Trainee – Kamlesh Vakhla

Detailed Narrative:

Kamlesh belongs to Amlifaliya village in Jhabua and studies in class 10. He was first introduced to bamboo handicrafts here at Shivganga Ashram.

Kamlesh says before he came to the training center he used to just wander off in the village, play and pass away the time doing nothing. Whole days went off doing nothing substantial and he wasn’t even paying attention in the school.

After coming here he learnt much from the different activities. Interacting with and making new friends from different villages and staying away from home for so long were important things he learnt.

Kamlesh has become proficient in skills like shaving outer skin of bamboo, using tools like chisel and file, finishing using different sandpapers, chipping, etc. He is now able to make bamboo speaker and diya completely from scratch.

Now he says he makes effective use of his time and tries to learn new things from everyone he meets. He realizes the importance of making appropriate us of his time. Along with bamboo craftsmanship, he says his school studies also improved because of the values he learnt during bamboo training.

A vision for the need to work for the prosperity of the villages of Jhabua and how bamboo training can be spread to more students of Jhabua is forming. He now goes to different villages of Jhabua and motivates new students to learn bamboo craftsmanship.