Sustainable & Just Community Development

Profugo, like many other organizations, aims to create social change, and better the lives of those who have less access to resources such as health services, education, and entrepreneurial skills. The work Profugo does is essential and has fostered great change in Wayanad. What…

Read more →

Nutrition Education: Why Isn’t it a Priority?

Math, Science, Social Studies, and Language Arts: these are the core subjects taught in public schools in America. Health class: this is typically taught only a few times a year and only a section of this course covers the topic of nutrition. According to…

Read more →

Smiling from the Mountains

Wayanad, by name is not a new place for me. I have visited the place several times as a tourist and as a student for field work. But four months of experience here has taught be that I previously knew little of the real…

Read more →

Education: the Key to Development

Given that India has the world’s second largest population, it is not shocking that they also have the second largest education system. However, despite the size, there are still enormous disproportions in participation rates. These gaps are particularly evident within populations of lower castes….

Read more →

Becoming a Beam of Light

Statistics show that Indian girls in regards to self-esteem, education, and independence, due to gender roles and sexism, are in a worse place than their male peers. For example, Indian adolescent girls’ self-esteem (Rao et al). The literacy rate for females in India is…

Read more →

Education During a Pandemic

The rapid spread of COVID-19 throughout the world has forced politicians, policy-makers, administrators, and educators to make impulsive decisions about the state of education. Worldwide, many schools have shut down campuses and in-person learning in traditional classroom settings, transforming education into primarily virtual settings….

Read more →

Transforming Communities Through Women’s Education

If everyone woman had the opportunity to obtain an education, the world would be a very different place. Educated women have more opportunity, and more  opportunity gives women more power.  Around the world, millions of women still do not have access to education. Out…

Read more →

Who’s Who in Profugo?

The year is 2008. Jenny and Ashwin Koleth, along with friends, have spent countless hours on the ground and in the office preparing to launch their non-profit. They have seen the devastating effects of powerlessness in many places around the world, and they have…

Read more →

Beatrice’s Adventures in India

I will never stop marveling at the remarkable capacity of airplanes to transport one all the way across the world in a matter of hours. I completed the 10,000 mile journey to India over the course of three separate flights – starting in New…

Read more →

A Field Fellow’s Arrival

The feeling before new adventure.  Why isn’t there a word in the English language for this?  Excitement.  Fear.  Happiness.  Nervousness.  Exhaustion.  All muddled together in what a dear friend would describe as “emotional fullness.”  That’s the best phrase I’ve got. I, a rather emotionally-full…

Read more →