India: News From the Field

Vocational Training Center in Bodhgaya:

This September, we inaugurated a new center for computer training for disadvantaged youth. It will also be used for our other vocational training courses. Classes will start this October.

Kitchen Gardens:

We have expanded our very successful Kitchen Garden program to include communities in the state of Jharkhand. The expanded program will provide an increased number of vulnerable people with access to nutritious food.

We operate two nurseries for seeds and plants  (one in Bihar and Jharkhand) that provide seeds to villagers so that they can start their own kitchen gardens. The first seeds and seedlings are currently being distributed to villagers participating in the kitchen garden program.

Solar Power:

Congratulations to our Indian solar engineers Puja and Lakshmi! They have just installed a solar electrification system in the village of Kadal. These village women, who are illiterate,  trained to become solar engineers in 2013 at the Barefoot College. Thanks to them, villagers now have access to light.

Since the beginning of the year, Puja and Laksmi Bihar have installed over 175 systems in three villages.

Healthy Children:

To reduce the risk of respiratory disorders and other related diseases that are caused by exposure to cooking fuels, we have installed smokeless stoves in all the kindergarten centers we support as part of our Early Childhood Development program.