Oh, What A Night!
SOPAR turned 40 and to mark the event, parents, friends and loyal allies gathered in Ottawa on June 8th. It was a night as colourful as India with a typical Canadian touch that will be remembered. Here are some...
Widows Empowerment
Join the mega revolutionary event on June 23, 2017, International Widows Day at Lal Bahadur Stadium, Hyderabad, Telangana. The largest gathering of 10,000 widows will be the voice of the most abused and discriminated section of the society. ...
SOPAR Marks 40 Years of Sustainable Development in India
In the developped world, 40 years is considered half of a lifetime. In terms of development it’s what we call a good start. Indeed, sustainable development takes time. Angèle and André Gingras, founders of SOPAR, understood early on that...
International Women’s Day : Deconstructing a rather harmless picture
In India, widows are not invited to celebrations. Many years have passed since the Sati Sahagamanam has been banned, a ritual where widows were burnt alive with their husbands. Nevertheless, they are still viewed today as being such bad...
Another award for two beautiful minds
What a way to celebrate 40 years of relentless work to empower the poorest of the poor in India. Our founders are once again in the spotlight and we are very proud of them!
Radio-Canada/Le Droit Personalities of the week
Angel and Andre Gingras, SOPAR founders, had the honor of being named the Radio-Canada/Le Droit Personalities of the week. A radio interview was conducted for the occasion on Monday, March 28 on CBC. You can listen to the interview...
Bala Vikasa Silver Jubilee
GRAND CELEBRATION OF BALA VIKASA SILVER JUBILEE Commemorating 25 Years of Successful Community Driven Development “Mrs. Bala Theresa is a pride daughter of Telangana” said Mr. Chandra ShekarRao, C.M. Telangana February 9th, 2016 is a historical day in the...
School Program Team in Action
Bala Vikasa – (Vidya Vikasam) school program team is in full swing reaching rural schools with an aim of providing a “healthy environment and quality education”. Teachers, students and parent committees take part in the initiative with much enthusiasm....
Reopening of a closed government school
Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Kadiyam Srihari appreciate the efforts of Bala Vikasa in reopening a government school which was closed for last three years. It was a festive mood at Ontimamamidipally of Warangal district this morning as they reopened...
2015 Annual General Assembly
On thursday, June 11 2015, took place the SOPAR’s 2015 Annual General Meeting. The event was a complete success. More than 60 people attented. They had the opportunity to learn about indian issues from touching testamonials from Sitha, Latha,...
International Training – Michelle’s Testimonial
As part of the Community Driven Development Program I presently follow at Bala Vikasa, today I am coming back from my third field visit. I must say on each of those visits I have been touched deeply. This time,...
Ranjith’s Story
Ranjith Biyru remembers his childhood as a nightmare. He was five years old, and his brother barely two, when both parents died within the span of a year. All he remembers of them is that his father was an...
A Water Purification System for the Village of Karadpalli
Karadpalli, population 2500, is a village containing people from diverse castes and religions, the majority of whom depend on a farming income of less than $2 a day. The water in Karadpalli is highly concentrated with fluoride, causing villagers...
A Bore Well for Lakshmi ’s Village
Lakshmi and Ramulu live with their two school-aged children in the village of Dharma Thanda, population 1000. In their village most people work as daily wage laborers on farms and a few have small land holdings. They do not...
Nirmala’s story: Standing for Her Rights
Nirmala is 29 years old and became a widow at age 22. She joined the Bala Vikasa Women’s Development Program in 2008. Filled with emotions, Nirmala shares her life in one of our Young Widows meetings: “I never went...
Overcoming Poverty and Social Subjugation
Vangaveeti Neeraja hails from a poor family and was married at the age of 16. She lives in Maripeda village along with her husband and three sons. Unfortunately her husband died when her children were still young. The death...