SHABRI CHATRALAYA

We work better in teams! Shabri Chatralaya is the fruit of the collective labour of a lot of individuals. In 1990, Nitin Sonawala set out to realize his dream - a girls hostel in a small backward village in Gujarat. Tough as it was, he soon found two willing and able volunteers in the form of Professor B.N.Joshi and Mr.Nitin Desai who shared not only his passion but also had a similar line of thought.

Together they started scouting the villages of Gujarat where they could start realizing their dream. In their search, they came across Mr. Chibubhai Patel, the principal of a school at Kaprada, a small village located about 50 kilometers from Vapi. He too showed a lot of enthusiasm towards the project and agreed to take up the responsibility of educating the girls of the Chatralaya. His wife, Mrs. Vasantiben Patel also contributed by shouldering the responsibility of acting as the matron for the girls.

Another blessing was in the form of the Pramukh Dakshin Gujarat pachat varg seva mandal. Ms. Urmilaben Bhat, its trustee was kind enough to give more then 4 acres of land to the trust at a subsidized rate in order to build the Chatralaya. Slowly the dream and the hostel began to take shape.

With the efforts of all concerned, and by the grace of god the hostel is today complete. The exercise is a prime example of being able to achieve the impossible if all concerned believe it is possible to achieve!