For some students at a new girls school in a remote area of India, their connection with the building is personal -- their fathers helped build it. Local craftsmen carved the region's sandstone into a beautiful oval-shaped building designed by an American architect with dual goals: to create work locally and to build local commitment to educating girls. Citta, the non-profit organization that supports development in economically challenged, remote, and marginalized communities that commissioned the project, says female literacy in the region is just 36 percent and that improving literacy will empower women economically. At the school complex, artisans also will teach the region's weaving and embroidery techniques to local women.

Read Full Story


More: