98 teddy bears – looking back, that’s what marks the beginning of my longtime commitment to volunteering. As a child (and with the help of an obliging mother), I volunteered several hours of my time to collect donations of teddy bears to be sent to a local children’s hospital. 98 bears and 15 years later, I can say that volunteering has been one of the longest “constants” in my life. However, my thoughts on the
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Monsoon season in Wayanad is quickly approaching but even though the torrential rains will bring large volumes of much needed moisture, Wayanad and the entire state of Kerala continue to endure severe drought outside of the rainy months. The lush greenery of the Wayanad hillsides turns to a parched yellow in the months of the dry season. A large percentage of the monsoon rains are lost as run off into the Arabian Sea due to
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I have learned a lot from being in college, and I will hold these concepts dear to me for the rest of my life. I have learned that I have agency to enact change and that my voice is worth hearing. I have learned how to listen and that people who are unable to do the same for me are not worth my time. Most importantly, especially through my Sociology major, I have learned to
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Women’s rights activists around the world have found a new poster child, literally, in 2014 Nobel Peace Prize co-recipient Malala Yousafzai. Famous for having been shot by members of the Taliban because of her outspokenness about the importance of education for girls in Pakistan, she continues to petition for equal access to education for all children around the world. I heard the announcement about Malala’s Nobel Peace Prize win just after returning to the village
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In the development world, there are tons of metrics by which to assess growth – ways to quantify a program’s progress in promoting health and wellness in a community. And who doesn’t love to see these numbers? Numbers that can easily be translated into pie charts, or info graphics about our work, are neat and easy to understand at a glance. But for those of us working with a young and growing non-profit like Profugo,
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