Visalakshi ("Vijaya") Jayaram

Marietta, Georgia, USA

Vijaya learnt about CARTHA's work when her daughter Renuka's friend Usha Balakrishnan visited with them in Atlanta in April 2011. She found an immediate attraction to CARTHA's work. Following a few phone conversations with some of Usha's collaborators, Vijaya joined as a CARTHA Ambassador and looks forward to helping advance CARTHA's vision and outreach activities.

Visalakshi ("Vijaya") Jayaram grew up in different parts of Tamil Nadu, India since her father was the district medical officer and surgeon working with the central government's health ministry. After getting married at the young age of 17, she lived in Kanpur, New Delhi, and Mumbai. Upon turning 50, she undertook a series of pilgrimages across India. She has traveled extensively across Europe, Australia, and the Middle East. With her children living in the United States, she began to make frequent visits beginning in 1990. Since 2000, she has settled in the United States and shares her time across the two coasts with her two sons in New York and California and her daughter in Atlanta.

In addition to spending time with her children and grandchildren, Vijaya has always enjoyed the art of cooking, hand-drawing, and jewelry-making. She has particularly utilized these art forms to delight visiting guests with delicious meals and also to find new ways to make a difference through volunteerism. For example, "Volunteer Vijaya" served as a teacher's assistant in the Al Noor School in Dubai where she worked with special needs children to design engaging arts projects (wall hangings, decoration baskets, etc.) to foster their unique expression, involvement, and creativity. The artworks produced under these projects were eventually incorporated into printed greeting cards, calendars, and T-shirts useful for the school's fund-raising efforts. Vijaya has also continued to produce simple and elegant hand-made earrings that have been distributed by US-based non-profits during their fund-raisers.

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