Humboldt State University, USA

It has been 5 years since ESRO and the Department of Child Development at Humboldt State University (HSU) started to collaborate. Dr. Meenal Rana, Associate Professor serves as a consultant and an evaluator of ESRO’s work with school youth in India. This partnership has evolved over the years. In 2016, Dr. Rana evaluated a two years long ESRO program in 16 schools in the Baghpat district. The evaluation report can be found on the ESRO website. In the past, Dr. Lisa Rossbacher, then president of Humboldt State University (retired, June 2019) supported this collaboration by signing appreciation certificates for participating youth and adults in the program. Dr. John Lee, ex-dean and Dr. Chris Hopper, ex-interim dean of the College of Professional Studies also supported this program in various ways. We hope to continue this collaboration with the new leaders at HSU, Dr. Tom Jackson, new President and Dr. Shawna Young, new dean of the College of Professional Studies.

In 2018, Dr. Rana and her colleague, Professor Lonny Grafman, from the Department of Environmental Resources Engineering visited with 7 Humboldt State University students, who worked in two rural communities in India (Tavelagarhi and Daula) for 11-weeks along with eight Lady Irwin College, New Delhi, students. The U.S. Mission to India grant supported this program. ESRO spearheaded the program in the Baghpat district by providing logistical support (i.e., housing, travels in the local communities), connecting the teams with local resources, facilitating the activities, and creating access points for the important work in water sanitation and waste management.