Sadhana Forest

Yorit Rozin

My name is Yorit, I am a writer, artist and co-founder of Sadhana Forest, a reforestation water conservation project in Auroville, since 2003. In 2002 together with my husband and my daughter we moved to India. We followed our hearts until destiny brought us to this empty piece of land in Auroville, where we opened our house and our hearts to volunteers from all over the world to live with us and grow along with the forest.

I live in a hut

A day in the life of a real little girl who lives in a forest.

Shanti is a little girl who lives with her family and many others in a unique sustainable forest community named Sadhana Forest. As you can imagine, her lifestyle is very different from a kid growing up in the city. Shanti wakes up early in the morning to the sound of singing birds and flutes calling everyone who lives in the forest to gather together. Her day is full of activities like planting trees, helping with the food compost, or just having fun in the mud pool. She finally ends her day by having a bath in a bucket where a frog comes to pay her a visit. Following little Shanti from morning until night is a great way to bring kids closer to nature and introduce them to the ideas of sustainability and living in harmony with the environment.

From my little hut in the forest

The book “From my little hut in the forest”, was published in 2018. It is a collection of short stories spanning the first 12 years of life at Sadhana Forest. In this book, I share the most challenging and beautiful moments from everyday life of my family working to turn a reality (barren land) into a dream (Sadhana Forest). Following the book, an audio-book was created and a short video. The video won the Jury Award at the Auroville Film Festival 2020.

Let’s talk Forest

Here are a few things that the children at Sadhana Forest have to say about life in a vegan, reforestation, off-grid community in Auroville.

Trees + Children = Peace

When the Samburu kids from Kenya and Tamil kids from India are meeting on this video, some magic is happening. The earth is shaking, the earth is excited, it is asking for more.... please plant more trees, give me more air to breath...play with me, dance with me....sing with me...I want to hear the voices of the universe who are simply aspiring for Peace 🌳

Sadhana Forest is a teenager, 17 years old reforestation project in India, Haiti and Kenya. The kids who participated in this video were involved in Sadhana Forest in many ways as well as through tree planting in India and Kenya. In Samburu County, there are lots of arid lands. The area suffers from severe droughts. Sadhana Forest is sharing knowledge of new planting and water conservation techniques which improves the fertility of the land. All the school kids in the video were planting trees with Sadhana Forest in their school compound. The kids were very curious and enthusiastic to learn about trees and to help create more forests in Samburu County. Sadhana Forest India is a learning center for sustainable living. Many people from all over India and around the world, are coming to live with us and experience a sustainable, vegan lifestyle. Shalev Lukas and Neel are not going to school, Nature is their school, and Sadhana Forest is their playground. Larasem, Dhilipkumar, and N.Arishman are kids from the nearby village who frequently visits Sadhana Forest Children’s Land project. They are coming to play, enjoy nature, to dance, and share their talents with the many volunteers and guests of Sadhana Forest. People are so happy to be introduced to Indian modern dance and the kids are very excited to perform. Sadhana Forest is hosting thousands of children every year. Many of them come with their schools on school trips. They come to learn about sustainability and to plant trees. Other children are coming with their parents and stay in the forest for 2 weeks, a month or even a whole year. For us the children are the heart of Sadhana Forest. We created an environment where they can feel free, independent, and happy! We believe when these kids will grow up and remember these moments of joy in Sadhana Forest, they will know how to live their life with harmony in nature and to protect our planet