First Impression, February 2009
Richard Fehler


I arrived in Jodhpur a few days before starting at Sambhali Trust. It’s my third trip to India and I immediately see the appeal of Jodhpur. It’s a bustling town with many of the same challenges I’ve seen elsewhere in India, but still it has a nice, assessable feel to it, especially when compared with the much larger Indian cities.

Still, Jodhpur has its own noise and chaos so it’s refreshing to enter the quiet calm of the Durag Niwas Guest House where the Trust conducts its work. Govind was out-of-town for a few days so the other volunteers introduced first-hand me to the work the Trust is doing. I met the women the Trust is helping and observed some of the classes. Everyone made me feel very welcome.

The working conditions at the Trust are very good. Noisy sometimes, disorganized often, but still wonderful. I divide my time between the pillowed rooftop terrace and the door less, breezy first floor corner library - even with its mismatched paint and rickety fan, it’s a space that most aspirants to the corporate corner office would do well to consider.

For twenty years I worked in corporate America, and this feels like a breath of fresh air: interesting and substantial people who are dedicating a portion of their lives to a cause greater than themselves and more important than their own bank account. On my first day I learned that the first class of women will graduate in June 2009 with newly acquired sewing skills and new confidence. I will be helping to create sustainable businesses for these women as well as suggest organizational best practices for the Trust.

These women face challenges that I cannot ever really understand, but still I see etched in their faces character, desire, and most of all, courage. The work the Trust is doing is more than just aid for a day or month. It is a way for these women to learn a skill, work hard, and improve the lives for themselves and for future generations. They are taking control of their lives, sometimes for the first time. Every day I see them, they make me humble and they make me hopeful.