Why Ambalapattu?

Ambalapattu is a mid-sized village of about 7.5 square kilometers in area with 2,000 families and a population of about 10,000 people whose primary occupation is agriculture. Over the last five decades, the village has dealt with depleting ground water levels year-over-year due to reduced river water supply and inadequate water management. In the same period, the village has also lost a significant portion of its green cover due to a variety of reasons including Cyclone Gaja in 2018. Patronage of government school education has fallen through the cracks. In the last two decades, the student population in government schools has dropped about 85%. The village has moved away from 100% organic farming in 1950's to 100% dependent on fertilizers, pesticides, and heavy machinery. These changes have increasingly made the land less potent, the village population deprived of healthy and nutritious food, and the farmers economically broke. The environmental degradation combined with changes in diet and lifestyle has led to a range of health issues. More significant of them is, malnutrition. As a result, many children are not growing physically to their full potential.

Over the next decade, Seethanam Foundation intends to transform Ambalapattu village to self sufficiency by

• Doubling green cover
• Transitioning it from being water deficient to water surplus
• Transitioning it to 100% organic farming along with proper value addition and direct access to market
• Creating an active and healthy lifestyle and environment for all age groups
• Making all 8 government schools a center of excellence for education