INDIA
For my next TGL trip, our team met in Jodhpur, where
we stayed at a guesthouse run by the Sambhali Trust, an
NGO that helps Dalit (untouchable) women and children
through education, job training, and social services. At
the Sambhali Trust’s Fatima Center, we met our
students, 15 young Muslim women dressed in pink saris.
After introductions, we handed each woman a camera
and gave a quick tutorial. They then led us through their
neighborhood, and many of them invited us into their
homes to meet their families.
We spent the next two days with them exploring
Jodhpur’s Blue City (where nearly all the buildings are
painted shades of blue). We also visited two other
Sambhali Trust schools, spending time with their
students and documenting the NGO’s work. On our own,
we visited temples and palaces, spent a night in a village,
and ended up in the city of Jaipur, visiting an elephant
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with the women from the Fatima Center were the high
point of my trip.
We rode to the
Sahara and
back, spending
a magnificent
night—after
braving a
sandstorm—in
the Erg Chebbi
dunes.