Yaudaipur

Inspired in Mhaswad

2009-04-13T03:17:00.001-07:00

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!

HOLI !!!!

2009-03-18T03:28:00.000-07:00

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.

Catching Up Some More

2009-02-27T20:09:00.000-08:00

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...

Catching Up

2009-01-20T22:45:00.000-08:00

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.

Quick Update...More to Come

2009-01-05T21:48:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of postings in the last month but with travel, work, and more travel, things have been hectic here in India. Since my last posting though, I have been to seen an old friend in Delhi, spent Christmas with a fellow Fellow here in Udaipur, celebrated New Years in Goa, and visited the Ajanta/Ellora Caves. I'll try and write a little about each of these and post some pictures up shortly, but this week is quite busy as I try and catch up on work, host an AIF staff member who is here for a site visit, and then head off for AIF midpoint at the end of the week. Hope everyone had a very happy holiday season and best wishes in the new year.

My Little Red Book

2008-12-16T00:39:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, my new roommate Rachel is publishing a book that will be out in a couple of months. She had an advanced copy that she let me read and I thought I would share my thoughts about it. The book is called My Little Red Book and is a collection of stories from women about their first periods. I was not sure how much I would enjoy such a topic but was open-minded. I found it to be one of my favorite books that I have read and would highly recommend it.

The engaging and humorous anecdotes effortlessly connect reader and author on a very personal level; more importantly, the theme of the book creates a strong message that transcends age, culture, ethnicity, religion, or any background. While the stories will inevitably more powerful for women, I would highly recommend it to men who have an open-mind in learning about “the other half of the world.” The stories in My Little Red Book should also resonate very well with the many fathers, husbands, and brothers who may have tangentially been involved in such an experience, whether they knew it or not.

I cannot really comment much on the current discourse of the feminist movement, but I found My Little Red Book to be a refreshing voice for empowering women and imagine it can be very empowering for readers of all ages. My Little Red Book is a befitting title for this manifesto and will hopefully spark a similar revolution in the next generation of feminism.

To summarize:
Book: My Little Red Book by Rachel Kauder Nalebuff
Review: Excellent. Highly recommended for readers of all ages
Date of Release: February 2009

Erin's Vist, Part II

2008-12-09T05:41:00.000-08:00

While it was fun to travel to Jaisalmer and Jodhpur, I was most excited for Erin to see Udaipur and experience what my life here has been like. Luckily her trip coincided with an unexpected holiday which allowed us to spend more time together. The holiday was a government-sanctioned break for the Rajasthan elections (something all locals have been very focused on recently).

Love Nest Party
To celebrate the election (or rather the work holiday), we threw a party at the Love Nest. As I had mentioned in a previous post, my roommate Alvaro is quite the handyman. With just a couple of sticks, duck tape, and a bed frame, he made a ping-pong table. While everyone has loved the ping-pong table, the best part has introducing my international friends to Beirut.

Chittorgarh
On the day off, Erin, Fizzy, and myself took a day-trip to Chittorgarh, an eighth-century fort that some claim as the greatest in Rajasthan. Within the fort walls, we visited some palace ruins, the victory tower, a palace garden, and a few temples. The entire fort was quite beautiful and the palace ruins seemed like the most ideal site for a massive paint-ball competition.

One of my favorite memories is not related to the fort or history of the city. As we were leaving the victory tower, we were approached by a couple of boys who were selling postcards. This is not a unique sight at any tourist location around the world. What was different about these boys were that they were selling postcards that they made.

They sold postcard drawings of tigers, peacocks, monkeys, maharajas, and my favorite, Ganesh. I was not sure if they were going for a “youthful motif” in their art or if they just were not that good. Either way, we all supported their entrepreneurial spirit and bought some postcards to support the cause.

Udaipur City Palace
In Udaipur, I finally made it to the City Palace. It is a gorgeous site and parts of it have been turned into hotel/restaurants (where Erin and I had our Thanksgiving dinner). We spent one afternoon touring the palace grounds and the museum. While breathtaking from the outside, the inside/museum was similar to many of the other palaces that I have seen in India: extravagant living quarters, great views of the city, and beautiful architecture all around. I think my favorite part was this courtyard that had intricately designed stained glass artwork all along the walls.

It was a great week and so fitting that Erin’s trip started with Thanksgiving because it reminded me of how grateful I am for my friends and family. In other news, the Love Nest has a new tenant, Rachel from the US. She lived in China during the summers growing up, backpacked from Paris to Istanbul, and is returning to the States in a couple of months because her book is getting published. Oh yeah, she graduated from high school last year and is eighteen.

