They live by the slogan:
 Long-term change and growth can only be accomplished by encouraging people to educate and do for themselves.
It is clear to the GoPhilanthropic traveling group as we sit in a packed hut serving as a community hall, that this is not simple rhetoric used by the WCRC—they truly live by it.  The women chant “Jindaba” meaning together we stand as we exit the hall after speaking about the power of doing for oneself.  The force behind their words is almost palpable and we leave humbled by their strength.
During our precious few days with the courageous Anuradha Bhosale and Scott Kafora, we immerse ourselves in what for WCRC is basic daily work– fighting against female infanticide, ensuring the right of education for children, demanding government benefits due to widows and abandoned women and caring for 40 rescued child laborers.  
Anuradha informing women of their rights
 
Thanks to GoPhilanthropic donors Moms In Motion, Sarayu, the WCRC social worker, can now reach the 15 rural villages over the bumpy roads with greater ease on the back of a newly purchased scooter.   Saraya brings critically needed information on basic rights to pensions and infrastructure such as government funded sanitation systems.  Believing that philanthropy is as much about the sharing of ideas as it is raising funds, GP shares an innovative idea being utilized in Kenya with our partner women’s program Majimoto– reusable sanitary pads made from fabric.  We come armed with samples made by GP donor Heather Kilian from Toronto.  
Sarah Webb, a yoga teacher from Rochester NY, witnessed in-person the value of the funds she raised from teaching a benefit class in honor of the WCRC earlier in the year.  She sat and drank tea and with women who are now offered workshops relating to maternal health and hygiene thanks to her donation.  Our tea was made over a new smokeless stove being offered to villages through WCRC.
 
Donor Sarah Webb meets the WCRC women she helped fund
Visiting the brickyards where AVANI runs makeshift schools for migrant children, we were able to see for ourselves how school could be successfully taught under trees and plastic tarps  Afterwards we had the pleasure of lunching tasty dal and chapatis with the rescued child laborers cared for at the AVANI residential home.  
 
Emma Dean (14) stands next to local 14 yr. old with 2 children

Lastly, we experience the power in exposing our younger generation in the world’s global issues.  Traveler Emma Dean, aged 14, comes away with deeper understanding of the value of working together across the miles.  In this photo she stands next to a girl the same age who recently gave birth to her seocnd child.  WCRC hopes to instill in her the vlaue of education and empowerment as opposed to dependence on an abusive husband. 

 
If you are interested in joining GoPhilanthropic’s partnership with WCRC in India, please let us know.  Join us–we will be visiting again September 2013.

Ongoing Needs – our partnership continues…

$15 each       Purchases a solar lamp that provides needed light in evenings 
$20 monthly  Supports bi-monthly health and hygiene workshops for pregnant and lactating women across 15 villages
$30 monthly  Funds electricity / phone charges needed to run the WCRC office where vulnerable women come for assistance.
$50 monthly  Provides needed gas for the WCRC scooter and rickshaw
 
Thanks to all of you who help make the above possible–

Anne Elgerd and AVANI girls


GP Trip Director Mary Jo O’Hara with the girls at AVANI