Thursday, 13 August 2009
Hi All,
It is wonderful to read your experiences in India, especially the volunteering experience in the organisation you are working.
Iam completing my first volunteer cycle and getting ready for the next. It was heart warming experience to see you all enjoying your field visits at Bangalore. Six of you already completed your time and left some wonderful mark behind inspite some of the hiccups you might have experienced . I also got some case studies from this experience.... ( : just kidding.
Wednesday, 12 August 2009
Life after Saahil
Hi Everyone
Hope you are all well? It has been a busy few days since Saahil's has left!! We are coping, just about!!!
I have been at AWAG's other office undertaking interviews with women who have been helped by AWAG. One of the women I had met now provides most of the legal assistance in court. It was much more difficult than I have anticipated. I am still trying to figure out where to begin writing the stories! It has really confirmed to me that AWAG do some amazing work. Work on the website is going really well ... we got some great feedback and some useful ideas. I am trying my best not to mess too much with the template (although Saahil you may have to give it a once over before it goes live!!!)
How is everyone else's placement coming along? I think some of you have now finished? Tina did you have fun in Calcutta? I was very nearly going to be there this weekend, but have decided not to go now! Am going to save my travelling for when I finish in mid September now! Saahil is now travelling around Delhi (I think), but has promised to pop back later this month as his return flight to London is from here. He has been missed by all ... since he was the only guy in the office!
Happy Independence Day for the 15th everyone!!!
Bye for now!
Nisha xx
Hope you are all well? It has been a busy few days since Saahil's has left!! We are coping, just about!!!
I have been at AWAG's other office undertaking interviews with women who have been helped by AWAG. One of the women I had met now provides most of the legal assistance in court. It was much more difficult than I have anticipated. I am still trying to figure out where to begin writing the stories! It has really confirmed to me that AWAG do some amazing work. Work on the website is going really well ... we got some great feedback and some useful ideas. I am trying my best not to mess too much with the template (although Saahil you may have to give it a once over before it goes live!!!)
How is everyone else's placement coming along? I think some of you have now finished? Tina did you have fun in Calcutta? I was very nearly going to be there this weekend, but have decided not to go now! Am going to save my travelling for when I finish in mid September now! Saahil is now travelling around Delhi (I think), but has promised to pop back later this month as his return flight to London is from here. He has been missed by all ... since he was the only guy in the office!
Happy Independence Day for the 15th everyone!!!
Bye for now!
Nisha xx
Hello all: Slums, rural poverty, and cocktail parties.
Slums, rural poverty, and cocktail parties.
That's pretty much my experience of bangalore so far in a nutshell. To pretend each day of NGO working life was a trauma and an endurance test would be disingenuous. It's been great here at the Belaku trust so far. An article about a day at the local theatre has appeared in the Hindu Times, and I've been poked by viji into posting it here. It's very exciting. They mentioned my name. Given that the last few times (!) me and Sneh have ended up in the Bangalore press has been for us attending one swanky opening party or another, this article goes some way to atone for all that and make it look like we actually do a job here. Ahem.
(Nb- Sneh found herself on the FRONT PAGE of the Bangalore times last week!)
Belaku does some awesome work- they have links with Anganwaris (Kindergartens) in the villages south of Bglr, and they do things like train teachers, provide health checks and, occasionally, ship a few dozen kids somewhere interesting to expand thier minds: as I see it, this is one of the most high impact things you can do for Indian development.
The article fails to mention that the group of kids we brought spoke no english, were wide eyed and gleeful about their first experience of the city, and largely turned up barefoot. Literally, a 2hour bus ride and then an auto to the venue with not a bata chappal in sight. Grinning like it was their birthday. (they don't generally know when this actually is, so this was as good a day as any... ;)
Anyway, encouraging them to run around acting out different scenarios and generally misbehave was super-fun, and made me realise that these kids had potential to be rocket scientists and definitely silver screen actors! How do you help them a) aim that high and b) fulfil that dream?
Well, that was me actually writing a blog entry, and I might just make more of an effort on this from now on! Am trying to get a new website sorted, a catalogue made and much more done here before I go- time is flying!
