The Centre for Socio-Cultural Interaction (CESCI) in Madurai was founded in the mid-1990s by Maja Koene, a Swiss psychiatric nurse and photographer. Maja combined professional skill with sensitivity to human suffering. Her journeys through developing countries, especially India, opened her eyes to the struggles of the poor and ignited her dedication to justice and human dignity.She believed that true change required collective action and solidarity with grassroots movements.

Her path crossed with Rajagopal P.V., a dynamic Gandhian activist and founder of the Ekta Parishad movement, whose commitment to land rights and justice inspired her. Witnessing Rajagopal’s dedication and the courage of Ekta Parishad’s activists, motivated Maja to support their cause by offering a retreat centre for them to restore themselves before engaging in ongoing struggles.

With this conviction, she founded CESCI to nurture dialogue, empower communities, and support the Ekta Parishad movement. Inspired by their struggle for land rights, equity, and justice, she invested her personal savings to realize this vision. This reinforced her determination to create a well-managed training centre for activists and a bridge between Indian struggles and international solidarity groups, Maja invested all her savings in establishing CESCI Madurai. The centre became a hub for leadership training, intercultural exchange, peace-building, and nonviolent action, providing a space for youth and communities to gather and strengthen their struggle for justice.

Although her life was cut short at 54 in the autumn of 1999, Maja’s spirit lives on through CESCI. Her vision of a just and compassionate society remains a source of strength and inspiration to all

CESCI embodies direct solidarity with social organizations and activists advocating for the rights of the landless, women, and marginalized communities. Its success is largely due to the efforts of individuals following Gandhian philosophy who strive for social change. For over three decades, thousands of activists have worked on awareness-building, social rights, and self-help groups, often coming from the same communities that they serve, allowing them to understand and address local issues effectively.