Eric Linge (Volunteer, CRY America Pittsburgh Action Center)

I am an active volunteer with CRY America. What we do in CRY America is raise awareness and funds for projects in India. While working for a private company in Mumbai, I had the opportunity to visit one of CRY America's projects in the interiors of Maharashtra; a collection of villages around the town Latur. The villages around Latur were not desperate. They even seemed comfortable. The organization that now partners with CRY America has been working in the area for 24 years. This organization is also aided by Oxfam. The situation now in Latur is a far cry from the days when Dalits were employed as bonded laborers by the landowners. The Dalits now collectively farm their own land. They still farm other's land. But owing to the confidence of having their own land, they can now command higher wages. The Dalit children go to the same schools as the non-Dalit ones. It took 24 years of persistence to change the mindsets of the people to arrive at a stage where the Dalits are exercising some of their basic rights. But I'm sure Latur is just one among several such places where human rights have been violated. With India being so vast, there must be many such villages which are still the same as Latur was 24 years ago. Considering how many years of hard work and perseverance it took CRY America and its partner organization to change the situation in Latur, I wonder when all of India - especially rural India - will enjoy basic human rights. It is clear that CRY America, along with its partner organization has brought about lasting change in Latur. The path ahead is long and hard, but a beginning has been made.