Will keep you posted- nice to hear your stories too :)
Samina xx
Friday, 7 August 2009
Goodbye to Guju Town
Hi everyone,
After spending a month working with AWAG my placement has ended. It has been a tough month full of ups and downs but overall it has been an amazing experience. The picture above shows the younger part of the AWAG team. The man sitting next to me (Amitbhai) was a truely inspirational man. He was always full of helpful advice and one night even read my palm. He somehow correctly guessed a lot about my personality after only meeting me for the second time and then gave me some guidance for the future. I should stay away from water, not go into a business partnership, not go into an economics based career but instead use my creative/artistic tallents more. More importantly he said I would be married at the age of 23 :-S hmmm...
I am traveling around India for the next few weeks but I look forward to seeing everyone again once I get back to London!
Take care
Saahil.
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Raindrops keep falling on my head...
The rain is all over us here in London..but as I write this the sun seems to have miraculously come out again. You guys are not the only ones getting the monsoon rains!
Did you know... 'The English monsoon came from Portuguese monção, ultimately from Arabic mawsim (موسم "season"), "perhaps partly via early modern Dutch monsun".The Arabic-origin word mausam (मौसम, موسم) is also the word for "weather" in Hindi, Urdu, and several other North Indian languages'. Thank you Wiki :) And that 'A monsoon is a seasonal prevailing wind that lasts for several months, caused by the development of a thermal low over a land mass normally within the subtropics' So it's all about the wind, but that brings in the rain so I guess we tend to relate it rains.
Oh yeah, the the picture is all about how rain is produced!
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Where has all the rain gone?
Are any of you getting any rain?
I only ask, because it appeared that the monsoon had arrived with a vengeance in Delhi on Monday night. It poured non-stop for several hours, flooding roads and underpasses, causing chaos, gridlock and insufferably long commutes to work the next morning.
Mercifully, it got abit cooler and everyone was rejoicing, saying the monsoon had arrived.
Three days later, there's been nothing. Diddly squat. Nada. Zilch.
And the temperatures are creeping up again......
Like I said before: where has all the rain gone?!!
I only ask, because it appeared that the monsoon had arrived with a vengeance in Delhi on Monday night. It poured non-stop for several hours, flooding roads and underpasses, causing chaos, gridlock and insufferably long commutes to work the next morning.
Mercifully, it got abit cooler and everyone was rejoicing, saying the monsoon had arrived.
Three days later, there's been nothing. Diddly squat. Nada. Zilch.
And the temperatures are creeping up again......
Like I said before: where has all the rain gone?!!
Thursday, 23 July 2009
My field trip to Uttar Pradesh
Hello everyone.
I returned to Delhi on Tuesday night after my field trip to Lucknow and Kanpur. It's hard to summarise all that I saw and learned - the week was humbling, inspiring and heart-breaking on so many different levels.
On my first day to Kanpur, I met Rani, a Dalit activitist working with women who suffer the twin oppressions of caste and gender. They are deprived of basic human rights such as education, health care and jobs. They are often unskilled, have little or no land, are ignorant about their voting rights, are unable to obtain healthcare from primary health centres (PHCs) owing to social taboos and lack access to education or vocational training.
Rani works tirelessly to raise awareness of women's rights, providing leadership training as well as workshops on issues such as domestic violence and alcholism. I was amazed by her passion and dedication.
She took me to a rural village where 80 per cent of the 300 villagers worked as agricultural labourers. Rani had helped form a women's self-help group headed up by Geeta, a mum-of-three. She invited me into her home - a simple brick affair shared by 12 people from two families - for a cup of tea and told me about how her husband, a factory worker, had not earned a single paisa in the last three months because of lack of jobs. Despite this, she was keen to cook dinner for me and wanted me to stay the night.
I was unable to do so however - and instead returned to the busti (slum) with Rani. That night, I bathed from a bucket in a small bathroom under candle light (due to the umpteenth power cut that day) and slept on the floor of Rani's office/bedroom alongside three others.
