India with Strangers, by Neela Pal

“What is it about Calcutta’s poverty that attracts journalists, filmmakers, travel writers and curious visitors?…As New Yorkers know, great cities can inspire – and sometimes depress – their inhabitants. So also Calcuttans have an intense love-hate relationship with their city.”

--Frederic C. Thomas, Calcutta Poor: Elegies on a City Above Pretense

These days, I sometimes don’t recognize my own life. Once unfamiliar actions have become second nature: I jump, salwar kameez-clad, on and off of rickety buses traversing Kolkata. I lead office meetings resolutely in Bengali. I share a home with an elderly photographer and his wife (Kaku and Kaki), who revel in feeding me. These are the coordinates of my Kolkata existence.

Until this September, my India was largely visits to Shillong, the hilly capital of Meghalaya in the remote Northeast region of the country. Indians were my relatives – unassuming, family-oriented individuals who remained timeless throughout childhood visits. Since birth my parents had introduced me to their India; I was ready to find mine.

Prayasam in Sanskrit means “genuine effort.” What I see everyday is a modest, grassroots NGO leveraging limited resources to touch the most neglected corners of a metropolis caught mid-modernization. Recently I worked with my mentor and other staff members to plan Prayasam’s Foundation Day. I saw discarded cardboard and recycled tissue paper transformed into imperfect yet charming office decorations. Gift bags created from old newspapers and twine. The city’s underutilized citizens came to serve its underprivileged – twenty veteran Prayasam volunteers, all wealthy housewives regal in their sarees, led mud-spattered children of brick kiln migrant workers in song, dance, poetry and theatre.

I may bring coveted “American” organization and English writing skills, but I have much to learn from the simple ingenuity of this organization’s operations. NGO work, I am finding, is a matter of pragmatic conservation – making the most with what one has – as much as articulate strategies.

In my brief time at Prayasam, I have been overwhelmed by the volume of activity and need, and pleasantly surprised by the close knit office’s readiness to accept me, the resident foreigner and semi-Bengali, into their midst. Formally tasked with managing the organization’s “Documentation Desk, Prokaash,” I am constantly in search of English words that do justice to the dynamic field activities – child rights workshops, leadership trainings, community mobilization meetings, all in Bengali – surrounding me. Then there is the anti-gender violence programming series, “Silent Scream,” I am suddenly overseeing. Not to mention the Spoken English sessions I am organizing for staff members, whose comprehension is far below the academic development speak my mentor often launches into; and the organization’s first electronic newsletter that remains on my to-do list to create.

Very little has worked out as expected. The planning and re-planning of activities, the perpetual and verbose team meetings, the last-minute decisions that accompany every day – working at Prayasam has been a daily exercise in patience, flexibility, and often, inspiration.

India has been similarly unpredictable. I gripe with my fellow expat friends here about the inefficiencies that plague the city, but I am enamored. I relish the things I didn’t know I could. Authentic Bengali meals on steel plates loaded with rice that I wipe clean at every dinner. Bumpy commutes in unprotected autos, through which I’ve memorized roads with no signs. Spirited bargaining sessions in Bengali at the local Haati Bagan market, which is satisfyingly chaotic and tourist-unfriendly. And air-conditioned spaces for reflection at the local Oxford Bookstore and Barista chains.

I don’t know about finding a new home for ten months, but…though a recent arrival to West Bengal’s overcrowded capital, I am comfortable.

-Neela Pal

Prayasam Office, Salt Lake City: After introducing Director,
Piali Mazumdar, listening to her remarks with Prayasam
volunteers on the organization's Foundation Day, November 8.

Bhatpara, West Bengal: Describing possibilities for testing
student knowledge to Instructors at a September training of
community mobilizers working with migrant brick kiln workers.

Greetings from Ahmedabad, by Ekta Dharia

I am so grateful to be in this country, to have this opportunity to contribute to India’s development and to my NGO, and to learn from those that I work with … to be humbled by them and to cultivate a heart of service.

Two months have already passed by – it’s all happening so fast, it’s all such a whirlwind. I feel like I never really know what to expect next here, as I’m always going from one extreme to next – from poverty in the slums to dinners in nice restaurants, from rural life to urban chaos. But that’s India in a nutshell, and I’m slowly learning how to take in and immerse myself in every part of it.

