So, since being in the city for the weekend I have been struck by a set of advertisements in India set to push the idea of engineers and scientists as being "stars". The commercials are quite hilarious, with them showing people fawning over engineers walking through rooms:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10235595-64.html
Also, in a newspaper I saw an ad that said "Your stars" and showed Bollywood actors & actresses, and "Our stars" and showed engineers at Intel. Appears to be a targeted campaign to convert people over to the "Math & Science Are Cool" side. Could we use this in America as well?
Along this line, it seems that Intel has many advertisements in India in general. Must be making a big push. The contrast between this tech-driven development in urban India and what I experience in the village is jarring. There are indeed a minimum of two Indias, one that the world is seeing as a future political and economic power, and one where many people still die from dirty water, curable diseases, and all sorts of other unnecessary reasons. More on this later.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
WOTR Award
For the acute reader you may have noticed that when I mentioned the NGO WOTR's award, I put the following in parentheses:
Look up name and put it here
This was meant to be a note to myself so that I could correct it later. Obviously I forgot. Anne from Eagle was nice enough to provide the award and the link to WOTR's website:
Look up name and put it here
This was meant to be a note to myself so that I could correct it later. Obviously I forgot. Anne from Eagle was nice enough to provide the award and the link to WOTR's website:
Kyoto World Water Grand Prize 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
Problem Solution
All,
Here is the solution to the prior problem (provided by Ben Gabin):
The key is to start "outside" the dots by extending the line from an outside row out to an imaginary fourth dot. Then come down at a diagonal and hit two, come up to complete the triangle, then go down through the triangle to the last dot. The final drawing looks like a triangle with a line from the top point through and out the bottom to hit the final dot. The lesson is in order to solve some problems, it's necessary to reconsider our "interpretation" of the rules, otherwise said, think outside the box. :)
Very well stated. Also, Manu, the NGO boss, told me that in order to solve some problems you need to stop looking at the problems themselves and instead looking at the peripheral factors, which can have great influence on the problem itself. It's those areas outside the defined problem that are the key to solving the problem itself. Basically a restatement of Ben's solutions. Anywho, hope you enjoyed this little puzzle. I did.
Also, you may want to start with the lowest post (still with the title "Of BreakFast...") and go up, as I meant to post it like this, but forgot.
best
Derek
Here is the solution to the prior problem (provided by Ben Gabin):
The key is to start "outside" the dots by extending the line from an outside row out to an imaginary fourth dot. Then come down at a diagonal and hit two, come up to complete the triangle, then go down through the triangle to the last dot. The final drawing looks like a triangle with a line from the top point through and out the bottom to hit the final dot. The lesson is in order to solve some problems, it's necessary to reconsider our "interpretation" of the rules, otherwise said, think outside the box. :)
Very well stated. Also, Manu, the NGO boss, told me that in order to solve some problems you need to stop looking at the problems themselves and instead looking at the peripheral factors, which can have great influence on the problem itself. It's those areas outside the defined problem that are the key to solving the problem itself. Basically a restatement of Ben's solutions. Anywho, hope you enjoyed this little puzzle. I did.
Also, you may want to start with the lowest post (still with the title "Of BreakFast...") and go up, as I meant to post it like this, but forgot.
best
Derek
Of BreakFast, Celine Dion, Bird Battles, Dirt is not Dirty, Squatty Potties, and other things
Proper introduction to the people of the NGO (besides me: the itinerant international outreach person): there are 3 field workers who live in the area in which the NGO’s work is conducted – Rohitash Meena, Shyam Singh, and Gopal Singh. They live in villages that are within 30 km of the field office, which is pretty much the physical area that the NGO covers. The head of the NGO lives in Jaipur (the capital of Rajasthan – about 5 million people), but spends considerable time at the field office in Jawanpura (small village – 2000 people). His name is Manu Sharma. Technically, Manu is the Secretary, but he seems to make most of the important decisions. The NGO does have a president, vice-president, etc. that form a board for guiding its activities. All of the NGO workers have families. The NGO workers are in their mid to late-thirties, while Manu is about 55 (I think). This is a small local NGO. The local nature is critical, as I have already mentioned, though we are looking to increase the size.
Some of the NGO’s previous/ONGOING work:
Cheend-Bihajar: SVS coordinated the work done in Cheend-Bihajar to harvest water during the monsoon season in order to re-charge groundwater and make life in the area more sustainable and verdant. The engineering was done by a large and famous Indian NGO called WOTR – Watershed Organization Trust, which has recently won an international award (Look up name and put it here) for its watershed work. The funding was provided by a German funding agency, Andheri Hilfe Bonn. This project involved massive involvement by the villages’ people to dig trenches, build mounds of earth, build check dams and gully plugs, and all sorts of other things. The point of all of these things was to slow down the water coming off the hillsides (the location of the NGO’s work is a very hilly area: the Arawalis), so it could be absorbed by trenches, etc. and be used to re-charge groundwater for drinking and for agriculture/animal husbandry, which is a large source of money and employment for the area. Additionally, the slowing of the water also lessens the amount of soil erosion that occurs. I literally just talked with Shyam and he told me the benefits of this work are 4-fold: 1) Employment and money for families in the village (so they don’t have to migrate – prevents slums), 2) Increased groundwater, 3) Less soil erosion, and 4) More fodder for animals. Another indirect benefit is that the NGO can set up SHGs (self-help groups – SVS’s name for microcredit groups) in the areas where the watershed work is going on, then organize these groups into a large block, which can then meet as a unit and lobby the government for changes in policy with regards to water and other issues critical to the area. In terms of the direct benefits, Rohitash previously told me that the work definitely showed results in the last year. Shyam told me that, with water becoming more scarce, the villages of the area are clamoring for this watershed work. However, the funding has dried up (painful pun intended) from the German agency, and other sources need to be found. Another thing to add to the list.
Virat Manch: I mentioned organizing people above, which is a great specialty of the NGO. SVS was instrumental in the formation of a block-level group for the advocacy of women’s rights and issues in the Viratnagar block area, the Virat Manch (manch means platform). They still help coordinate its activities. In fact, I was here one and a half years ago when the NGO organized a group of 100-200 women to go to Rajasthan’s capital, to the building where the state coordinates with municipal governments (I think; the bottom line is that it is a big place of governance for the state). It was amazing to see the women, in their bright clothes and with their head covers, sitting in what very much looked like a big place of governance, with cascading rows of chairs around a central platform from which people speak. There the woman spoke, did traditional dances, etc. The chief justice of Rajasthan’s High Court spoke about the issues being addressed there. A very inspiring occasion, and one that I think exhibits the NGO’s strength and commitment to the empowerment of rural people, especially women. I will try to post pictures of this.
Drilling: Although this is not exactly the NGO’s work, I was watching in Rohitash village the drilling of a borewell, which, if it gave water, would be used for agriculture and for drinking if it was “sweet” not “bitter” (their words). It did give water, though we are not quite sure how much it will give. It is amazing, perhaps sad, the extent to which the people in these rural areas are dependent on a few successful wells, and a few government water tankers. If these wells go dry, there could be huge problems. Additionally, when they dig a bore well – which is a big investment (two years salary) – they are basically guessing where might be a good place. Along these lines, I have talked with Meg about establishing a link between her dad’s business, Delta Epsilon, which makes loggers for finding where water is, and SVS. I hope something can come of this, as both parties would benefit. The village gets some water crucial for life itself and Delta Epsilon gets some business and a chance to really help people. Everyone wins. We just need to find the proper channel/funding agency, e.g. UNICEF, etc.
NREGA: So, NREGA is the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, passed in 2005 and enacted in Rajasthan on April 1st, 2008. It is a landmark act passed to try to stanch the flow of people from the village areas to urban areas (in search of work), and, I think, to make life a little bit better for those in rural areas, who live in some pretty rough conditions without many amenities. SVS did a lot of work in preparation for the implementation of this act. They had discussions during their microcredit group meetings, talked with the local governing bodies, and in general informed people in the area about the details of the act, and what exactly the government’s responsibilities were. They told them that they need to get job cards, how to get job cards, how many job cards a family could get, what the pay rate was, who in government the villagers could go to if they had problems, and other such things. It is just this type of local organizing work that SVS specializes in, in turn giving the people the benefits and opportunities that they deserve. There are currently several visible NREGA projects in the area which I have seen, one of which is a pond to collect rainwater in order to recharge groundwater. So, slowly things are progressing for the people of this area, with the aid of the government and SVS, but mostly SVS. Indeed, the workers have told me that if there is a disaster in the area the government will often call SVS and tell them to handle it. Similarly with the implementation of NREGA.
PRESENT WORK
Youth work: So, the NGO’s work is starting in earnest with the youth. My impressions thus far are that this is going to be a very impactful and important project in the long-term. It is a radical break from the guru-student traditions that has been historically respected and followed in India, even in the universities. In this tradition the energy and abilities of the youth are largely underestimated, as they are supposed to just listen to and absorb the information from their older guru, without much questioning and independent input. This idea is very foreign to the modern critical mindset, and to the American focus on the power and strength of youth (who created Google, Facebook, Paypal, Youtube: young people, young people, young people; most of them recent graduates; who still powers them: young people, young people, young people; who does the majority of the in-the-lab/on-the-ground scientific/engineering work: young people, young people, young people; I definitely respect the power of experience and the wisdom that comes with age, but it must be balanced with an acknowledgment and harnessing of the powers of youth, i.e. new ideas, new thinking, high energy, high focus due to lack of children, etc.). So, there is much to be overcome in order to get the youth involved in the problem solving process, to get the village elders to listen to and integrate them. Hence, the importance of this project, which has the long-term goal of setting up groups in each village in the area for generating awareness and harnessing the power of youth in solving the water issues of the area (and, I imagine, other issues). These groups will help carry out awareness rallies and marches through the area, like the women’s micro-credit groups have, and in general be an active part of awareness generation. In addition, we want to look at getting some of the leaders that emerge out of these groups to go to school (I hope under the NGO’s funding) and come back to the village to work on critical issues, perhaps becoming workers for the NGO. Training in water management would obviously be good, as they could spread technical knowledge to the people and help them manage their lands. I think training in computers would be good as well, because, if computers can be spread into the village areas, then work/school can be done there remotely, without the need to leave the village. This is critical, as one of the biggest problems India faces is the flow of people from the villages to the cities, resulting in large slums filled with people in the village who are trying to scrape by and make a living. The need for local workers is critical, as knowledge of the local language and customs makes the workers more trustable to the village people and accelerates the acceptance of them and their work. The long-term prospects are indeed immense.
So, what is it that we have actually done and what is our concrete action plan for the near future. I will break this down day-by-day, because it seems that my understanding of this project and my role in it is changing daily as I talk more with the NGO workers and we come up with different ideas (and events tend to take their own path as it is).
05/26/09
We have started the youth program in two villages, Kukrela and Dantli ki Dani. These two villages have 1,000 and 400 people, respectively. We are in the early stages, so right now we are mainly trying to establish a friendship with all of the boys through discussions, and playing lots of games. The age range of the boys is 14 to 20. The goal I think is to get those boys who are just on the verge of entering adulthood and hence could be impactful in a relatively quick manner. Notice that I said boys. The head of the NGO, Manu-ji, wants to start girls’ groups as soon as possible, within the limitations of the culture in which the NGO is operating, i.e. a patriarchal culture that is suspicious of outsiders attempting to meet with and organize females in the area. Manu was thinking about trying to start the girls’ groups within a week. I don’t know how this will work, but I will update you as it goes.
So, we have been going into these villages daily (even Saturday and Sunday!) from about 5-7pm. We started by giving them the puzzle that I put in my second blog post (the one with connecting the 9 dots), and playing a village game involving knocking over a pile of stones using a ball. It was highly amusing, as Manu, as stately white-bearded man of 55 years age, was running away from a boy who was trying to throw the ball at him (as part of the game) and he ended up getting hit in the head and falling over! As you can imagine the youth got a kick out of this. They also thought it was funny when I played another village game with them. This game is kind of like “Duck, Duck, Goose”, except for with a more thrilling twist suited to 14-20 year old males. In this game every one sits in a circle while one person goes around with a wound-up cloth – kind of like a rope, but much lighter – and eventually drops it behind one person. The people sitting can’t look behind but can feel with their hands if they think the rope has been dropped behind them. If the person behind whom the rope was dropped realizes that it was dropped behind him before the other person has come back around the circle, then he picks up the rope and attempts to catch the rope-dropper and whack him with it. On the other hand, if the sitting person does not realize it and the rope-dropper gets back around to him, then the rope-dropper can pick up the rope and give the sitting person a good wallop, until the sitting person runs around the circle and gets back to his spot. Since the rope/cloth is light, no one gets hurt (unless he gets hit in the eye; this happens rarely), so it is more about the shock that the sitting person experiences once they realize they are being hit. The eyes widen rapidly, and they quickly jump up and run around the circle, to much laughter. If the youth enjoyed giving the old man a go, you can imagine that they really enjoyed giving the angrez - the whitey - a good go. It was all in good fun, but they definitely dropped the rope behind me about half the time (there was 20 other people, so this was definitely not a random probability thing), which left me quite gassed. It was wholly enjoyable, though I wasn’t sneaky enough to drop the rope behind someone without them knowing; mostly I just ran like heck and took a few licks, all to raucous laughing and cheers. I came out dirty as could be from semi-diving back into my seat on the dirt field in order to avoid another wallop, but it was fun and got the youth excited. I definitely think their interest in our group has grown as a result of this, so that is a good thing.
