JESS THE WANDERER

Day 9
We started out rural visits today. I was in a group of 5. 3 boys, me and the facilitator. We were joined by Mini, one of the Leaders of DST. We made our way to Lokpanchayat which is about 3 hours east if Pune.
This NGO is really inspiring. The moment we arrived we were greeted with home made food made with local produce. Lokpanchayat has been running for nearly 12 years. It is an organisation that works with local tribes and communities, mainly in encouraging them to continue working in the country side on agriculture.

They also work with woman that have been abused and offer a safe house, counseling and training.


There was a local produce expo on in town that is only on once a year and Lokpanchayat had a stand. All the proceeds were going to the woman's SHG that was organizing it. We also met the chair and board members of the company.
I thought we would be staying in a hut with no toilets but we were the lucky group. One group got to stay in a resort, and that group was us. Pool, gym, badminton court, running track but no wifi! That is all i really wanted.  I would have liked to have stayed in some crappy accommodation.  Not this palace in the middle of nowhere.