From Little Rock to Big Delhi

By Maggie Carroll

October 3, 2019

Last Updated: June 6, 2012

I’ll be working at Heifer International’s India Country Office for the next few months. I will take photos for their upcoming publications, make short videos, conduct interviews for an article in World Ark Magazine, and facilitate a citizen journalism project with some of the women involved in Heifer’s field projects. Can't wait to share my experiences!

I’m here- I have arrived in New Delhi, India! After approximately 3,000 hours of travel (okay, 26) I have settled into my new home comfortably. The city is beautiful, vibrant, and exhausting. Although I hail from the giant metropolis of Little Rock, Arkansas, Delhi is definitely a big change.

People, cars, trucks, rickshaws, auto rickshaws, bicycles, motorcycles, buses, and cows fill the streets. For the first couple of days, Heifer India’s driver kindly chauffeured a bewildered, geographically lost Maggie to work each day, and then back home again in the afternoon.

The entire India-based Heifer staff is extremely welcoming. The work environment is relaxed and open to my slew of questions. Lunch is eaten together, family-style, at the large meeting room table. I recently had a taste of pickled, spicy pepper at the suggestion of my boss, Avni. Hopefully I’m training my taste buds to handle even spicier Indian cuisine.

As I sipped on endless cups of green tea, I read-up on the group’s work in the various territories it currently works in; Rajasthan, Bihar, and Orissa. Last year, between initial acquisition and Passing on the Gift, over 25,000 goats and 26,000 chickens were given to 1,672 families in the field!

I have been reading and reviewing case studies of the individuals, families, and communities the Heifer India staff has worked with and it has me aching to go out into the field myself. I’ll have to wait until next week for that. I look forward to contributing substantial work to this well-oiled machine and hope to learn all that I can from them.

Stay tuned for my adventures with Heifer and spicy food in next week's blog post!

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