Hi!
Again, I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted. Time is moving so fast; I have to keep reminding myself to stop and enjoy this amazing experience.
This week, I started working at the Grassroots Research and Advocacy Movement (GRAAM) and officially got started on my project. On Monday, Arun and David, members of the EDI team, arrived at GRAAM for a few days, and I was grateful for their support, along with that of my mentor, in starting my project.
My project has two parts. The first part, which I am working on now, is compiling profiles of a handful of large companies in India regarding their policies and practices in making their workplaces inclusive of people with disabilities. The second element, which I hope to begin this week, will be completing in-depth case studies with companies to get a deeper sense of how they have succeeded in employing people with disabilities. My goal with these case studies is to develop a framework of strategies, barriers, motivating factors, and other elements of employment.
I'm extremely excited to be able to look at this topic at such a deep level; already I've started to be able to see patterns across companies in their efforts to employ people with disabilities as well as to get a look at government policies in promoting these inclusive workplaces. I am excited for the weeks ahead at GRAAM!
Outside of work, I'm really enjoying getting to know the city of Mysore; spending a lot of time in one place is not an experience I've ever really had while traveling before. This week, we went to Karanji Lake, a beautiful lake surrounded by a huge park, and we also spent a good amount of time just wandering around downtown, something we hadn't had a chance to do yet.
This morning (last thing, I promise) we went to Mysore Palace at 6 am to join in the celebration of National Yoga Day. It was an experience, to say the least. It is now monsoon season, so we definitely got wet. Still, we were there with maybe 4,000 people from all over Mysore and the surrounding areas, doing yoga while the royal family sat on the balcony and watched.
It's funny, I think I definitely perceived India as a pretty chaotic place before I came here. I can't say that my perception of that has totally changed, but this morning, there were thousands of people in straight lines, praying in unison and practicing yoga in complete silence. There was little security, little direction, little organization, but it worked. Honestly, it was striking.
Ok, I promised, so I will stop here. Also, I must apologize because I forgot to take pictures of GRAAM...I'll post them next week (this is how I keep my readership up).
Have a great week!
Abigail
Again, I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted. Time is moving so fast; I have to keep reminding myself to stop and enjoy this amazing experience.
This week, I started working at the Grassroots Research and Advocacy Movement (GRAAM) and officially got started on my project. On Monday, Arun and David, members of the EDI team, arrived at GRAAM for a few days, and I was grateful for their support, along with that of my mentor, in starting my project.
My project has two parts. The first part, which I am working on now, is compiling profiles of a handful of large companies in India regarding their policies and practices in making their workplaces inclusive of people with disabilities. The second element, which I hope to begin this week, will be completing in-depth case studies with companies to get a deeper sense of how they have succeeded in employing people with disabilities. My goal with these case studies is to develop a framework of strategies, barriers, motivating factors, and other elements of employment.
I'm extremely excited to be able to look at this topic at such a deep level; already I've started to be able to see patterns across companies in their efforts to employ people with disabilities as well as to get a look at government policies in promoting these inclusive workplaces. I am excited for the weeks ahead at GRAAM!
Outside of work, I'm really enjoying getting to know the city of Mysore; spending a lot of time in one place is not an experience I've ever really had while traveling before. This week, we went to Karanji Lake, a beautiful lake surrounded by a huge park, and we also spent a good amount of time just wandering around downtown, something we hadn't had a chance to do yet.
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| View of Karanji Lake from above. |
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| Monkeys at the park! |
This morning (last thing, I promise) we went to Mysore Palace at 6 am to join in the celebration of National Yoga Day. It was an experience, to say the least. It is now monsoon season, so we definitely got wet. Still, we were there with maybe 4,000 people from all over Mysore and the surrounding areas, doing yoga while the royal family sat on the balcony and watched.
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| Speaks for itself |
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| Yoga at the palace!!! |
It's funny, I think I definitely perceived India as a pretty chaotic place before I came here. I can't say that my perception of that has totally changed, but this morning, there were thousands of people in straight lines, praying in unison and practicing yoga in complete silence. There was little security, little direction, little organization, but it worked. Honestly, it was striking.
Ok, I promised, so I will stop here. Also, I must apologize because I forgot to take pictures of GRAAM...I'll post them next week (this is how I keep my readership up).
Have a great week!
Abigail
So great to hear about the work you're starting with GRAAM! I am looking forward to hearing more!
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