So, we don’t just spend all the time playing, but we also talk to them about relevant issues. One discussion we had was on the importance of education. We started by asking them the simple question, “Why study?” At first the boys were quiet, but they became more animated as the discussion progressed. The discussion ended up with the idea that getting an educated allows one to do “service”, in the broadest possible sense, i.e. government work, NGO work, work in a technology company, etc. Upcoming discussions will almost certainly include the topics of: the importance of youth in society and in building society, water issues in the area and what can be done about them, how computers work and what they are used for, and many more. The main point is to start engaging their minds in solving the problems of society. As youth, they are almost certainly more savvy with technology and will be able to more efficiently use it as a tool for problem-solving and addressing their villages’ problems, e.g. after learning how to use a computer, they should be able to use it to research solutions for the problem of water shortage. Through games, discussions, and treating them as equals –which they are unaccustomed to with elders, I think – we are and will be engaging them. For the computer work we have several games and flash movies on water, the water cycle, ground water, etc. Through these games and the necessity to their lives we will hook them on the water issue. I will let you know how all of this goes.
05/27/09
We attempted to play cricket yesterday, and not too many people showed up. I think it is because the cricket playing grounds are far from the heart of the village and the boys did not want to walk that far. The NGO boss is concerned that there is a lack of interest. Either way, it is not a big deal, as we are considering this a learning process, both for the youth groups and for us. We will try to figure out what works in this new vein of work and how we can most successfully implement this idea of harnessing the youth for problem solving, especially with regards to water. SVS wants to start two new youth groups next month and more each month, so we will learn as we go and I’m sure will have it down pretty well after some time. We also introduced the laptop yesterday, which the kids seemed interested in. I showed them a few games, but that was about it. Perhaps today some kids will get to give a few games a try on it. We will see. We will experiment with different things and see how everyone responds. Slowly we will start to tweak the activities towards higher level thinking and problem-solving, but we are still in the beginning phase. First friendship, then more thought. As I know, I’ll let you know.
05/29/09
We have just spent a few days playing volleyball and discussing with the kids about the meaning of the group and the importance of education. We also introduced the computer and played a few games on it.
In the village that I have been in, Kukrela, I would say that the last few days have been a spectacular success. We have had an excellent turnout (20 or more 14-20 years olds in a village of 1000), the boys have been very engaged in learning and playing volleyball, and have also participated, to an extent, in our discussion about education. I first taught the youth “bump, set, spike” and then we started to practice. I was a little disgruntled that they seem to ignore my advice and were just hitting the ball with the fists (either single our doubled-up), with the result being the ball going everywhere. However, as we started to play formal games they developed a hybrid style with fists, but they weren’t closed all the way so that the boys could hit the ball with their palms (there was still some raw fist hits though). Interestingly enough, when things got tight at the end they also started setting properly, perhaps seeing the necessity of control when things are close. At any rate, it was a lot of fun and I think the youth are getting use to the idea of the group, which is good.
We keep pushing this discussion on education, asking why education is important, why all of the top students come from the cities, etc. As far as I can tell we haven’t gotten too much out of the group members on this front, but it will probably take some time for them to get comfortable and open up. At least they are thinking about it for now.
The boys also seemed to enjoy the laptop. We played a few simple flash games, including “Let it Flow”. To clarify, most of the group members have worked very little on a computer, if at all, so its functioning is completely new to them. As such, things such as dexterity with the mouse are not developed. This made it a bit slow in going for them, but they were completely into connecting the pipes for “Let it Flow”. In fact, we had to break away from the group at the end of the meeting because many people were wanting to play but we only had one computer. This is supposed to remain a part of the program, learning about computers, so I’ll be interested to see how it progresses.
Finally, we had a very good discussion today about how to set up this new youth group-water program. First of all let me admit that I fell asleep half way through it. This has nothing to do with the content, but mainly with the fact that my brain tends to get a little tired after too much Hindi. As far as I know the vision, mission, and objective were discussed and defined. We also discussed simple mechanics and implementation strategy, i.e. how to change the workers’ schedules to accommodate this new evening work, how to enter new villages versus old villages (that is, villages where SVS is already doing work), etc. The vision statement is “To increase the youth’s conceptual understanding/thinking through the participatory process and to link-up the youth in the area, for the sake of natural resources and education.” So, that seems good to me. I’ll have to get the transcript of the rest as I fell asleep after this part. We also had a meeting yesterday in which we laid out the schedule for the program. We are going to take on two new field workers and the schedule will be as follows:
Old NGO workers
Old work: microcredit groups (SHGs), watershed program (1st 20 days of month)
New work: youth group water project (last 10 days of month)
New NGO workers
Training and youth group water project (all month)
So, the way it is going to work is that during the last ten days of each month (including this month, May 2009) the old NGO workers will start new youth group(s) in 1 or 2 new villages. The new NGO workers will then take over the group for the next thirty days, before turning the group over to the youth to run. The NGO will put in 40 days to launch each group and make sure that regularity and punctuality in the meetings is established, then meet with the groups once per month to monitor the group’s progress and to take feedback from the group. This feedback can be used for larger organizational strategies as this program progresses, i.e. lobbying the state government with respect to water issues. The old NGO workers will work on the NGO’s other work during the first twenty days of each month. See the coming concept note for details.
As Manu has said, it seems that through our discussion, this idea is becoming a real program. I am in the process of writing a short concept note that will be extended into a project proposal in due time. I will attempt to post this soon.
New thoughts and ideas: so, two big ideas have come up since I last wrote. One is that I will probably make a website on the NGO, so that their work can be seen by people, businesses, governments, etc. who might be interested in their work, in coming to help, in linking together, etc. The other is that the NGO chief has just linked the ban of plastic bags by the state government with the idea of trying to start up the making of bags from used, more environmentally friendly materials, e.g. newspapers. His enthusiasm seemed to grow when I mentioned that I had received just such a bag when I bought a wall hanging at Tilonia during my last stay in India. It was made from newspaper and had cloth handles. A very slick bag indeed; and it is a possible huge employment and monetary opportunity for the people in the village area, who could start up a cottage industry using basic materials that are readily available (newspaper, cloth, glue). I think these small, home-grown solutions are critical to development, as well as large-scale things like new energy sources, etc. People need to be able to get by and earn money in order to move up the ladder and gain more opportunities for themselves and their children (e.g. educational). These small, piecemeal solutions are critical in providing a method for improvement of one’s situation, while bigger solutions are being worked on elsewhere and EVENTUALLY will make a difference. These small solutions make a difference now and allow the future opportunity to be capitalized on. Additionally, small solutions spread over large populations equals big solutions and gains.
This is one reason why I really like working for/with SVS: I feel that all of the NGO workers are trying to think of solutions for the local problems, whether it is finding different sources for employment for the people, or providing sources for financing small-scale growth and business, or finding solutions for water shortage, or finding ways to improve livelihood, they are always trying different things to see what works for the area. I think I will be able to find funding for 3 more workers, which would double the NGO’s working capacity for its various projects. This is actually not much money either, as each field worker’s salary is only roughly $1000. The bang for the buck is potentially huge. In addition to this I want to find funding for them to do some work with the youth on computers and water, with a long-term goal of attracting tech and water savvy workers to work for the NGO/in the area and improve the standard of living and opportunities in the area (recall that the literacy rate is 12.5% and 54% for women and men, respectively, last time I checked). I will do what I can in this process, from typing proposals for them; to making a website where people can see SVS’s history of doing capacity-building, life-enriching activities in the region through photos, the people of the area’s words and activities, etc; to working with kids through games and computers; looking for linkages with businesses, charities, organizations in the US and abroad; and so forth. Mainly I will just try to learn about their work and do my best to relay the information. I know it is not my main work in the years to come (that would be physics), but it will remain a big part of my life and what I care about. For now, I am just inspired and grateful to have the opportunity to work here.
Some of the NGO’s previous/ONGOING work:
Cheend-Bihajar: SVS coordinated the work done in Cheend-Bihajar to harvest water during the monsoon season in order to re-charge groundwater and make life in the area more sustainable and verdant. The engineering was done by a large and famous Indian NGO called WOTR – Watershed Organization Trust, which has recently won an international award (Look up name and put it here) for its watershed work. The funding was provided by a German funding agency, Andheri Hilfe Bonn. This project involved massive involvement by the villages’ people to dig trenches, build mounds of earth, build check dams and gully plugs, and all sorts of other things. The point of all of these things was to slow down the water coming off the hillsides (the location of the NGO’s work is a very hilly area: the Arawalis), so it could be absorbed by trenches, etc. and be used to re-charge groundwater for drinking and for agriculture/animal husbandry, which is a large source of money and employment for the area. Additionally, the slowing of the water also lessens the amount of soil erosion that occurs. I literally just talked with Shyam and he told me the benefits of this work are 4-fold: 1) Employment and money for families in the village (so they don’t have to migrate – prevents slums), 2) Increased groundwater, 3) Less soil erosion, and 4) More fodder for animals. Another indirect benefit is that the NGO can set up SHGs (self-help groups – SVS’s name for microcredit groups) in the areas where the watershed work is going on, then organize these groups into a large block, which can then meet as a unit and lobby the government for changes in policy with regards to water and other issues critical to the area. In terms of the direct benefits, Rohitash previously told me that the work definitely showed results in the last year. Shyam told me that, with water becoming more scarce, the villages of the area are clamoring for this watershed work. However, the funding has dried up (painful pun intended) from the German agency, and other sources need to be found. Another thing to add to the list.
Virat Manch: I mentioned organizing people above, which is a great specialty of the NGO. SVS was instrumental in the formation of a block-level group for the advocacy of women’s rights and issues in the Viratnagar block area, the Virat Manch (manch means platform). They still help coordinate its activities. In fact, I was here one and a half years ago when the NGO organized a group of 100-200 women to go to Rajasthan’s capital, to the building where the state coordinates with municipal governments (I think; the bottom line is that it is a big place of governance for the state). It was amazing to see the women, in their bright clothes and with their head covers, sitting in what very much looked like a big place of governance, with cascading rows of chairs around a central platform from which people speak. There the woman spoke, did traditional dances, etc. The chief justice of Rajasthan’s High Court spoke about the issues being addressed there. A very inspiring occasion, and one that I think exhibits the NGO’s strength and commitment to the empowerment of rural people, especially women. I will try to post pictures of this.
Drilling: Although this is not exactly the NGO’s work, I was watching in Rohitash village the drilling of a borewell, which, if it gave water, would be used for agriculture and for drinking if it was “sweet” not “bitter” (their words). It did give water, though we are not quite sure how much it will give. It is amazing, perhaps sad, the extent to which the people in these rural areas are dependent on a few successful wells, and a few government water tankers. If these wells go dry, there could be huge problems. Additionally, when they dig a bore well – which is a big investment (two years salary) – they are basically guessing where might be a good place. Along these lines, I have talked with Meg about establishing a link between her dad’s business, Delta Epsilon, which makes loggers for finding where water is, and SVS. I hope something can come of this, as both parties would benefit. The village gets some water crucial for life itself and Delta Epsilon gets some business and a chance to really help people. Everyone wins. We just need to find the proper channel/funding agency, e.g. UNICEF, etc.
NREGA: So, NREGA is the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, passed in 2005 and enacted in Rajasthan on April 1st, 2008. It is a landmark act passed to try to stanch the flow of people from the village areas to urban areas (in search of work), and, I think, to make life a little bit better for those in rural areas, who live in some pretty rough conditions without many amenities. SVS did a lot of work in preparation for the implementation of this act. They had discussions during their microcredit group meetings, talked with the local governing bodies, and in general informed people in the area about the details of the act, and what exactly the government’s responsibilities were. They told them that they need to get job cards, how to get job cards, how many job cards a family could get, what the pay rate was, who in government the villagers could go to if they had problems, and other such things. It is just this type of local organizing work that SVS specializes in, in turn giving the people the benefits and opportunities that they deserve. There are currently several visible NREGA projects in the area which I have seen, one of which is a pond to collect rainwater in order to recharge groundwater. So, slowly things are progressing for the people of this area, with the aid of the government and SVS, but mostly SVS. Indeed, the workers have told me that if there is a disaster in the area the government will often call SVS and tell them to handle it. Similarly with the implementation of NREGA.
