Learning Journey // Bhuj (Part 2)

(continued from Part 1 - Ahmedabad)

Day 5

We arrive in the morning to Bhuj Station and make our way to Pranav Farm Resort, the health-retreat style accommodation that would become our home for the next few days. There is a swimming pool (which we did not get round to using!) surrounded by beautiful gardens, with our 2-bed round huts sitting in clusters like some kind of smurf village. The accommodation here and in Ahmedabad was clean and relatively simple – it would have felt uncomfortable visiting slums and then coming back to a 5-star hotel! After unpacking, a quick wash and powernap we have breakfast. Fully loaded up, we jump in our cars to visit Abhiyan.

Abhiyan, the umbrella NGO
Abhiyan is an umbrella organisation covering 30 NGOs and 450 Villages. Sandeepbhai and Sushmadidi host us at the Abhiyan office and enlighten us with a very informative and interactive presentation. Abhiyan set out in the late 80’s to create, nurture and enable communities. To build local leadership and confidence, through a sense of belonging and combined ownership.

Sushmadidi explained that the following factors made Abhiyan successful: commitment to locality; Acceptance of vulnerability and ability to ask for help and collective strength of all or “constructive transformation”.

After a ‘big-picture’ insight, we are able to see huge difference in environment compared to urban Ahmedabad. Kutch is a sparse land with different NGOs operating at large distances apart. Kutch has been made famous for earthquakes and we discover that not all efforts have been good.


KMVS – women’s self sustainence and empowerment
We have lunch at KMVS, one of the NGOs Abhiyan supports. KMVS (Kutch Mahila Vikas Sanghathan) is a collective of self-sustaining producer groups of over 6000 rural women. In addition to producing crafts, KMVS works on a range of empowerment/development issues such as savings and credits, legal aid, environment, health, education and local governance.

Due to KMVS’s sustained efforts over the past decade, these women have helped each other, their families and their communities extricate themselves from a vicious downward spiral of commercial exploitation by middlemen and traders.


HunnarShala – reconstructing communities
We take a drive out to the earthquake hit regions to see new sites being developed with housing for people made homeless by earthquakes. HunnarShala, an earthquake-relief NGO has been working out here on reviving old construction techniques and promoting new eco-friendly techniques of construction. Its aim is to reinforce the dwellings in durable matter for the poor populations, to encourage the integration of craftsmen in the processes of current constructions and to promote economic and ecological local materials.

It was saddening to find how long many had waited, but also pleasing to see how house proud they were now. An idea I picked up whilst backpacking previously to India is to take balloons where ever you go. They make great toys being so simple and easy to carry around. I inflate a couple and play with the local children – it’s great to see how within in a matter of seconds all hesitations and language/cultural barriers disappear and we are having fun like fellow villagers!

I recollect what Sushmadidi said about what makes Abhiyan successful and saw it in practice out in the field.


A Thread of Life - Shrujan
To provide contrast we then visit a more established NGO called Shrujan Trust, whose main objective is to provide design, marketing and training support to the traditional handicrafts sector of Kutch to make the artisans economically self-reliant. The organisation works as a kind of cooperative; It was quite interesting to see how the men created simple patterns with ink on sheets of cloth, packaged with bundles of expensive colourful thread and then sent these out to the women in villages. Shortly after the women would send back the finished products so that they can be taken to market. We see examples of the beautifully intricate ‘craft-womenship’ that are available for sale in the refreshingly cool air-conditioned shop.

Shrujan was started with artisans of one village in Kutch in 1969. Today, it offers help to over 3,000 women and 200 men in 120 villages of the Kutch district. We meet one of the founders of Shrujan, whose wife was recently chosen as a Laureate of the Rolex Awards for her plan to ensure the survival of an exquisite art form in a way that creates a sustainable source of income for the women of Kutch.

“Thread of Life” – Shrujan – is the beautifully carved motto on the stone outside the entrance. The website is particularly good example of the work – http://www.shrujan.org/.


