The first half of my work with SPS focused on documenting the impacts of the Self-Help Group (SHG) program—forming groups of 10-20 women in a village through which members build bank savings, economic literacy, and social capacity in their community. Through interviews with SHG professionals, group members, SHG leaders, and mitaans (community residents who help […]

The following is a stylized account of an evening at the SPS Campus based on actual events. Once a year, the Baba Amte Center for People’s Empowerment, as known as the SPS Neemkeda Campus, takes on a new purpose to host the Western Madhya Pradesh Table Tennis (TT) Classic: Men’s Singles Championship. Considered to be […]

Every so often, movie night comes to one of the villages of the Dewas district, and the community gathers outdoors around a large screen to watch a Charlie Chaplin film projected out of the back of a truck. From a third person perspective, the setting seems out of place–a crowd of men and women dressed […]

SPS is a radical organization. I write this in the sense that its work has been revolutionary in empowering the villages of the Dewas district. Working with state schemes and local institutions, the SPS programs have shifted many of the imbalanced power dynamics that occur in the daily lives of villagers, particularly the families of […]

Who knew celcius went above 40 degrees? The climate–both temperature and attitude–of the Samaj Pragati Sahayog (SPS) campus had met me and Kelly with a warm welcome. After arriving on campus last Thursday afternoon with the help of Prasan, an employee and former intern of SPS, we settled in for the first few days of […]

Hello, This is Andrew. As I write this blog in the airport, I realize that I will be the last of the CASI 2015 interns to arrive in India, and I am feeling both excited and anxious, to say the least. I’m from a suburb of Pittsburgh, Sewickley, and between there and Philly, I am […]