Dehra Dun, North India
This city of half-a-million people is in the foothills of the Himalayas in the state of Uttaranchal about 250km north of Delhi. We expect to be working with and for Jo McGowan Chopra and her husband, Dr. Ravi Chopra. We were put in contact with the Chopras by Aseem Shrivastava, a friend and colleague at RCNUWC.

With two children of their own, Jo and Ravi adopted a little girl with cerebral palsy. Realising that there were few available educational opportunities for children with disabilities, Jo decided to start a special school which is now known as Karuna Vihar. She was already working for the Latika Roy Memorial Foundation (named for Maria Montessori's first Indian student) whose aims are to provide creative education for children - particularly those disadvantaged by disability or poverty. Karuna Vihar now operates as part of the Latika Roy Memorial Foundation.

For more information please take a look at the Foundations's website: www.lrmf.org

Ravi is founder and director of the Peoples' Science Institute of DehraDun. PSI is a public interest research and development organisation. The Institute's main aims are to undertake research and provide technical support services to social action groups, and to implement development projects including post-disaster rehabilitation and water resource management.

For more Information about PSI, their website is: www.peoplesscienceinstitute.com