PRESENT WORK
Youth work: So, the NGO’s work is starting in earnest with the youth. My impressions thus far are that this is going to be a very impactful and important project in the long-term. It is a radical break from the guru-student traditions that has been historically respected and followed in India, even in the universities. In this tradition the energy and abilities of the youth are largely underestimated, as they are supposed to just listen to and absorb the information from their older guru, without much questioning and independent input. This idea is very foreign to the modern critical mindset, and to the American focus on the power and strength of youth (who created Google, Facebook, Paypal, Youtube: young people, young people, young people; most of them recent graduates; who still powers them: young people, young people, young people; who does the majority of the in-the-lab/on-the-ground scientific/engineering work: young people, young people, young people; I definitely respect the power of experience and the wisdom that comes with age, but it must be balanced with an acknowledgment and harnessing of the powers of youth, i.e. new ideas, new thinking, high energy, high focus due to lack of children, etc.). So, there is much to be overcome in order to get the youth involved in the problem solving process, to get the village elders to listen to and integrate them. Hence, the importance of this project, which has the long-term goal of setting up groups in each village in the area for generating awareness and harnessing the power of youth in solving the water issues of the area (and, I imagine, other issues). These groups will help carry out awareness rallies and marches through the area, like the women’s micro-credit groups have, and in general be an active part of awareness generation. In addition, we want to look at getting some of the leaders that emerge out of these groups to go to school (I hope under the NGO’s funding) and come back to the village to work on critical issues, perhaps becoming workers for the NGO. Training in water management would obviously be good, as they could spread technical knowledge to the people and help them manage their lands. I think training in computers would be good as well, because, if computers can be spread into the village areas, then work/school can be done there remotely, without the need to leave the village. This is critical, as one of the biggest problems India faces is the flow of people from the villages to the cities, resulting in large slums filled with people in the village who are trying to scrape by and make a living. The need for local workers is critical, as knowledge of the local language and customs makes the workers more trustable to the village people and accelerates the acceptance of them and their work. The long-term prospects are indeed immense.
So, what is it that we have actually done and what is our concrete action plan for the near future. I will break this down day-by-day, because it seems that my understanding of this project and my role in it is changing daily as I talk more with the NGO workers and we come up with different ideas (and events tend to take their own path as it is).
05/26/09
We have started the youth program in two villages, Kukrela and Dantli ki Dani. These two villages have 1,000 and 400 people, respectively. We are in the early stages, so right now we are mainly trying to establish a friendship with all of the boys through discussions, and playing lots of games. The age range of the boys is 14 to 20. The goal I think is to get those boys who are just on the verge of entering adulthood and hence could be impactful in a relatively quick manner. Notice that I said boys. The head of the NGO, Manu-ji, wants to start girls’ groups as soon as possible, within the limitations of the culture in which the NGO is operating, i.e. a patriarchal culture that is suspicious of outsiders attempting to meet with and organize females in the area. Manu was thinking about trying to start the girls’ groups within a week. I don’t know how this will work, but I will update you as it goes.
So, we have been going into these villages daily (even Saturday and Sunday!) from about 5-7pm. We started by giving them the puzzle that I put in my second blog post (the one with connecting the 9 dots), and playing a village game involving knocking over a pile of stones using a ball. It was highly amusing, as Manu, as stately white-bearded man of 55 years age, was running away from a boy who was trying to throw the ball at him (as part of the game) and he ended up getting hit in the head and falling over! As you can imagine the youth got a kick out of this. They also thought it was funny when I played another village game with them. This game is kind of like “Duck, Duck, Goose”, except for with a more thrilling twist suited to 14-20 year old males. In this game every one sits in a circle while one person goes around with a wound-up cloth – kind of like a rope, but much lighter – and eventually drops it behind one person. The people sitting can’t look behind but can feel with their hands if they think the rope has been dropped behind them. If the person behind whom the rope was dropped realizes that it was dropped behind him before the other person has come back around the circle, then he picks up the rope and attempts to catch the rope-dropper and whack him with it. On the other hand, if the sitting person does not realize it and the rope-dropper gets back around to him, then the rope-dropper can pick up the rope and give the sitting person a good wallop, until the sitting person runs around the circle and gets back to his spot. Since the rope/cloth is light, no one gets hurt (unless he gets hit in the eye; this happens rarely), so it is more about the shock that the sitting person experiences once they realize they are being hit. The eyes widen rapidly, and they quickly jump up and run around the circle, to much laughter. If the youth enjoyed giving the old man a go, you can imagine that they really enjoyed giving the angrez - the whitey - a good go. It was all in good fun, but they definitely dropped the rope behind me about half the time (there was 20 other people, so this was definitely not a random probability thing), which left me quite gassed. It was wholly enjoyable, though I wasn’t sneaky enough to drop the rope behind someone without them knowing; mostly I just ran like heck and took a few licks, all to raucous laughing and cheers. I came out dirty as could be from semi-diving back into my seat on the dirt field in order to avoid another wallop, but it was fun and got the youth excited. I definitely think their interest in our group has grown as a result of this, so that is a good thing.
So, we don’t just spend all the time playing, but we also talk to them about relevant issues. One discussion we had was on the importance of education. We started by asking them the simple question, “Why study?” At first the boys were quiet, but they became more animated as the discussion progressed. The discussion ended up with the idea that getting an educated allows one to do “service”, in the broadest possible sense, i.e. government work, NGO work, work in a technology company, etc. Upcoming discussions will almost certainly include the topics of: the importance of youth in society and in building society, water issues in the area and what can be done about them, how computers work and what they are used for, and many more. The main point is to start engaging their minds in solving the problems of society. As youth, they are almost certainly more savvy with technology and will be able to more efficiently use it as a tool for problem-solving and addressing their villages’ problems, e.g. after learning how to use a computer, they should be able to use it to research solutions for the problem of water shortage. Through games, discussions, and treating them as equals –which they are unaccustomed to with elders, I think – we are and will be engaging them. For the computer work we have several games and flash movies on water, the water cycle, ground water, etc. Through these games and the necessity to their lives we will hook them on the water issue. I will let you know how all of this goes.
05/27/09
We attempted to play cricket yesterday, and not too many people showed up. I think it is because the cricket playing grounds are far from the heart of the village and the boys did not want to walk that far. The NGO boss is concerned that there is a lack of interest. Either way, it is not a big deal, as we are considering this a learning process, both for the youth groups and for us. We will try to figure out what works in this new vein of work and how we can most successfully implement this idea of harnessing the youth for problem solving, especially with regards to water. SVS wants to start two new youth groups next month and more each month, so we will learn as we go and I’m sure will have it down pretty well after some time. We also introduced the laptop yesterday, which the kids seemed interested in. I showed them a few games, but that was about it. Perhaps today some kids will get to give a few games a try on it. We will see. We will experiment with different things and see how everyone responds. Slowly we will start to tweak the activities towards higher level thinking and problem-solving, but we are still in the beginning phase. First friendship, then more thought. As I know, I’ll let you know.
05/29/09
We have just spent a few days playing volleyball and discussing with the kids about the meaning of the group and the importance of education. We also introduced the computer and played a few games on it.
In the village that I have been in, Kukrela, I would say that the last few days have been a spectacular success. We have had an excellent turnout (20 or more 14-20 years olds in a village of 1000), the boys have been very engaged in learning and playing volleyball, and have also participated, to an extent, in our discussion about education. I first taught the youth “bump, set, spike” and then we started to practice. I was a little disgruntled that they seem to ignore my advice and were just hitting the ball with the fists (either single our doubled-up), with the result being the ball going everywhere. However, as we started to play formal games they developed a hybrid style with fists, but they weren’t closed all the way so that the boys could hit the ball with their palms (there was still some raw fist hits though). Interestingly enough, when things got tight at the end they also started setting properly, perhaps seeing the necessity of control when things are close. At any rate, it was a lot of fun and I think the youth are getting use to the idea of the group, which is good.
We keep pushing this discussion on education, asking why education is important, why all of the top students come from the cities, etc. As far as I can tell we haven’t gotten too much out of the group members on this front, but it will probably take some time for them to get comfortable and open up. At least they are thinking about it for now.
The boys also seemed to enjoy the laptop. We played a few simple flash games, including “Let it Flow”. To clarify, most of the group members have worked very little on a computer, if at all, so its functioning is completely new to them. As such, things such as dexterity with the mouse are not developed. This made it a bit slow in going for them, but they were completely into connecting the pipes for “Let it Flow”. In fact, we had to break away from the group at the end of the meeting because many people were wanting to play but we only had one computer. This is supposed to remain a part of the program, learning about computers, so I’ll be interested to see how it progresses.
Finally, we had a very good discussion today about how to set up this new youth group-water program. First of all let me admit that I fell asleep half way through it. This has nothing to do with the content, but mainly with the fact that my brain tends to get a little tired after too much Hindi. As far as I know the vision, mission, and objective were discussed and defined. We also discussed simple mechanics and implementation strategy, i.e. how to change the workers’ schedules to accommodate this new evening work, how to enter new villages versus old villages (that is, villages where SVS is already doing work), etc. The vision statement is “To increase the youth’s conceptual understanding/thinking through the participatory process and to link-up the youth in the area, for the sake of natural resources and education.” So, that seems good to me. I’ll have to get the transcript of the rest as I fell asleep after this part. We also had a meeting yesterday in which we laid out the schedule for the program. We are going to take on two new field workers and the schedule will be as follows:
Old NGO workers
Old work: microcredit groups (SHGs), watershed program (1st 20 days of month)
New work: youth group water project (last 10 days of month)
New NGO workers
Training and youth group water project (all month)
So, the way it is going to work is that during the last ten days of each month (including this month, May 2009) the old NGO workers will start new youth group(s) in 1 or 2 new villages. The new NGO workers will then take over the group for the next thirty days, before turning the group over to the youth to run. The NGO will put in 40 days to launch each group and make sure that regularity and punctuality in the meetings is established, then meet with the groups once per month to monitor the group’s progress and to take feedback from the group. This feedback can be used for larger organizational strategies as this program progresses, i.e. lobbying the state government with respect to water issues. The old NGO workers will work on the NGO’s other work during the first twenty days of each month. See the coming concept note for details.
As Manu has said, it seems that through our discussion, this idea is becoming a real program. I am in the process of writing a short concept note that will be extended into a project proposal in due time. I will attempt to post this soon.
New thoughts and ideas: so, two big ideas have come up since I last wrote. One is that I will probably make a website on the NGO, so that their work can be seen by people, businesses, governments, etc. who might be interested in their work, in coming to help, in linking together, etc. The other is that the NGO chief has just linked the ban of plastic bags by the state government with the idea of trying to start up the making of bags from used, more environmentally friendly materials, e.g. newspapers. His enthusiasm seemed to grow when I mentioned that I had received just such a bag when I bought a wall hanging at Tilonia during my last stay in India. It was made from newspaper and had cloth handles. A very slick bag indeed; and it is a possible huge employment and monetary opportunity for the people in the village area, who could start up a cottage industry using basic materials that are readily available (newspaper, cloth, glue). I think these small, home-grown solutions are critical to development, as well as large-scale things like new energy sources, etc. People need to be able to get by and earn money in order to move up the ladder and gain more opportunities for themselves and their children (e.g. educational). These small, piecemeal solutions are critical in providing a method for improvement of one’s situation, while bigger solutions are being worked on elsewhere and EVENTUALLY will make a difference. These small solutions make a difference now and allow the future opportunity to be capitalized on. Additionally, small solutions spread over large populations equals big solutions and gains.
This is one reason why I really like working for/with SVS: I feel that all of the NGO workers are trying to think of solutions for the local problems, whether it is finding different sources for employment for the people, or providing sources for financing small-scale growth and business, or finding solutions for water shortage, or finding ways to improve livelihood, they are always trying different things to see what works for the area. I think I will be able to find funding for 3 more workers, which would double the NGO’s working capacity for its various projects. This is actually not much money either, as each field worker’s salary is only roughly $1000. The bang for the buck is potentially huge. In addition to this I want to find funding for them to do some work with the youth on computers and water, with a long-term goal of attracting tech and water savvy workers to work for the NGO/in the area and improve the standard of living and opportunities in the area (recall that the literacy rate is 12.5% and 54% for women and men, respectively, last time I checked). I will do what I can in this process, from typing proposals for them; to making a website where people can see SVS’s history of doing capacity-building, life-enriching activities in the region through photos, the people of the area’s words and activities, etc; to working with kids through games and computers; looking for linkages with businesses, charities, organizations in the US and abroad; and so forth. Mainly I will just try to learn about their work and do my best to relay the information. I know it is not my main work in the years to come (that would be physics), but it will remain a big part of my life and what I care about. For now, I am just inspired and grateful to have the opportunity to work here.
Of BreakFast, Celine Dion, Bird Battles, Dirt is not Dirty, Squatty Potties, and other things
Squatty Potty: So, in India they use the squat toilet, with a cup of water to serve the purpose of toilet paper (I think much of Asia is like this). Usually there are two ceramic tiles that one places one’s feet on and below is the usual ceramic toilet bowl. It does seem to be a remarkably efficient way to go about things, as the majority of what needs to be achieved is done in about 15 seconds, as a matter of the anatomy of the human body (and the pressure generated within) and simple physics. Now, keeping one’s balance is a whole other matter. I always hope that there is some sort of handle nearby. The results could otherwise be disastrous.
Dirt is not Dirty: As I’m sure anyone who has gone camping or who perhaps lived in a rural area knows, dirt is not dirty, at least not in the bacterial sense. So, what I have observed in the rural areas is that after meals the dishes are taken out to the nearest pile of dirt, dirt is placed in/on the dishes and the dishes are vigorously scrubbed with dirt until all of the food particles are gone. After this, a light rinse is performed to get the dirt off. I think this is a water and soap-saving measure, in an area with little water and money. Kind of turns some thinking on its head though.
Bucket baths: I rather enjoy bucket baths in India. For a bucket bath you fill the bucket with water and then wet your body using a cup dipped in the water in the bucket, then you soap up and rinse off in the same way that you wet your body. It is simple and easy and I’m sure saves a boatload (many bucketloads?) of water, in an area where water is scarce. Perhaps a little adjustment is needed, but it’s quite nice.
Safaaee: this means cleaning. In Indian culture it has a very big place, as cleanliness is very important to Indians, i.e. your body should be clean, your house should be clean, the surroundings of your home should be clean, etc. There is a whole caste that is devoted to cleaning, the sweeper class, and they keep pigs for eating rubbish (pigs are considered very dirty in India and are not to be eaten), and go around to different places and sweep the road, and different areas. This is especially true in the rural areas. Both places I have stayed in the city have had cleaners, but I am not sure if they were from the sweeper caste or if they were merely people who needed the work (similar to house cleaners in the states). In general, caste is not very strong in the cities, but I don’t really know on this matter. So, I have gotten into caste. Let’s talk about it at a later date. For now, back on to cleaning. The head of the NGO is very into cleaning, so we take our little handheld sweepers (imagine long bundles of straw that you hold horizontally just above the ground to sweep) and sweep the heck out of things; and since this is a desert area without much grass and the living quarters are not sealed in any sense of the word, there is a whole lot of dust, along with some ant piles, in the rooms. The appearance of any dust on things such as computers, window sills, etc. also appears to be anathema to Indians, so that must be thoroughly swept as well. This is an interesting experience for me, as I have to maintain my room. I quite enjoy the cleaning process though it takes a decent amount of time (30 min.) and effort (getting down low, repeatedly sweeping, etc.). There is something satisfying about the process of figuring out how to move all of that dust, proceeding to move it, and then seeing the difference. Here is another place where more time is taken in India to do a task, but perhaps there is something in the time taken. In fact, the head of the NGO thinks of the cleaning as yoga, where the generally sense of yoga means making yourself stronger, more disciplined, and fitter (physically, mentally, spiritually, etc.). This strengthening, disciplining is a good thing and is perhaps something that the upcoming generation is missing. Am I saying that we should abandon our technology in order to strengthen and discipline ourselves? No, but perhaps we should at least re-think technology at times. Perhaps it is not so bad to mow a small lawn with a simple rotary lawn mower (i.e. no engine), or to wash the counters with simple vinegar and water solutions, or other such actions where technology perhaps does not really help us and instead weakens us by not making us do physical work, by creating too many chemicals that have to be disposed of, and using too much energy. What will the future of this type of work be? I have no idea, but I think there is something intrinsic in human nature that likes to do some of these basic tasks of upkeep and survival, and without them there is a loss of meaning and connection to what it means to live in this natural world. My thoughts anyhow.
Perhaps surprisingly this desire for cleanliness does not generalize to the public sphere, i.e. roadsides, public open spaces, etc. which are generally quite filthy with waste, dirt, plastic bags, and so forth. From this it can be seen that in India the sense of importance of public well-being is not well developed. That is, you take care of yourself, your home, and your family (in this instance, their cleanliness), but anything outside of that, even 10 feet, is not your business, so you don’t care how it is. As someone (Malaya) in my former study program pointed out, this is highly narrow thinking, because if there is a big pond of stinking, standing water in the poorer part of town, then mosquitoes will be bred that can fly away and bit anyone, regardless of where they live. Thus, dengue, malaria, etc. can strike anyone, even if they keep “their” area clean. Hence the need for thinking along the lines of public health and public well-being. I think it was like that in the US before big environmental pushes in the 60s and 70s, so these things come slowly. For the sake of all I hope that the situation improves in this regard. In a sign that perhaps it will, I have been told by the NGO chief that the state of Rajasthan is moving to ban plastic bags, which will greatly cut down on the amount of waste strewn across the land. Hopefully this is a sign of wider change to come.
Election update: I learned a bit more about the election since I last wrote. One is that a vote for the Congress government was a vote for stability in economics, and other aspects of governance. The BJP has been obstructionist against anything the previous Congress government wanted to do (even measures the BJP started when they were in power, e.g. the US-India nuclear deal), while the Left has been obstructionist in economic matters and anything involving the US (Left = communists, not left in US sense). So, the Indian people just wanted stability and the progress that brings. Ironically, the previous Congress government got a lot of the credit for a Left-driven policy: NREGA – the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which guarantees 100 days of employment at a rate of Rs 100/day for people in the rural area. While this may not seem like much (Rs 47.5 = $1), it is huge for the rural population of India and their way of life. The new Congress government will be expected to build on this with work in rural and urban health, in education, in economic reforms (to attract foreign investment, etc.; this will be easy with the Left out of government), and many other areas. It will be interesting to see how they do. Another interesting thing is that the Indian stock market, Sensex, shot up by 17% in the day after the election, the largest ever gain by a single market in world history. The markets like a stable, friendly government, no matter where you are.
Another interesting fact is that India has been relatively unaffected by the financial crisis, with its stock market actually growing by about 45% this year. An older Indian man I talked to gave me a possible idea as to why: India is not so dependent on credit, as people still save a lot of money and don’t spend out the wazoo. Perhaps there is a lesson here. Another thing I noticed is that the two countries that seem to be doing relatively okay with the downturn, China and India, are the two countries that have largely rejected the aid and guidance of western institutions such as the world bank and IMF in their national operations. They subsidized national companies, developed local industries, and all that jazz. Now they have some local strength. This perhaps too, is not a bad thing. Perhaps the market is not all-knowing after all, just good if properly controlled and directed in some sense (though not in the complete sense of communism). Note that most of this past paragraph was my speculations and thoughts. I think they are somewhat well-informed, though.
.
Dirt is not Dirty: As I’m sure anyone who has gone camping or who perhaps lived in a rural area knows, dirt is not dirty, at least not in the bacterial sense. So, what I have observed in the rural areas is that after meals the dishes are taken out to the nearest pile of dirt, dirt is placed in/on the dishes and the dishes are vigorously scrubbed with dirt until all of the food particles are gone. After this, a light rinse is performed to get the dirt off. I think this is a water and soap-saving measure, in an area with little water and money. Kind of turns some thinking on its head though.
Bucket baths: I rather enjoy bucket baths in India. For a bucket bath you fill the bucket with water and then wet your body using a cup dipped in the water in the bucket, then you soap up and rinse off in the same way that you wet your body. It is simple and easy and I’m sure saves a boatload (many bucketloads?) of water, in an area where water is scarce. Perhaps a little adjustment is needed, but it’s quite nice.
Safaaee: this means cleaning. In Indian culture it has a very big place, as cleanliness is very important to Indians, i.e. your body should be clean, your house should be clean, the surroundings of your home should be clean, etc. There is a whole caste that is devoted to cleaning, the sweeper class, and they keep pigs for eating rubbish (pigs are considered very dirty in India and are not to be eaten), and go around to different places and sweep the road, and different areas. This is especially true in the rural areas. Both places I have stayed in the city have had cleaners, but I am not sure if they were from the sweeper caste or if they were merely people who needed the work (similar to house cleaners in the states). In general, caste is not very strong in the cities, but I don’t really know on this matter. So, I have gotten into caste. Let’s talk about it at a later date. For now, back on to cleaning. The head of the NGO is very into cleaning, so we take our little handheld sweepers (imagine long bundles of straw that you hold horizontally just above the ground to sweep) and sweep the heck out of things; and since this is a desert area without much grass and the living quarters are not sealed in any sense of the word, there is a whole lot of dust, along with some ant piles, in the rooms. The appearance of any dust on things such as computers, window sills, etc. also appears to be anathema to Indians, so that must be thoroughly swept as well. This is an interesting experience for me, as I have to maintain my room. I quite enjoy the cleaning process though it takes a decent amount of time (30 min.) and effort (getting down low, repeatedly sweeping, etc.). There is something satisfying about the process of figuring out how to move all of that dust, proceeding to move it, and then seeing the difference. Here is another place where more time is taken in India to do a task, but perhaps there is something in the time taken. In fact, the head of the NGO thinks of the cleaning as yoga, where the generally sense of yoga means making yourself stronger, more disciplined, and fitter (physically, mentally, spiritually, etc.). This strengthening, disciplining is a good thing and is perhaps something that the upcoming generation is missing. Am I saying that we should abandon our technology in order to strengthen and discipline ourselves? No, but perhaps we should at least re-think technology at times. Perhaps it is not so bad to mow a small lawn with a simple rotary lawn mower (i.e. no engine), or to wash the counters with simple vinegar and water solutions, or other such actions where technology perhaps does not really help us and instead weakens us by not making us do physical work, by creating too many chemicals that have to be disposed of, and using too much energy. What will the future of this type of work be? I have no idea, but I think there is something intrinsic in human nature that likes to do some of these basic tasks of upkeep and survival, and without them there is a loss of meaning and connection to what it means to live in this natural world. My thoughts anyhow.
Perhaps surprisingly this desire for cleanliness does not generalize to the public sphere, i.e. roadsides, public open spaces, etc. which are generally quite filthy with waste, dirt, plastic bags, and so forth. From this it can be seen that in India the sense of importance of public well-being is not well developed. That is, you take care of yourself, your home, and your family (in this instance, their cleanliness), but anything outside of that, even 10 feet, is not your business, so you don’t care how it is. As someone (Malaya) in my former study program pointed out, this is highly narrow thinking, because if there is a big pond of stinking, standing water in the poorer part of town, then mosquitoes will be bred that can fly away and bit anyone, regardless of where they live. Thus, dengue, malaria, etc. can strike anyone, even if they keep “their” area clean. Hence the need for thinking along the lines of public health and public well-being. I think it was like that in the US before big environmental pushes in the 60s and 70s, so these things come slowly. For the sake of all I hope that the situation improves in this regard. In a sign that perhaps it will, I have been told by the NGO chief that the state of Rajasthan is moving to ban plastic bags, which will greatly cut down on the amount of waste strewn across the land. Hopefully this is a sign of wider change to come.
Election update: I learned a bit more about the election since I last wrote. One is that a vote for the Congress government was a vote for stability in economics, and other aspects of governance. The BJP has been obstructionist against anything the previous Congress government wanted to do (even measures the BJP started when they were in power, e.g. the US-India nuclear deal), while the Left has been obstructionist in economic matters and anything involving the US (Left = communists, not left in US sense). So, the Indian people just wanted stability and the progress that brings. Ironically, the previous Congress government got a lot of the credit for a Left-driven policy: NREGA – the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which guarantees 100 days of employment at a rate of Rs 100/day for people in the rural area. While this may not seem like much (Rs 47.5 = $1), it is huge for the rural population of India and their way of life. The new Congress government will be expected to build on this with work in rural and urban health, in education, in economic reforms (to attract foreign investment, etc.; this will be easy with the Left out of government), and many other areas. It will be interesting to see how they do. Another interesting thing is that the Indian stock market, Sensex, shot up by 17% in the day after the election, the largest ever gain by a single market in world history. The markets like a stable, friendly government, no matter where you are.
Another interesting fact is that India has been relatively unaffected by the financial crisis, with its stock market actually growing by about 45% this year. An older Indian man I talked to gave me a possible idea as to why: India is not so dependent on credit, as people still save a lot of money and don’t spend out the wazoo. Perhaps there is a lesson here. Another thing I noticed is that the two countries that seem to be doing relatively okay with the downturn, China and India, are the two countries that have largely rejected the aid and guidance of western institutions such as the world bank and IMF in their national operations. They subsidized national companies, developed local industries, and all that jazz. Now they have some local strength. This perhaps too, is not a bad thing. Perhaps the market is not all-knowing after all, just good if properly controlled and directed in some sense (though not in the complete sense of communism). Note that most of this past paragraph was my speculations and thoughts. I think they are somewhat well-informed, though.
.
Of BreakFast, Celine Dion, Bird Battles, Dirt is not Dirty, Squatty Potties, and other things
How to make a buffalo friend: don’t try. This is my honest advice. Water buffalos are just too big and strong, and too fearful of anyone but their owners to be made friends of. Only approach one with its owner nearby.
Battles of the birds and other bird watching: So, in India there are all types of birds that are constantly active, fighting, chirping, etc. Indeed, I think that if electricity could be made from the sounds birds make, India would be set.
It is pleasant, I think, the sounds that birds make, so it makes for a peaceful environment in which to work and live. Additionally, it is quite fun to watch the birds. A lot of times they seem to be having turf battles, battles over food and perhaps mates, and who knows what else. There are the same little round birds as there are in the US; there are also parrots and all sorts of other birds that I don’t know their names (in case you’re ever talking with me, never assume that I know the name of any bird, flower, plant, tree, etc. It is highly unlikely that I do). They cluck cluck back and forth, and swoop at each other and fly away and come back and re-group to battle again, all of this every day, much to my amusement. Another bird, quite beautiful, hops on the trees and picks off the ants that are climbing up the tree ever so meticulously. It is a pleasure to watch this bird’s craft; I’ll try to get a photo soon.
Separate from all of these birds is India’s rastripakshi – national bird – the peacock. Peacocks are quite interesting animals. Something I never realized is that they hang out, and, I think, sleep in trees. It is quite stunning to see such a large and a beautiful bird take flight and land in a tree; I have seen them climb to the complete top of a tree in order to sound their magnificent call. An impressive feat, indeed. Their call, if you haven’t heard it, is hard to describe. As Meg has pointed out to me, often times this sound appears like “help”, which is quite amusing. What the peacocks are saying as they call back and forth across vast distances I have no idea. Perhaps imagining this talk has stirred the Indian imagination and led to the peacock’s crowning as the national bird. It is quite fascinating when you are going through your day’s business, and pretty much a nuisance when you are trying to sleep at night and cascade of calls is sounded (“*$%#*#$*#$%#* peacocks”).
Battles of the birds and other bird watching: So, in India there are all types of birds that are constantly active, fighting, chirping, etc. Indeed, I think that if electricity could be made from the sounds birds make, India would be set.
It is pleasant, I think, the sounds that birds make, so it makes for a peaceful environment in which to work and live. Additionally, it is quite fun to watch the birds. A lot of times they seem to be having turf battles, battles over food and perhaps mates, and who knows what else. There are the same little round birds as there are in the US; there are also parrots and all sorts of other birds that I don’t know their names (in case you’re ever talking with me, never assume that I know the name of any bird, flower, plant, tree, etc. It is highly unlikely that I do). They cluck cluck back and forth, and swoop at each other and fly away and come back and re-group to battle again, all of this every day, much to my amusement. Another bird, quite beautiful, hops on the trees and picks off the ants that are climbing up the tree ever so meticulously. It is a pleasure to watch this bird’s craft; I’ll try to get a photo soon.
Separate from all of these birds is India’s rastripakshi – national bird – the peacock. Peacocks are quite interesting animals. Something I never realized is that they hang out, and, I think, sleep in trees. It is quite stunning to see such a large and a beautiful bird take flight and land in a tree; I have seen them climb to the complete top of a tree in order to sound their magnificent call. An impressive feat, indeed. Their call, if you haven’t heard it, is hard to describe. As Meg has pointed out to me, often times this sound appears like “help”, which is quite amusing. What the peacocks are saying as they call back and forth across vast distances I have no idea. Perhaps imagining this talk has stirred the Indian imagination and led to the peacock’s crowning as the national bird. It is quite fascinating when you are going through your day’s business, and pretty much a nuisance when you are trying to sleep at night and cascade of calls is sounded (“*$%#*#$*#$%#* peacocks”).
Of BreakFast, Celine Dion, Bird Battles, Dirt is not Dirty, Squatty Potties, and other things
Funny Phrase: Figure this one out (from a project proposal on water management) – “The traditional methods of water conservation and water recharging are eloping.” Indian English is always interesting. Along this line of thinking I have pondered whether, in a globalized world where English is a lingua franca, English should be simplified for scientific, medical, etc. communication. I definitely appreciate well-written, complex English, but at the same time I have a memory of Chinese graduate students in one of my research groups not really being able to understand the English of an American scientist who was writing in a rather sophisticated way. What is the goal? To communicate clearly and beautifully to those who are absolutely fluent in English? Or clearly to those who are almost completely fluent in English (which will also be understood by those absolutely fluent in English)? I don’t know, but it’s a thought.
BreakFast: So, I was looking at the underside of a bed in my room and found the label “BreakFast” with information indicating that the company did plywood, blockwood, etc. and that their wood was seasoned, chemically treated, and powder proof. The latter description makes sense for a wood production company, but the name does not. What is ironic was that on my first day here I was reaching for something on the other side of the bed and put my knee on the bed…and it broke…fast. So, I guess the name fits. Not sure if they need to work on their marketing or production first…
Mango chutney: is just lovely. Made from unripe mangoes, it is sweet and sour and altogether a delight for the pallet. Wish I could convey the flavor.
Celine Dion: So, I was playing around with the head of the NGO (Manu)’s mobile phone and was surprised to find amongst his playlist, an extended dance version of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.” Now, given Manu’s stately, cultured, reserved status as a 55-year-old white-bearded Indian man, it is not expected that you would find such a song. But perhaps his heart does really go on and on, as Celine said. At any rate, I did get sort of a guilty pleasure out of listening to the song.
Mobile Phones: Speaking of mobile phones, the mobile phones here in India are pretty darn awesome. Seriously, they are much better than the majority of the nonsmart phones in America. The Nokia phones that the NGO workers have, have tons of memory, so that there is all sorts of features, including video, music, radio, recording of sound and music, and of course pictures. They’re also seems to be some photo editing capacity, and for a fee the internet can of course be accessed. It really is ridiculous how easily they can access all of this stuff, all on a standard phone that many of the people have. Perhaps this accessibility and corresponding savvy-ness of the people comes from the fact that the majority of them don’t have other things like ipods and computers to do some of the other tasks that many Americans don’t do on their cell phone. At any rate, I have been much impressed with the phones here. Another nice feature is the removability of the SIM card, which identifies the phone with its owner. This allows you to easily switch phones, and to be able to get a new SIM card in another country when you are traveling. US companies thus far do not allow this, which is too bad.
Roasted chickpeas: are just wonderful. Can be eaten like corn nuts, or sunflower seeds. Great flavor. Good snack (I’m eating some right now).
President of SVS: I got to meet the president of SVS, and he was a delightful man. He was preparing for a conference on human rights in Afghanistan (and perhaps Pakistan; don’t recall). He is considered an expert because he was a higher-level official in the jail system in Rajasthan and pioneered the concept of an “open jail”, which seems to me to be equivalent to a halfway house in India. He had much wisdom, a gentle and kind affect, and was just a wonderful man. A piece of wisdom: if law is used to perpetuate injustice, then the results will be that people will break the law on purpose, so lawlessness will break out. Great man.
Kids: Kids are kids, no matter where you go. They are interested in strange, new people. They like to run and play. They are susceptible to being tickled, and get a kick out of running away from someone who is trying to tickle them. This is no different in India, as I experienced all of these thing when I was in one of the workers’ village (worker: Rohitash Meena, Village: Kurkela), mainly playing with his kids. They also showed me how to climb and hang from mango trees, gave me an unripe mango to snack on (tangy and sweet; good), and then we had fun playing tic tac toe, rock paper scissors, thumb wrestling, and that game where one person puts their palms up and one puts their palms down just above the other person’s palms and the person underneath tries to swat the other person’s hands (I taught them all of these). They got a great kick out of all of this. They also, of course, loved my camera and took a bunch of pictures, some of which I will try to send. Good times.
BreakFast: So, I was looking at the underside of a bed in my room and found the label “BreakFast” with information indicating that the company did plywood, blockwood, etc. and that their wood was seasoned, chemically treated, and powder proof. The latter description makes sense for a wood production company, but the name does not. What is ironic was that on my first day here I was reaching for something on the other side of the bed and put my knee on the bed…and it broke…fast. So, I guess the name fits. Not sure if they need to work on their marketing or production first…
Mango chutney: is just lovely. Made from unripe mangoes, it is sweet and sour and altogether a delight for the pallet. Wish I could convey the flavor.
Celine Dion: So, I was playing around with the head of the NGO (Manu)’s mobile phone and was surprised to find amongst his playlist, an extended dance version of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.” Now, given Manu’s stately, cultured, reserved status as a 55-year-old white-bearded Indian man, it is not expected that you would find such a song. But perhaps his heart does really go on and on, as Celine said. At any rate, I did get sort of a guilty pleasure out of listening to the song.
Mobile Phones: Speaking of mobile phones, the mobile phones here in India are pretty darn awesome. Seriously, they are much better than the majority of the nonsmart phones in America. The Nokia phones that the NGO workers have, have tons of memory, so that there is all sorts of features, including video, music, radio, recording of sound and music, and of course pictures. They’re also seems to be some photo editing capacity, and for a fee the internet can of course be accessed. It really is ridiculous how easily they can access all of this stuff, all on a standard phone that many of the people have. Perhaps this accessibility and corresponding savvy-ness of the people comes from the fact that the majority of them don’t have other things like ipods and computers to do some of the other tasks that many Americans don’t do on their cell phone. At any rate, I have been much impressed with the phones here. Another nice feature is the removability of the SIM card, which identifies the phone with its owner. This allows you to easily switch phones, and to be able to get a new SIM card in another country when you are traveling. US companies thus far do not allow this, which is too bad.
Roasted chickpeas: are just wonderful. Can be eaten like corn nuts, or sunflower seeds. Great flavor. Good snack (I’m eating some right now).
President of SVS: I got to meet the president of SVS, and he was a delightful man. He was preparing for a conference on human rights in Afghanistan (and perhaps Pakistan; don’t recall). He is considered an expert because he was a higher-level official in the jail system in Rajasthan and pioneered the concept of an “open jail”, which seems to me to be equivalent to a halfway house in India. He had much wisdom, a gentle and kind affect, and was just a wonderful man. A piece of wisdom: if law is used to perpetuate injustice, then the results will be that people will break the law on purpose, so lawlessness will break out. Great man.
Kids: Kids are kids, no matter where you go. They are interested in strange, new people. They like to run and play. They are susceptible to being tickled, and get a kick out of running away from someone who is trying to tickle them. This is no different in India, as I experienced all of these thing when I was in one of the workers’ village (worker: Rohitash Meena, Village: Kurkela), mainly playing with his kids. They also showed me how to climb and hang from mango trees, gave me an unripe mango to snack on (tangy and sweet; good), and then we had fun playing tic tac toe, rock paper scissors, thumb wrestling, and that game where one person puts their palms up and one puts their palms down just above the other person’s palms and the person underneath tries to swat the other person’s hands (I taught them all of these). They got a great kick out of all of this. They also, of course, loved my camera and took a bunch of pictures, some of which I will try to send. Good times.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
All,
Here are some of the documents about the NGO that I promised:
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/xythoswfs/webui/_xy-34340352_2-t_s17zkbSv
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/xythoswfs/webui/_xy-34340353_2-t_AS7TrngD
The first is about the "Water, Life, and Livelihood" campaign the NGO helped organize, and the second one is about NREGA - the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. I have a scan of a booklet produced about microcredit groups by the NGO, but am currently am having problems uploading it. I will try again later. The "Water, Life, and Livelihood" one is especially good, as it shows the NGO in action, with lots of great pictures. Let me know how you like them.
best
Derek
Monday, May 18, 2009
First Couple Weeks in India or Message from the Front: safety, heat, Indian political, cultural, humanitarian
All,
Namaste from India (namaste, I’ve been told means “I bow to you” or something close to that; this comes from the Hindu conception that God is within all people, so each person bows to the God inside the other person when they say hello; interesting concept, I think). After some initial stomach problems (which I attribute to changes in food) and a long layover in the city in which boredom and bureaucratic frustrations were the main feature, leading me to even contemplate leaving, I am safely in the village area, enjoying the serenity and the slow lifestyle. I am also remembering just why I was so inspired to come and work here in the first place. Watching animals is a favorite pastime, as is pashu-dost banaanaa – making animal friends (and spending time with some human ones as well). As I write now I am struggling on a quite deficient keyboard in the village area (you never realize that you only space with your right thumb until the right part of the space bar does not work – see which thumb you space with and we’ll take a survey; I am retraining my brain: “left thumb, left thumb, doh, dang right thumb; let’s try again, left thumb, left thumb…”). I don’t claim that any of what follows has captured any great/transcendent truth, or that my experiences of India represent India itself (and especially not all of India). They are merely my impressions, thoughts, and ideas about my time thus far in rural Rajasthan. Many of the things that are new are new merely because I have never lived in a rural location before, so much may be less than impressive to some of you (though hopefully not most). Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy them while taking them with a grain of salt (except the part about the NGO: be impassioned by this!). Also, if you only read one thing in this email, please read 15), 16) and 18) below, as they are about the NGO in which I am working, which is by far the most important part. Their work is in water management and the empowerment of women, two of the most important issues facing the world, especially the developing world, today. Have I pre-warned you and parenthesied you to death by now? Alright then, chalo (let’s go). The following message will be sort of stream of consciousness, so buckle up:
1) Has anything ever sounded so good on a hot day as a sweet watermelon? I think not. Hence, I have already enjoyed much watermelon here. What I didn’t like so much? Not so sweet watermelon vinegar. Moral: don’t eat watermelon that has been in the heat all day. Just don’t do it.
