Longitude

Our first car ride to Gumallapaddu Village was the perfect formula for paradise: the sun shining overhead, a gentle breeze flowing through the window, and the kind of vast landscape that you’d imagine when listening to Toto’s “Africa.”  Every so often a holy cow would roam casually into the path of our jeep, which coming [...]

It is my first day back in Japan after a truly amazing time in India and as I pore over the many photographs I took in GP village I am transported back there by the children’s beaming smiles, the warmth of which I can physically feel despite the cold of my [...]

The fish farm-lined road to Gummallapadu holds a healthy bit of traffic this morning. The car bumping along it is blasting Bollywood tunes as it winds through the bustling crowd: a few nervous goats pick at the grass; a lazy water buffalo stubbornly refuses to move off the path; a chicken crosses the road (why? [...]

After the longest train ride of our lives, due to the current political situation in Hyderabad, we finally arrived safely in Eluru yesterday morning. It’s been surreal being back here just six months later. Even though we’re staying in the same place, it feels so different with a different group of people. Jonathan and I, [...]

It’s late and I’m awake. I’m lying in bed thinking about the second Rhode Island student– another 12-year-old suburban girl– to die of the H1N1 flu virus in the last two weeks. My mind knows that there are over one million people in this state and that two is not a significant percentage to warrant [...]

Students from the Highlander Charter School in Providence, RI connect with students from the Profesa Academy in Ghana.
Each week a small group of Providence middle school students takes part in this thrilling after school program.  Last week these students chatted with the Ghanaian students on Gmail for almost two hours.  Despite any differences there may be [...]

Dear President Obama,
This morning I listened to your speech before Ghana’s parliament.  I heard you address the leaders and citizens of Africa through inspirational calls for action, “You have the power to hold your leaders accountable, and to build institutions that serve the people. You can serve in your communities, and harness your [...]

The Women of GP Village by Holly Schneidmiller
India is an amazing country. The culture, people and food are vast and diverse. Traveling to GP village certainly amplified everything I had experienced in India. Right away I knew this volunteer experience would be overwhelming, both challenging and rewarding.

Over the next two weeks my friend Carla [...]

By: Joel Post (March 2009 Gummallapadu Village Volunteer)
When one thinks about southern India, snow doesn’t usually come to mind, but there it was all around me: snow drifts, avalanches, snow cones…but I am getting ahead of myself.
The first and last days of camp were the most memorable for me. Let’s start with getting to GP [...]

(SAN FRANCISCO, CA — June 24, 2009) – On June 20, Longitude founder, Shawn Rubin learned he would be receiving AmeriCorps Alums highest award at an event headlined by First Lady Michelle Obama. Just two days later, he was backstage at the event, waiting in the green room with luminaries like actor Matthew McConaghey, singer [...]

Q. What can we do from our home countries to support the Longitude Uncaste India Campaign?

A. This is an awesome question! There is a lot our volunteers can do, before, during and after their work camps in India.
As you hopefully know by now, you, the Volunteers ARE Longitude. Longitude is an international network of [...]

Q. Why aren’t there more vegetable gardens in the villages? Are the villagers lacking in knowledge? Seeds? Fertilizer?

A. Regarding Gummallapadu Village (GP), the main reason why there were not more vegetable gardens is because the surrounding land has been terribly degraded by the omnipresent aqua-culture farms. Essentially, the local communities surrounding Kolleru Lake were [...]

Hello to all Longitude supporters.

The subsequent posts represent a Q and A session extending from the request I made to our supporters before my April 09 Evaluation Expedition I made to our project sites in India. There are some very good questions, and I tried to give as much detail as possible to help illustrate [...]

I woke up to a phone ringing at 6am this morning, as I have most
mornings this week. Sometimes the call is earlier, later, doesn’t come
at all, or in the case of this morning, the sleepy young man
inexplicably rings again one minute later to say “Hello.” “Hello”, I
respond. “It’s 6 o’clock.” “Thank you.” A few leftover [...]

The villagers here are amazing to say the least! The people here have shown a resilience and a natural happpiness with their lives that I never experienced first hand before. Just today, Ken, John, Kristin and I played with four little boys in there home- a one room bamboo hut and had a [...]