Droughts: A Story of Maharashtra

In the Indian state of Maharashtra, water is the most precious resource, and it is also the most elusive. Maharashtra is plagued by years of drought periodically interrupted by seasons of heavy rains and flooding; known as wet droughts. These two extremes represent the most serious hinderances to farmers in the region as they account...

A Journey of Self-Discovery

The World Health Organization defines empowerment as “the process by which people gain control over the factors and decisions that shape their lives.” This process manifests differently not only in each community but with each individual. At CRHP, it is a belief that empowerment of women is the key to the empowerment of a community...

Sustainable Farming Practices: A New Curriculum for the Adolescent Boys Program

As we head into another year of drought in Maharashtra, CRHP has identified that it is increasingly important to work with farmers on sustainable farming practices, food security, and the mental health implications of drought on farmers, their families, and their communities. In the last decade, farmer suicides in India have gained significant attention. This...

Watershed Development: An Increase In Community Collaboration

In Maharashtra, droughts have historically affected agriculture, often leading farmers to plant “cash crops,” that can grow easily during a drought. While cash crops may provide temporary benefit to farmers attempting to earn money for a year’s harvest, it is at the cost of reducing soil nutrient quality for future, more profitable crops. Additionally, if...

Jabar’s Work With Artificial Limbs: Empowerment One Step at a Time

Even before Jabar became CRHP staff, he grew up with CRHP: “CRHP has been a part of my life since my childhood.” Jabar was one of five children, and he lived across the street from CRHP. Both his mother and his sister worked on staff, with his older sister working in the Julia Hospital as...

The Prospect of Solar Stoves at CRHP

In CRHP’s pursuit of using appropriate technology in the Project Villages, we have begun investigating the practicality of solar stoves as an alternative to stovetops for the villages. Typically, solar stoves are an expensive and an unaffordable investment for people in rural areas, but 100 Suns is an organization that works to disseminate a simple...

Community Leader Profile: The Story of Madhukar Sastre

                           When CRHP began its work in the 1970s, one of the major barriers it needed to overcome was casteism within the villages. In Dr. Raj’s words, “different caste groups did not freely socialise, [so] we devised some excuses to bring them together.”...

Diabetes Progress in CRHP’s Project Villages

In 2016, CRHP was awarded a grant from the World Diabetes Foundation (WDF) to further our work on a disorder affecting the lives of many in India: diabetes. A common misconception is that diabetes only affects individuals in affluent countries when in fact, it is becoming a global disorder that affects poor and rural communities...

Staff Profile: The Story of Heerabai

Heerabai is one of the women who made her way to CRHP as a patient but has now become a member of the CRHP community as a staff member at the Mabelle Arole Rehabilitation Center. Heerabai was born in nearby village, Rajuri, but she received no education growing up. Heerabai became part of our community...

6 Month Update on CRHP’s Community Based Diabetes Prevention

In April, CRHP completed its first 6 months of Community Based Diabetes Prevention, a program sponsored by the World Diabetes Foundation. The project began with training our Village Health Workers. As the first point of contact between villagers and healthcare, it was critical to ensure VHWs had all of the information and tools they needed...