Day 11 - Wayanad

Everywhere we’ve gone, people have told us about Kerala and how beautiful a place it is. Today we went to Wayanad, a district in the northeastern tip of Kerala – a 5-6 hour drive from Bangalore. We left at the crack of dawn with our Profugo family to explore the area that their first center of development will be based.

1st stop: Shreyas - a social development organization focused on uplifting the poor and marginalized. They are one of the leading NGOs in South India for the development of marginal farmers, tribal, women, children, and senior citizens. We learned about their business model, their areas of research, their strategies, and the impact they are making. They take a "participatory approach" - people-led, people-based and people-centered. People are the subject and goal of development and not its means. In their site they describe development as "not only people having more but being more. It is a process of human becoming, where there is due respect for nature and life." They currently have 2,858 self-help groups catering to the needs of 46,646 poor and marginalized families in South India. Shreyas has been around since the late 70s. It was almost overwhelming to see how far a reach they have in terms of actual lives they have/are changing through the broad scope of services and training and programs they provide. Pretty amazing.


2nd stop: World Vision - an international humanitarian organization that focuses on children, families, and communities living in poverty and injustice. Having participated in different WorldVision programs in high school and college - we used to do the 30 Hour Famine in youth group where you fast for 30 hours and fundraise money for impoverished children and their adopt-a-child program, and a friend of mine used to work for them in their NYC office. Anyhow, in the Wayanad office, they focus on children and child development. They are also doing some work with women, providing microloans. It was neat to see and hear about the work World Vision is doing in India from folks who are on the ground working directly with them versus reading about the work in annual reports and websites. It was neat to hear them talk about their approach, which is about transforming the environment that the child lives in. It's not just about "adopting-a-child" and giving them money to afford an education. It's about transforming the living situation.

3rd stop: RASTA - Rural Agency for Social and Technological Advancement - an organization addressing the problems of rural communities, focusing on women, indigenous communities, small and marginal farmers related to agriculture deterioration, rural unemployment, food security, technology gaps in rural development, backwardness of women and tribal communities, water and sanitation, conservation of ecosystems, health and decentralized governance. This was the first organization we had met that was focusing on sustainability - technologies and strategies for promoting sustainable and environmentally friendly living, right here in India.

The couple who started the organization live very simply. They were amazing - openly sharing their life stories. Both highly educated people who have chosen to live in this very rural and poor area, living a simple life style, and dedicating their lives to the people around them. Their campus spans over 5,000 square ft, consisting of an administrative office, training and meeting halls, guest rooms, mushroom spawn production laboratory, bio-control laboratory, a community seed bank, a village telecentre, a skill training work center, an audio visual unit, two dorms of 20 beds one for men and another for women. They even have a rainwater harvesting system. Really neat to see people focused on seeking and utilizing innovative strategies that are both Earth friendly, sustainable, and effective for helping the poor and marginalized. Oh, and small minor fact - one of the women we met there, also the founder, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize among other awards. We wandered around the campus for a little bit. Then we headed on our 5 hour journey home. Our driver was CRAZY. All of us were praying that we'd get home safely. Seriously, this guy was weaving in and out, stopping abruptly constantly... thank God for getting us home safely.

This bat was zapped to death - gotta be careful when crossing electrical wires. Here I am trying to make friends with a calf.

Despite the crazy driving, we had a lot of fun on this roadtrip to Wayanad. It was educational, informative, eye-opening, and inspiring. Talking to and seeing the passion of people who saw a need and did something about it and are now impacting the lives of many is amazing. It also allowed us to spend quality time with the Koleths and their very adorable girls, and see the area that Profugo will be launching. Hopefully we'll be able to help! Thank you guys for everything.