Day 6

VRTI – institute devoted to developing innovative agriculture techniques
We begin the day by visiting VRTI (Vivekananda Research and Training Institute), formed in 1975 to make village economies self-reliant and sustainable. We take a walk around and discover how VRTI works on a range of issues from watershed management, agriculture, animal husbandry and eco-restoration. It was especially interesting to see the experiments they were conducting on alternative farming and bio-gas (plenty of cows around to support this work!).


KMVS Mundra – central office and distant shores
We first visit KMVS offices and have a discussion in the hall with select members of this organisation. A combination of midwives and other workers join us later. We discover how these women have been working since 1989, primarily as a collective of rural women focusing on development and empowerment issues around, handicrafts, savings and credits, legal aid, health, environment and citizens’ rights. They also run a radio programme – a powerful tool for women to relate to other women speaking free of men!

Having lunch was insightful – sitting on the floor with these local women interspersed between us. My conversational confidence had increased and I no longer hesitated. After a delightful insight, we travel out to a fishing community.

Even with the windows wound up full, air conditioning on max, the first thing to hit us was the stench. Stinking drying fish combined with salty sea air was putrid. As our cars drove up to the make-shift homes of these families, we begin to see a vast landscape, miles upon miles of sand and in the distance we see Mundra Port, famous for its ship building and being a central point of trade. Mundra is in fact one of the national “Special Economic Zones”, and currently receiving significant investment from the wealthy Adani Group. Walking around I didn’t feel anything special about what I was experiencing. As we walk around we see fences made of drying fish (e.g. Bombay duck) and the huts in which the families resided. As I walk in front of one of the huts the children come out, interacting with us. I notice their mother cooking food, with flies all over everything. Speaking to the fishermen, they tell us that every few days they have to pay for a tanker to come and deliver fresh water since the sea water is to salty for any kind of use. Combined with difficult prices received for fish, they are struggling to survive. As some of the girls retreat to the cars, we all decide its time to leave for breathable air!

Although it was uncomfortable to be in such a strong smelling environment, it was a powerful way to experience their lifestyle. People treat these fishermen as untouchables also, because when they come into the villages they bring the smell, the same one that was causing us to retreat.

We spend the remainder of the day in discussion. What are the challenges being created by economic advancement? What is the integrity of multinationals and is there any value to their promises to consider locals? We saw first hand the impact of the port development to the detriment of the Mundra fishing community. Is this the price we need to pay? Can anything be done?


Discussions and role plays
Full of energy for discussion, arguments and thoughts we begin the evening activity of a role play/group discussion. We are put in three groups – local village NGO, fishermen community, and the Company (i.e. Mundra Port Corporation / Adani Group). The position to argue: Adani Group wants expansion of the Port and we are to argue for/against this in front of a panel of Government Officials. Some interesting, and somewhat entertaining and even heated debate followed, before the judges went away to decide a verdict.



Day 7

Building bridges that connect national resource to local needs – Setu
Setu, meaning "bridge," is a NGO formed in the aftermath of the 2002 Kutch earthquake, to coordinate relief efforts and distribute resources based on localised need. Under the guidance of Abhiyan, Setu developed a vast local network that bridged the information gap between affected villages, the government, and NGOs. Setu’s current role, similar to its role during the relief efforts, is to collect accurate information to guide and implement development procedures. Setu bridged information in both directions: (1) Setu collected information at the village level and centralised it for use at organizational levels; (2) Setu took information from central bodies and distributed it through its village hubs to inform locals about government schemes and other rehabilitation efforts. In this way, Setu has played a pivotal role in numerous interventions involving village resources, health, education and livelihood.

We visit one location, Dhamadka, where Setu operated, and got a fantastic opportunity to visit a vibrant small village. After a short walk, we sit down on the floor in what seems to be the town centre (a big open space with a Mandir at the front!). A group of men join us – they look like they have just walked out of a bollywood movie as gangsters, but behind the oil slicked hair and hasslehof-shirts, we discover that these are the men with power in the village. They are the elected chiefs and local government or “panchayat” members. To our surprise, we find one of the women sitting there to also be a member!

