The Lives of Manual Scavengers

By on October 28, 2015   /   Center of Development, Education, Health & Wellness, Life in India, Natural Resource Management, Reflections   /   Leave a comment

Although there is sometimes legislation to prevent it, caste systems are still in place in the 21st century. In some regions of India, such concepts have become ingrained in cultures. The most discriminatory practices victimize manual scavengers, who experience lifestyles that are hard to fathom to citizens of a first-world nation. Scavengers represent the lowest rung of the untouchables in India, a group of lower-class citizens that are legally considered equal citizens but are culturally

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Employment & Empowerment

By on October 28, 2015   /   Center of Development, Education, Empowering Women, Life in India, Reflections, Tailoring Training Program   /   Leave a comment

“It’s not about the money” – once said Jessy J. Even though this is only a pop song, Jessy J definitely had a point: money by itself is less meaningful than the contentment that comes from knowing you worked to earn it. So why not have the best of both worlds? Why not make the money while knowing that it is deserved due to our own hard work? Money turns out to be much more

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Mixing, Collaborating & Ayurvedic Medicine!

By on October 28, 2015   /   Agriculture & Farming Cooperative, Center of Development, Education, Empowering Women, Health & Wellness, Life in India, Social Fund   /   Leave a comment

A natural medicine (Ayurveda) workshop was held at the Profugo Center of Development on September 1, 2015, with grand success! 34 ladies from the community attended the workshop. The preparation for the workshop started on the previous day with the participants collecting various ingredients for the preparation of medicines. Sisters Innocent MSMI and SCelin Rose, two catholic nuns, and Mrs. Mary Peedikamalayil, all local experts in traditional medicine making guided the participants. The following items

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Profugo’s Water Quality Program

By on May 27, 2015   /   Agriculture & Farming Cooperative, Center of Development, Children's Club, Education, Health & Wellness, Life in India, Natural Resource Management, Water for Life   /   Leave a comment

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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From Villanova’s Engineering Service Learning Team

By on May 26, 2015   /   Agriculture & Farming Cooperative, Center of Development, Education, Health & Wellness, Life in India, Natural Resource Management, Reflections, Water for Life   /   Leave a comment

After travelling dozens of hours and thousands of miles we arrived in Bangalore to the hustle and bustle of early morning rush hour; we witnessed families starting their days as Sabhir, our driver, weaved in and out of traffic on our way to Wayanad. The next day, the four of us stepped foot in Prashanthagiri, and the beautiful rural community seemed like a world away from the busy city. We were eager to learn about

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