The UF in India NGO and Development Program is truly a study abroad experience unlike any other. All of the other overseas study programs I have participated in and most I have heard discussed focus almost exclusively on cultural immersion and language learning. UF in India of course factored in plenty of cultural immersion, but the central focus of this experience was gaining a practical knowledge of what development, spearheaded by non-governmental organizations, looks like in India and across the world.

​

We worked with a full spectrum of NGO causes, upwards of 20 different organizations. In Delhi, for example, we worked with the Teri Foundation to understand more deeply how technology could be harnessed to guarantee an environmentally sustainable future. In Jaipur, we worked with CUTS International (Consumer Unity and Trust Society) to bring awareness about corrupt business and government practices to the common people. We also worked with Centre for Community Economics and Development Consultants Society (CECOEDECON) affiliated women’s groups that have taken up micro-financial systems to gain economic independence for themselves. In Pondicherry, we worked with Auroville, a religious organization also committed to capacity-building of local populations. In Karaikudi, we worked with agricultural colleges dedicated to creating a new generation of agricultural workers in a country that increasingly becomes urbanized. Finally, in Chennai, our unofficial base of operations, we also worked with many groups. The two most memorable were the Sethu Bhaskaran School and Teach for India. Both of these organizations are committed to bringing education to students from impoverished areas who otherwise would be unable to access or afford schooling.

​

In my time in India, I noticed a very strange phenomenon. It seemed the policy framework to benefit these people existed, but for various reason including corruption and other bureaucratic blockages, these benefits were never received by the people the policy was created for. CUTS and the Sehgal Foundation both held as part of their mission a goal to connect these recipients to the rights and services they deserve. I would also like to take up this linkage goal. My time in India has convinced me that the best way I can link recipients to policy benefits  around the world is via understanding and application of international law, and I hope to pursue that in the very near future.

​

Please click below to read a research project I wrote after visiting and observing the work of the Teri Foundation. In this essay, I compare and contrast the structure, methodology, and effect of the Teri Foundation and the Brazilian environmental awareness NGO, Instituto Floresta Tropical, which utilized my observation, statistical analysis, ability to fluently read and understand Portuguese, and writing ability.

​