This book is a document of our trip to India. We traveled there with the citizen journalism group SalaamGarage and 9 others. We went there to witness and share the work of Vatsalya. Vatsalya is an inspiring NGO doing so much for the people of Rajistan. Please buy the book 100% of the profits will go back to Vatsalya. This trip would not have been possible without support for Karmacar. Thank You!

The process for getting my visa for India was really simple. I filled out an electronic form, took two passport photos at the UPS Store, got a USPS money order, and fedex’d everything to Travisa Outsourcing. Two weeks later my passport came back in the mail with the visa inside. Now I better not loose it!

A few months back I was very lucky to meet Amanda Koster, founder of SalaamGarage. Amanda has been a photojournalist working with NGOs all over the world. After many years of her friends nagging her to bring them along she started SalaamGarage to encourage citizen journalism. So today I took the plunge and signed up to go to the India trip in Sept. I’ve been practicing photography, as a hobby, for all of my adult life. I have always wanted to try my hand at photojournalism. Well now I have my chance in a country I lived in 30 years ago. We will be working with Vatsalya an NGO that helps homeless children and their mother’s in New Delhi.

During a much needed break to my meditation intro- I talked to a Buddhist monk that is also a judge for the city of LA. I told her that I live in downtown LA and she told me about this micro-entrepreneurial collective right in my hood, known as Mercado La Paloma. The way she described it was nuns running businesses by day and praying at night. So today I decided to check it out and was really surprised by what I found. Mercado La Paloma was started by Sister Diane Donoghue. The services offered include everything from housing assistance, to computer courses, and micro-finance for small businesses. I met Beth Weinstein director of Business Development, and told her I would be happy to come in and talk about website design and online marketing. Afterward I decided to check out some of the businesses in the mercado. To my taste buds’ surprise I discovered the best little Peruvian restaurant ever. It’s called Mochica and the eats are deliciously detailed. I love the logo it is a red chili pepper as a kiss mark.