The Auroville crèche

About 24 toddlers, from the ages of nine months to three years, are enjoying juice and biscuits. Tea is for teachers only. And me. We have just finished setting up clay and decoration tools to start another session of imprints of hands and feet. We have done this already twice and the finished tiles were presented to the families at last year’s Christmas celebration. Now we want to continue this tradition with a new batch, which will be 20 babies and attending parents.

Our thanks to Mandala Pottery, where the pieces are fired.

A bit of history: Auroville has a range of schools, from kindergarten to primary and secondary schools. What was missing was a place where like-minded parents could meet and be with their small children, even babies. In the beginning of the new millennium some Aurovilians found a space in the Greenbelt, on the road to Dana, and they initiated the pre-crѐche. It was just a place to meet, with a shed and a small kitchen.

Parents would come with their babies and were asked to become involved, stay for some hours, and only leave when the child was accustomed to being without them.

The kids set the pace. Mornings were spent with playing, singing and walks in the forest, even outings to the Botanical Garden in Pondy.

Around 2013, the crѐche moved to its recent place near Deepanam School, after about five years of planning and administrative hurdles. Dr Karan Singh was invited to the inauguration and lit the candles. Now it has a big garden with a playground, three classrooms and a kitchen and office surround a pleasant courtyard.

Apart from daily activities, there are annual celebrations, like the Christmas Party with Santa Claus and presents, and Ganesh Pooja. What is missing is a pool, as water games are in high demand and until now only buckets and garden hoses can be used.

The crѐche is a project under SAIIER. The late Sanjeev Aggarwal was very supportive and often visited the premises. He initiated the publication of the book Taking Care of Preschool Children – The Mother’s Vision and the Auroville Experience, featuring the three main places children can join before school: the pre-crѐche and the crѐche groups of Kindergarten and Nandanam. The book explains in detail the approach of Auroville’s crѐches in terms of Mother’s teachings.

The driving force to implement these values was Marie-Angel, accompanied by Usha P. and Anjalai who joined in 2005, plus many volunteers. Later, Auroprem started to help with the administration. Sometime later, Marie-Angel stopped, and Usha moved to Australia. Now Anjalai is the seniormost teacher with the longest experience. Being a mother of two gives her valuable tools to educate children and give good advice to parents.

When COVID hit and everything went into lockdown, naturally the crѐche closed its gates. After some relaxation, teachers met with the children in smaller groups, mostly outdoors and while maintaining reasonable distances. This was not easy with babies!

In general, the work at the crѐche is challenging. Daily there is a high energy level and the teachers have to be on high alert to watch the babies and toddlers. But it is very rewarding for both sides. As teachers spend quite a lot of time with the kids, sometimes they notice some problems in the behaviour, like difficulties in hearing, talking or moving. Then they can point this out to the parents, who can take appropriate action.

To have your child admitted to the crѐche, one isn’t asked for a financial contribution, but donations are welcome. Since the new administration and the reorganisation of many Auroville services or units, SAIIER also cut teachers’ maintenances here…

What has also changed is the access to Matrimandir Gardens. There was a gate which could be used to enter the Gardens directly from the crѐche’s premises, but due to extensive building activities at Matrimandir, this access is not accessible anymore.

If you are in Auroville, try to make an appointment to visit the crѐche, and to give some hours of your time to volunteer in whatever capacity you can contribute. I for one, even if I don’t have children of my own, am grateful that there is a place like this and I will continue to put little hands and feet into clay. Even if sometimes there are some tears.