Sewa Elementary School

Last year Maura Auntie gave a talk at Seiwa Elementary school near her house in Nara. She told the kids about life in Kolkata, they listened to Tagore songs and tried on some Indian clothes! The kids drew pictures about Japanese New Year (now hanging at MS library). If you have questions about Japan, send them to me (by post or email).



Children's Environment Day in Nara

On June 8, Maura represented Earthinkers-Calcutta, Green Sprout (in Chandernagore), and the CHIKYU-NET website at an event organized by Nara Green Network with support from NPO center. We put up a table and displayed our hand-made, eco-friendly shopping bags and helped kids make their own recycled envelopes using labels that can be printed on the back of used paper and then glued onto the front of used envelopes for recycling. Maura told the audience about Mustard Seeds Library and encouraged other kids doing eco-projects to sign up on the website. Maura comments, " I got to hear nice presentations by kids of all ages who are serious about thinking about environment." There was a slide presentation on the eco-activities of kids in Germany (some great ideas) and various recycling projects and surveys by kids here in Japan. At the end, some drummers led us in an original song made just for the day!

Here's a link to the website Maura helps with:

www.chikyu-kids.net

If you have want to do some kind of eco-study or eco-project, consider sending it to the 11th Annual Eco-Panel Exhibition in Kobe, Japan. Maura can give you the details.

Maki Iketani's woodblock print exhibition

Maki Iketani is a woodblock print artist in Kyoto. Mustard Seeds hosted a small exhibition of Maki's work at our flat on 7/13. Through her art, Maki hopes to awaken people's minds to the fact that we are all interconnected with every living being in the universe. the name of her studio is Cosmic Family. Her daughter, Kaoru, did some drawing for this issue. Mustard Seeds also sold items from Jeevika, RCFC, and Calcutta Rescue. It was a fun day and we met new faces!

Nayana Gangooly

Nayana Gangooly, a friend from Kolkata, visited us in May to show Indian handicrafts in Japan. We raised money from the sales to purchase a sewing machine for Jeevika Development Society, a group in Kolkata helping rural women learn skills to work jobs.

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Front cover
Mustard Seeds Report
A visit to Sunderbans by Saptak Mohanta
Mustard Seeds Haiku Contest
The disappearance of my glasses by Chotku Parekh
Mini Chatterjee's Culture Corner: Dowry system in Indian weddings
Tanabata by Megumi Takemura
Write Me by Shohini Sen
Cooking and Science - Try It!
A Rainy Watery Excursion by Maura Aunty & Malini Basu
Association for peace exchange with Indian and Pakistani youth
More Haiku
Book Review by Arnab Chakraborty
Mango Bite: Interview with Puja Paul by Aparupa Biswas and Mini Chaterjee
Back cover
MUSTARD SEEDS MAIL ART CONTEST