Floating down the Bay of Bengal - Tamil Nadu, India

Auroville is a mystical wonderland. A township, a commune...paradise.

UPASANA

A design firm gone social.

Tsunamika - After the 2004 Tsunami wiped out villages along the coast of Pondicherry, Upasana decided to engage local fisher women in doll making. Tsunamika dolls are not sold - anyone can pick some up and donate whatever they like. All dolls are made from scrap materials.

While at Upasana, we met an intern who is collaborating with the company to design fashionable cloth sanitary napkins!

THE EARTH INSTITUTE

Earthen Architecture company. Focused on 'e-blocks' - compressed earthen 'bricks' for sustainable architecture.

GULF OF MANNAR - directly across from Sri Lanka. Georgeous, blue sea, lined with fishing villages.

PEOPLE'S ACTION FOR DEVELOPMENT (PAD)

Dedicated to improving the lives of communities along the Gulf of Mannar - fisher folk and palm tappers - through participatory strategies.

A Small Dose of Orissa

Sunrise on the Chilka - Largest lagoon in Asia

Rural Development Institute(RDI), based in Seattle, is changing access to and ownership over land all over the world. Their work is remarkable. These women now have joint titles with their husbands to homestead plots.

Vermicompost and mushroom cultivation

These women rent a man-made lake in their village for fishing.

A large contingent of the people in Orissa are tribal.