Bagli Haat

(originally written on June 27, 2011)

Since we are in a pretty remote and isolated area, it is not easy taking extravagant weekend trips around India. The closet train station and airport is at least 3 hours away in Indore on really bad roadways which really limits travel options. The buses are not fun for such long periods - so we try to get a group of people together to hire a car & driver to take us to some local sites. Luckily there are plenty of things to do and see in the local area.


One Sunday a group of us went to Kaneri, a waterfall and Hindu temple deep in the jungle - Julie posted a picture a couple weeks back. Another Sunday we took a trip to Indore (the closest big city) where we went to Treasure Island, the big commercial mall. It was air conditioned which was a nice relief from the extreme heat. We watching a Bollywood film - Ready with Salman Khan and Asin, ate at Pizza Hut, had some ice cream at McDonald's, and did a little shopping. Additionally, we got to go to a local market and buy some fantastic mangoes. Two other Sundays we spent at our campus doing laundry, taking naps and a lot of reading. There isn't much to do on Sundays at our campus, especially when the electricity goes out for several hours at a time - so the day feels very long.
This past weekend, we spent the night at Jhatashankar, the main office location in their guest room. We watch 3 movies: Crash, Bridget Jones' Diary and Sherlock Holmes. We ate really good food (pasta casserole, potato cutlets, mango & chocolate ice cream!) and were able to take baths with heated water. It felt like heaven. On Sunday morning we walked a couple of kilometers to a popular Hindu Temple and met a nice village women who showed us her fields. She was so friendly and inquisitive - between Julie and I, we were able to have a somewhat decent conversation in Hindi. In the afternoon, we went with Hari, the Jhatashankar cook, to the Bagli Haat. Haat is the weekly market - it happens in Bagli every Sunday. Local farmers and other people come from the surrounding areas to sell and buy vegetables, fruits, snacks, and other household items. It was quite crowded and quite a colorful site to see. It was particularly amusing to watch all the cows trying to steal potatoes out for sale.

Julie and I were taking a lot of photos of the different vegetables and people when a nicely dressed gentleman came up to us and mentioned something about press pass. We got worried that we weren't allowed to take photos and put our cameras away. We had a brief stilted conversation in Hindi about our names, where we were from and how we were interning at SPS. Then he asked to take our photo. We said sure, why not. We thought he was just another person maybe visiting from another city or some government official. We never got his information and didn't think anything more about it. Until this morning. One of the core team members asked if I had seen the local Hindi paper. I said no, since I don't read Hindi, I don't pay attention to that paper. She found it and showed me the article. In the middle is the picture of Julie & I at the market - the photo taken by that gentleman. The article states we are two foreign girls shopping at the local market, attracting quite the crowd of people staring at us (nothing new - this happens everywhere we go) and how we are interning at SPS. We made the local news! I am greatly amused by this and have attached a photo of the article.

Other photos attached are of Hari selecting potatoes (potatoes show up in every meal in one way or another) and of the overall market.

I can't believe we only have 2 full weekends left. Our internship ends July 16th. Time is flying by.

More Kumbaya Photos

Here's a few more Kumbaya Photos...

1photo: Anju and Pappu hard at work at figuring out the costs of the items

1photo: Anju showing off her Kumbaya made outfit. The shirt is all natural dyed.

2 photos: showing how the cutting it done w/ stencils and checking out the quality of a shirt

1 photo: demonstrating how to sew on a pocket

Kumbaya

(originally written on June 20, 2011)

Kumbaya has to be one of my favorite Samaj Pragati Sahayog initiatives. Partially because they produce beautiful items, partially because it is a really innovative project to promote women's empowerment, and partially because the staff is some of the friendliest people I've met so far.
"The unique significance of Kumbaya is that in a predominantly agrarian region, where there have been no traditional marketable crafts, it makes machine-stitched ready-to-wear garments, home linen and accessories designed to market specifications and international trends. Located deep in the tribal drylands for the last fourteen years, Kumbaya has empowered women from one of the most deprived areas of the country by creating livelihoods through the dynamic skill of garment fabrication. Most of these tribal women had never stitched a garment before and had no options other than manual labour. Kumbaya is also hope for many differently-abled people, particularly women, whose inability to contribute manual labour in an agricultural area leads to their abandonment. Today over 500 women in 50 villages of Udainagar revenue circle and Bagli tehsil have learnt stitching."

They have 2 centers where women (and men and handicapped people) from surrounding villages come to train and produce various garments based on orders that Kumbaya receives. At the main office location is the 3rd Kumbaya center - where they store the cloth, cut items to be stitched by the ladies at the 2 other centers, and create samples for potential production. Additionally, this is where Shahid, one of the employees, does his specialized embroidery. His work is amazing and it's just memorizing to watch him create the beautiful pieces. Here's a neat mini-documentary that focuses on Shahid's craft.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT-X0r5aC5w&feature=player_embedded

Majority of my time is spent at the main office location and Anju, coordinator of the Kumbaya initiative, is my main companion on my bus trips back and forth (She speaks Hindi and English - so she does a lot of translating so I don't end up in some random village because of my horrible Hindi skills). So I have gotten to know the Kumbaya team at the main office location very well. They are lovely group who are very friendly (and made me some fabulous shirts! I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot of money before I love).

