I had a fun and interesting couple of days in Pune hosted by Shraddha Borawake, photographer and new relation by marriage to my old friend, Nancy Falk. Shraddha did a project on women in construction some years ago and we are exploring future collaboration. My favorite of her short films is “Will You Wear the Pants?” This past Tuesday, we sat down with Shruti Purandare to find out more about the work of Tara Mobile Creches Pune. TMCP is one of the organizations in India that is providing child care for the children of construction workers– an area in which India is far ahead of the United States.

One of the most hopeful things I have heard since starting my research was from Shruti. Construction is a family business here and the workforce is very mobile. This makes it difficult for the children to continue their education. It is doubly difficult for girls who are expected to take on household responsibilities at a very young age. TMCP has a program for kids of construction workers to continue their education in residential schools and this year, for the first time, they have more girls entering the program than boys.

Another amazing thing that TMCP is doing is this mobile computer lab that is introducing kids in construction families to computer skills.

I am WAY behind in my field notes online but you can see more details of our meeting with TMCP in the Field Notes tab on my home page.

Shraddha, Shruti and me at the Tara Mobile Creches Pune office.