My Evokation - (third draft) AUTISM VILLAGE PROJECT

Autism Village Project.

Permanent address:

A.V. Koshy.

Ampat

T.C. 7/1570

S.D.A.lane

Thirumala P.O.

Trivandrum - 695006

Kerala

terrestrian@gmail.com

Residence phone: 00914712353705 ( Trivandrum)

Mobile Phone: 00218917089565 (Al Madar/ Libya)

I believe mankind's future depends on how we treat differently abled people, as to whether we will flourish or perish.

"Where there is no vision the people perish."

The PLACE: I will “evoke” in is India, most probably in the state of Kerala or Karnataka; more specifically near Trivandrum and/or Bangalore, the capitals of these states. This is because I know the language and my people in Kerala and have built up a fund of good will in Bangalore. Ideally I would choose a place near Bangalore but sometimes one can’t choose, so maybe somewhere in Kerala would do as well. If both these places do not welcome the idea and mix up the notion of an autism village with that of a mental asylum, thereby putting up any kind of even a token form of resistance I may look elsewhere in India. However, I believe if we start with a lot of land – ideally, a thousand acres - but also in a small way, and work with children in the beginning, the locals/natives of whom I also am one are unlikely to offer any resistance.

The community will be primarily humanitarian, looking towards the present and future well-being of all autistic peoples, connected mainly to aestheticism and science in its outlook, but it may also bear the imprint of the work of people like Jean Vanier and Bede Griffiths. It will bear the name of the The Autistic Spectrum Peoples’ Welfare Organization for the time being, till I am able to get a better name.

The institution will probably be my own temporarily, to begin with, but I will collaborate with individuals friends and groups I trust like the ones I have met or made on Evoke and with all the groups already working in the field of autism in India first and then abroad. My vision starts from and with South India, spreads through India to Asia and expects to work in equitable partnerships and in tandem with other places from anywhere in the world depending on the level of research and help they can offer and vice versa.

I would need at least 1000 acres space, I think, for this mission to make some sense, geographically speaking; if not at the outset, eventually. Maybe in the beginning I could start with a hundred acres.

Virtually, I will use all the existing popular platforms that are of any technological account to help my dream place in efficient running. I do not think any means too humble or too great for such a venture, as to be left out of it.

Technologically, the space I envision may finally become global if things like tracking and tagging become a part of the lives of these peoples on a large scale.

I will need the help of many experienced collaborators and entrepreneurs because I am basically only a visionary, but since my vision is not specifically shared by anyone in EVOKE as far as I know, I’ve decided to present a solo Evokation.

The Cause: It all started with my discovery that my son was autistic. There are decisive moments in one’s life, like meeting the resurrected Jesus at Damascus was one for Paul and being asked to get off a train in the middle of nowhere was one for Gandhi when he was in South Africa. Being treated as an “untouchable” was what helped B.R. Ambedkar to realize what his vision should be.

While trying to help my son, I found that no one in my place – Trivandrum - knew much about autism including me and I came across both parents and other children like him and found that they needed help as much as I and my wife and siblings did.

Help is not easily available for such kids in a place like India, especially down South. It is either non –existent or too costly, or found in too few places.

The challenge can be stated thus – more than 1,60,000 people in the USA alone are now labeled autistic. The number across the world is unknown and the number in India is also unknown.

They will need more from society – more in terms of input in every sense of the term. I believe the appearance of autism in such large numbers, which is a recent phenomenon, is directly connected to a) the environmental and ecological degradation of life and nature ( the presence of heavy metals in water, mercury poisoning etc.) brought about by man after the rise of the industrialized economies, b) our modern lifestyle (including medicines like vaccines and steroids and psychological factors like stress) and c) of course, genetics. In a sense, obscurely speaking, autistic people are the children of the lesser gods that we are, and yet better than us in the happiness that they give us. The children are better than the parents in this case, doubtless. There seems to be no one cause for the autism spectrum which I refuse to call a disorder and since it’s a neurological 'disability' or wiring that makes it a complexity whereby a child is ahead, backward and static at the same time, not to mention that every autistic child is different from the other that gives rise to the autism “spectrum,” there is no one solution and seemingly no complete, perfect cure; although occasional breakthroughs are also reported giving us gleams of hope, at least in a trickle of individual cases as of now.

THE IDEA: These peoples need teachers who are specialists, parents who are given special training and education, international, governmental, regional, zonal and local help, spiritual help, help from parent groups, autistic support groups, humanitarian help, social and educational networks, medical networks, donors, dentists, pediatricians et al…

How does this tie in with environmental and ecological concerns? Isn’t this merely social entrepreneurship, engineering and innovation?

It ties up with everything.

My start may be selfish but it can exponentially expand to help for all autistic children and adults, to the differently abled of all sorts, to all the caregivers of this community and finally to two big picture questions.

If this is a new kind of ‘scourge’, since it’s not exactly an epidemic or a pandemic, how can it be stopped? Can genetic research help? I believe it can. So can scanning. Prevention is better than cure. But what to do with those already autistic, for a lifetime?

Obviously Hitler’s solution is not the answer.

Can parents leading healthier lifestyles be assumed to bring forth healthy offspring?

