Thanks Gabe from New Voices Magazine!

Gabe Weinstein, a writer for New Voices magazine and business Ohio University exchange student in Mumbai, visited GPM in August and wrote a beautiful article about our work. Thanks, Gabe, for helping spread the word about our initiative. And come back and visit any time!  Below is an excerpt from the article:

Thane, INDIA — Inside the narrow alleys of the Kalwa slum, past the shanties abutting the train tracks and the stray pig rummaging through garbage scraps, Pramila Mane rattles her rice dish and gently blows on the kernels on the second floor of her home. Across the room, Shayna Lebovic, 19, a volunteer with the Gabriel Project Mumbai, a Jewish nonprofit working to reduce hunger and provide educational services in Kalwa, crouches in front of a small chopping board diligently chopping onions.

Mane, a member of a local women’s group partnered with the Gabriel Project, and Lebovic would not be cooking partners in this enclave north of Mumbai were it not for Jacob Sztokman. The director and founder of the Gabriel Project, Sztokman toured the Dharavi slum during a business trip to Mumbai in 2011 while working for a data security company. Sztokman, 42, did not visit just to pay homage to the slum that inspired “Slum Dog Millionaire.” While doing research prior to the trip, he watched YouTube videos and read up on poverty in India and felt inspired to work in the slums.

His mind churned out ideas on how to empower slum residents as he saw 8-year olds sweat through each exhausting day of work and residents walk through seemingly endless puddles of standing water.

“I had a feeling that this was a very different place where people worked very hard but did not make enough money for necessities,” Sztokman said about his visit to Dharavi. “Afterwards I told my wife that we could do something. We can give a helping hand. We can’t necessarily solve their problems. It’s especially important for the Jewish people to lend a helping hand. It’s important for communities to support other communities.”

 Read the complete article here: http://newvoices.org/2012/09/11/0061-2/