India’s poverty and other plights are well known; over 40% of the country lives on less than $1.25 a day, in some estimates up to 645 million people (more than the 410 million people living below the poverty line in Africa).

Yet there are more positive statistics to look at as well. According to the World Bank, India is one of the few countries targeted to meet the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goal of “Reducing extreme poverty by half” by 2015. In the case of Gurgaon, the city where American Initiatives sponsors the Kamalini Vocational Training Institute for young women to learn professional trades, globalization has played a positive role in this progress. Gurgaon, located just outside of the capital New Delhi, is a center for call-centers and other foreign industries being transported to India.

The Kamalini Vocational Training Center is positioned to perfectly channel these opportunities into helping the poorest and most vulnerable population, rural women in India. By providing classes in hospitality, sewing, computer skills, English, and more, women in India who have been systematically oppressed can begin to have hope in their futures.