Too Much To Be Thankful For...

2008-12-02T23:37:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who has sent messages after the Mumbai attacks. Everything here in Udaipur is fine and luckily none of my friends or colleagues were in the area during those few days. Along with the tragic events, the recent holidays have reminded me to be thankful for everything that I have back at home and to be grateful for the opportunity I have in India.

Thanksgiving
Despite getting a bit home sick during the holidays, I was excited last week to get my first visitor in India. My friend Erin flew in from Beijing to spend a week here in Rajasthan. She arrived on Thanksgiving Day and after giving her a brief introduction, we went to a hotel in the city palace for an “authentic Thanksgiving dinner.” This was the first day after the Mumbai attacks and even though I received a call from AIF to stay away from tourist hotspots, I felt that passing on an opportunity for Thanksgiving turkey would be the ultimate sign that the terrorists have won. So to fulfill my patriotic duty, I went to eat dinner. The dinner itself was of no comparison to the home cooked feast that my family was experiencing back in the states, but it was still one of the most memorable meals I am sure to ever have (eating in a palace!).

Jaisalmer - Day 1
After leaving the palace, Erin and I went to catch an overnight bus to Jaisalmer, which is in the western part of Rajasthan. We met up with a couple of other Fellows (Ekta and Natassia) the next morning and explored the old city. Jaisalmer is known as the “golden city” and looks like a giant sandcastle sticking out of the Thar Desert. After exploring spending the day touring the Jaisalmer fort and city palace, we enjoyed a peaceful sunset on the roof of our hotel and prepared for the big day ahead of us.

Jaisalmer - Day 2
We started the next morning on a jeep, which took us to two sites, a ceremonial burial site for maharajas and a small but beautiful Jain temple.

We then traveled a little further out into the desert to meet our new travel companions. My camel was the only female in the group and I am sure it was just a coincidence that she was high-maintenance.

My camel’s name was Mumla (the female protagonist from a famous Indian love story). Mumla was not much of a leader, most of the time we were spent tied to Mohandra (a male camel named after the male protagonist from the love story). My guide, Abhi, was very friendly, spoke a decent amount of English, referred to me as Michael Jackson (presumably the most/only famous “Michael” that he knew), and enjoyed singing a welcome song that has a way of getting stuck in your head even if you don’t understand the meaning.

The trek was quite fun and included a few stops for chai, lunch, and short break at one of the guide’s village. The best part by far was the evening under the stars. I wish that I could share pictures of how beautiful it was to see so many stars, but my camera can do no such justice. I would describe it as amazing, though Ekta felt a better rating would be “better than amazing times infinity.” I’m not sure how to top that.

After dinner, we enjoyed what I like to think of as the Desert Olympics. Along with the four of us were three friends from Australia, a couple of guys from England, and the local guides (obviously from India). We started with a game of agility and flexibility, balancing on one foot while attempting to touch our nose to a bottle on the ground. The only people who were successful besides the guides were the Aussies. The second game included stretching out one hand to place a beer bottle as far as possible while holding oneself up with another beer bottle. It is a bit awkward to describe but I believe Ekta and I were the only ones to finish the task. The third game was standing on one’s head, cycle ones legs upside down, and then stay balanced during some weird leg challenges. The only successful attempt was by the British. With a three way tie, we ended the night with a riveting game of “cow-cow-camel” (same as “duck-duck-goose”).

Jodhpur
After some more time with our camels and our guides, we headed back to Jaisalmer and then to Jodhpur. Jodhpur is known as “the blue city” because of sea of blue houses that fill the landscape. Originally blue was a color to distinguish the Brahmin caste (religious leaders), but today can be used to paint any house. Jodhpur also had a sandcastle-like fort and we spent our day exploring the grounds of this beautiful bastion. Towering above the city, the fort was not only architecturally and culturally remarkable, but provided us with a breathtaking view of Jodhpur and another great sunset.

Erin will be here for the rest of the week and I am hopeful that my work schedule will allow us to explore some more of Udaipur during the weekdays or even take a day-trip outside of the city.

Wedding Season

2008-11-25T20:34:00.001-08:00

Wedding season has officially kicked off here in India. I am not sure about the details of the timing but have been told that it has something to do with the Hindu calendar determining the best marriage times. Every night the streets are filled with big parades following grooms on parades, all the venues are town are booked with wedding parties, and the skies are decorated with fireworks. It is quite a site and I was excited to attend a fellow work colleagues wedding a couple of days ago. The volunteer coordinator was getting married and invited the entire staff at Seva Mandir. It was a traditional Rajput wedding and most of the rituals were lost on us but it was still a neat experience.

