With 25 degrees and sunshine, the Usthi Fest took place on 16 September in the church community hall in Maur. With joy we look back on a successful evening. Together with Santana Mallick, a former project participant, we remembered the beginnings of the Usthi projects. In the panel discussion that followed, we looked to the future of Usthi.
Visit from India: Santana Mallick grew up in Kolkata in one of the first Usthi children’s homes. For the occasion of the Usthi Festival, she and her husband Abhisek visited Kurt Bürki and Usthi. At the Usthi Fest, she told us about her life as a young girl in the Bangur Home, her living situation today and her plans to set up her own travel agency.
Panel discussion “Usthi ready for the future”: Yves Keller, President of the Municipality of Maur, Thomas Fischer, long-time Usthi donor and Ashkira Darman from the Solidarity Association of the Realgymnasium Rämibühl spoke with Alessandra Grosse, Usthi Executive Director about Usthi’s impact and about their motivation to remain committed to Usthi. Ashkira Darman spoke about her students’ commitment to Usthi projects as young people, while Thomas Fischer shared how he will continue to support Usthi’s work with his legacy after his lifetime. We are looking forward to continuing our intergenerational cooperation. All three speakers were particularly impressed by the sustainability of the Usthi projects and we thank them for their commitment and the valuable discussion.
Indian dinner in the open air: with curry, naan and pakoras from the restaurant Crown of India we ended the evening on the terrace of church community hall. With one or two glasses of wine sponsored by Getränkehandel Schatt from Rapperswil and syrup from Chrütlisenn, there was a valuable exchange and beautiful conversations on topics from the panel discussion, the Usthi projects and planned or past trips to India and Nepal.
India for at home: At our Usthi market stall, various products such as silk scarves, which were made in textile processing centre in Hyderabad by graduates of the professional skills training courses, were available in exchange for a donation. In addition, there were fine Indian spices for sale. Thanks to the generous donations of our guests, we were able to collect almost 4000 CHF for the Usthi projects.
Usthi would like to thank all supporters, sponsors and helpers for their valuable commitment and all guests for their great interest and numerous attendance.
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