A lot has happened since I’ve been here, but here’s a snapshot of what I’ve been doing in India so far:

MY WORK:

I’m working in Ahmedabad for Navsarjan, an NGO that works to eliminate caste-based discrimination in India, particularly against the Dalits (so called “untouchables”).

A lot of people say that caste is no longer an issue in India. Even after just a few short weeks in India, I realized that this was entirely untrue. It plays a huge role in the way society is run, particularly for those who belong to “lower” castes. Untouchability is also widely practiced, especially in rural areas, where Dalits often encounter caste-based violence.

Even among the Dalits, there is another hierarchical sub-caste system, the “lowest” of which are the manual scavengers. So “low” are they that other Dalits don’t even want to associate with them. These manual scavengers are given the dirtiest jobs in India – cleaning up human waste, unclogging sewers, removing dead animals off the streets, etc. This practice is officially illegal but is continued widely.

For my project, I’ll be focusing on this manual scavenging issue. I recently visited the village of Paliyad, about five hours away from Ahmedabad. Paliyad is organized by caste – meaning, every caste and sub-caste lives in its own section of the village. The Dalits live in the poorest areas of the village and are not allowed to interact with people of so-called "upper castes."

I'm working to help rehabilitate these manual scavengers – to have them leave manual scavenging for good and to enter dignified occupations. The project I have decided to do focuses on garment making and tailoring, as these products can be easily transported from the village to the city (where there is less caste discrimination) and can be done from people's own homes. One woman in the village currently knows how to make beautiful godhris or quilts. I hope that the greater Dalit community in Paliyad will be able to learn how to tailor and make these godhris. I also hope that I will be able to find a market for these garments in Ahmedabad. In so doing, we would be able to provide these Dalit families a sustainable income from a dignified occupation.

The project is incredibly challenging, as the families have so far been unwilling to work together and are resistant to switching out of manual scavenging. There is also already an established garment market in Ahmedabad, and it may be difficult to penetrate that. I hope that over the next eight months, I will understand some of these challenges better and will be able to navigate them in a productive and positive manner.

MY LIFE OUTSIDE OF WORK:

While my time in India is very much about my work, it’s also very much about living in Ahmedabad, about being in this country, travelling, exploring, and taking time away just to immerse myself into as much of India as I can.

I’m grateful that I got to do a lot of that this month. October is a very festive month in Gujarat, with two major Hindu holidays – Navratri and Diwali.

Navratri is particularly significant in Gujarat. For nine nights straight, people dress up in some of their fanciest chanya cholis and saris to dance garba and raas for hours. While I've been to Navratri festivals in the US before, there is nothing quite like what I experienced here in Ahmedabad. The dancing was phenomenal, the outfits were incredibly beautiful, and the music lasted for hours and hours.

For Diwali break, I went with five of my friends (four of which are fellow AIF fellows) down to the southern state of Kerala. The trip was definitely one of the best vacations I've ever had. From riding elephants and seeing breathtaking views of nature to dancing and singing to "Desi Girl" (a Bollywood song) on repeat in the car, the trip was definitely unforgettable! It was also great for me to see what life in India outside of Gujarati culture is like because I've never before experienced that. While Kerala and Gujarat are incredibly different, it was reassuring to notice some of the same threads that tie this country together – the incredible generosity, the other-centeredness, and a rich culture and unique language!

-Ekta Dharia

Inaugural Post from the 2008-2009 Fellows, by Michael Yau

Welcome readers to the AIF Service Corps ‘08-‘09 blog. This blog was created as a forum for the Service Corps Fellows to share our experiences. After a packed orientation in Delhi at the beginning of September, we have spent the last few weeks settling into our respective placements and beginning projects with our NGOs. I thought I would provide some background on my projects, how they are going, and what it has been like settling into my placement.

Work:

Seva Mandir

My placement is with an NGO called Seva Mandir in Udaipur, Rajasthan. I am sure most of the Fellows are beginning to get attached to their respective cities, but since I get to write the first blog entry, I’d like to this the best placement ever.

