Atla Village blazes with light

On the evening of Saturday 17th November 2007, Haven's dream of Helping A village Emerge New was at last realized with the turning on of solar powered lights within Atla Village. 400 people, within the 52 dwellings in the village, had huge smiles on their faces as they turned on light switches within their homes for the first time in their lives. The pitch black Saturday evening disappeared from memory as each small dwelling emerged from its oppressive shroud of darkness to shine like beacons of hope and joy. Haven's sponsored "Walk for Light" on the North Downs Way raised an unbelievable £7,000 and provided the necessary financial backing to get this project off the ground, but to turn the project into a reality in India, where things happen very slowly, we needed someone who could deal effectively with many difficulties. 

Due to his incredible resourcefulness and excellent organisational skills, Ashis Dutt, the Manager of our centre, managed to bring about the biggest event to date in both Haven's and MBCF's calendars. The installation of solar power to 52 of the poorest homes as well as eight street lamps within Atla Village was accomplished extremely quickly. The whole process was carried out efficiently and without any complications. The 400 villagers who benefited will never forget this most amazing evening. The street lamps ensure the entire village is well lit so that a community can come together at the end of a working day. The emotional sight, attended by many MBCF and Haven members,  was a pinnacle of the culmination of all the effort that has been put in by many people to ensure the success of this amazing project.