a message to the AVIs from the Land Board, were presented by Mandakini at the recent AUM-AVI annual meeting in Woodstock, New York.

Auroville now has two dedicated land campaigns – A4A Phase 2 and GreenAcres – covering the totality of the Township’s Master Plan area. The need is great and we invite everyone’s support! Building Auroville is an affair of the heart, so please give to the campaign of your heart!

If you are donating, please specify “ACRES FOR AUROVILLE” or “GREEN ACRES”. You can donate via Auroville Unity Fund (checks or bank transfers) – Auroville Donation Gateway (credit or debit cards) www.auroville.com/donations/ or through – Auroville International www.auroville-international.org. See COLAAP site for information on tax deductibility: www.colaap.org.