India

Rex McCullough, Weyerhaeuser retiree and former vice president of forestry research, and his wife Lynne traveled to India in 2002 to join a week-long workshop with CARE's in-country personnel. The workshop, held in Ranchi, a community in the northern state of Bahir, focused on developing collaborative projects, effectively soliciting necessary support, and leveraging resources to fight poverty. Rex provided an insider's understanding of the private sector and reinforced the importance of sustainable forest management as a component of sustainable communities.

After taking part in the workshop, Rex and Lynne traveled to several destinations throughout Bahir. During their journey, they met with community members to learn about the Women's Initiative for Self-Help, a CARE project that strives to improve the lives of impoverished women and children in India.

Here's a slice of what Rex and Lynne saw along the way:

	A member of CARE India discusses gender considerations in planning projects at the CARE/Weyerhaeuser workshop.
	Representatives from CARE International work on a group exercise that emphasizes teamwork in problem solving at the workshop.
	Workshop participants were given an egg, plastic, paper, string and some tape. They were instructed to package the egg and drop it from 30 feet without breaking.
	Rex prepares remarks for a summary presentation to wrap up the end of the workshop.
	2002 Weyerhaeuser/CARE Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Proposal Development Workshop participants.
	A local theater group, sponsored by CARE, performs a play used to demonstrate the abuse of women one evening during the workshop. The play shows how CARE teaches tribes about spousal abuse, a significant problem in India.
	These women were selected by their tribal groups to be leaders at a training session of the Women's Initiative for Self-Help (WISH). As part of this training session, participants learned about loan processing and money management and brought the information back to their tribal groups. Some of the attendees walked for several days to get to the training session.
	Sushama Devi, the elected leader of the WISH training session, offers a traditional song of welcome.
	Reading minutes from a previous meeting may seem simple to most. However, many of India's residents can't read or write. Without literacy assistance from WISH, Usha Minz may have not have been able to carry out such a task.
	Speaking on behalf of the Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation, Rex's wife Lynne addresses the WISH training session participants and responds to their welcome.