My soul has been touched by India, by its people and its deep ancient wisdom as if for the first time it has grasped something essential. This experience has completely changed my life and I wonder that if it has this effect on one individual, how great would the impact on a whole society be?

Culture and Advice
Once back in the Netherlands, I gave up my apartment in Amsterdam and settled with my dad and his wife in the new town Almere. I started a business called Culture and Advice. My first assignment was to advice a museum on their policy concerning landart. Soon I got more assignments and am now fully booked until 2008. With this company, the organization costs of the Loka Foundation can be covered.

Loka Foundation
The real challenge has been to establish a foundation that offers material and practical support from the west to realize the Centre of Knowledge in Varanasi. A place where children and young people of the villages near Varanasi can receive high quality education - free of costs. To start the foundation was and is a process that took longer than I first thought. But then, beginnings are most important (and they say most hard!). Creating a solid basis that you can always fall back on is essential for any company or institution, always.
The foundation should be a fact within three weeks. More people in the west are getting involved with the activities, some companies are interested and the website should be ready somewhere in december. Our aim is to start building the centre beginning 2008. Almost every week I am in contact with the people in India. There are now 10 children living in a small brick building on a piece of land, receiving classes from professional teachers every day. These students teach the children of the nearby village Domary. More work is happening, every week. The last ten days they placed a water pump, to provide the people of Domary with clean drinking water. This pump was financed by my yoga school in Amsterdam, who for this cause had organized a day with yoga activities. All donations of the day went to the water pump.

Every day I feel the children of India looking in my eyes, keeping me company. So young and so pure. There is wisdom in their eyes. They have experienced so much at such a very young age. Their smiles are the motor behind the work in the west.

For more information about Culture and Advice and the Loka Foundation, see: www.loka.in.