As many people may know, Indian weddings can last for an entire week. We were invited to the night of the official ceremony. Upon arriving, we found the bride and groom in the middle of a large crowd of women. The bride was covered in a red sheet, the groom was having something poured on his feet, and the parents were sitting next to them. They were all under a tent with a fire in the middle and the crowd passively watched the scene.

A few minutes after arriving, my roommates and I were pushed out of the area. While focused on the ceremony, we apparently did not notice the lack of men in the wedding. Apparently this was only for the women, so we were guided to the appropriate tent. It was quite a different scene, with all the men sitting around at tables eating food and drinking.

So while the female volunteers sat around watching the wedding, the guys sat and drank whiskey. It was quite anticlimactic but a good experience nonetheless. With all the money and energy put into these weddings, I was expecting more of a party. I guess weddings are just another manifestation of the cultural importance of tradition. Disappointed that we did not get the bash that we were looking for, the volunteers took it back to the Love Nest and threw our own party. Though not what I was expecting for the night, we ended up having a great time and it was fun to dress up like a maharajah.

Life-Work Balance: Custard Apple Update

2008-11-23T20:14:00.000-08:00

This year has already provided me with adventures traveling throughout India, new friends through AIF and in Udaipur, and plenty of time to reflect. Alongside all this personal growth, I feel lucky to have Seva Mandir to learn about the NGO/development sector and an outlet to focus my work energy. As I mentioned in an earlier entry, I am working on two projects at Seva Mandir and continue to make progress on both. I will write more about the SHG project later but wanted to provide an on the custard apple livelihood project.

I am not sure where the initial idea for the custard apple livelihood project originated within Seva Mandir but I assume it was based on similar programs that have been implemented by other NGOs. We found one such NGO in the neighboring state of Maharashta. BAIF-MITTRA, the Maharastha arm of a much larger government development organization, created an umbrella brand to market a variety of fruits and vegetables, including custard apples in certain areas. Before Diwali, I contacted the program coordinator at BAIF-MITTRA, explained our plans to implement a similar program, and set up an exposure visit for Seva Mandir staff to learn about their NGO and program. A couple of weeks ago, I traveled down there with Sunil (my mentor) and five Seva Mandir staff members for an exposure visit.

After a very long voyage to the middle of nowhere in Maharastha, we arrived at the BAIF-MITTRA office and were given a brief introduction to the NGO, their constituency, and the projects they have been working on. The presentation materials were in English but the discussion was in Hindi so though I was unable to follow everything, I got the gist of what was being discussed and was free to ask questions.

The next day, we went into the field to visit a SHG that is currently participating in the custard apple project. One SHG member walked us around the forest area surrounding the village to show us their custard apple trees, how they marked which trees belong to the SHG, and how to know when to pick the custard apples from the trees. We then went to a meeting where the women showed us how they grade custard apples and pack them into the boxes for shipping.

After leaving the villages, we were taken around to some of the other projects that BAIF is working on in the area. We visited a wadi (orchard) where villagers grow fruit, vegetables and various spice. We also had lunch at the training center where they provide education on various agricultural issues such as water irrigation.

The trip was a great opportunity to learn from an NGO that has already implemented a custard apple marketing program and also provided me with additional exposure into the development sector. It was great to see the level of help that BAIF provided in sharing their expertise, the lessons they learned through execution, and the overall level of cooperation between the two NGOs during the exposure visit.

Unfortunately as winter approaches, it looks unlikely that we will be able to implement a pilot program during this season. For the custard apple project, I will be primarily be involved in planning for next fall (after I have left). Although it is disappointing that I may not be here to see the actual implementation of the program, this project has been instrumental in teaching me about the development sector and how success should be defined when working at an NGO. Where I once viewed success to be based on the completion or results of a project, I now see the value in the process of capacity building through training and spreading awareness.

Daily Life, Yaudaipur Style

2008-11-17T20:15:00.000-08:00

Most of my posts have been primarily about the trips I have taken and the things I have seen so far. But in between the adventures, I have really settled into Udaipur, Seva Mandir, and life in India. So I thought I would post a blog entry about what the day to day is like. Since this is a pretty boring topic, I am going to let the pictures do most of the talking.

Work Life:
Welcome to my office. Ok, so not exactly an office, but rather the third floor of the Seva Mandir library. This is where they have set aside space for all the volunteers to work. You can also see the couches in the corner where many a volunteer have caught a quick midday nap.

This is the view outside the library window. The real offices are across the street and to the right. This is where my mentors work. I spend most of my work day on the couches mentioned above.