The following day, I travelled to Lucknow where I met Naheed, a 36-year-old woman with incredible energy and spirit who is fighting for the rights of Dalit Muslim women and their children, who face discrimination because of their gender and religion.
She took me to a village "school" she'd set up in Azim Nagar. I was greeted by the sight of 20 children sitting cross-legged in orderly rows on a large yellow plastic mat under the shade of a neem tree. Many bore the hallmarks of malnutrition - their over-sized uniforms hung on too lean, too small bodies. Two colourful posters attached to the brick wall of a disused, ramshackle government building - which Naheed hopes one day to transform into a proper classroom - featured English words, illustrations, and numbers. Flies buzzed around us incessantly and the heat was intense. Some of the kids danced, sang and showed off their English skills. When I asked what they wanted to do when they grew up, the more confident ones shouted out: "Police inspector!", "Doctor!" or "Social worker, like Naheed". It was very touching. Naheed is doing a wonderful job but I couldn't help but think what kind of future faced these kids.
My field trip was followed by a two-day Dalit Foundation workshop in Lucknow for around 30 grassroots campaigners. I learned tons about the complexities and challenges of fund-raising in India, and managed to conduct case studies with a handful of activisits. Each of them had amazing stories to tell - but even with the help of a translator, I felt I only skimmed the surface due to my lack of Hindi. I was very frustrated with myself. On the plus side, I was able to deliver some workshop training on: "How to write a case study," which I think went well!
Now I am back in Delhi writing up my case studies and moving onto my next mini project - trying to redesign the DF newsletter.
Hope you're all well.
More later,
Tina.
I returned to Delhi on Tuesday night after my field trip to Lucknow and Kanpur. It's hard to summarise all that I saw and learned - the week was humbling, inspiring and heart-breaking on so many different levels.
On my first day to Kanpur, I met Rani, a Dalit activitist working with women who suffer the twin oppressions of caste and gender. They are deprived of basic human rights such as education, health care and jobs. They are often unskilled, have little or no land, are ignorant about their voting rights, are unable to obtain healthcare from primary health centres (PHCs) owing to social taboos and lack access to education or vocational training.
Rani works tirelessly to raise awareness of women's rights, providing leadership training as well as workshops on issues such as domestic violence and alcholism. I was amazed by her passion and dedication.
She took me to a rural village where 80 per cent of the 300 villagers worked as agricultural labourers. Rani had helped form a women's self-help group headed up by Geeta, a mum-of-three. She invited me into her home - a simple brick affair shared by 12 people from two families - for a cup of tea and told me about how her husband, a factory worker, had not earned a single paisa in the last three months because of lack of jobs. Despite this, she was keen to cook dinner for me and wanted me to stay the night.
I was unable to do so however - and instead returned to the busti (slum) with Rani. That night, I bathed from a bucket in a small bathroom under candle light (due to the umpteenth power cut that day) and slept on the floor of Rani's office/bedroom alongside three others.
The following day, I travelled to Lucknow where I met Naheed, a 36-year-old woman with incredible energy and spirit who is fighting for the rights of Dalit Muslim women and their children, who face discrimination because of their gender and religion.
She took me to a village "school" she'd set up in Azim Nagar. I was greeted by the sight of 20 children sitting cross-legged in orderly rows on a large yellow plastic mat under the shade of a neem tree. Many bore the hallmarks of malnutrition - their over-sized uniforms hung on too lean, too small bodies. Two colourful posters attached to the brick wall of a disused, ramshackle government building - which Naheed hopes one day to transform into a proper classroom - featured English words, illustrations, and numbers. Flies buzzed around us incessantly and the heat was intense. Some of the kids danced, sang and showed off their English skills. When I asked what they wanted to do when they grew up, the more confident ones shouted out: "Police inspector!", "Doctor!" or "Social worker, like Naheed". It was very touching. Naheed is doing a wonderful job but I couldn't help but think what kind of future faced these kids.
My field trip was followed by a two-day Dalit Foundation workshop in Lucknow for around 30 grassroots campaigners. I learned tons about the complexities and challenges of fund-raising in India, and managed to conduct case studies with a handful of activisits. Each of them had amazing stories to tell - but even with the help of a translator, I felt I only skimmed the surface due to my lack of Hindi. I was very frustrated with myself. On the plus side, I was able to deliver some workshop training on: "How to write a case study," which I think went well!