2) Speaking of heat, it’s been about 113 degrees here. Pretty warm, and it can supposedly get up to about 120. What’s really strange,and I’m sure this happens in the US too and I just didn’t notice is that the wind becomes HOT. It’s really strange to be expecting a cooling breeze and instead get a hot blast of air in the face.
3) A lizard on the wall in the NGO office just ate a moth. Reminds me of feeding at the Center (how’s that going Tery, Robin, Sarah? I hope well).
4) Indian bureaucracy, what an experience! You never where to go, you never know whether you’re filling out the right form, everything has to be done in all caps in duplicate, and other such fun things. You also have to report into the police station (if you are not a tourist) within EXACTLY 24 hours of your arrival, or else trouble ensues. India keeps very good tabs on its visitors, it seems. Makes sense, given their security situation and the fact that they don’t need any more people inhabiting their land. However, it has made the NGO boss very insistent that everything be done properly, lest the authorities start giving us headaches. So, I spent a considerable amount of times doing the proper registration and will not be allowed to buy anything for the NGO, i.e. they will buy it, then I will wire transfer the money from my bank account to the NGO’s bank account so that everything is official. Annoying since almost everything incurs a fee, but I guess that’s the price to do things “the right way.” Better than getting deported I suppose.
5) What a simple idea: switches next to every power outlet. I think 100x more people would turn off their appliances, thus saving energy lost as ghost power, if all they had to do was hit a switch. Simple solutions for big problems. Also, almost all light bulbs are CFLs or fluorescents, because in India saving money on energy is not a choice, but a must for survival. Interesting.
6) I love the animals in the village in India. I watch and interact with cows, buffalos, goats, sheep, pigs, donkeys, camels etc. I think I have a somewhat unusual affection for animals, such that I want to be friends with all of them and am frustrated when the desire is not reciprocated (we’re still friends in my mind, though). Especially interesting is when processions of animals come through the village’s one-lane road (I mean one-lane for both directions-fun!). This happens when nomads – yes,in additions to armies of computers techs, India also has people who are nomads – come through with their animals. The other day some people came through with hundreds of goats, donkey, sheep, and cows. So, imagine the scene: a rural area with agricultural fields all around, with a single-lane road jam packed with myriad livestock running around and looking for food while their owners tried to keep them in order. The donkeys looked very cute with their little packs they were carrying. It is truly breathtaking for someone like me, who has only lived in towns relatively away from rural areas. Just very interesting. Add sheperd to the list of possible retirement options.
7) So, anyone who worked with me at the Math and Science Center knows that I went through a phase where I was concerned about electrical safety. There will be no such concerns here, because many things are potential hazards. For example, just yesterday I had to fiddle with the power setup for a one of our computers, which involved shoving the bare wires from the end of a power cable of which the plug had been cut off into the 220V power socket (which is double the voltage in the US – yikes!). Additionally, I have experienced the computer cases being completely charged up. I am convinced that this is what killed a music player that I had given one of the village kids for helping me enter some data. Needlesstosay, I am a little wary of plugging my camera, etc. into these computers. But it’s all fun and perhaps my mom will have skipped this part after reading “because many things are a potential hazard”. Just kidding mom.
8) 2 simple steps to making a goat your friend: 1) Feed the goat some leaves from a tree and 2) Slowly approach the goat and pet it behind the horns. Bas (hindi for “it is sufficient”), now you have a goat friend.
9) Speaking of goats, the goats here have horizontal pupils. Is that a general feature? It’s kind of disconcerting at first glance, but they’re still nice animals
10) So, I had a dream that I randomly went to my oldest brother Denny’s house, ate some pizza, and then went to sleep. In the dream he asked me why I came to his house to sleep randomly, and I didn’t know why. Then I woke up to a million bug bites on my legs and realized how this dream might have bubbled up subliminally.
11) By the way, slightly sweetened lime water on a hot day is just marvelous.
12) The Hindi language is very fun. Two parts are very noticeable and fun: 1) Word repetition and 2) Compound verbs. For word repetition, when Hindi-speakers really want to emphasize something they often repeat the word rapidly in succession: jaldi, jaldi aie (come QUICKLY, where jaldi means quickly). Word repetition also has a structural use at times: ke sath is a postposition meaning “with”, so that “main ap ke sath jaunga” means I will go with you (main =I, ap =you). Repeating it though, sath sath means “together” so that “ham sath sath jaenge” means we will go together (ham = we). So, often with word repetition shades of meaning are added, or different parts of speech are formed. Interesting part of hindi. For compound verbs, shades of meaning are definitely added. So, what happens in Hindi is that two verbs are put together to form a new verb of subtly different meaning. For example, the verb for ‘to eat’ is ‘khana’ and the verb for ‘to go’ is jana. So, to say eat really quickly or scarf you would use “khajana”, where the addition of jana at the end indicates that something has occurred suddenly, i.e. the food went quickly because you scarfed it. Alternatively, if a mother really wanted her small daughter to eat her food then she might use “khadena” where “dena” is the verb for “to give”. So, this implies that in eating you are giving. In the case of the small child, she is giving to her mother the gift of eating her food. I rather like this way of forming subtle new verbs. Hence, I shared.
13) Indian culture is very interesting, at least that which I have experienced. I will mention a couple things at the moment. The first thing is that, as a guest, everyone assumes you want to rest, so they incessantly tell you to “baitho” or sit down. It is a nice thought, but I have to admit, after weeks of it, to having the thought “I don’t want to baitho, dang it” on several occasions, as well as a pre-feeling of not wanting to sit (I don’t like sitting for a while unless I am doing something). I usually acquiesce to “baitho”ing for a little while, but if it goes too long I get up and start trying to make animal friends or otherwise try to understand the rural lifestyle. Another interesting feature is the thrice-daily consumption of chai. It is nice that no matter what you are doing you stop and find the time to take a break and have a beverage together (it can be a working break, though). This slower pace appeals to me in many ways, as I often think that we are in too much of a hurry in the US. In a hurry for what? For life to pass by? I’m not sure. The ironic thing is that I only can drink about a third of the cup of chai (which is already ½ to 1/3 the size of an American cup) because I am so sensitive to caffeine; but, I still like the custom. I hope in the future to comment on marriage, squatting, and personal interaction in India, among other things, but for the moment I don’t have the time.
14) Some amazing parallels, to my mind, in the current Indian election and the past American election. First of all, May 16th = American Nov. 4th this past year, i.e. they got their election results after 5 phases of voting (people don’t vote 5 times, they just break the voting up into 5 chunks of time due to the logistical problems inherent in a democracy of 1.15 billion people, 60-70% of which are in rural areas). So, everyone has been very excited and talking about the political situation during my time here. A first caveat: India has a parliamentary system with many, many small parties, so any comparison to the American system is difficult, at best. Nonetheless, there are two main alliances that correspond roughly to the Democrats and Republicans in the US. For simplicity, Congress party = democrats, BJP = Republicans, i.e. the Congress party tends to be more concerned with state involvement in social welfare, etc. while the BJP, in addition to other features, harbors the Hindutwa – Hindu religious right. What is interesting is that there is a young Congress politician named Rahul Gandhi (of the Gandhi-Nehru political dynasty; note that Gandhi in this setting does not refer to Mahatma Gandhi and his family) who has really appealed to and energized the youth. I think he is akin to Obama in this youth appeal, although he is not the prime minister candidate of his party (too young, yet; give him 5 years). His push for the youth vote was crucial to the victory of the Congress party in this election. Additionally, in the analysis I heard that the Congress party victory was a vote for inclusive politics. This is a surprisingly similar analysis as was given after Obama’s victory in November: more inclusive, more inclusive, more inclusive. I think the religious right in its extreme forms is incredibly dangerous for world as a whole, so it is interesting to see its rejection both in the US and India. I have hope that this will happen globally, in Christian, Muslim, Hindu, mixed,etc., though a setback in this progress has recently occurred in Israel. Dhire, Dhire –slowly, slowly. On a similar note, the obstructionist Left/Communist party, which was part of the previous Congress alliance, has been booted out of West Bengal by the voters after about 50 years in power (I think 50 years; a long time, anyhow) and is in much reduced form, and hence, won’t be needed in the current alliance. It has basically been kicked out, I think, for its irrational hatred of the US and some degree of market freedom. This is yet another example of irrational extremism being dumped for rational problem-solving. I am for this in all aspects of life. Also, FYI, the news coverage here is very similar: very dramatized, with all sorts of pundits spinning it every which way. Politics is politics, I guess.
15) About the work at the NGO, as always I am inspired. The thing I like best about this NGO – Sukshma Vikas Sansthan, meaning “small development institute” or SVS – is the incessant focus on women’s rights and empowering women economically and by making them belief in apni shakti – their own power. I attended a women’s microcredit meeting yesterday and I saw what I saw before when I came: the NGO workers facilitating a meeting in which the women talk about their group and its affairs, take care of any loans that need to be completed, and generally talk about organizing for the betterment of their lives. The women get together and have lively, often argumentative, and wholly laugh-filled meetings. What is subtle – or perhaps not – is that this slowly transforms the women’s minds so that they believe they can solve their own problems, and that they are not just dependent on the men. It is hard to understate the extent that it is socialized into girls in the rural and/or more traditional areas of India that they are dependent on the men and are in fact inferior, incapable of thinking and solving their own problems (note that this was the case in the US and Europe as well only 50 years ago or perhaps less; some areas probably still hold this belief). So, by bringing the women together into these microcredit groups they are not only giving them a source through which they can make vital economic improvements, e.g. buying a buffalo so they can both consume and sell the milk (i.e.health and wealth), paying for their children’s school so that they might get a good job in the future, buying medicine so that productive days aren’t lost, etc. but they are literally changing the fabric of society slowly – slowly taking it away from its more patriarchal and lagging state. With the women thus empowered they can handle their money so that the husband won’t drink or smoke it away, and can in general more firmly assert themselves. Now, I will not claim that patriarchy has been vanquished through these efforts, as the it is still strong with most women wearing head covers and in general being more passive, but it has definitely been dealt a quiet blow. Indeed, I have been told when SVS first tried to start this work they didn’t want the men in the villages did not want the NGO workers to come near their women. It took a couple of years of the NGO bargaining with the men before they were allowed to come in. Since coming in the groups have been a huge success, and now villages invite SVS in to start new groups (there are multiple groups in some villages). The progress is palpable and inspiring. I hope to contribute with starting my work on computers with children (see below), with a primary focus on water issues, and in the future raising money for the NGO’s general operations so that they can perhaps hire new workers – I am dreaming of scholarships for water engineers and computer experts – and expand the benefits of their work to even more people. I want to start a society, or foundation, or something. If you have any ideas, re: this idea, let me know.
