Aarti 2024 – “Harry’s Farm” and “Harry’s Kitchen” established in Kadapa, India, in memory of club member Harry Patel
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Harry’s Farm
Harry’s Farm, at Aarti village, is situated on the outskirts of Kadapa, India. This organic farm uses traditional ways of farming (known as bund farming) to grow produce such as tomatoes, green chillies, broad beans, radish and aubergines. These are used to feed the Aarti Village Community and to supply Harry’s Kitchen, which is based in the Women’s Wellness Centre in Kadapa itself. 
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Harry’s Kitchen and Café
The Kitchen is now fully equipped and functioning well. Training has started for young women and girls in culinary skills, nutrition etc. This training is intended to help them with their livelihood and hence financial independence. In addition, the kitchen is used daily to provide meals for the women of Aarti’s “Lalitha Cooperative”, who come to the Aarti Women’s Centre for training in needlework and embroidery skills. Their products are then sold, which generates their livelihood. Harry’s Kitchen is currently the very first ‘women only’ café in Kadapa and importantly provides a safe and relaxing place for girls and women to come together. In addition, Aarti has started a “Sunday Market” where local women may sell their handmade goods, from food to crafts. This market supports their economic empowerment and brings the community together. Harry’s Kitchen plays a key role for this marketplace, providing snacks and meals for the visiting women. |
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Aarti 2023
Fitting tribute to Rotarian restaurateur opens in India
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Underprivileged women and girls in a small town in India will be equipped with vital culinary skills thanks to a lasting legacy to Maidenhead Rotary Club member and restaurateur Himanshu Patel.
Himanshu, known to everyone as Harry, died from Covid-19 in February 2021, aged just 58. The long-serving Rotarian had run a number of restaurants in Maidenhead, most recently Gourmet Chicken in the town centre. 
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More than £2,500 was collected in his memory and as a fitting tribute has been used to set up Harry’s Kitchen at the Aarti Home and Women’s Centre in Kadapa, a small mining town in Andhra Pradesh, India.
The charity provides a home and education for orphaned, abandoned and abused children along with running training programmes for women in its community. A project close to Harry’s heart, Aarti is regularly supported by Maidenhead Rotary Club, and he had met representatives from the charity when they visited Maidenhead several years ago. Following delays caused by the pandemic, Harry’s Kitchen has now been formally inaugurated. A spokeswoman for the Aarti Home said: “With an aim to provide training to the women in the district, we have started training a batch of 30 women. In addition to training them in culinary skills, we are training them in various other livelihood skills like garment designing, basic computer skills, language skills, both local and English, starting a plant nursery, organic compost making, and housekeeping. “By imparting these skills, these women will be able to become micro-entrepreneurs or can seek jobs in the respective fields.” In addition, part of the half-acre site around Harry’s Kitchen has become ‘Harry’s Garden’, growing organic vegetables for the kitchen and to support nutrition and education about sustainability. |
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Previous history
Aarti Children's Home and School, Kadapa, Southern India
The Rotary Club of Maidenhead has been supporting projects to help Aarti since 2012. Abused, abandoned and orphaned children are given a home and an education by the charity. Aarti becomes their family for life and since the first child was rescued in 1992, these children have been flourishing, gaining qualifications, helping their younger “siblings” and moving out into the world as well informed, highly skilled young women. However, the charity does not stop there. The Aarti family has expanded its work by also supporting the local area, educating the children of impoverished families, training destitute women – often victims of gender discrimination and denied the most basic of rights, to give them work skills, enabling them to become independent and self-sufficient and therefore able to support their own children. Aarti also runs courses to raise awareness of good health, hygiene, women’s rights etc.
Prior to our first involvement in 2012, we had seen for ourselves the conditions in which the rescued children at Aarti were living. They were given love and care, but facilities were basic. Since the Rotary Club of Maidenhead decided to become involved, our fundraising efforts have provided school uniforms, furniture, equipment and toilets for the Aarti School.
Meanwhile, a new Children’s Village has been built, where the children now live in smaller family units, each with a “House Mother”. These House Mothers have all previously been girls at Aarti and provide a source of guidance and comfort for their younger “sisters”, who in turn form support networks for one another. The children no longer need to sleep on the floor, as we have also been able to provide beds and bedding.
The club has supported Aarti to become self-sustainable by rainwater harvesting and grey water recycling. With rainfall at less than 750mm per annum, water is a vital and valuable resource. The water is collected in tanks, piped underground to a filtering system and then re-used eg. for the cultivation of vegetables.
This farsighted conservation project should not only help to ease the huge financial burden for the Aarti community but also benefit the young people by teaching them the skills to grow their own fruits & vegetables, which will in turn enhance their diet & health for a successful future.
The Rotary Club of Maidenhead has been supporting projects to help Aarti since 2012. Abused, abandoned and orphaned children are given a home and an education by the charity. Aarti becomes their family for life and since the first child was rescued in 1992, these children have been flourishing, gaining qualifications, helping their younger “siblings” and moving out into the world as well informed, highly skilled young women. However, the charity does not stop there. The Aarti family has expanded its work by also supporting the local area, educating the children of impoverished families, training destitute women – often victims of gender discrimination and denied the most basic of rights, to give them work skills, enabling them to become independent and self-sufficient and therefore able to support their own children. Aarti also runs courses to raise awareness of good health, hygiene, women’s rights etc.
Prior to our first involvement in 2012, we had seen for ourselves the conditions in which the rescued children at Aarti were living. They were given love and care, but facilities were basic. Since the Rotary Club of Maidenhead decided to become involved, our fundraising efforts have provided school uniforms, furniture, equipment and toilets for the Aarti School.
Meanwhile, a new Children’s Village has been built, where the children now live in smaller family units, each with a “House Mother”. These House Mothers have all previously been girls at Aarti and provide a source of guidance and comfort for their younger “sisters”, who in turn form support networks for one another. The children no longer need to sleep on the floor, as we have also been able to provide beds and bedding.
The club has supported Aarti to become self-sustainable by rainwater harvesting and grey water recycling. With rainfall at less than 750mm per annum, water is a vital and valuable resource. The water is collected in tanks, piped underground to a filtering system and then re-used eg. for the cultivation of vegetables.
This farsighted conservation project should not only help to ease the huge financial burden for the Aarti community but also benefit the young people by teaching them the skills to grow their own fruits & vegetables, which will in turn enhance their diet & health for a successful future.