I couldn't help but attach a lot of photos

1 photo: one of the centers where villagers are working on their products - with various patchwork quilts on the wall

1 photo: all the men working in the main location - in charge of cutting, sampling etc

3 photos: Shahid at work and two of his embroidery work

Local Tribal Women and Self-Help Groups

(originally written on June 13, 2011)

One of the main goals of SPS (Samaj Pragati Sahayog) is empowering local women, particularly their rights to sustainable livelihood. I've had the opportunity to meet with several women from a variety of backgrounds. Even though this is a rural area - people are very diverse in their forms of employment: agricultural laborers, daily wage laborers, self-employed, migrants, displaced and so forth. But many of the women have the same issues and come together in Self-Help Group meetings (SHG), SHGs are facilitated by SPS - it provides an opportunity for local women to take part in a local savings and loan plan that is completely decided by them. One may consider it a form of Microfinance - however, SHG is more focused on including social programs with their financial awareness - learning about nutrition, how to sign your name, community marriage opportunities etc. Whereas many Microfinance institutions are more profit driven and focused on repayments. Even though SPS monitors the meetings, the women make the decisions regarding the rules of the group, how to save and who to give loans to etc. This is a huge part of empowerment. Now many women have been able to use the loans for healthcare or their child's education or expanding a business opportunity for better source of income This opportunity allows women to have a say in many of their daily household decisions. It helps women be more confident in handling money and speaking up for their rights. It has been great meeting these women and seeing how they are benefiting and growing through the help of SHGs and SPS. This description barely touches the iceburg of SHGs and how interconnected it is with so many other programs.
Attached are photos of some meetings I've sat in or some of the women I've met.

Drylands

(originally written on June 7, 2011)

As mentioned earlier, the area of Madhya Pradesh that Julie and I are staying is known as the drylands. Only with monsoons does the area get any water that will help with the crops. Until the monsoons arrive, the landscape is very barren due to the lack of water and extreme heat. Water scarcity is a big issue in this region. There is not enough water for drinking let alone for crops which is necessary for nutrition and income. The region is completely dependent on the monsoons. SPS started as an organization focusing on how to conserve water during the monsoon season in order for there to be water in other months. Julie and I went on a field trip to look at two water reservoirs - one just completed and one in progress - with the hopes that it'll contain the rain water for use in the months after monsoons end. This water will help irrigate the crops so the local farmers are able to harvest a 2nd crop that increase their personal food supplies as well as have more goods to sell on the market.

The pictures give you an idea of how dry it currently it. Everyone is counting down to the monsoons because apparently the heat will lessen and the whole area will turn into lush green scenery. I can not wait to see the transformation. As well see how much water the reservoirs manage to capture.

3 lessons

(originally written on June 6, 2011)

Into my 3rd week in India and I've learned 3 very important things...
1. Patience is key. Rural India runs on a completely different schedule and time frame. Everything requires a lot of coordination and patience. It is extremely hot which can make things even more difficult. It is not easy getting anywhere because everything is pretty remote and isolated. The buses are late. People are late. Meetings are late. Things change. How do we get there from here? We're taking the bus? The car? Who's going with us? Who speaks English and can help translate? Oh, this meeting changed? Oh, we're going here now? Wait, it changed again? The electricity here. And now it's gone. Cellphone service here. And now it's gone. Internet connection is here. And now it's gone. The generator broke and now there is no water? Well, crap. You get the picture. It can be very frustrating at times not knowing what is going on hour to hour let alone day to day. But I keep in mind how much effort everyone is making to ensure that we are given a full orientation and taken to various sites to learn everything. It is not easy to coordinate all this - very time consuming. And I really appreciate that they are willing to take the time to introduce us to every aspect of the organization.

2. There is poop everywhere. Cow dung. Water buffalo dung. Goat poop (Amazing how much goats poop. I visited one family in the village who had 9 goats - they were nonstop pooping machines). Hog poop. Chicken poop. Cat poop. Dog poop. Lizard poop. Bird poop. And all these animals basically run around free. In the streets, shop store fronts, people's front yards etc. So you always have to be on the look out for poop. And if you really think about it - it's dry season here - so everything is dusty and dried up - which means the poop is dried up - which means there is probably poop dust in the air mixed in with the other dust. Lovely thought, huh?

3. People stare. people know you are a foreigner and they stare. No matter where you go or what you are wearing or what you are doing, people stare. And if you happen to be a person of a larger size, people really stare. Adults have slowed down their bikes to a stop just to watch me walk. Little kids laugh and point their fingers. And sometimes the kids or teenagers will say mean things. But you need to remember, this is rural India. They may not have had exposure to many outside things. I am vastly different. I am wearing tshirts and pants - not the typical outfits so I already stand out. And in this area - food security is a big issue - many people have very little to eat so they are skinny or even malnourished and anemic. So a larger person may be a completely foreign concept. Having a thick skin helps as well as ignoring the stares - b/c there is not really much you can do about it. However, when I do interact with the local villagers (primarily women and children) - they have been nothing but nice.

This trip has definitely been an experience so far.
-Keena Kang

Pictures from SPS

(originally written on May 31, 2011)

Keena Kang forwarded along these pictures the people at SPS took of CASI interns starting their internships.

1st photo: Resting in the shade after looking at the watershed - talking with the local men on how it was constructed

2nd photo: Looking at a watershed that was constructed with the help of SPS in Agra (Bagli Block).