“It was in 1977 that we have started to put a lot of energy into social work and to set up Self help groups and skill trainings for poor women from urban, rural and tribal areas around Karamadai,” Rev. sister Anila from the Good Shephard convent in Karamadai, Tamil Nadu tells me. She is really…
Category: Women
Not gifts, but trade – funding for women and children in the Himalayas
The travel from Delhi to Ghat takes nearly 2 days. It’s a long, difficult travel – the roads are bad, landslides, hundreds of curves. When I arrive there – thanks to the help of Karuna Social Service Society (KSSS), a Social Service Wing of Diocese Bijnor, I discover an amazing and – at the same…
Selfhelp groups against violence in Indian villages
“The violence against women and children in the villages is high, up to 60, 70 % of all families are affected”, says a woman selfhelp (SHG) group leader when I meet her during an annual celebration in the surroundings of Mangalore. “Since the women are organized in the SHGs (a project set up by…
Indian friendships and a next exposure trip with managers
I’m happy to be back to Tamil Nadu, back to the tribal women and villages and to a different part of the world where some things just are seen and done differently. It’s somehow about coming back to the roots, to be closer to earth – a good experience after four months in the “modern”…
A visit to the gypsy village
Probably, in the main season a considerable number of tourists come here. It’s just a little bit out of Phuket town and maximum 30 km, but a “world”, away from one of the most visited beaches in Thailand and the modern hotels. But today we are alone, the only European people, farangs, in the sea…
Indian Women migrating in search of work – some thoughts and a report
One of the most vulnerable workers are females who migrate in search of work away from their home areas.They often have a huge lack of skills and very low income gernating opportunities. Some are illiterate. COupled with exisiting social inequalities based on caste and ethnicity, it is often the poorest who leave and not seldomly…
Development hubs- a huge opportunity for big business to create market places in India
Huge economic reforms have taken place in India since the 90s. Institutions have been created for more market effectiveness, regulations have been established to make markets work better. The agricultural sector has been opened up to global competition. The development of the third sector, the so-called service sector has been going up. The most…
From India’s mountain of waste to fashion
When I went the first time to India I was shocked by all the plastic waste on the streets, in front of the houses, in the Indian Ocean… Plastic bags, a thousands and thousands of plastic bottles, often combined with a bad smell. It does not just look ugly, but is the source for disease…
Help! Too many photos from India …
You may know the problem with the photos. You come home from a travel and your beloved, friends and colleagues ask you to share some pics. That’s even more requested the more unusual the stay and the experience have been. l have spent more than four months in India, having been involved in social…
Talking to Tea Field Workers about health in Valparai, India
Staying in the South Indian plains of Tamil Nadu you cannot imagine what’s up there in the hills at a height of ca. 1500 feet. For reaching the most known places such as Ooty, Munnar or Valparai you have to climb up a huge number of hair pin bends. And then, at a certain point…
Go India, go future! 