Luxembourg honor

Jhangoo Maneckji Daruwalla of Madras, who was appointed honorary con- sul of Luxembourg in 2000, was be- stowed the Chevalier del’Ordre de Merite in September 2010 for 10 years of ser- vice to the Grand Duchy, Zarin Mistry reveals in an e-mail sent to Parsiana based on information received by her from Daruwalla’s wife, Eleonor.

Born in Bombay and a resident of Cusrow Baug, Daruwalla went to Lux- embourg in 1974 where he met and married his Dutch wife. They have two children, a daughter Marissa and a son, Jehangir. In Luxem- bourg Daruwalla joined Cargolux and was sent to Madras to start its op- erations there in 1995. He has now taken over the operations of Cargolux Airlines as their GSA (general sales agent) in India, Aviapro Logistics, of which he is the managing director the write-up notes.

(From l): Luxembourg Ambassador Marc Courte, Jhangoo and Eleonor Daruwalla

The Daruwallas run an NGO (nongovernmental organization)called LIFE which they started in 2004 primarily to assist victims of the tsu- nami. The project, which is funded by Cargolux, operates out of the Cheshire Homes premises in Madras. After reha- bilitating a small fishing village with a population of 172 in Nellikuppam, pro- viding the inhabitants with new clothes, provisions, 13 catamarans and other equipment, the NGO began to train handicapped women from the village and surrounding areas.

Today about 20 women are being trained in how to weave baskets, make ladies’ handbags, embroidery and sew- ing baby clothes. Some have been equipped with sewing machines to en- able them to start their own trade while

others have found employment with vari- ous companies manufacturing items for export. At present a new batch of women is being tutored, with all the activities of LIFE being supervised and monitored by the couple, the write-up notes.