16) About the NGO: it works in the Virat Nagar block (equivalent to a county, I think), where there are 110,000 people in villages ranging from about 500-2000. The literacy rate in the Virat Nagar block, when I last checked, was about 50% for men and 12.5% for women, which compares poorly to the national averages, which aren’t great (I think 76% for men, 54% for women). Notice any discrepancy between the literacy rates for the sexes? Hence the need for differential treatment slanted towards women, with the eventual hope, I think, that with empowered women they will keep their daughters in schools in a slow process of improvement. SVS helps administer microcredit groups in about 40 villages and has done/is doing work in 60 villages in this area (almost all of them). This area is a desert area and water is very scarce, so in addition to women’s empowerment a primary area of current and future work will be in water management. Indeed, for the long-term prospects of life in the area there is simply no choice but to deal with how to sustainable use water. SVS is on top of this and is doing everything it can to organize and inform the people with regards to this issue. They have held several meetings with women in their area of work and with their block level women’s empowerment society – Virat Manch, which they were also instrumental in creating – about “Jal, Jiwan, aur Jiwikoparjan” – “Water, Life, and Livelihood”. They have also started a program to involve the youth in in this program “Jal, Jiwan ewam Yuwa Swapn” – “Water, Life, and the Visions of the Youth”, which will be the primary focus of my work (see below). Both of these programs have associated booklets telling about them, giving the ideas of the village people (especially the youth), and telling about the activities the NGO. I will try to post these as soon as I can, in addition to information about the micro-credit groups and perhaps other aspects of the NGO’s work. They are going to try to get Rahul Gandhi to come talk here, since he is so big into involving the youth in issues of national interest. I have no doubt that SVS is on the right track with this program, and I will hence pour my energies and whatever abilities I have into it in the next couple of months. After my time here I hope to further support this work through various means. Since the government is largely absent (can you say CORRUPTION?) they are the most trusted entity in the area, coming to aid the people when there are fires and other disasters. This information comes from the NGO workers themselves, who I trust deeply. I also see it in the people’s eyes, that they trust the NGO for all it has done for them. The workers work for almost nothing at this very important task of development, working almost all Saturdays and some Sundays, and I just really want to help them however I can.
17) My history with the NGO: worked for them analyzing surveys to find information about caste-wise, gender-wise, etc. educational, economic, and sociodemographic information. I did this originally as part of a study abroad in fall 2007 (if you know anyone who would be interested in the program, they have sites in Senegal, Ecuador, Kenya, and India; it’s called MSID – Minnesota Studies in International Development), and continued to analyze forms over last summer. I have been in contact with them via phone and email since my last departure, keeping up with their current work and planning my current trip.
18) For my work in teaching kids on computers, we are entering the planning phase starting today (Sunday, May 17th). We want to go into a couple villages and get the kids interested in computers by having them play some games related to water on them (I’ll send these later –very fun; search “Let it Flow Flash game”). Then we’ll try to take it to a higher level, perhaps getting internet access, to show how the computer is a tool of information organization, creation, sharing, etc. I will also try to train the NGO workers, so that they are more efficient in using the computers and could perhaps run future classes for kids. It will be a multi-faceted approach, with the main focus on being teaching the kids about computers so that they can be part of the solution to the water shortage crisis, i.e. using the computer to find information online, to make and analyze documents related to water, and down the road, perhaps getting an education in water management and/or computers. We had an inspiring meeting today (Sunday!), in which we discussed the program and how it can be implemented. Though I didn’t understand all that was said (my Hindi is not perfect, especially at high speeds), it was again inspiring to see the chief and the field workers’ passion in crafting a viable strategy for tackling this issue. The workers were a bit skeptical at first, especially about hooking the kids with educational games (the chief’s idea; I found the games; my friend Peter told me how to get them off the net – at 1am; thanks Peter; am I courteous or what?), but they have come around and I know will know apply all of their energies and experience in making the project succeed. They care deeply and have the knowledge, trust of the people, and experience to implement and execute the plan successfully. We are all on the same page now and are ready to start the program on Thursday, May 21st. I am very excited and will keep you updated. We’ll see how this goes. For this project we are operating on a shoestring, so if there is something (computer stuff, etc.) you think you can donate, please email me at derek.vigil@gmail.com . I will also be doing miscellaneous work on the computers, translating and otherwise modifying documents that are used for reporting and/or fundraising purposes. This involves as basic things as transcribing old reports so that the format can be used again. This is critical though, as the NGO workers are not the best on the computer, especially with the English keyboard. So, this is one of the most important things I can do for them. I will send some examples of my work soon.
19) A puzzle for you (from the NGO boss): draw an array of 3 x 3 dots, i.e. 3 columns and rows of dots. Try to connect all of the dots using only 4 lines. You CANNOT lift the pen from the paper. The lines can be any length. If you get this, let me know. Also let me know what the lesson learned is. Don’t waste too much time though, as I’ll provide the answer in my next email.
Well, that’s it for now. Let me know what you think (I may or may not have time to respond).
Apka dost (your friend),
Derek
Namaste from India (namaste, I’ve been told means “I bow to you” or something close to that; this comes from the Hindu conception that God is within all people, so each person bows to the God inside the other person when they say hello; interesting concept, I think). After some initial stomach problems (which I attribute to changes in food) and a long layover in the city in which boredom and bureaucratic frustrations were the main feature, leading me to even contemplate leaving, I am safely in the village area, enjoying the serenity and the slow lifestyle. I am also remembering just why I was so inspired to come and work here in the first place. Watching animals is a favorite pastime, as is pashu-dost banaanaa – making animal friends (and spending time with some human ones as well). As I write now I am struggling on a quite deficient keyboard in the village area (you never realize that you only space with your right thumb until the right part of the space bar does not work – see which thumb you space with and we’ll take a survey; I am retraining my brain: “left thumb, left thumb, doh, dang right thumb; let’s try again, left thumb, left thumb…”). I don’t claim that any of what follows has captured any great/transcendent truth, or that my experiences of India represent India itself (and especially not all of India). They are merely my impressions, thoughts, and ideas about my time thus far in rural Rajasthan. Many of the things that are new are new merely because I have never lived in a rural location before, so much may be less than impressive to some of you (though hopefully not most). Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy them while taking them with a grain of salt (except the part about the NGO: be impassioned by this!). Also, if you only read one thing in this email, please read 15), 16) and 18) below, as they are about the NGO in which I am working, which is by far the most important part. Their work is in water management and the empowerment of women, two of the most important issues facing the world, especially the developing world, today. Have I pre-warned you and parenthesied you to death by now? Alright then, chalo (let’s go). The following message will be sort of stream of consciousness, so buckle up:
1) Has anything ever sounded so good on a hot day as a sweet watermelon? I think not. Hence, I have already enjoyed much watermelon here. What I didn’t like so much? Not so sweet watermelon vinegar. Moral: don’t eat watermelon that has been in the heat all day. Just don’t do it.
2) Speaking of heat, it’s been about 113 degrees here. Pretty warm, and it can supposedly get up to about 120. What’s really strange,and I’m sure this happens in the US too and I just didn’t notice is that the wind becomes HOT. It’s really strange to be expecting a cooling breeze and instead get a hot blast of air in the face.
3) A lizard on the wall in the NGO office just ate a moth. Reminds me of feeding at the Center (how’s that going Tery, Robin, Sarah? I hope well).
4) Indian bureaucracy, what an experience! You never where to go, you never know whether you’re filling out the right form, everything has to be done in all caps in duplicate, and other such fun things. You also have to report into the police station (if you are not a tourist) within EXACTLY 24 hours of your arrival, or else trouble ensues. India keeps very good tabs on its visitors, it seems. Makes sense, given their security situation and the fact that they don’t need any more people inhabiting their land. However, it has made the NGO boss very insistent that everything be done properly, lest the authorities start giving us headaches. So, I spent a considerable amount of times doing the proper registration and will not be allowed to buy anything for the NGO, i.e. they will buy it, then I will wire transfer the money from my bank account to the NGO’s bank account so that everything is official. Annoying since almost everything incurs a fee, but I guess that’s the price to do things “the right way.” Better than getting deported I suppose.
5) What a simple idea: switches next to every power outlet. I think 100x more people would turn off their appliances, thus saving energy lost as ghost power, if all they had to do was hit a switch. Simple solutions for big problems. Also, almost all light bulbs are CFLs or fluorescents, because in India saving money on energy is not a choice, but a must for survival. Interesting.
6) I love the animals in the village in India. I watch and interact with cows, buffalos, goats, sheep, pigs, donkeys, camels etc. I think I have a somewhat unusual affection for animals, such that I want to be friends with all of them and am frustrated when the desire is not reciprocated (we’re still friends in my mind, though). Especially interesting is when processions of animals come through the village’s one-lane road (I mean one-lane for both directions-fun!). This happens when nomads – yes,in additions to armies of computers techs, India also has people who are nomads – come through with their animals. The other day some people came through with hundreds of goats, donkey, sheep, and cows. So, imagine the scene: a rural area with agricultural fields all around, with a single-lane road jam packed with myriad livestock running around and looking for food while their owners tried to keep them in order. The donkeys looked very cute with their little packs they were carrying. It is truly breathtaking for someone like me, who has only lived in towns relatively away from rural areas. Just very interesting. Add sheperd to the list of possible retirement options.
7) So, anyone who worked with me at the Math and Science Center knows that I went through a phase where I was concerned about electrical safety. There will be no such concerns here, because many things are potential hazards. For example, just yesterday I had to fiddle with the power setup for a one of our computers, which involved shoving the bare wires from the end of a power cable of which the plug had been cut off into the 220V power socket (which is double the voltage in the US – yikes!). Additionally, I have experienced the computer cases being completely charged up. I am convinced that this is what killed a music player that I had given one of the village kids for helping me enter some data. Needlesstosay, I am a little wary of plugging my camera, etc. into these computers. But it’s all fun and perhaps my mom will have skipped this part after reading “because many things are a potential hazard”. Just kidding mom.
8) 2 simple steps to making a goat your friend: 1) Feed the goat some leaves from a tree and 2) Slowly approach the goat and pet it behind the horns. Bas (hindi for “it is sufficient”), now you have a goat friend.
9) Speaking of goats, the goats here have horizontal pupils. Is that a general feature? It’s kind of disconcerting at first glance, but they’re still nice animals
10) So, I had a dream that I randomly went to my oldest brother Denny’s house, ate some pizza, and then went to sleep. In the dream he asked me why I came to his house to sleep randomly, and I didn’t know why. Then I woke up to a million bug bites on my legs and realized how this dream might have bubbled up subliminally.
11) By the way, slightly sweetened lime water on a hot day is just marvelous.
12) The Hindi language is very fun. Two parts are very noticeable and fun: 1) Word repetition and 2) Compound verbs. For word repetition, when Hindi-speakers really want to emphasize something they often repeat the word rapidly in succession: jaldi, jaldi aie (come QUICKLY, where jaldi means quickly). Word repetition also has a structural use at times: ke sath is a postposition meaning “with”, so that “main ap ke sath jaunga” means I will go with you (main =I, ap =you). Repeating it though, sath sath means “together” so that “ham sath sath jaenge” means we will go together (ham = we). So, often with word repetition shades of meaning are added, or different parts of speech are formed. Interesting part of hindi. For compound verbs, shades of meaning are definitely added. So, what happens in Hindi is that two verbs are put together to form a new verb of subtly different meaning. For example, the verb for ‘to eat’ is ‘khana’ and the verb for ‘to go’ is jana. So, to say eat really quickly or scarf you would use “khajana”, where the addition of jana at the end indicates that something has occurred suddenly, i.e. the food went quickly because you scarfed it. Alternatively, if a mother really wanted her small daughter to eat her food then she might use “khadena” where “dena” is the verb for “to give”. So, this implies that in eating you are giving. In the case of the small child, she is giving to her mother the gift of eating her food. I rather like this way of forming subtle new verbs. Hence, I shared.
13) Indian culture is very interesting, at least that which I have experienced. I will mention a couple things at the moment. The first thing is that, as a guest, everyone assumes you want to rest, so they incessantly tell you to “baitho” or sit down. It is a nice thought, but I have to admit, after weeks of it, to having the thought “I don’t want to baitho, dang it” on several occasions, as well as a pre-feeling of not wanting to sit (I don’t like sitting for a while unless I am doing something). I usually acquiesce to “baitho”ing for a little while, but if it goes too long I get up and start trying to make animal friends or otherwise try to understand the rural lifestyle. Another interesting feature is the thrice-daily consumption of chai. It is nice that no matter what you are doing you stop and find the time to take a break and have a beverage together (it can be a working break, though). This slower pace appeals to me in many ways, as I often think that we are in too much of a hurry in the US. In a hurry for what? For life to pass by? I’m not sure. The ironic thing is that I only can drink about a third of the cup of chai (which is already ½ to 1/3 the size of an American cup) because I am so sensitive to caffeine; but, I still like the custom. I hope in the future to comment on marriage, squatting, and personal interaction in India, among other things, but for the moment I don’t have the time.
