Calcutta Kids
I just returned from a short trip to Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal and former capital of India under the British Raj. It is a crazy, intimidating city - more people than I’ve ever seen in my life. New York seems peaceful by comparison. I will be moving to Kolkata in August after a short trip back to the US, so the trip was useful for getting my bearings and for deciding which part of the city I might want to move to.
I’ll post some pictures and impressions later, but first I wanted to plug Calcutta Kids, an NGO based in the slums of Howrah, directly across the river from Kolkata. Calcutta Kids was founded by Noah Levinson, an American living in Kolkata, and their work focuses on maternal and child health in the Fakir Bagan slum. After speaking with Noah for a couple of hours and accompanying two of Calcutta Kids public health workers on their daily home-visits, I can honestly say that I am very impressed.
Most people who know me know that I am generally skeptical of “development,” for a lot of reasons - but Noah and his staff are doing things right. They think about what they are doing. They think about sustainability, scalability, moral hazard, development vs. assistance, public policy, etc. They carefully measure progress and evaluate their goals based on those data. Their health workers are incredible - they are known and respected around the community, vital for doing this kind of work.
There is a lot of information about Calcutta Kids on their website. If you are reading this and looking for an organization to support this year, I highly recommend them.
