Longitude Blog

Just like Ravi, I'm not accustomed to being in a big city like Tokyo; I've spent the past two years in rural Japan in a village of 10,000 people. Here, I feel as though we are constantly moving from a train to a subway to a light rail, with only brief glimpses of towering skyscrapers before being shuttled along underground.

For the past few months I have been going over the many differences between Japan and India and wondering how Ravi will react to things like the Japanese trash system and umeboshi (really sour pickled plums). I haven't been able to sleep or eat for the past few days because I am so excited to see him here!

Ravi has shown us such wonderful hospitality in India and Jonathan and I are thrilled to have the opportunity to return the favor here in Japan.

Even though it was hot, it ended up being a wonderful day from beginning to end. As the day went on the games got better and better with a few going into extra innings. We'd like to thank all 60 players who participated this year.

Congratulations to our tournament champions, team Pelletier & Mirza LLP. They defeated Team New England in a game that ended under the lights. Tom Mirza was named MVP of the final game after leading his team too victory by driving in four runs.

The founder of the Indian grassroots agency ARV, Ravi Kumar, will be traveling to Japan to complete a 2-week long speaking tour. Both ARV and Longitude feel this is a great opportunity to build new partnerships, meet potential donors, expand the Japan-based volunteer network, and increase awareness of Dalit issues. Ravi is scheduled to visit both Osaka and Tokyo in efforts to further develop ARV’s capacity through these speaking events. Past volunteers have already collaborated to generously provide the plane ticket for Ravi’s flight to Japan.

On a recent hot June night in Central Falls, RI the Ghana Association of Rhode Island hosted its first ever Kente Cloth Celebration and Longitude was a featured guest. Board member Kwaku Afful and Longitude President Shawn Rubin were in attendance to dance and celebrate, but first there was an important presentation from GAORI president Kwasi Asante.

Cyclones In KI

KI Village suffered its worst cyclone in 14 years, Laila, who arrived in late May of this year. This cyclone produced high-speed winds and torrential downpours that forced evacuations of some 50,000 residents, including those in the KI village.

Fortunately, the KI villagers returned after the storm to find their homes intact and their belongings in place. This was greatly different than the tragic losses they suffered in 2004 after the tsunami.

PROFESA students have recently received word back on their National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) exam scores. Many of the students passed with distinction in specific areas. In the photo above you can see that Cynthia did very well in her typing, but needs more work in her office procedures course. While the exams were very positive for most of the students, Meshach Bondzie, the Academy's founder, is troubled that only 8 students were able to register for the exam due to financial barriers.

Houses for Dalits

Work camps of volunteers headed to Chevuru Village this past Spring to complete unfinished houses started by the Indian Government. A group of 6 volunteers in March and 18 in May set out as the first international volunteer group to visit Chevuru. Insufficient funds had been issued to some of the villagers by the government to construct new homes due to destruction from monsoons on their thatched huts. Yet requests from the government for the villagers to raise their own money to aid in the construction have left these homes unfinished.

Students at PROFESA Academy, a non-profit vocational training school in Ghana, have begun writing their first semester's exams- check out the pictures below. As you can see, many of the students have to share desks due to lack of supplies. Please see our Friends of PROFESA monthly giving campaign in which you can sign up through the website to donate $10 a month taken directly from your account to aid in the education and future of these students. Click here to donate.

The Monsters of Cheveru. They tugged at our hands, They welcomed us like long lost brothers. They brought us chai and biscuits while we worked. Left us to rest when we were having our lunch breaks. But, demanded us to teach them games and English when it was their time. We played tag, and "Police & Thief" with them, but they could outrun us, even though they were barefoot. And, when we were about to leave, they made us little paper aeroplanes to carry us home.

Not really monsters, but little children. In the end, the Monsters of Chevuru got the better of me.