Now I am back in Delhi writing up my case studies and moving onto my next mini project - trying to redesign the DF newsletter.
Hope you're all well.
More later,
Tina.
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Namaste from Delhi
Hiya everyone!
It's been a fun, hectic and challenging week adjusting to life in the capital. My guesthouse is comfortable, clean and - unlike Bangalore's ISI - has hot running water at the press of a button! Best of all, it's only a 10 minute ride from the offices of the Dalit Foundation (DF).
Over the last week, I have learned some stark facts about the injustices facing India's Dalit communities. Consider for a moment the following:
- Every day, three Dalit women are raped;
- Around 90 per cent of all poor Indians are Dalits;
- More than 50 per cent of Dalit girls have never gone to school;
- About 100 manual scavengers (typically Dalits employed to clean public and private manholes) lose their lives every year as a result of their hazardous jobs.
As you can imagine, there is a lot to absorb but I have been reading as much as possible to understand the work of DF and its CBOs. Tomorrow marks the start of a five-day field trip to Lucknow and Kanpur in neighbouring Utter Pradesh. I am looking forward to the opportunity to live among Dalits and speak to individuals first hand (with the help of a translator, of course!).
As it happens, the state's chief minister Mayawati is a Dalit woman who has risen from the slums to a powerful political role. For many, she symbolises the struggle for Dalit liberation and attainment. However, she is embroiled in controversy as a result of her self-indulgent plans to build a gigantic park featuring statues of herself at a cost of Rs. 300 crore. This, while legions of Dalits in the state remain impoverished.....Yet still she has her admirers among the Dalit community. As ever, politics here remains inscrutable.
Good luck with your placements as you head into your second week!
Look forward to the next batch of blogs.
Tina x
It's been a fun, hectic and challenging week adjusting to life in the capital. My guesthouse is comfortable, clean and - unlike Bangalore's ISI - has hot running water at the press of a button! Best of all, it's only a 10 minute ride from the offices of the Dalit Foundation (DF).
Over the last week, I have learned some stark facts about the injustices facing India's Dalit communities. Consider for a moment the following:
- Every day, three Dalit women are raped;
- Around 90 per cent of all poor Indians are Dalits;
- More than 50 per cent of Dalit girls have never gone to school;
- About 100 manual scavengers (typically Dalits employed to clean public and private manholes) lose their lives every year as a result of their hazardous jobs.
As you can imagine, there is a lot to absorb but I have been reading as much as possible to understand the work of DF and its CBOs. Tomorrow marks the start of a five-day field trip to Lucknow and Kanpur in neighbouring Utter Pradesh. I am looking forward to the opportunity to live among Dalits and speak to individuals first hand (with the help of a translator, of course!).
As it happens, the state's chief minister Mayawati is a Dalit woman who has risen from the slums to a powerful political role. For many, she symbolises the struggle for Dalit liberation and attainment. However, she is embroiled in controversy as a result of her self-indulgent plans to build a gigantic park featuring statues of herself at a cost of Rs. 300 crore. This, while legions of Dalits in the state remain impoverished.....Yet still she has her admirers among the Dalit community. As ever, politics here remains inscrutable.
Good luck with your placements as you head into your second week!
Look forward to the next batch of blogs.
Tina x
Friday, 10 July 2009
Greetings from Guju Town!
Hi everyone
It's Saahil and Nisha here from AWAG. It has really struck us as to how different Bangalore and Ahmedabad are! Bangalore being cosmopolitan, clean, cool and easier to navigate around. AWAG is located within a slum area where the beneficiaries of the charity live. Our first day was quite intensive. On the one hand it was harrowing to hear the stories of these women but, on the other hand it was quite uplifting to hear of the changes that had been implemented thus far.
Yesterday was our first evening out in Ahmedabad. Satelite Road seems to be one big never ending highway where many shops and malls are situated. The shops in the mall were very modern, western and posh. A complete contrast to the slum areas located just a short walk away.