Seva Mandir has been around for around forty years and works in variety of development projects throughout Rajasthan. Unlike many of the other NGOs that I have encountered, Seva Mandir has a very active volunteer program. They have over one hundred volunteers that come through during the year and there is a coordinator who helps to structure projects, assign mentors, and plan general logistics. I am currently working on two projects: one with microfinance program and another to develop a livelihood project with the natural resources group.

SHG Program

One of my main interests when I started looking for opportunities in India was to gain some exposure into microfinance. Seva Mandir uses a SHG model for microfinance (as opposed to the Grameen Bank model for example). SHG stands for “Self-Help Group” and is basically a collection of village women who meet regularly to address issues that are affecting them or their community. The SHG is also used as a microfinance vehicle for savings, loans, and income generation.

For example, a group of ten women will meet monthly and each member will be required to put 10Rs (about 25 US cents) of savings into the SHG fund. This pool of money then grows until they have enough to open a bank account, which generates some interest income. The savings pool is also used for internal loaning, but the SHG as a unit can also go to banks and get external loans. There are a variety of uses for these loans such as consumption, income generation, or emergencies. Unlike Grameen or many of the other microfinance institutions, Seva Mandir does not actually handle the savings and loans, but rather facilitates the SHG program by offering financial literacy training, accountants, etc.

The problem with the program is that though it has grown to well over 500 SHGs, there is no tracking of how the various groups are doing (how much they are saving, loaning, etc.). The “accountants” are usually village people with at best high-school level education and are often not completely proficient in math. This past week I met an accountant who stopped his formal education after the fifth grade.

I have been working with another Seva Mandir volunteer and one of the regional managers on some capacity building initiatives for the SHG program. We have created some basic tests to assess where the accountants are having issues and are in the process of developing a training module and reference manual for both existing and future accountants.

During the next month, the three of us will be visiting each of the regions and offering training sessions for all the accountants. We have already visited two regions and despite the session being conducted in another language, it is rewarding to see our work begin utilized and helpful to talk with the accountants about where they are having questions or problems.

After we complete the training sessions, we plan to hire some external accountants to go through each village/SHG and check the books with the ultimate goal that external accountants can audit the SHG program on an annual basis. We are also working on a performance measurement tool to analyze how the SHG program is doing using various quantitative and qualitative methods but that part of the project will not begin until after we have made some progress with cleaning up the books.

Custard Apple Livelihood Program

Along with the SHG program, I am also working on a livelihood project. As a very basic overview of the current situation, local villagers collect custard apples (a local fruit that I will talk more about later) and sell it to a regional collector for about 2Rs/kg. By the time it reaches market, custard apples are sold for at least 20Rs/kg. Based on our initial assessment, there is limited value-add from the regional collector and with some basic training, the villagers will be able to cut out the middleman and increase their productivity and livelihood by three to four fold.

We have found an NGO in a nearby state that has done a similar capacity building project with their local custard apple pickers. I contacted them about providing training for our villagers and we are scheduled to go the first week after Diwali. During the past week, I had the opportunity to visit the village where the custard apples are grown and talk with the local farmers. It was great to be “in the field” and though there was a language barrier, I really enjoyed meeting with the villagers, seeing their homes, and the best part, trying custard apples for the first time.

The custard apple is about the same the size as an apple but that is where the similarities end. On the outside it is bumpy and almost looks like an artichoke. The meat is soft and fleshy and the fruit is filled with big seeds. The custard apple is extremely sweet and has quickly become one of my favorite fruits.

Udaipur:
Settling into Udaipur has been a lot easier because of the other volunteers at Seva Mandir, especially my flat mates. When I first arrived, there were three other volunteers, but one moved on about a week after I moved in. It was sad to see a new friend leave, but I was able to move into my own bedroom and we turned the extra room into a living room/lounge. We used extra mattresses as seats, a bed frame as a dining table, and covered the room with bright posters and Christmas lights. It's quite a nice place to have dinner, watch a movie on somebody's laptop, or just hang out and read. Alvaro and Fizzy (my two remaining roommates) spent an afternoon building a swing outside our porch with a piece of wood and some rope. Alvaro is quite the handyman and his latest project was to build a ping-pong table out of a bed frame, sticks, and tape. Both projects came out much better than I could have imagined.

I hope everyone enjoyed learning about my projects and what I am doing in Udaipur. I hope everyone had a Happy Diwali.

-Michael Yau