Vatsalya +SalaamGarage + Crowdrise.com!
(By Conrad Chavez) I visited India as part of the first SalaamGarage team, which visited Vatsalya in 2007. I was impressed to discover that Vatsalya does not merely rescue street orphans, but is a caring community that transforms them into educated, productive persons with job skills. On our pilot trip, each of us was encouraged to [...]
Lisa Field-Elliot:Vatsalya Women’s Clinic
The more open and willing I am to fully immerse in the new, the more I am gifted with the reminder that, at the bottom of things, I am everything and everywhere. The illusion of separation is busted. Freedom is found.
Amanda Koster: Samvedna Mobile Clinic
Vatsalya’s mobile van goes out with its team and parks in a slum location. Street children gather to paint, play sports, and do writing exercises.
Santosh and Linda Dancing, India
Santosh and Linda dancing from Conrad on Vimeo. It was a treat for us to watch Santosh dance in her family home, and the song totally rocks.
Jaipur, India Traffic
Traffic in Jaipur, India. The sidewalk shots that zoom by are actually very interesting if you pause and view them frame-by-frame. Video shot by Conrad Chavez.
Jesse Powell: India 2009
India has more inspiring stories than could ever be told. Despire all the trouble, the hardship, the poverty, the Indian people seem eternally optimistic. Their optimism is not without good cause, thanks to organizations like Vatsalya, and the unwaveringly devoted, often self-sacrificing people who’ve committed themselves to the greater good.
Udayan School: Aisha Zakiya-Boyd, India 2009
I was touched by Jaipur’s street children learning and living at Udayan school. Udayan literally means, “rising and moving ahead.”
Todd Gehman: Amjer Sex Workers: India 2009
Todd Gehman: I love the term “sex workers.” To me it acknowledges the professionalism of this kind of work. At the Vatsalya sex workers clinic in Amjer, women are tested for HIV/AIDS and various other STDs, and receive counseling, education and treatment. The clinic is also a community where children can be with their mothers while [...]
New partnership with BLURB!
This is a great week. Blurb and SalaamGarage began an official partnership. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Blurb, the company has revolutionized the way people can self-publish books of their work be it photographs, illustrations, words, etc. Let me back up. Our India09 travelers self published a book “India as witnessed by 10 citizen journalists” using Blurb. They rounded up photos and some [...]
Eduardo in India with SalaamGarage- Identity for the women of Shampura Village
Eduardo Sciammarella, CEO of Los Angeles based Protohaus, joined the SalaamGarage India 2009 team to help make a difference for disadvantaged women and children. We asked Eduardo what stood out as he worked on his humanitarian stories in a rural village called Shampura outside Jaipur where NGO Vatsalya works. Eduardo interviewing Santosh with the help [...]
Udayan Home for Children, Part of Vatsalya.org
This past week the SalaamGarage team of storytellers for India 2009 have been hard at work building stories, interviewing, recording, observing and participating in so many of Vatsalya’s great projects around Jaipur, India. Here are a few flip videos I recorded at Udayan home for children and Anoothi shop run by Vatsalya.org
Udaipur’s Lake Pichola: Ups and Downs
This link is pretty fun. EARTHTV.com for Udapur’s Lake Pichola is a live camera pan across part of the lake and shows if the lake has water. The music is distracting (bad) but the live camera panning across Udaipur is really cool. When the camera isn’t working the comments are helpful. The site gives the [...]
Seeing Sufis
Dargah of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer is one of the most important sufi shrines in the world. We are thrilled we will get to stop here, an easy and important stop on our way to Pushkar from Jaipur in a little over a month. photo by soham_pablo on Flickr.
Vaccinations for India
I am leading the India 2009 trip to Rajasthan India with SalaamGarage founder Amanda Koster in 6 weeks and 1 day! An hour from now I will visit my doctor to get caught up on my adult vaccinations. Working in the freelance photography business in New York City, I was a typical uninsured worker bee [...]
Now More Than Ever: India Trip for September 2009
Announcing SalaamGarage tour to Rajasthan India in September 2009. Cultural immersion and media making in India. Trip participation open to all.
We are the media.
