My first week here has been somewhat tough. My initial reservation against accepting a placement in India came back to haunt me as I have been having a tough time adjusting. The biggest obstacle for me has been the language barrier between myself and the office staff as well as with most of the people I am surrounded by on a daily basis. Since most of the office staff speaks Tamil exclusively, it has been a struggle to start figuring out my place within this organization. There are about 30 people on staff and most of them are field workers who [View Full Entry]

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So I have finally decided to sit down and update everyone on where I am and what I am up to. I am in the International Development Program at the University of Toronto and as part of my co-op component I will be spending the next 8 months in Madurai, India. I am working for the Madurai Non-Formal Education Centre (MNEC) which is supported by Presbyterian World Services and Development (PWS&D). MNEC is a social development organization that aims to address the needs of urban slum dwellers in Madurai. The organization has a rather broad scope within development with programs [View Full Entry]

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