TORONTO —

“I’ve always really wanted to travel to India for a long, long time,” said 22-year-old Wolf.

“I’ve taken a bunch of courses on Indian history, politics, religion, and I’m just generally interested in the culture. I also wanted to integrate into this trip a way that I could learn more about myself and have a ‘two-way-street’ thing.”

Later this month, Wolf will be one of 10 Jewish youths – the only Canadian – who will travel to western India to work with an NGO as part of American Jewish World Service’s (AJWS) World Partners Fellowship.

The fellowship is awarded to recent Jewish college graduates and young professionals who are committed to volunteering.

The 10-month program requires fellows to volunteer at separate NGOs in India, engage in educational seminars and workshops and take part in orientation and retreats.

“The program is an opportunity to learn about human rights in an international context, make valuable contributions to a grassroots organization and explore Jewish values that substantiate and motivate this work,” the AJWS website said.

Wolf, a McGill University graduate who studied psychology and religion with a focus on Hinduism and Buddhism, said that while India boasts a booming information-technology industry and a growing middle class, it also struggles with high rates of child malnutrition and a poorly managed public education system.

The public health system is also weak, as the Indian government only allocates one per cent of its GDP to health care, but has plans to bump it up to two per cent in 2011.

Wolf said she is “ecstatic” to be working in Baroda, India, for an NGO called Vikalp, a 10-year-old organization that advocates for women’s rights and  works to improve government programs, as well as political and legal systems.

“They do a ton of different things from peer education to [improving] domestic livelihood for women in rural areas who don’t really know their rights. Recently, they started a sex-worker program for women with HIV and AIDS,” Wolf told The CJN before she left Toronto on Sept. 30 to travel before her stint begins at the end of this month.

“They also work to support transgender and homosexual women – I can’t imagine how they are treated in India. They’re just trying to promote equality.”

Wolf said that she is most intrigued by a new program called Women’s Court.

“The thing with the court cases in India is, let’s say a woman is raped or is a victim of domestic violence and they try to get justice in the judicial system. The case will be pushed back for years and years, and even if it does come to court, justice is never served,” she said.

“So these women from Vikalp started this court, where they literally sit under a tree, and families come from rural places in India – they’ll discuss the case, take people’s opinion, write it all down, send it to the court with hundreds of signatures, and they’ll get it notarized by the court.”

She said that this program has been so successful that other communities in India are starting courts of their own.

“What’s great about this is that not only are we achieving justice faster, but… the women who are making the decisions realize how much power they can have.”

Wolf, who said she has a lot of volunteer experience but has never participated in anything this long term, added that she is thrilled to have survived an intense months-long application process to be awarded the fellowship.

Wolf said the application process, which began in January, required that she write essays, obtain reference letters,  undergo a two-hour telephone interview, and fly to New York for a group interview.  

She said it wasn’t until a month ago that she learned she’d be living and working in Baroda.

“I’ve travelled a lot and seen a ton of places, but this is off the tourist trail, and this way I can really learn about the place and give something back – not just money from being a tourist,” she said.

“A lot of Jewish people are wealthy and give to charities and have the money to do that, but I don’t have that and this is a way from me to contribute.”

She said that although she’s confident she’ll adjust to the work and feel comfortable as a part of the Vikalp team, “I’m nervous that I’ll get lonely.”

She said she anticipates the biggest challenge will be getting past the language barrier.

“I took Hindi classes back in March. It was so long ago that I’ve almost forgotten it all, but it’s just a completely different script and language,” Wolf said.

“The only people who speak English there are the people in the higher class, so if I go into a rural village and I want to have a conversation with someone, my English isn’t going to help me. I need to learn the language.”

She said that in the days before she left, she was aiming to collect $1,800 in donations for AJWS in an effort to raise awareness about the fellowship.

“I’ve been speaking to a bunch of people about it, promoting it,” she said, adding that she threw a dinner party for her friends and charged a cover with all proceeds going to AJWS.

“I have a bunch of cousins and family members that can donate money, but I have all these great friends that are students or unemployed and I can’t ask them for money. So I figured I’d throw a party.”

For more information about Wolf or  the American Jewish World Service’s World Partners Fellowship, visit action.ajws.org/goto/marni.wolf.