it's official.

saturday night's insane-o multigenerational Indiafest fundraising madness crammed 65 people into my house and raised over $1000 for my organization in India.

Maybe some people were disappointed, but it turns out that "hookah" is NOT a fancy way of saying "hooker"

[We had the former but not the latter.]

And also: samosas, chole, bhel, dahi batata puri, aloo gobi, naan, raitha, biriyani, saag paneer, butter chicken, burfi, gulab jamun, mango ice cream cake, and so much more, and if you don't know what that stuff is, then you should have come.

I will not throw a party like that unless I get married, but it sure was good times.

1000 dollars =
30 000 rupees =
= 2 social workers for one month
= medicines for street children outreach
= 300 hours of training for community health workers and doctors
= devlopment and distribution of educational material for new mothers
= administrative costs to run the centre for several months
= income generation education for 30 women
= time that we won't have to spend scrounging money to keep programs going

Everybody gave 10-20 dollars, which is... what? A couple of happy meals? And that goes a long long way. It was amazing that so many people came out to show their support and give to a great cause. I am incredibly touched and grateful.

2:21 p.m. - 2004-02-11