Food:
People often ask what I normally eat. At the beginning, my roommates and I regularly went out to the same restaurants. Our local favorite, Kuwar, has come to know us and now gives us the "Indian" menu, which is basically the same as the "Foreigner" menu but with cheaper prices. Recently though, my roommate Alvaro has begun cooking up some amazing dishes.

Salad with tomatoes, onion, pepper, cheese and oil and vingar dressing. The main dish is rice with fried egg and fried banana.

Shrimp and fish paella. It was delicious but Alvaro said he could do better so I'm not going to stop him from trying.

Social Life:
So there is not much of a night life here in Udaipur but we do have a movie theater. Last night I went with a few coworkers to see a recent Bollywood flick, Dostana. The entire movie (3 hrs+) was in Hindi but has such a basic plot that I was able to follow most of it without subtitles or a translator. I did miss a few jokes here or there but am pretty confident that I did not miss out on any deep dialogue. The movie wasn't great, but I really enjoyed the music and have since bought the soundtrack (this also the soundtrack that we listened to on repeat throughout my Kerala trip, so there is the added nostalgia element).

CAMELS!!!

2008-11-14T01:17:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the late posting but I came down with something during the past week that put me out of commission for a while. I am much better now but never missed home more than when I was sick. There is definitely something to be said for the comfort of chicken noodle soup, a quiet bedroom, and familiar medicine. Prior to being sick though I had an action packed week with two trips worth writing about. Let me start with the fun trip (Pushkar) and then will post later about the work trip (Maharashtra).

One of the top “things to do in India” is to attend the Pushkar Camel Festival. The annual event brings hundreds of thousands of tourists and camel traders to the small town of Pushkar and is quite the site to see. I traveled there with my two roommates (Fizzy and Alvaro) and met up with three other AIF Fellows (Carolyn, Pooja, and Hemant). As always, it was great to see the other Fellows, catch up on work/life experiences, and see how views of India/development have changed in the past couple of months.

On Saturday morning, we went to the festival grounds to meet up with a couple of other Seva Mandir volunteers (Lizzy and Rose) who were also in town for the weekend. Unfortunately, upon arriving we found out that we had just missed the first camel race. There would be other ones throughout the week but none during our stay. We decided to stick around and watch the “camel dance” competition but this proved to be even more disappointing.

Camels are awful dancers. The competition basically consisted of the trainers pulling the camels around in circles and making them do tricks that look uncomfortable at best and unusually cruel at worst.

After we left this spectacle, the trip took a huge turn for the better. We found a guy to rent us camels to ride around the festival grounds. There was some back and forth with the negotiating but we eventually got him to agree to let us race the camels at the end of the ride. Hemant and I shared a camel (named Jimmy) and were given full reign of where to lead the group. Everyone seemed to enjoy the ride, though there was a bit of panic when I accidentally dropped the rope that controlled one of the other camels. All was fine though and no fellows were lost on runaway camels. The “race” at the bottom of the hour was quite exciting, though brief, I think only a picture is necessary to tell the results.

While the camel ride and race were fun, there was still something missing: more camels! We all piled onto a camel-drawn cart and sought out more camels. It was a nice ride and quite amazing when we saw the vast campgrounds that housed the forty thousand camels that were brought in for the festival.

We spent some time walking around the grounds and tried to buy a camel though the vendors did not take us very seriously. At the end of our trek, I thought it would be nice to give something back to the camel that had been pulling us around. I went with our “driver” and picked out something nice for our camel though I don’t feel he fully appreciated the bling.

The next day we started with a spiritual walk from one of the main temples down to the lake. At the lake were thousands of people bathing in the holy water at various ghats (steps into the the lake).

The three other Fellows then headed off and I went to check out Ajmer (a neighboring city that we were told was worth visiting). Since we only had the afternoon in Ajmer, we saw one temple (because that’s what you do in India) and then we went to a park by the lake to rest and watch the sunset.

Beef, Beer, and Bananas in “God’s Own Country”

2008-11-04T15:54:00.000-08:00

Happy belated Diwali everyone. I spent last week in South India exploring the beautiful state of Kerala with some AIF Fellows (Rick, Natassia, Ekta, and Meera) and a couple of new friends (Chandni and Shan). Chandni is one of Rick’s old friends who has been living in India for the last year and wanted a big trip before she headed back to the States. Shan is probably the best driver you could ask for. He is instantly likeable, knows a lot about the area when asked, quick to fill requests, and probably the safest driver I have seen in India. Despite only knowing the AIF Fellows for two months now, it seemed like a reunion of old friends.

The short summary is that it was an amazing week of relaxing, hanging out, and exploring a side of India that I never knew existed. Because the week was packed with events and memories, I cannot begin to write a summary that would do justice to all the memories create. So I have decided to upload a bunch of pictures (see new photo album) and give a list of my Top Ten Highlights of the Diwali Trip:

10. Nature – Despite any rumors about me hating nature or trees, I actually really enjoyed the amazing natural beauty that Kerala had to offer. We saw a plethora of waterfalls, tea and spice plantations, backwaters (rivers and lakes), and a tropical rainforest.

9. Pictures of Ekta – I’m not sure if she likes to be in them or just was the only one asked, but it seemed like half the pictures we took over the week were of Ekta contemplating, questioning, or posing in some other fashion for the camera.

8. Bollywood Music on Repeat – The theme song of the trip was hands down “My Desi Girl.” Chandni rightly predicted that though we may not like it at first, it would grow on you. And it does. Like cancer. I think we heard the song about 500 times during the week.

7. Elephants – We saw elephants a few times in the wild, once grazing in a field off the side of the road and another time during a boat ride in one of the national parks. We also got to feed, pet, and ride some tame elephants through a spice plantation, which was probably more fun for us than it was for the elephants.

6. Jumping – After learning how to use the continuous shot setting on our cameras, we found it fun to jump around in our pictures, whether in a tea field, during a trek, or into the water.

5. Houseboat – At the end of the trip, we spent the final day and night on our own three-bedroom houseboat. The ship’s staff made us some great meals and then found us a nice place where we could jump in and swim around.

4. Swimming in a Waterfall – Even though it was rainwater, it was freezing, but swimming in a waterfall was definitely was one of my favorite memories of the trip.

3. Friends - Getting to know my friends better through various games, deep conversations, or meeting family members.

2. Traversing a Subcontinent – It was great to get down to South India, but the journey there really deserves another entry by itself. But since that probably won’t happen, here is the summary: I started with a long bus ride from Udaipur down to Ahmedabad, Gujarat where I was lucky enough to catch one other AIF Fellow in town. We all went out to dinner before the Kerala crew caught an overnight train to Mumbai. After arriving early in the morning, I went with Ekta to visit her family friend’s place where I found two of my favorite things in the whole world: a rain shower and people who will feed you good home-cooked food until your stomach hurts (and did it ever). They were incredibly welcoming and I hope I’ll be able to get back down to Mumbai to see more of the city.

1. Food – As many of you may already know, I live to eat rather than eat to live and this trip was a just what my stomach needed. While the food in the north has been great, it was a treat to get some beef and the quality and variety of seafood down in Kerala was delicious. There are also apparently over twenty types of bananas in Kerala though we primarily stuck with plantains and a variety of banana chips.

Living the Dream

2008-10-18T00:29:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long time between blog entries. I got a bit wrapped up with some grad school essays and with the completion of one of my applications, I’d like to declare this the best week ever. It started with a weekend trip to Jaipur and ended with progress on the work front. I’ll start with my trip to Jaipur…

Trips:
I traveled there on an overnight train with some fellow Seva Mandir volunteers and met up with my friend Carolyn, another AIF Fellow who is based in Delhi. We spent the first day walking around the old city (also called “the pink city” because of the use of the color on every buildings). We walked around one of the bazaars where there was plenty of old school shopping juxtaposed right next to largest movie theater in India.

We also visited the city palace and the lake palace and it was there that I began to see how I have become settled into Udaipur. Here were two beautiful palaces in a cool city, but all I could do was compare it to “my city” and suddenly they weren’t too impressive. Maybe I’m becoming a palace-snob, but Jaipur can’t really hold a candle to the palaces and city landscape of Udaipur.

The next day was awesome. We met up with some other Seva Mandir volunteers who were also in Jaipur for the weekend and went to the Monkey Temple. I’m not sure what the official name is, but the place is overflowing with monkeys so I can’t imagine a more appropriate name. The temple is situated in the valley between two mountains. There are three levels, each with its own holy swimming pool. I think one is supposed to be for women, another for men, and the third for monkeys, but there seemed to be monkeys swimming in all three. I think someone in the group mentioned that there are some five thousand monkeys that are around the temple. It was hard not to keep taking pictures of the monkeys, some fighting, others swimming, I even saw one monkey toss a smaller monkey into the pool.

After the monkey temple, we went to check out the Amber Fort. At first it seemed like any other fort, big walls, big doors, big courtyards. It was nice but not unlike what I had seen at other forts in Rajasthan. But then we went up to, what I can only assume to be, the living quarters. It was an amazing maze of rooms, halls, and courtyards that I got lost in a few times at least. They were in the process of restoring some of the walls and I can only imagine what the place would have been like in its heyday, with thousands of people occupying the labyrinth.

At night, we went to dinner a little outside the city at Choki Dhani. It is sort of difficult to describe the place, but I think the best analogy would be Colonial Williamsburg meets Disneyland. The basic premise was to experience a “traditional Rajasthani village.” There were dancers, camel and elephant rides, and local food. I am not sure how the giant Tyrannosaurs Rex seemed to fit in to the environment, but it actually worked. The next morning we went and had brunch with a fellow volunteer who is from Jaipur before heading back home. Overall, the weekend was a great chance to get out of Udaipur, hang out with Carolyn, and explore a new city. I would definitely recommend Jaipur as a place to visit for a couple of days, especially to see the monkey temple, which was my favorite part of the trip.

Work:
SHG Program
I have not written much about my project at Seva Mandir and that is primarily because I have not made much progress since arriving in Udaipur. I have attended some meetings, talked with various people, but it was not until recently that my project has started to get some traction.

As many of my friends already know, one of my main interests in coming to India was to do some work in the microfinance sector. 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 women who meet regularly to address issues that are affecting them or their village. The SHG is also used as a vehicle for savings, loans, and income generation. For example, a group of ten women will meet monthly; 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 can also be used for internal loaning, but the SHG as a unit can also go to banks and get external loans for various uses such as consumption purposes, income generating projects, or emergencies. Seva Mandir does not actually do the lending but helps to facilitate the SHG program, 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 who have high-school level education at best and often not completely proficient in math. I have been working with Alvaro and one of the regional managers on some capacity building iniatives for the SHG program.

We are creating tests to assess where the accountants are having issues, a training module to address these problems, and a training manual to serve as a reference for existing accountants and to teach new accountants. This week we took the first step by training the regional managers who are in charge of the accountants. We spent a day going through the test we created and set up a schedule to visit each of their regional offices and train their accountants. We then laid out a plan of hiring external accountants to go through each village/SHG and check the books in the upcoming months and the ultimate goal will be to resolve all the major issues by early next year so that the SHG program can begin to be audited by external accountants 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. That part of the project will begin in the next few months but will be really exciting and I’ll update you as it develops.

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 have received very positive feedback. The first major challenge is that the other NGO recommends we come before Diwali because this is the prime custard apple picking season. The problem with that is that Diwali is next week and so we are scrambling to see if we can logistically plan a trip for the upcoming week or if they can host us training after Diwali. Either way, the project has gained some momentum with the help of this other NGO and during the past week, I went out to the village to meet see where the custard apples are grown, how they are being picked, 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 where they lived, and the best part was trying custard apples for the first time. One of things that I was most excited about is trying indigenous fruit and the custard apple is my first new fruit. The custard apple is about the same the size as an apple but otherwise 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 very sweet tasting and it has quickly become one of my favorite fruits so it is too bad that they don’t have anything similar in the States.

Other:
In other news, life at the Love Nest is terrific. We redecorated one of the spare rooms to be a living room/lounge. It used to be my bedroom, but when Ron moved out, I took over his space and we had additional space to use. We used some 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 roommates) spent an afternoon building a swing outside our porch with a piece of wood and some rope. It actually came out real nice so I have to give props to the two for their efforts. The latest changes is that Alvaro went to buy a ping-pong set and is planning to turn our bed frame/dining table into a ping pong table. We'll see how that works out and if our living area becomes a game room, I'll post some pictures.

Also, my friend Sam, a local who has now been absorbed into the Seva Mandir volunteer group, has been helping me to find a scooter. The word on the street is that he may have found a good one for me and so I’m going with him to check it out in the next couple of days. With any luck, I’ll be posting about my adventures on my scooter in the next entry.

Oh, and speaking of the next entry, if I do not write anything in the next week, hope everyone has a great Diwali. I’m going to travel down to Kerala in the south with a few AIF Fellows. I’m meeting up with two Fellows from Ahmedabad: Rick, my roommate from orientation, and Ekta, who graduated from Duke this past May. We’re going to meet up with another AIF Fellow, Meera (Duke ’06) and one of Rick’s friends (no Duke connection I believe). We have a packed week and I really can’t wait to see those guys and vacation down in Kerala. I hear it is beautiful and so I’ll be sure to take as many pictures as possible.

Note: I uploaded more pictures onto Picasa and have included it as a new slideshow (India, Part III). You can navigate the slideshow from this blog or click on the pictures and it will bring up the entire album in a new window.

Settling into Udaipur

2008-09-28T21:22:00.000-07:00

I’ve started to get pretty settled in to my new life here in Udaipur. Life here moves a lot slower and I think it was helpful that I had that expectation coming in or else I would have been more anxious about my time and frustrated with work. Here’s a quick updated on the various aspects of my life:

Work:
Alvaro and myself were able to pick up right where Ron left off on the microfinance project. We started by creating a standardized exam for the existing accountants because there were concerns that they were not correctly tracking the SHGs (“small help groups” or group of village women). The next steps with this project are to create an auditing system so that the accounting books get checked at least once a year and then to create and implement some performance measurement tools to track how the various groups are doing with savings and loans.

While the project has been pretty interesting, it did not seem like there was enough work to keep two volunteers busy over the upcoming year or so. I asked if there were other projects that I could work on and was given a list of alternatives. One of the projects that seemed really interesting was helping local farmers bring their product (custard apples) to market directly rather than through various middlemen, who take all the profit. I have just begun to learn about the project and will post more about it as it develops.

Trips:
Here are some pictures and quick notes on some of the places I have gone during day trips:

Kumbhalgarh – Remote fort from the 15th century; supposedly, home to the second largest wall in the world; the fort includes some 300-400 temples and has an amazing view of the local area

Ranakpur – One of India’s largest and most important Jain temples; incredible building of white marble with nearly 1,500 intricately carved pillars

Monsoon Palace –19th century palace perched atop a local mountain; beautiful views of Udaipur and great place to enjoy the sun set

Other thoughts:
Seva Mandir – I really like the NGO that I work at. Because the organization is so large, there are many different projects that are going on at any time. It’s cool to see work on something very focused but to be part of a larger vision of addressing many social problems. For example, one of our friends at Seva Mandir who is an employee (rather than volunteer) has worked on a children’s corner in the slums of Udaipur. They were expecting around 30-50 kids to show up for the opening. In a slum of 300 families there are about 750 children and nearly half of them showed up. It was mayhem but the kids seemed to have a great time and the project has been going well since.

Udaipur – The city is small but really beautiful. I am glad I have a small camera that I can take around to snap shots immediately because I see something picturesque almost every day.

Love Nest – I really like the place that I am living. The roommates are great, though Ron left this past weekend. It was sad to see him leave but he is on to bigger and better things and now I have my own room and we converted the extra bedroom into a lounge area. My only complaint is the cold “showers” and the one attempt at trying to get the water heater fixed resulted in a bathroom flooded with boiling water.

Food – Though we don’t cook, we have our go-to restaurants where the owners know us and charge us the “local rates.” The food here is great and although I have been eating a lot, I did one thing I never thought I would do...I joined a gym. I’ve gone four times in the past week but we’ll see how good I am at keeping it up. And my favorite thing so far is the garlic Naan...mmmm, soo good.

Note: I also uploaded more pictures onto Picasa and have included it as a new slideshow. You can either navigate the slideshow or click into the album to check out the other pictures.

Welcome to Udaipur

2008-09-19T00:06:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Udaipur last Saturday morning and was fortunate to find out that Seva Mandir doesn’t work on the second Saturday of each month. So the driver took me to the flat where I would be housed with the other Seva Mandir volunteers. The flat (aka “the Love Nest”) has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a small dining area. The flat is nice while never letting you forget that you’re in a developing country, with its non-western toilet (porcelain hole in the ground), cold “showers” (buckets of water), and sporadic electricity outages. It’s definitely a far cry from sitting on my couch, Internet at my fingertips, watching college football on my DVR, enjoying the AC in the summer and the heat in the winter.

I like the housing though and the best part of my living situation is the new friends that come with it. The volunteer coordinator told us that there are almost 600 volunteers that will come through Seva Mandir each year. Some will stay for a few weeks or a couple of months at a time, others for much longer. Besides the Love Nest, they have dorms for volunteers and I believe another flat somewhere else in Udaipur. The Love Nest is supposedly the best accommodations that Seva Mandir offers and currently houses three other volunteers.

The newest guy (besides myself) is Alvaro, or Al. He comes from Spain and will be working at Seva Mandir for the next eight months or so. Right now we are working on the same microfinance project, though that is subject to change over the next month or so. I’ll write more about my work as I figure out what I’m doing. Alvaro has lived in many different parts of the world, speaks very good English, and I’m looking forward to becoming good friends with him in the upcoming year.

The most tenured flat mate is Ron. He has been managing the microfinance project over the last year or so and is helping to transition Alvaro and myself onto the project as he winds down. He is actually leaving in a week or so but has been great in showing us the ropes at Seva Mandir and taking us around and introducing us to Udaipur.