On a more practical note we have yet to find a CCD and an adequate map of the city for Priya!! Missing all of you guys and Bangalore and CCD and MG road and ISI!
Look forward to hearing all of your stories.
Nisha and Saahil xxxxxx
It's Saahil and Nisha here from AWAG. It has really struck us as to how different Bangalore and Ahmedabad are! Bangalore being cosmopolitan, clean, cool and easier to navigate around. AWAG is located within a slum area where the beneficiaries of the charity live. Our first day was quite intensive. On the one hand it was harrowing to hear the stories of these women but, on the other hand it was quite uplifting to hear of the changes that had been implemented thus far.
Yesterday was our first evening out in Ahmedabad. Satelite Road seems to be one big never ending highway where many shops and malls are situated. The shops in the mall were very modern, western and posh. A complete contrast to the slum areas located just a short walk away.
On a more practical note we have yet to find a CCD and an adequate map of the city for Priya!! Missing all of you guys and Bangalore and CCD and MG road and ISI!
Look forward to hearing all of your stories.
Nisha and Saahil xxxxxx
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
Samachar from Saath
Hello Fellow Paropkaars!
Miss you all like crazy from yesterday. How were the trips?
What a full on last 12 hours. I arrived at Saaath early afternoon to learn about a plethora of social enterprise projects. Their concept is one of helping people to access their services and pay for them rather than the pure charitable receiver model. I was so amazed to see all that they do and I keep thinking that I haven't yet even seen anything in action. The offices have a real buzz about them. Ok, so turning to the banks! Shocking fact for the day - informal money lenders (ie the black economy) lend money to slum community borrowers typically at rates of 200-300%! I just can't believe how exploitative that is. I've spoken loads with Divyang today who manages the micro finance project. We compared UK and US indebtedness and discussed saving loan ratios. Indians typically save about 30% of their monthly salary but slum dwellers are cut off from accessing finance because of a lack of credit history and the fact that private and public banks don't want to set up shop near slums. However, Saath's programme is really positive in that you have to be a saver for 6 months before you qualify for a loan, so the habit of saving is engendered. Anyway, more soon - I am visiting the branches tmrw and reading about cooperative banking regulation! By the way, ahmedabad is so garam - it's like walking through an oven. Been told to drink at least 4 litres of water again. And guess what, being Gujurat, the local radio plays garbas all year round. Stay smiling
Love Priya
Miss you all like crazy from yesterday. How were the trips?
What a full on last 12 hours. I arrived at Saaath early afternoon to learn about a plethora of social enterprise projects. Their concept is one of helping people to access their services and pay for them rather than the pure charitable receiver model. I was so amazed to see all that they do and I keep thinking that I haven't yet even seen anything in action. The offices have a real buzz about them. Ok, so turning to the banks! Shocking fact for the day - informal money lenders (ie the black economy) lend money to slum community borrowers typically at rates of 200-300%! I just can't believe how exploitative that is. I've spoken loads with Divyang today who manages the micro finance project. We compared UK and US indebtedness and discussed saving loan ratios. Indians typically save about 30% of their monthly salary but slum dwellers are cut off from accessing finance because of a lack of credit history and the fact that private and public banks don't want to set up shop near slums. However, Saath's programme is really positive in that you have to be a saver for 6 months before you qualify for a loan, so the habit of saving is engendered. Anyway, more soon - I am visiting the branches tmrw and reading about cooperative banking regulation! By the way, ahmedabad is so garam - it's like walking through an oven. Been told to drink at least 4 litres of water again. And guess what, being Gujurat, the local radio plays garbas all year round. Stay smiling
Love Priya
Monday, 29 June 2009
Welcome to the AFP Paropkaar blogspot
Hello everyone,
Sheetal has been a star and set up this private blog for the use of all you lovely people going to India over the next week. I hope you are using this heatwave to get acclimatised as it is hot, hot, hot in India at the moment.
Please make use of this blog to stay in touch and tell us all your stories over the coming weeks.
Good luck with your packing!
Leena
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