Anandwan Community

At Anandwan everyone has a role to play. There are carpenters, barbers, cobblers, cooks, students, architects, doctors, engineers, psychologists... and all of them are part of an exquisite productive collage. Office administrators, weavers, a man on his way to work, carpet artisans, metal works employees... all Anandwan residents contribute to its economy in some way or the other. It doesn't matter what the work is; it is an important part of the economic fabric. When one has downtime, one is encouraged to plant seedlings so that one is always engaged and active. The older residents monitor the younger children and teach them values. Since almost all members of the commune are either leprosy patients or physically handicapped, appropriate tools and technology are developed to provide work to all members, irrespective of their handicap. As a result of this nearly all articles, with the exclusion of only salt, sugar and oil are being manufactured within the precincts of the community by those that had stumpy fingers but sublime spirits.

"There are no lepers here", says Baba, "only carpenters, masons, farmers..."

This is the face of productivity at Anandwan.