On Tuesday, 01.22.11, Gill & her 3 children - Ellie, Indi, & Guthrie - and our other Aussie friends, Vicki and her daughter, Natasha, invited Oliver and I on a tour of IACD (ICRISAT Assocation for Community Development). To make a long story short, IACD promotes education, health care, and economic uplifting of women and children in nearby villages.
We toured the classrooms on the ICRISAT campus where Microsoft Office, sewing and tailoring, English, and other classes are held. They also have gardens out back, including a rose garden , from which students and other women sell the produce they raise. (Roses sell for only 2 rupees each). We were treated to wheatgrass juice - very green with a strong grass flavor - go figure! It's very good for you, and it's also sold to raise funds.
All profits from the MAMTA gift shop at ICRISAT go to supporting this wonderful program. The shop has a wide assortment of handicrafts from all across India, at very fair prices, even when compared to the markets where one has to bargain. The woman who runs the shop, Lata, does a great job choosing the inventory - everything from elephant carvings to batik, from jewelry to leather purses, from kurtis to bidriware.
Having gone to this school and seen what is done to help people made me feel very good about supporting them through gift-buying. I like knowing where the money goes - and this goes to a very worthy cause!
We toured the classrooms on the ICRISAT campus where Microsoft Office, sewing and tailoring, English, and other classes are held. They also have gardens out back, including a rose garden , from which students and other women sell the produce they raise. (Roses sell for only 2 rupees each). We were treated to wheatgrass juice - very green with a strong grass flavor - go figure! It's very good for you, and it's also sold to raise funds.
All profits from the MAMTA gift shop at ICRISAT go to supporting this wonderful program. The shop has a wide assortment of handicrafts from all across India, at very fair prices, even when compared to the markets where one has to bargain. The woman who runs the shop, Lata, does a great job choosing the inventory - everything from elephant carvings to batik, from jewelry to leather purses, from kurtis to bidriware.
Having gone to this school and seen what is done to help people made me feel very good about supporting them through gift-buying. I like knowing where the money goes - and this goes to a very worthy cause!
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