14) Some amazing parallels, to my mind, in the current Indian election and the past American election. First of all, May 16th = American Nov. 4th this past year, i.e. they got their election results after 5 phases of voting (people don’t vote 5 times, they just break the voting up into 5 chunks of time due to the logistical problems inherent in a democracy of 1.15 billion people, 60-70% of which are in rural areas). So, everyone has been very excited and talking about the political situation during my time here. A first caveat: India has a parliamentary system with many, many small parties, so any comparison to the American system is difficult, at best. Nonetheless, there are two main alliances that correspond roughly to the Democrats and Republicans in the US. For simplicity, Congress party = democrats, BJP = Republicans, i.e. the Congress party tends to be more concerned with state involvement in social welfare, etc. while the BJP, in addition to other features, harbors the Hindutwa – Hindu religious right. What is interesting is that there is a young Congress politician named Rahul Gandhi (of the Gandhi-Nehru political dynasty; note that Gandhi in this setting does not refer to Mahatma Gandhi and his family) who has really appealed to and energized the youth. I think he is akin to Obama in this youth appeal, although he is not the prime minister candidate of his party (too young, yet; give him 5 years). His push for the youth vote was crucial to the victory of the Congress party in this election. Additionally, in the analysis I heard that the Congress party victory was a vote for inclusive politics. This is a surprisingly similar analysis as was given after Obama’s victory in November: more inclusive, more inclusive, more inclusive. I think the religious right in its extreme forms is incredibly dangerous for world as a whole, so it is interesting to see its rejection both in the US and India. I have hope that this will happen globally, in Christian, Muslim, Hindu, mixed,etc., though a setback in this progress has recently occurred in Israel. Dhire, Dhire –slowly, slowly. On a similar note, the obstructionist Left/Communist party, which was part of the previous Congress alliance, has been booted out of West Bengal by the voters after about 50 years in power (I think 50 years; a long time, anyhow) and is in much reduced form, and hence, won’t be needed in the current alliance. It has basically been kicked out, I think, for its irrational hatred of the US and some degree of market freedom. This is yet another example of irrational extremism being dumped for rational problem-solving. I am for this in all aspects of life. Also, FYI, the news coverage here is very similar: very dramatized, with all sorts of pundits spinning it every which way. Politics is politics, I guess.
15) About the work at the NGO, as always I am inspired. The thing I like best about this NGO – Sukshma Vikas Sansthan, meaning “small development institute” or SVS – is the incessant focus on women’s rights and empowering women economically and by making them belief in apni shakti – their own power. I attended a women’s microcredit meeting yesterday and I saw what I saw before when I came: the NGO workers facilitating a meeting in which the women talk about their group and its affairs, take care of any loans that need to be completed, and generally talk about organizing for the betterment of their lives. The women get together and have lively, often argumentative, and wholly laugh-filled meetings. What is subtle – or perhaps not – is that this slowly transforms the women’s minds so that they believe they can solve their own problems, and that they are not just dependent on the men. It is hard to understate the extent that it is socialized into girls in the rural and/or more traditional areas of India that they are dependent on the men and are in fact inferior, incapable of thinking and solving their own problems (note that this was the case in the US and Europe as well only 50 years ago or perhaps less; some areas probably still hold this belief). So, by bringing the women together into these microcredit groups they are not only giving them a source through which they can make vital economic improvements, e.g. buying a buffalo so they can both consume and sell the milk (i.e.health and wealth), paying for their children’s school so that they might get a good job in the future, buying medicine so that productive days aren’t lost, etc. but they are literally changing the fabric of society slowly – slowly taking it away from its more patriarchal and lagging state. With the women thus empowered they can handle their money so that the husband won’t drink or smoke it away, and can in general more firmly assert themselves. Now, I will not claim that patriarchy has been vanquished through these efforts, as the it is still strong with most women wearing head covers and in general being more passive, but it has definitely been dealt a quiet blow. Indeed, I have been told when SVS first tried to start this work they didn’t want the men in the villages did not want the NGO workers to come near their women. It took a couple of years of the NGO bargaining with the men before they were allowed to come in. Since coming in the groups have been a huge success, and now villages invite SVS in to start new groups (there are multiple groups in some villages). The progress is palpable and inspiring. I hope to contribute with starting my work on computers with children (see below), with a primary focus on water issues, and in the future raising money for the NGO’s general operations so that they can perhaps hire new workers – I am dreaming of scholarships for water engineers and computer experts – and expand the benefits of their work to even more people. I want to start a society, or foundation, or something. If you have any ideas, re: this idea, let me know.
16) About the NGO: it works in the Virat Nagar block (equivalent to a county, I think), where there are 110,000 people in villages ranging from about 500-2000. The literacy rate in the Virat Nagar block, when I last checked, was about 50% for men and 12.5% for women, which compares poorly to the national averages, which aren’t great (I think 76% for men, 54% for women). Notice any discrepancy between the literacy rates for the sexes? Hence the need for differential treatment slanted towards women, with the eventual hope, I think, that with empowered women they will keep their daughters in schools in a slow process of improvement. SVS helps administer microcredit groups in about 40 villages and has done/is doing work in 60 villages in this area (almost all of them). This area is a desert area and water is very scarce, so in addition to women’s empowerment a primary area of current and future work will be in water management. Indeed, for the long-term prospects of life in the area there is simply no choice but to deal with how to sustainable use water. SVS is on top of this and is doing everything it can to organize and inform the people with regards to this issue. They have held several meetings with women in their area of work and with their block level women’s empowerment society – Virat Manch, which they were also instrumental in creating – about “Jal, Jiwan, aur Jiwikoparjan” – “Water, Life, and Livelihood”. They have also started a program to involve the youth in in this program “Jal, Jiwan ewam Yuwa Swapn” – “Water, Life, and the Visions of the Youth”, which will be the primary focus of my work (see below). Both of these programs have associated booklets telling about them, giving the ideas of the village people (especially the youth), and telling about the activities the NGO. I will try to post these as soon as I can, in addition to information about the micro-credit groups and perhaps other aspects of the NGO’s work. They are going to try to get Rahul Gandhi to come talk here, since he is so big into involving the youth in issues of national interest. I have no doubt that SVS is on the right track with this program, and I will hence pour my energies and whatever abilities I have into it in the next couple of months. After my time here I hope to further support this work through various means. Since the government is largely absent (can you say CORRUPTION?) they are the most trusted entity in the area, coming to aid the people when there are fires and other disasters. This information comes from the NGO workers themselves, who I trust deeply. I also see it in the people’s eyes, that they trust the NGO for all it has done for them. The workers work for almost nothing at this very important task of development, working almost all Saturdays and some Sundays, and I just really want to help them however I can.
17) My history with the NGO: worked for them analyzing surveys to find information about caste-wise, gender-wise, etc. educational, economic, and sociodemographic information. I did this originally as part of a study abroad in fall 2007 (if you know anyone who would be interested in the program, they have sites in Senegal, Ecuador, Kenya, and India; it’s called MSID – Minnesota Studies in International Development), and continued to analyze forms over last summer. I have been in contact with them via phone and email since my last departure, keeping up with their current work and planning my current trip.
18) For my work in teaching kids on computers, we are entering the planning phase starting today (Sunday, May 17th). We want to go into a couple villages and get the kids interested in computers by having them play some games related to water on them (I’ll send these later –very fun; search “Let it Flow Flash game”). Then we’ll try to take it to a higher level, perhaps getting internet access, to show how the computer is a tool of information organization, creation, sharing, etc. I will also try to train the NGO workers, so that they are more efficient in using the computers and could perhaps run future classes for kids. It will be a multi-faceted approach, with the main focus on being teaching the kids about computers so that they can be part of the solution to the water shortage crisis, i.e. using the computer to find information online, to make and analyze documents related to water, and down the road, perhaps getting an education in water management and/or computers. We had an inspiring meeting today (Sunday!), in which we discussed the program and how it can be implemented. Though I didn’t understand all that was said (my Hindi is not perfect, especially at high speeds), it was again inspiring to see the chief and the field workers’ passion in crafting a viable strategy for tackling this issue. The workers were a bit skeptical at first, especially about hooking the kids with educational games (the chief’s idea; I found the games; my friend Peter told me how to get them off the net – at 1am; thanks Peter; am I courteous or what?), but they have come around and I know will know apply all of their energies and experience in making the project succeed. They care deeply and have the knowledge, trust of the people, and experience to implement and execute the plan successfully. We are all on the same page now and are ready to start the program on Thursday, May 21st. I am very excited and will keep you updated. We’ll see how this goes. For this project we are operating on a shoestring, so if there is something (computer stuff, etc.) you think you can donate, please email me at derek.vigil@gmail.com . I will also be doing miscellaneous work on the computers, translating and otherwise modifying documents that are used for reporting and/or fundraising purposes. This involves as basic things as transcribing old reports so that the format can be used again. This is critical though, as the NGO workers are not the best on the computer, especially with the English keyboard. So, this is one of the most important things I can do for them. I will send some examples of my work soon.
19) A puzzle for you (from the NGO boss): draw an array of 3 x 3 dots, i.e. 3 columns and rows of dots. Try to connect all of the dots using only 4 lines. You CANNOT lift the pen from the paper. The lines can be any length. If you get this, let me know. Also let me know what the lesson learned is. Don’t waste too much time though, as I’ll provide the answer in my next email.
Well, that’s it for now. Let me know what you think (I may or may not have time to respond).
Apka dost (your friend),
Derek
Arrival to India
Originally sent on May 5th, 2009:
Hi all,
So, I have arrived safe and sound in Delhi India, and am already having a ball of a time watching the multitudes of people & animals, taking in the varieties of sound and color and the general disorder that is characteristic of India (and which I love dearly). I am currently staying at "the ranch" with the friends we know in Delhi. It is a rather nice compound in South Delhi, as these friends are business folks. I woke up this morning to a gaggleo 20-30 peacocks hanging outside of my room. My mere coming outside sent them into a tizzy, as they ran this way and that, anything to get away from the angrezi (foreigner). It is this spontaneity and connection to nature and animals that I love about India among other things. I have already had my first chai and biscuits, so my trip to India can be said to have begun in earnest. I have also talked with some folks about a story in the Ramayan in which Vishnu comes out of the stomach of Brahma upon a lotus flower, and hence why the lotus flower is important to Indian culture; I have additionally talked about education, Pakistan, and our new president (one man was not happy with him; apparently not happy about American inaction with regards to Pakistani violence within India; tough situation; will learn more about Indian perspective and get back to you). I will be leaving for the village this afternoon and will begin my work trying to launch a computer project. I will get desktops put in 4 villages and laptops to travel around the area. The goal is to increase computer literacy amongst the adults and children in the area so that they will be more competitive for jobs and more able to address their problems using computers and the net. Specifically, they want to learn about water management since it is a desert area and water tables have been falling. This local participation in conservation efforts is so crucial, and I hope to play my little part. Hopefully something good will come out of it. I have already gotten a tip that Dell will pay for computers, generators, perhaps internet in village areas if one has a Math and Science education curriculum developed. If my last year's work at the Western Colorado Math & Science Center then I don't know what will. So, keep your fingers crossed, as this could greatly expand the capability and reach of the project. Anywho, that's enough for know. I will keep y'all updated on mere gaowale anubhaw, my village experiences. shant, pyar, aur bhagwan ka kripadristi (peace, love, and God's grace)
Derek
Hi all,
So, I have arrived safe and sound in Delhi India, and am already having a ball of a time watching the multitudes of people & animals, taking in the varieties of sound and color and the general disorder that is characteristic of India (and which I love dearly). I am currently staying at "the ranch" with the friends we know in Delhi. It is a rather nice compound in South Delhi, as these friends are business folks. I woke up this morning to a gaggleo 20-30 peacocks hanging outside of my room. My mere coming outside sent them into a tizzy, as they ran this way and that, anything to get away from the angrezi (foreigner). It is this spontaneity and connection to nature and animals that I love about India among other things. I have already had my first chai and biscuits, so my trip to India can be said to have begun in earnest. I have also talked with some folks about a story in the Ramayan in which Vishnu comes out of the stomach of Brahma upon a lotus flower, and hence why the lotus flower is important to Indian culture; I have additionally talked about education, Pakistan, and our new president (one man was not happy with him; apparently not happy about American inaction with regards to Pakistani violence within India; tough situation; will learn more about Indian perspective and get back to you). I will be leaving for the village this afternoon and will begin my work trying to launch a computer project. I will get desktops put in 4 villages and laptops to travel around the area. The goal is to increase computer literacy amongst the adults and children in the area so that they will be more competitive for jobs and more able to address their problems using computers and the net. Specifically, they want to learn about water management since it is a desert area and water tables have been falling. This local participation in conservation efforts is so crucial, and I hope to play my little part. Hopefully something good will come out of it. I have already gotten a tip that Dell will pay for computers, generators, perhaps internet in village areas if one has a Math and Science education curriculum developed. If my last year's work at the Western Colorado Math & Science Center then I don't know what will. So, keep your fingers crossed, as this could greatly expand the capability and reach of the project. Anywho, that's enough for know. I will keep y'all updated on mere gaowale anubhaw, my village experiences. shant, pyar, aur bhagwan ka kripadristi (peace, love, and God's grace)
Derek
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
