Harini Narayanan works with the Gandhi Rural Rehabilitation Centre (GRRC) in Alampundi, India, an organization that sells its fair-traded products in shops like L-Arka spread all over Europe. Harini is eager to meet the members and supporters of the local fair trade cooperative and to discuss the future of fair trade and North-South issues in general.

GRRC began as a weaving workshop and a training center for weavers and with the years, the activities of GRRC diversified in answer to the needs and requests of the villagers.

GRRC’s vision in simple terms is to identify people with various forms of disability in the rural areas and rehabilitate them by providing them treatment, education, training, and employment support.

In this direction, GRRC’s activities cover:

• Polio treatment center

• Hostel for polio affected children

• Alamaram Workshop for the challenged

• Malarchi- nursery and herbal garden

• Anjali - a day care center for children with special needs.

Harini's academic qualification include a Bachelor of Arts in Economics (1996-1999) and Master of Arts in Social Work (1999-2001). Before joining the Gandhi Rural Rehabilitation Centre she worked as a project assistant in an organization working on Behaviour change communication. The issues addressed by the organisation were HIV/AIDS and Maternal and Child Health. She also assisted on a Youth Education and Leadership program that provided educational scholarship to children from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds.