Monday, April 13, 2009

Inspired in Mhaswad


Since midpoint, I have not had much to write about primarily because, except for some friends visiting Udaipur, my life in India has become more routine and I have not been traveling much. But this past week, I was able to take some time off and go on an "exposure visit" and visit a fellow Fellow, Suzanne Rizzo (http://suzannerizzo.blogspot.com), who is working at a microfinance bank/NGO in rural Maharastha.

Upon arriving in her town, Mhaswad, I could immediately see what she loves about her placement. As the sunset in the far distance, we walked through the quaint town and across a dried up river to her mentor's home, where she lives with two of the other volunteers. It was peaceful and isolated in a very beautiful and serene way. After dinner, we sat outside and enjoyed a thunderstorm that had recently rolled into town as if to welcome me to Mhaswad. As we watched the lightning in the distance and took advantage of the breeze that came with the rain, Suzanne's mentor came by and told us to wear shoes inside the house tonight. I soon found out that this was the first rain of the summer and with it usually came scorpions into the house. To give you some additional background on Suzanne's rural placement, I had already heard of her being awoken by rabid rats crawling over her in the middle of the night on various occasions. Also earlier in the night, she had told me that they many snakes on the premise. So needless to say my first night sleeping in the basement by myself was…interesting. But I made it through the night and the fun began the next day.

Suzanne was a terrific host, arranging for me to meet multiple clients of the bank (which I will talk about later), check out the bank branch in Mhaswad, tour the recently-opened radio station, and have some one-on-one time to talk with her mentor, Chetna, who is also the founder of both the bank and the NGO.

Our day begin in the best way possible, with plenty of food. Suzanne had arranged for a cooking lesson with the mother of her friend, Archana. It was actually less “a class” and more of an opportunity to sit and watch someone cook egg curry and eat great food. Archana was not available to join us but sent along her daughter since her mother did not speak much English. The food was delicious and hanging out with Archana's mother and daughter was a great way to start the day.

After brunch, we headed off to work where I was given a tour of the bank branch, the NGO’s radio station (first rural radio station run by an SHG), and Suzanne took me to visit Archana at her store. I should probably tell you a little about Archana because her story is really inspirational for me. She is a little over 30 years old and has a wonderful 9 year-old daughter. 
After being married off at the young age of 18, she had a really tough situation with an awful husband and an abusive relationship with her in-laws. Divorce is not acceptable in India under even the worst of circumstances, but to make matters worse, her parents feared that if she left her husband to come home, they would be unable to marry off her younger sisters. 
The situation eventually got to a point where 
Archana no choice but to take her daughter out of the hell and run back home (her sisters had been married off). So that she would not become a financial burden on her parents, she took a loan from Mann Deshi (the microfinance bank) and started a seamstress business. The venture has since grown into a prosperous business and Archana is now in the process of opening a second store. Her financial savings and life is dedicated to her daughter, who is at the top of her class in school.


Later in my trip, Suzanne had also arranged for me to meet with another one of the bank's success stories, Mrs. Vanita Pise. About ten years ago when her husband’s poultry business failed, Vanita took a loan from Mann Deshi to rear buffalo and goats. She grew as a leader within an SHG and has since organized and started 35 SHGs. In 2004 she took a loan to start a business making paper cups and with the success of her business, she began to sell similar paper cup-making machines to other women so they could begin their own businesses. As we sat in Vanita’s home, she showed us news clippings of her receiving the India’s Woman Exemplar Award from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The award is for poor, underprivileged, community-level women who have excelled in contributing to development. Vanita has an impressive presence when you meet her and it is not difficult to see how she has become a leader in her community and an inspiration to many.

Before I left Mhaswad, I also had an opportunity to sit with Chetna, the founder of the bank and NGO. We talked about how she started in various movements and then when she settled in Mhaswad with her husband, she saw a need for financial services for the women of the area and decided to start a bank. While they have looked at providing other development services, they have decided to focus on what they are good at, financial empowerment. Because the banking regulations in India are very strict about growth, they have not had reached as many people as they would like. With the backing of a foreign investor though, they are poised to set up a non-banking financial company to expand their services to many more areas throughout Maharastha and the nearby state of Karnataka.

As I left Mhaswad, I thought about these three incredible women that I had met. It made me think of a recent book that I read called “Outliers” by Malcom Gladwell. The book's thesis is that people who we usually view as outliers (sports athletes, wealthy entrepreneurs, etc.) are not necessarily as unique as we make them out to be, but rather a product of the auspicious opportunities and extraordinary practice. These women however reminded me of the incredible power of the human spirit to overcome obstacles in the most dire of circumstances. They are inspirational figures not just for the people in their community but also for visitors like myself. Their successes make them outliers in spite of the situations they have encounter, rather than because of it.

My time at Seva Mandir has taught me many different things about India and development. But thanks to my exposure visit, I not only met some of the people who are benefiting from microfinance, but was completely inspired by their lives and stories. It was obviously a great time and I am incredibly grateful to Suzanne for not only putting up with me for the few days I was with her in Mhaswad but also for arranging the visits and moving her schedule around to host me. Thanks Suzanne!


Wednesday, March 18, 2009

HOLI !!!!

Since midpoint, Udaipur has seen a pretty consistent flow of Fellows visiting but last week was definitely the busiest, with four Fellows coming into town for Holi, two of whom also brought friends. My roommate Ginny also had her boyfriend in town so all of us got some hotel rooms in the old city to celebrate Holi, one of the biggest events in the year.

The night before Holi, local neighborhoods get together to build idols for burning. I believe as the story goes, there is some evil that gets purged with fire and the celebration ensues the following day with loads of color. Along with all the new visitors and my existing friends at Seva Mandir, we took to the heart of Udaipur to see the largest event. I often find these events to be a bit disappointing, sometimes due to hype, sometimes due to my lack of understanding the cultural context. This night was completely the opposite.
      

We probably should have known something was awry when we arrived about five minutes before the scheduled burning and were given easy access to the front of the crowd. We found some of my other friends who were further back and moved over to meet them. As we waited for the festivities to begin, we heard some cheering as a bull came storming through the packed street. Luckily nobody was injured as the bull was prodded along through the crowd. As things started to settle down we began to hear the fireworks going and it was then that I noticed why you don’t want to stand in the front row. Somehow we had missed the row of fireworks lining the ground where had initially been standing. As the fireworks-fuse reached the idol in the middle of the crowd, people began to light the evil idol and light more fireworks. It is a bit hard to describe how crazy it was but the experience taught me why you never want to be in the place where they launch fireworks into the sky as one of the bigger ones accidentally went off on the ground shooting fireworks debris into the crowd. Awesome.

As eventful as the night before Holi was, the actual day was no let down either. For those who are unfamiliar with Holi, it is a day when everyone gets covered with color and water in absolute madness. I don’t even think I can do justice in describing the day so I’m just going to put a few pictures here and then more in a new album.
After Holi, I went with some Fellows on a day trip to a local hill station and then to Ahmedabad for a bash. Those trips deserve their own blog posting so I will hold off and write those later.

Enjoy the Holi pictures.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Catching Up Some More

Since midpoint, my life has been subtly different from the first half of my fellowship. This is partly because of choice and partly because of circumstance. First let me write briefly about midpoint:

Midpoint:
Midpoint is one of the three events that AIF uses to bring the Service Corps together (the other two being orientation and end point).

While orientation was held in busy Delhi and our schedule was packed with speakers and activities, midpoint was decidedly different. Our midpoint was held in Anandwan in Maharashtha. 
It was quite a fitting place geographically for midpoint, as we were pretty much right in the middle of India. 

The actual site was awesome. It is a self-sustaining community, originally set up as a home for lepers and other social outcasts. 
I did not really actually learn too much about Anandwan because I was sick during the tour, but the place was peaceful, serene, and a perfect place to retreat to refresh and recharge.

I unfortunately got sick the day I arrived and was out of commission for the first couple of days. It was extremely frustrating because I knew I needed to rest to get better, but was so excited to see my fellow Fellows and hear about their experiences. I did however get reminded of the generosity and warmth of this family that I had in India. I don’t think I went 30 minutes without one Fellow or another coming to check or ask how I was doing. Fellows would bring me medicine, food, and even orange juice (where did Hamsa even get orange juice!?).

Besides reconnecting with the other Fellows and enjoying Anadwan, midpoint offered another recharge. The primary formal work was Fellow presentations. Each was given approximately 5 minutes to talk about their work and life at their placement. It was truly inspiring to hear some of the projects that people are working on, the commitment that the Service Corps has to development, and the common and unique issues and successes we have all faced at our different locations.


Back in Udaipur:
Since midpoint, I have decided to spend more effort at Seva Mandir. While it is often frustrating the pace at which things work, I resolved to be patient, interact more with my coworkers as much as possible and spend more time in the office and proactively seek to go out into the field. I will write more about Seva Mandir and the various projects I am working on later.

Another resolution is to be more active in Udaipur. It is such a beautiful city and it often becomes easy to just relax, slow down to the pace of India, and let time pass without even realizing it. As one step in becoming more active in the community, I have been volunteering on a weekly basis with a school for deaf children. It is something I look forward to every week and I always feel great no matter how tired I am when I get back. The first couple of weeks we spent cleaning up the school grounds. We cleaned one the walls, repainted with a basic yellow, and then painted mural-like pictures with the kids.

With the painting done, the past couple of weeks we spent our time just playing games. I tried cricket for the first time but was a little bit lost on the rules. I played like baseball and knocked the ball out of the field. Unfortunately, I don’t think I was supposed to do that because the kids then had to jump the wall the chase the ball back. This week I played volleyball with the kids. I can proudly say that I was on the team that won, but my favorite part was watching the kids “talk” trash and argue about points in sign language. It was the quietest game I have ever played in that sense but even though they don’t make sounds when they communicate, they would still laugh and were constantly smiling.


Most of the kids we played with live at the school (it also serves as a boarding school) and have very limited interaction with people outside of the school. It is always energizing to arrive there and see how excited they are to see us.

Fellow Visitors:
Besides work and new activities keeping me in Udaipur, another reason that I have not traveled much since midpoint is the constant stream of visitors that have been coming through to visit. it has been really great to share my city and life with the fellow Fellows that have come and I can’t wait for the others that are planning to come for future weekend trips, Holi festivities, and as part of other trips.

Because of the many fellows that have come through, I have decided that instead of writing about each case, I will just write about some of my favorite memories:

1. Party at the love nest - beer pong, music, and good friends.
2. Return to Jaisalmer - same trip I took in the fall, but new friends and new memories
3. After party at the love nest - hanging out with Fellows, friends and Fizzy making up songs and serenading us
4. Showing off Udaipur - taking friends to see the different beautiful views of the most romantic city in India (no argument)
5. Bombay Fabrics - taking friends to my tailor to get their own clothes
Work:
To come...

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Catching Up

So again, sorry for the lack of blogging during the past month. It was busy and hectic through December with holiday travels, etc. Things have now settled down here and I thought I would take some time to catch everyone up on what has been happening with me in India.

Love Nest Holiday Party:
To celebrate the holiday season, all the Seva Mandir volunteers gathered at the Love Nest for a nice dinner. Rather than trying to make food to feed everyone, we ordered from our favorite tifin service (delicious home made food delivered to your door). Along with the organic, vegetarian dishes from the tifin service, we also went out and purchased a few fried chickens.



Delhi:
Just before Christmas, I went to Delhi for the weekend with Alvaro and Fizzy. One of my fellow Fellows (Carolyn) hosted us and took us to an Amazing dinner at a local Korean restaurant. This was Alvaro’s first experience with Korean food so we went a bit crazy and ordered the left side of the menu. And half of the right side. Dinner was delicious and we were all fully stuffed for a few days afterwards.


But the main reason I went to Delhi was to meet up with my Arnab. We have been friends since college and were roommates in New York so it was really great to see another old friend and explore India together. His trip was short as he was only passing through Delhi to see his family in Kolkota, but we made the most of it and Carolyn took us to all the major attractions. Some of the highlights were Qutb Minar (victory tower), Humayan’s Tomb, the Lotus Temple, and Jama Masjid (the largest mosque in India).

I also learned that Arnab really likes to take pictures where it looks like he is holding up a structure by the top.

Christmas - New Years:
Christmas was when things started to become a bit more hectic as I came back to Udaipur for a week to get some work done and meet up with my first visitor. One of my favorite Fellows (Pooja) was traveling in Rajasthan and brought her friends to come see the most beautiful city in India. Though they were only here for a few days, we were able to cram in a couple of Udaipur palaces, Khumbalgarh fort, Ranakapur temple, and a midnight Christmas service at the local Church of North India (all in Hindi, but a nice experience nonetheless).

After Christmas, I headed down to Goa. I met up with another Fellow (Hemant) and a few other Fellows met up with us during the few days leading up to New Years. Goa was without a doubt one of the most relaxing escapes that I have ever experienced. Many times throughout the trip I forgot that I was in India, before remembering what a diverse country India really is. We rented scooters during the few days we were in Goa and hopped from beach to beach. Top 3 highlights:

3. Cows on the beaches - Only in India.
2. Amazing sunsets - My favorite was drinking beers on the rocks
1. New Years - I have never been a big fan of New Years, but this one certainly did not disappoint. What started as a New Years Eve at Club Tito’s became a beach party with a bonfire, an awkward dance-off, and people getting dragged through the sand.
Ajanta-Ellora Caves:
On the way back to Udaipur, a few of the Fellows and myself stopped to see one of the main attractions in India, the Ajanta and Ellora Caves. On the first day, we went to the Ellora caves. Composed of 34 man-made carved monasteries and temples, the Ellora Caves includes Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain caves dating back to 600 AD. While all of the caves were interesting and beautiful, the most impressive by far was the Kailasa Temple. Built to represent Lord Shiva’s home, the Hindu temple was completely carved out of a cliff face. While we all appreciated the beautiful details and carvings of the temple as we walked around the inside, it was not until we climbed up around the back that we were really able to take in what a feat it was to create such a grand structure.

The Ajanta Caves, dated somewhere around 200 BC to 650 AD, were no less impressive when we visited them the next day. Unlike the Ellora Caves, the Ajanta Caves were actually discovered accidentally by a British hunting party in the early 19th century. The caves are filled with beautiful Buddhist paintings that remain surprisingly well intact despite their age. I prefer the sculptures and was my favorite of the weekend was probably the “sleeping Buddha” sculpture that must have been at least ten feet wide.

That's it for now, I'll write about my AIF midpoint retreat that I just returned from and my work projects in the next posting.