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SUNDERBAN ADIBASHI MUNDA MOHILA SOMOBAY SOMITI Ltd. Year: 03 SSSAAAMMMMMMSSSSSS NNNEEEWWWSSSLLLEEETTTTTTEEERRR Number: 05 Place: Jisur Nam Ashram Date: 06-06-2016

(*) SEE ARTICLE AT PAGE 5: H.S.C. EXAM

Comments, advice and suggestions about our Newsletter are welcome and can be sent to this e-mail address: mundaland@gmail.com

Our Newsletters are online at http://issuu.com/munda.education.centre.bd

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DRINKING WATER A couple of months ago we had a great problem with drinking water. Our girls had to go here and there searching for drinkable water, collect it and then bring it home. At last we have got rid of this problem. Rainy season seems to have started, so it rains quite frequently. We have already harvested a lot of rain water and we keep in the tanks we have for this purpose. The drinking water problem has been solved until next year.

Tanks like that in the picture above are filled with precious rain water harvested from the roofs made of tin (an in next article). From the tap on the bottom of the tank we take water to be put into filters (in the picture aside). So we get somehow purified and drinkable water. We cannot dig wells, because ground water is salinized due to both natural (tidal) and unnatural causes. Shrimp culture in salty water, which was unnaturally canalized into the former rice fields, killed traditional agricultural resources, and polluted the ground water.

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NEW ROOF The house which was rebuilt a couple of months ago has a new tin roof. As explained in previous article, the tin roof is of paramount importance for harvesting rain water, but there are several other reasons for fixing such a roof. The concrete roof of the building will not be ruined by rain. Heat will decrease and the rooms underneath will be cooler. Many materials and equipments can be stored routinely under the tin roof. Finally, in case of emergency due to any very undesirable flood, people and animals, bicycles and motorcycles and any kind of goods, can get shelter under that roof! We are grateful to Romesh and Shadon Munda (in the picture below) the carpenters who fixed that roof. You can also see in the picture the ladder used to reach the “garret” under the tin roof.

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NEW PILLARS FOR THE ELECTRIC LINE So far the electric line reached our house on bamboo poles which would get rotten and broke down easily with strong winds and storms. Then electricity would disappear and we had to call the electricians to repair and fix the line again. This system went on for about 12 years. Now bamboo poles are going to be replaced with pillars, hence we suppose we are going to have a real electricity line very soon. You can also note in the following pictures the very cloudy sky, that is typical of the season.

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NEW FARMER Poritosh Munda (in the picture below) is our new farmer. Every day he comes by bicycle to work here. He is a good farmer, growing many kinds of vegetables in the garden. He also brings a kind of leaf rabbits are very fond of. Now the rainy season has started. So Poritosh will try to plant a lot of new trees, so we should be able to get not only vegetables from our beautiful garden, but also fruit and wood.

H.S.C. EXAM IS GOING TO FINISH SOON In our country H.S.C. (Higher School Certificate) exam is held after completing 12 years at school. This exam started on the 3rd of April 2016. It will finish on the 12th of June 2016. This year about 14 Munda students attended this examination. Among them there are only 3 are boys: the others are girls. This is a good sign: our Munda female population is getting well educated.! Four out 14 Munda students who attended H.S.C. exam 2016 are girls from Jisur Nam Ashram: they are Chompa, Phuldashi, Chondona and Kolpona. The cover of this Newsletter is fully dedicated to Chompa’s and Phuldashi’s picture. They are both as brilliant and good-looking students as Chondona and Kolpona (sorry, no picture of Chondona and Kolpona at our hand in this occasion), but… have a look at Phuldashi’s hair: isn’t it amazing !