We speak about the challenges faced in the village – such as electricity, school buildings and water supply. They explain how with the help of Setu, the local government has begun to consider their requirements. We get to see some of the evidence of progress made so far and walk around further, experiencing more great village life!


Train ride home and live entertainment Antaksharee
The train ride home was one of the most enjoyable social aspects of the trip! We spend endless hours playing Antaksharee, to the amusement (and probably eventual annoyance) of fellow travellers. It gets so late that the carriage lights go out for everyone to sleep, so we decide to stop playing and just chat. Due to the size of our group, we are spread over several carriages, so I manage to hop between a few to enjoy a variety of social gossip!


Day 8

Concluding thoughts and constructive action to take away… from Indicorps Anand Shah
“What does it take/will it take for change?” – wrote Anand Shah, one of the founders of Indicorps, on to a small chalk board as we all sat round in a circle on the veranda at ESI.
Anand, also a Harvard Graduate, sat quite simply on the floor in his kurta speaking with conviction of purpose. He spoke about how to challenge our thinking and to step out of our comfort zones.

He mentions Thomas Friedman’s “Golden Straight Jacket” as a way to describe the future and globalisation. Globalisation is inevitable, but there are two inherent struggles here – a drive for prosperity and development versus the desire to retain identity and traditions.

Anand continues to describe the shortage of people with the kind of thinking necessary to drive the right kind of change for India. From our visits to a variety of NGOs we saw the variation in leadership abilities. This is what Indicorps does I guess – brings the outside of the box thinking into the NGOs that would benefit from it most. Enabling projects to get much needed leadership, enthusiasm and skills as well as enabling eager Indicorps Fellows to get an amazing growing experience.

We come to some sort of conclusion to his initial question – What does it take for change? … People It takes people – a paradigm shift in peoples thinking – that will cause change. It was quite an open question with an open answer. Not specific to India, UK, your home or your community or even the World. “One should try and the leave the world better off by your existence”, said Anand. I share my opinion that I felt it was also leadership; genuine and integral, that was necessary to drive forward responsible change.

Another memorably quote to that came to mind from previous reflection session was:

“If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” - Lila Watson

To lead or even simply serve in India, one must consider his intentions carefully.


In Summary
There are two India’s. The developing India and the developed India. One resides in the cities and the other in the villages and slums. The pace of progress in the cities makes every Indian proud. However, it hurts to think that the shine from this golden India is blinding the world so that they cannot see the poor India, which unfortunately makes up large numbers.

I have discovered a glimpse, a day-in-the-life type experience of a person in poverty facing the type of challenges they do. I have experienced the joy, simplicity and innocence of slum children. To realise that money, wealth, clothes, lifestyle… ultimately are meaningless. When you look into the eyes of a child in poverty, you only get truthful expression – and when they show you love and joy, it is a pure sincere experience. Similarly, when they express sadness and distress, you feel it. You really feel it.

A vision, a dream and mission – call it what you want, but we met many individuals, leaders of NGOs, who so evidently lived up one in mind. They taught me what it means to live a life that makes a difference to the world, regardless of the size or scale of the problem. That anything is possible if you believe it so, especially with the overwhelming power of love and compassion.

I’m inspired. I’m ready to roll my sleeves up, get my hands dirty and purify my heart.

PRAMAL



Acknowledgments
I would like to thank first and foremost Connect India: Meenal Sachdev, Dharmesh Mistry, Pooja Warier, and Meera Manek. Without their vision and dedication, this experience would not have been possible.

In addition, I am grateful to the following people: Jayeshbhai Patel and everyone at Manav Sadhna/ESI who welcomed us into their home and lives, redefining our understanding of love and service. To all those who have fed us along the way and provided us a comfortable bed to give us much needed rejuvenation, and of course, the people of India – you may not realise, but you gave us much more than we were ever able to give you. From the bottom of my much more evolved heart, I thank you.