Is population implosion an answer?

For such children to grow up healthy, they need healthy food. They need herbal medicines.

Producers and farms of this kind, producing this kind of food, exist in USA. They produce GFCF food.

Not in India, not many yet.

The scenario: Think of a child born autistic in a poor Indian household living on 2 dollars a day, as we were asked to imagine in an exercise on Evoke. Let us say he, rarely she, is the only child. Autism affects males more than females and comes from the father, if genetic. Let me tell you the ratio of expenditure, ideally. The man would need 1/4^th, the woman 1/3rd and the autistic child the rest of the money if s/he is to get any help. 2 dollars is ninety two Indian rupees at present. If you gave the man twenty 3 Rs, the woman 30 Rs and the child 39 Rs what help would the child get? The actual answer is Nothing, in today’s world.

The food and other products, services, side products and crafts, produced in such farms, if they do come up, has to be green, eco-friendly, environmentally non-hazardous and healthy and the energy/power for such farms sustainable and renewable. Water must be harvested. Costs must be minimal, which is the main thing as always.

The food and any other products such a commune would make or create is not only for them but everyone, since even if they need this healthy - maybe primarily vegetarian and herbal- food, all the surplus can go for others, especially the poor. Not only that, the food can also be bought by everyone in society , where it can perhaps be sold at a higher price to some rich customers, as Namdhari’s does, to ensure breaking even or hopefully even make profit, since the first consumers should be the autistic children and their families and they should not be deprived of it due to cost.

To start a school, a retreat and a farm or a place or space where autistic people can be helped in every way they need help is my dream. For this I would need first of all arable land with water, power or energy, modern communication systems and farmers, cooks, and many other kinds of helpers.

This would lead to work opportunities for the local population as well as countless possibilities for networking aimed towards employability with autism groups, autism specialists, scientists, educationalists, doctors, psychologists, artists, designers, environmentalists, ecologists, governments at local, state, national and international levels, collaborators, innovators, entrepreneurs, spiritual people etc…since what I really want to move towards is an AUTISM VILLAGE. I would build the village on the lines of Roger Dean's willow water project, Sabeer Bhatia's nanocity and Vinay Gupta's hexayurt project etc... as an urban, relilient one.

The farm could also be a specialist holiday or retreat centre to generate funds, limited to use only for empowering visitors and the families of autistic or differently abled people. The latter, especially, could come and unwind, relax etc. Maybe over the years an old age home for the parents, if widowed, and a home for autistic children who are orphans could come into existence. I envisage at least one geodesic building for a school, the farm, a vocational training centre and a mini-university, a medical research and publications area, with one section of it to deal with the food, another with farm administration, another with administration of the retreat centre and the school and the other organizations like the vocational training centre etc, to begin with. The farm could have horses and a swimming pool for aqua and equestrian therapy, a playground, a stable, a place for the horses to run around in, a massage and yoga or health fitness centre, a toy-land for social integration, restaurants, a different kind of food retail outlet, a different kind of medical store and many other things. A hospital would be a must because these peoples need a different kind of medical help from others. I will expand on my architectural vision later.

The money: A 1,000 US dollars? Without despising the day of small beginnings I would invest it with some agency that would multiply it for my project and then think of working on this self same proposal at a deeper level by approach rich philanthropic people, groups or organizations like the World Bank who can fund the entire project in a much more larger way. I have an innovative idea which is based on “the power of one” and is about crowdfunding and microgifting which could raise a massive amount of money for this entire project in a single day if proper planning is done in advance and proper advertising is managed. The fundraising idea is simple, to get everyone on earth to give just one currency note toward this project of ‘the power of one.’ An Indian would give a rupee, someone from the US a dollar etc. After conversion etc., even minusing costs for getting this fund raising drive to work I feel I would have enough money to buy some land, and start a small school and a farm. From then on if I can harness the power of social networking and innovation, engineering and entrepreneurship correctly I can bring in the rest of the funds too.

I do not think of this project as one that only takes. In return it gives us the happiness of these people in ensuring their welfare and also as it becomes self sufficient it will generate income in various ways through the future, ways including the farm and the products the autistic people will eventually make, so that the end will be, change for the world and a better future and some form of earthly salvation for autistic people to whatever extent it lies in my power to bring about which are aims I hold in common with UEvoke.

My vision is long term and the village will have open doors so these children are not isolated and I am ready to wait for it to blossom and grow into a force to change the cartography of the future, however long it takes.

The budgetary and legal aspects and groups and individuals I may collaborate with need to be worked out. As do details on how to overcome obstacles like bureacratic hurdles and red tapism etc.

I cannot come to Washington DC or do the online mentoring course later because of work, family and other inexplicable obstacles that are insurmountable that involves international hurdles that it is beyond my ability to change at present, even if I win.

However, I hope you will reply to my evocation as to its promise, potential and feasilibilty.

P.S. to Alchemy

I cannot do the evoke literature project unless I have the needed cash, time and knowhow which means people and tech and if you provide me with all the cash needed to cover the expenses of the project and keep the site running till DecemberI can think of taking it up once I am back in India in September along with my friend Panamericana and others.