by Dan Morrison
Wednesday November 26, 2008 at 3:53am, EST
I don’t remember falling asleep but a bump and rumble woke me up. I expected to see Yaqubbhai transfixed on the road ahead and Heenaben talking on her cell phone. After a moment of confusion, I remembered I was on my way to Heathrow after 17 days on the ground in Gujarat.
The trip was a success on all accounts. Most importantly, I got out of May’s hair and she put together our holiday drive that launches December 4th. We will tell you more about that, but we hope you can use it to rediscover the spirit of the holidays (www.1well.org/alliwant).
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by Dan Morrison
Tuesday November 25, 2008 at 12:39am, EST
“A gai che.” It was the first thing I learned to say in Gujarati. “This is a cow.” Gai, bhens (water buffalo), balad (ox) are everywhere. Meandering through urban traffic. Venturing down the high way. Filling the rural villages. These large bovines are a family’s lifeline, providing milk and all its byproducts ghee (butter), paneer (tofu-like cheese), etc.) for family use and to sell if there is excess. They are the power in the fields, and a mode of transport in the street.
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by May Yu
Monday November 24, 2008 at 3:04pm, EST
The November 2008 edition of McKinsey Quarterly featured an interested article on the challenges of rural development, detailing how projects we fund with SEWA nurture entrepreneurship in rural communities. The writer, Tarun Khanna, points out that rural citizens of many developing countries benefit the least from globalization and their governments are ill equipped to the task of bringing these rural citizens
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by Dan Morrison
Friday November 14, 2008 at 6:14am, EST
We get a lot of questions about why 1Well doesn’t fund entrepreneurs and I spend a lot of time differentiating 1Well from micro-finance organizations. This trip has made it very clear that I am wrong; we do in fact fund entrepreneurs. A few stories:
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by Dan Morrison
Friday November 14, 2008 at 6:09am, EST
The road to Kapurashi was was long and torturous on the tailbone. After driving for 10 hours from Ahmedabad by car, we turned off the main highway on to a dried out riverbed. Heenaban, SEWA coordinator and my lifeline in India, confirms this route would not be possible during the rainy season. By the end, we were within 25 miles of the Pakistani border. Kapurashi and other villages in the area were founded in 1971 as families migrated from Pakistan to India to avoid communal violence.
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by Dan Morrison
Friday November 14, 2008 at 6:08am, EST
We spent the day at SEWA headquarters in Ahmedabad. At the end of the meeting, Nigarben, a 17-year old who has completed the twelfth grade, approached me and said she wanted to get an MBA. It is the goal of many, but Nigarben is a little different.
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by Dan Morrison
Friday November 14, 2008 at 5:51am, EST
Greetings from Ahmedabad, India! Over the next two weeks, I will be traveling with the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), 1Well’s field partner in India, through the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Last night, my curry abstinence ended at my favorite local restaurant and it was great to see the guys at the Hotel Pinnacle. This morning starts with a full face and head shave at the barbershop down the street and then off to meetings with SEWA.
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by Dan Morrison
Saturday November 1, 2008 at 4:46pm, EST
They say it is better to give than receive, but some gifts make you wonder, “What were you thinking?!” It is truly the thought that counts, but how much thought really goes into porcelain potpourri penguins?
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