Alpha Montessori Roof Garden Blooms!

The roof garden is blossoming!  Actually, more than blossoming - it's producing real food, smack in the middle of a smashed-in urban labyrinth, a wasteland for nature. Alpha Montessori - one of my favorite places - was last year's recipient of the AWA Glimpses of Asia photo exhibit and fundraiser.  The proceeds went to take their abandoned, unsafe, and pretty well dysfunctional rooftop and turn it into a garden. The goal was to have some space where children - and adults - could enjoy outdoor time, experience nature, and learn about botany. I'm happy to say all the work has paid…

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The Catalyst Conference

Attending The Catalyst Conference Wednesday and Thursday this week: Addressing Sexual Violence in India: Transforming Attitudes, Changing Behaviours. Five key issues will be addressed: Men's Attitudes Toward Women in India Access to Education Economic Opportunities Arts and Media The Law and How it is Implemented Read more about the conference or apply to attend here.

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Feedback from NGO Connect

Great feedback from the NGOs who participated last Thursday!  I came away with a brain full of new ideas and a bag full of business cards.  I know others did as well. Comments included: useful and thought provoking I enjoyed meeting super dedicated people who work so hard really good for other people in the NGO, not just the project leader such a great day useful notes afterward; so glad to have them roundtable participation so valuable when is the next one? thanks for the opportunity to be part of a very meaningful NGO connect the platform opened doors for…

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The Poop Guy – Sanitation in India

For good reason, India is often called the open defecation capital of the world.  The fact that toilets are intensely stigmatized has a huge, deleterious impact on public health.  On an personal level, the burden and cost of this preference for public urination and defecation falls disproportionately on women and girls. For all intents and purposes, public spaces in much of India belong to men. Women are not welcome, whether or not they are overtly banned.  They may be stared at, groped, verbally hassled, or worse, but they also have no place to relieve themselves.  In India a woman cannot…

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Field Trip – Holy Family Asha Niwas

An outing: six of the girls from Holy Family, a visiting colleague from the US, and yours truly went to the Nehru Museum and Planetarium last Saturday.  I take as many girls as my car can hold (six if they're older, eight if they're little) on different outings when they are not in school. On other days we've been to factories, parks, the Purana Quila, restaurants, offices, historical sights, a hotel and a very cool indoor climbing wall. But this time we chose the Nehru Museum, had a picnic, and visited the Planetarium for a sky show.  It was a…

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NGO Connect

The first "NGO Connect" gathering of Delhi-based NGOs was held today at the Eros Hotel, Nehru Place.  I have been working with colleagues on this initiative for nearly a year and we are thrilled at the results.  I presented my findings and recommendations on NGOs in the Marketplace. The purpose of the workshop was networking and learning from each other. Thirty NGOs (see list below) participated in four sessions: - Using Volunteers - NGOs in the Marketplace: Income Generation or No Income Generation? - Best Practices - Challenges: Panel Discussion This event was organized by a consortium of the American…

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Apne Aap

Yes, that's Gloria Steinem and yes, this is a link to Apne Aap. But the connection is apt. Steinem is 'mother' to many a feminist organization, and Apne Aap is a fitting daughter.  This book of Steinem's writings was edited and annotated by Ruchira Gupta, head of Apne Apt, with the goal of spreading Steinem's works to an Indian audience. Apne Aap was founded by twenty-two women from Mumbai's red light district, with a vision of "a world where no woman could be bought or sold."  Those twenty-two women had been part of an award winning documentary (The Selling of Innocents,…

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New Facts

New facts: - The Nehru Museum is free, but the Planetarium Star Show (Hindi or English) is not. I discovered this today with six girls from Holy Family Asha Niwas. - The first Indian in space was in a Soyuz capsule. - You can picnic on the lawn in FRONT of the museum, but not in back.  There is no apparent reason. - Elements (i.e. helium, hydrogen, carbon - think early universe formation) seem to have no Hindi translation. - Flowers appear in parks that seemed nothing but trash merely weeks ago. Tiny vest-pocket pieces of greenery have exploded in…

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Apne Aap

  Apne Aap: one the forefront of grassroots movements to end trafficking of girls and women in India.  Also the beneficiary of the Glimpses of Asia photo exhibit on April 11, 2014.  Read about them here.  And see founder Ruchira Gupta's joint reports with Gloria Steinem published in the New York Times here.   Yes, that's Gloria Steinem and yes, this is a link to Apne Aap. But the connection is apt. Steinem is 'mother' to many a feminist organization, and Apne Aap is a fitting daughter.  This book of Steinem's writings was edited and annotated by Ruchira Gupta, head…

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NGO Connect Workshop: April 3rd

Forty NGOs from all over Delhi will be getting together at the Eros Hotel, Nehru Place, to share experiences and learn from each other on Thursday, April 3rd. I have been working with the organizing group on this initiative for nearly a year and I'm happy to say it's finally coming to fruition. International support groups representing a diverse community - France, Australia and New Zealand, America, Britain, Japan, Spain, Delhi Network, and more - have invited NGOs they work with to come together and discuss income generating ideas, using volunteers, surmounting leadership challenges, and other topics. Just some of…

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