PSDF is a non-profit organization that focuses on family counseling but has a wide array of services that they offer to people in the rural Pondicherry area. PSDF has been in community development since 1999 and has worked mostly with children and women.

When the AUP group first got to PSDF’s building, we were greeted by two women who directed us into a room where the head of the organization, Dr. Mohan, gave us a presentation. Dr. Mohan founded PSDF, and he has done extensive work in social development and acquired a PhD. In social work along with two master’s degrees in history and political science as well as commerce. Dr. Mohan started his presentation by explaining the main goals of PSDF, then followed by explaining previous work done by AUP volunteers. The volunteers contributed in multiple different tasks including field work with women, website design, and social media management.

Dr. Mohan also talked to us about how PSDF has evolved from 1999 and its original goals to today and what they offer now. While PSDF started with family counseling they now have grown into much more. On top of family counseling, PSDF offers a wide array of services such as:

-A creche for mothers to drop off their children

-They offer free legal aid, couples counseling

-They give loans that they get through banks for women to start their own businesses

-And help families with water and sanitation.

Many people in India get loans through unreliable people who charge outrageous interest rates to those who cannot afford to get loans through banks. PSDF not only prevents women from taking these risky loans but offers them to education on how to start their own business and they get loans for the women through reliable banks.

PSDF prioritizes education. Whether it is with women and their businesses or educational development in the creche. They also have recently gone and work with people who live in slums to give them a better education.

Some of the needs and issues that PSDF were hoping AUP students could help with were:

-Help developing and updating the website

-Help with social media (managing the accounts during the internship but also taking the time to tech the workers how to continue posting)

-Spreading the word/ advertising all the different services that PSDF offers.