Vickie has received a scholarship from the Rotary International, to go to India from August 2006-May 2007 and work with the Barli Institute .  Barli is located in the state of Madhya Pradesh, in central India, which is about the same size as California, with a population of 60 million.  Madhya Pradesh, or M.P. as the local people refer to it, is the home of many of India's tribal people. As with indigenous peoples in many parts of the world, until recent years they were forgotten by the rest of their society, but this is fortunately beginning to change.  The Barli Institute has, for twenty years, devoted itself to training the girls and women from the villages in western M.P. in practical skills such as literacy, solar cooking, organic gardening, nutrition, and income generation.  One aspect of their income generation is in sewing. 


M.P. is famous for its beautiful saris.
A few years ago, Vickie set up a project to train rural Latina women living near the U.S.-Mexico border in sewing skills.  Her philosophy was that she wanted to help the women make things that were so beautiful and well-crafted, that people would not say, "I'll buy that to help the women," but "I'll buy that because I want it!"  She elevated their sewing skills to the point that they were selling in Nordstrom's Department Stores nationwide.  Depending on the needs of the Barli Institute, she hopes to offer similar skills with the women studying there. In addition, Vickie works with the rest of the family, so that the husbands and brothers and fathers of these young women welcome their skills and knowledge when they return to the villages, rather than being jealous of their earning capacity and technical skill.
So, I am making a trip in March to scope out the situation in M.P., look at suitable housing for Vickie. and see if I can find a way to make a living there, so that I can make trips to India while Vickie's there. My immigration law practice lends itself nicely to finding clientele among businesspeople and scholars who want to work and perform research in America.