Lending Promise now serves women who are Dalits – those without a caste, or “untouchables,� as they are known in the Hindu culture.

Untouchables have to do degrading jobs such as cleaning rooms, pans and toilets. In upper caste homes, after a servant has cleaned, a family member sprinkles “holy water” to purify what he or she has touched. Many Hindus will avoid having a Dalit prepare their food because they are afraid they will become polluted. Still worse, untouchables are not allowed to draw water from the only tap in a village so they often have to walk several miles for water. Indeed, in some communities, animals have more status than Dalits do.

Untouchable women are in danger of being bought and sold from man to man. Even more heinous, some men — following doctors’ advice — have raped girls as young as eight years old because they believed it would cure them of a sexually transmitted disease. 

A Dalit woman faces almost overwhelming challenges. But through sponsoring her, you can give her a leg up – and a gentle “touch.�

The American holiday, Halloween, is one of my favorite celebrations, mostly for the costumes rather than the candy (Okay, I admit it. I do eat a few Snickers bars).

As long as trick-or-treaters follow precautions for their safety – and sugar consumption – Halloween is a harmless celebration that affords numerous possibilities for creativity in decorating, costumes and party activities. But there is a dark side to Halloween and I’m not talking about little gremlins. It’s the cost for all that candy and decorations which, according to a USA Today survey conducted last year, totaled U.S. $3.29 billion, or an average of $50 per household in the U.S.

That $50 is one third of a poor Nepalese family’s entire annual income. And the total figure — $3 billion – could provide $375 each to Nepal’s 8 million people who live below the poverty line. For a typical Nepalese family of six, this adds up to $2,250 – enough to last the family for 15 years at their current income level.

Do I want to abolish Halloween? No. It’s too much fun. But maybe we could manage with less expensive decorations and costumes – in fact, it would spark our children’s creative thinking to make them together. And perhaps we can ask the little goblins, pumpkins and witches to accept donations for a charity in lieu of some (not all) goodies. Raising a small amount for a good cause – even as little as $5, encourages even the smallest children to become socially conscious citizens. Now, that’s sweet stuff.

 Victoria Taylor’s art, “Peace”

My daughter’s school has an annual holiday on October 2 to honor the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. In past years, our five-year-old Victoria has experienced the holiday, known in India as Gandhi Jayanti, as just a day off from school. But we want her to know whom we’re honoring and why. So, this year, as a tribute to Gandhi’s universal messages of civil (non-violent) disobedience, truth, and harmony across classes and religions, here’s what we’re going to do:

Now, five years after the 9/11 attack and at the heels of the scare at Heathrow Airport, safety is on all of our minds. Someone recently asked me if I had been afraid to travel to Nepal this spring, given the bloody civil war that has ravaged that country and the ensuing nationwide strike that occurred while I was there. I replied that although I had considered my safety and that of my husband and daughter who traveled with me, I opted to go anyway.

 

To elicit change, we must take risks of various kinds – whether to our careers, our popularity, finances or occasionally, personal safety. To me, to be ever “safe� is not living – or giving – fully. What do you think? When have you chosen the riskier road?