Beloiters with particular interest in microcredit, social entrepreneurship, community-based activism, urban life in India, and/or spiritually-based human rights work will want to know about Baba Shuddhaanandaa’s visit to campus. 

An economist-turned-Hindu-monk and microcredit leader in Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal, India, he will be giving two informal talks in the Weeks Lounge in Pearsons Hall: 
12:30 pm – MicroCredit as a Tool of Social Transformation 
3:00 pm - Practicing Mindfulness 

This visit comes about through a contact from one of Baba Shuddhaanandaa’s American colleagues, Ann Shannon (grandmother of Aria Shannon, Beloit `16). Though not known directly by anyone at Beloit, he is by reputation an energetic, creative and deeply compassionate human being with a practical and empowering approach to social entrepreneurship and an engaging speaking style. 

•“His groundbreaking programs serve hundreds of thousands of slum dwellers in Kolkata and remote villages of West Bengal. LDLM conducts slum street schools and its Mission’s Mobile Medical Vans annually treat over 200,000 people who would otherwise never receive healthcare. Shuddhaanandaa’s innovative microcredit self-help groups in the Ganga delta region of the Sundarbans are empowering women not only to become self-sufficient, but to become leaders in their communities.” 

•He’s spoken twice at the Parliament of World Religions, Chicago (1993) and Barcelona (2004); the Conference on Poverty Alleviation, Karicho, Kenya (2004); the Global Youth Conference, Washington, D.C. (1993); and the United Nations World Millennium Summit of Spiritual Leaders, New York (2000). 

For more about Baba Shuddhaanandaa (“shuh-da-nan-da”) go to http://www.feelinghearts.org/india.html 

This event is free and open to the campus community.