Newsletter July 2025
Farewell and new beginning
Dear friends of our Shanti Ananda School!
The new school year began on June 12. A fresh class of 25 children joined us.
Our student Ruchitha (6th grade) took third place at the state level in yoga.
We have created a large new bench for parents in the entrance area of the grounds.
The death of our long-time project manager Horst Wagner on February 28 was a profound shock.
Yours, Helga Shanti Fründt
Our New Arrivals
Our youngest children – at least 4.5 years old – started school three weeks ago. They are now in LKG (Lower Kindergarten, the first year of kindergarten); next year they will be in UKG (Upper Kindergarten) before moving on to the first year of school.
They don't yet have a set schedule; teacher Saroja can decide at her own discretion which activities take place when. Naps are part of the children’s daily life.
Our LKG-children with teacher Saroja in front of their house
Yogandhra 2025
From June 16th to 18th, a state-level yoga competition (Andhra Pradesh) took place in Puttaparthi/Sri Satya Sai district, in which five of our students participated.
This competition was not 'just' about yoga postures (asanas), but also included yoga posters, role plays, pictures, songs, quizzes, photos, and short films.
Our student Ruchitha (Grade 6) took first place (at the district level) and third place (at the state level) in yoga slogans.
Ruchithas Yoga-Slogans
The yoga victory was duly celebrated at the school; several officials honored the yoga winners Ruchitha and yoga teacher Prabhavathi.
Honoring of Ruchitha und Yoga teacher Prabhavathi by headmaster Raja Sekhar, Mandal Revenue Officer D. Narayanaswamy, brother of our Society President Thummala Manohar, Mudigubba Panchayath Secretary Manjula, Mandal Education Officer Ramanappa, Society President Chandra Mohan (from left to right)
The new parents’ bench
Last school year, with significant input from the 7th grade, a large bench was built in the entrance area for parents. It surrounds two trees and was recently completed.
The parents’ bench in the making
The parents’ bench in operation
Parents can now sit together in the shade of the trees with their children and other parents, eat, or chat. The mosaic-covered bench is also a welcomed new option for school classes to hold classes outdoors.
Obituary for Horst Wagner
Horst at a medicine wheel ceremony on the new area 2011
On February 28, my longtime friend, colleague, and companion Horst Wagner (February 4, 1951 – February 28, 2025) died after a long battle with cancer.
He had been active in the school project from the very beginning: The predecessor of our school, the Nagananda School, was founded by Swami Nagananda in 2001; Horst had advised and supported him at the time.
In June 2006, I promised the Swami, who was dying after months in a coma, that I would take care of this school. Even before I came to India for this purpose in October, Horst ensured that the teachers received their salaries. The school had been deserted for months at the time.
The Nagananda School 2007
In 2001 and 2002, we conducted training courses for teachers in creativity; one of these workshops took place in Mudigubba. Three of the participants (A. Saraswathi, M. Saraswathi, and B. Munemma) are still with us today.
In 1999, Horst founded the Helping Eagle Foundation in Puttaparthi. With the financial support of Monika Anna Müller, this organization constructed houses for the poor, a toilet block, and a nursing home, conducted feeding programs for the poor, collected garbage, planted trees, and implemented other charitable projects.
Later, he founded the Helping Eagle Service in Bukkapatnam and a soccer club for the local youth (Helping Eagle Sports' Association). His primary motivation was to make others happy and protect them from harm; he fought against corruption, injustice, and aggressiveness.
The multitalented Horst Wagner was a social worker by profession, but also a musician, craftsman, and much more. He was very passionate about his work at the school, taught music workshops, made his craft work useful, and was always available to provide inspiration, advice, and support.
Singing with the teachers under Horst’s guidance (2007)
In 2010, he became the construction manager and architect for our new school building on the 9.5-acre lakeside site.
He had extraordinary ideas and a strong aesthetic sense; he inspired and realized some very special details, such as the Merkhaba (double tetrahedron) – based on sacred geometry – on the enclosure walls of the entrance gate (which he also designed).
The school was built based on his site plan. Our architecture (octagonal houses with surrounding verandas and Kerala roofs) and numerous interesting details are particularly attractive and widely admired.
The 3,000 trees on the site are now large and give the impression of a sparse forest.
Entrance gate to the school area
Horst demonstrated the utmost commitment under extremely difficult conditions.
Sometimes he was pelted with stones by village children on the way and chased by dogs on several occasions. He also had two accidents (through no fault of his own), yet he still covered thousands of kilometers over the years. For a long time, his family and two daughters came second.
For me—and of course for all of us—his death was a great loss. Our 41-year friendship began in Cologne in 1984.
From 1997 to 1999, we both worked in the socially disadvantaged Cologne-Stammheim area (in the youth center and at an elementary school) and collaborated on the redesign of the school grounds. There, the roots of our shared vision of a project in which people could develop creatively based on human values were fostered.
A famous saying of Horst was that he wanted to leave every place he visited in better condition than he found it. Our school is a living example of this.
Horst Wagner explains mulching on the Nature Day 2016
Horst Wagner worked with us more than full-time for many years: as a project manager, construction manager, music teacher (he composed our school song, 'Shanti Ananda spreads its wings'), and temporarily as Moringa Manager (2013–2016 we cultivated Moringa as an income-generating activity). He deserves the highest recognition for his extraordinary achievements.
He succumbed to a serious battle with cancer on February 28th. His farewell was peaceful; he died in the arms of a young friend. A small group of friends will travel to Varanasi (the spiritual center of India) later this year to scatter his ashes in the Ganges, in accordance with his final wishes.
More details on our website about Horst you will find here.
With warm regards from India,
Yours, Helga Shanti Fründt
Shanti Ananda spreads the wings
There is a power in my hand;
O God let me lead them to their OWN way.
There is a power in my hand,
O God - give me love from your heart.
You are my teacher for the day,
Please remember me my childhood.
You are my teacher for the day;
Guide me to understand your life.
We will sit together for that day
and try to be in silence.
We will sit together for that day
and try to be in love.
Tell me what you want to know,
I will help your understanding.
Tell me what you want to know,
There will a way for you.
Shanti Ananda spreads the wings
to the people of the village.
Shanti Ananda spreads the wings,
We will be a model nearby you.
Contact
Shanti Ananda School Website
Shanti Ananda School on Facebook
Donation Accounts
FCRA account
Shanti Ananda Education Society
State Bank of India, New Delhi Main Branch
40043801956
IFSC: SBIN0000691
General Account
Shanti Ananda Education Society
Andhra Bank, Mudigubba Branch
Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh, India
185410100193769
IFSC: UBIN0818542
German Donation Account
Shanti Ananda Education Society
Anahata Stiftung, Munich, Bank für Sozialwirtschaft
BLZ: 700 205 00
IBAN: DE72700205003751241124
BIC: BFSWDE33MUE