Last but not least is Fiz. (Fiz is short for Fizzy, which I think is a nickname derived from his real name, but I may be mistaken) Fiz has lived in New York and London and has been in Udaipur for the past five months. He is working on a project with youth resource centers in the rural areas outside of Udaipur. He’s also been great with showing us around town and I feel fortunate that he’ll be sticking around for at least another month.

After settling in on Saturday, my flat mates and I went to celebrate Ganesh’s birthday on Sunday. It was a great way to experience both Udaipur and Indian culture, with crowds of people filling the streets, yelling and dancing, throwing colored powder, and just having a good time. We went to the lake where most of the activity was taking place. Basically people (families, neighborhoods or other groups) would get together and make a Ganesh idol, decorate it and throw it into the water. We somehow were able to navigate through the thick crowd of locals, pass the police line, and down to the lake where the idols were being taken by boat to the deeper part of the lake. Fiz “convinced” the police that we were international press so that we could get onto the boats and go out into the middle of the lake. It wasn’t so much that the policeman actually thought we were legitimate press, but I think he was just amused at the four westerners who wanted to go out on the boat. So he smiled, did the classic Indian head bob (mix between a nod and bobble, which means “yes”), and let us on. They even let Ron and myself help throw a large Ganesh idol into the water. Then we all did a dance and headed back to shore.

After walking around some more, Ron and Fiz took us to this great rooftop hotel/bar, where we relaxed, drank some chai, and watched the sun set over the beautiful city. It was a great day and a terrific beginning to my adventures in Udaipur.

Orientation...part 2

2008-09-18T02:37:00.000-07:00

Along with providing a solid academic foundation for exploring India, the AIF orientation introduced me to an incredible group of other fellows. While the average age of the group is twenty-five, the work experiences represented in the group are both diverse and impressive. Surprisingly, out of the class of 24 fellows, four graduated from Duke.

My roommate during orientation, Rick, comes from the same background as myself (i.e., investment banking and private equity). Another fellow, Hemant, also had investment banking experience but spent the last year teaching in the Marshall Islands. Except for one other fellow, who worked in marketing for Apple, the remaining fellows are either from the public sector (non-profits/NGOs) or right out of school. While we all have different backgrounds and a variety of opinions on the development space, we all hold the common belief that the world should and can be a better place and are hopeful that the work we will be doing will be a step in the right direction.

Along with getting to know the other fellows, I also developed my first impressions of India through my exploration of Delhi. Upon arriving in New Delhi, we were bused from the airport to the youth hostel, where we were housed during the orientation period. I was surprised at how clean and orderly the city was, thinking that India would be as chaotic as China or Nicaragua. One reason for the discrepancy between my expectations and the actual India that I was experiencing was the hostel’s location, which was near the government centers and the residential areas for many international diplomats. Even so, it was India and there were stray dogs, cows and other animals roaming the streets. During the two weeks, I took every opportunity to try and get out to explore the city. From the beautiful parks to the clean and modern subway, New Delhi really had a lot to offer and I look forward to going back to visit during the year.

During the orientation period, we were given one free day to do whatever we wanted. A few fellows and myself decided to take a trip to Agra (home of the Taj Mahal). It was a really long day but was totally worth it. The day started around 5 am, when we had to leave our hostel for the Delhi train station. We luckily were able to get tickets for the 7 am train but did not get the luxury of seats in the packed train. The whole trip took us about five hours, but as people would get off at their stops, we would be able to find a seat here or there. I found a seat and was able to rest my feet during the last fifteen minutes.

After arriving in Agra, we found out that all the trains returning to Delhi were full. I was actually a bit surprised that they had any limits on the number of tickets sold given how packed the morning train was. We left the station and haggled with some local drivers and negotiated a car to take us around Agra for the day and back to Delhi at night. We were lucky that one of the fellows in our group knew Hindi and was quite the bargainer. We had the driver take us to lunch and then we were off to see the sites. In the afternoon we saw the Agra Fort and “Baby Taj.” We then headed to the Taj Mahal, where we stayed through sunset. It was truly a breathtaking monument. From the first glimpse of the Taj that you get when you walk through the opening gates you cannot help but be in awe of its beauty and magnificence. The paradox is that while it is nearly impossible to take a bad picture of the Taj, no picture is able to fully capture the beauty and grandeur of experiencing the Taj first hand. Enjoying a sunset at the Taj Mahal will be one of my defining memories of my trip to India.

For now, that’s all about AIF and my orientation period. I’ll try and write again in the next week to give my first impressions of Udaipur.

Orientation...part 1

2008-09-15T02:23:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog. I will try and keep this updated throughout the year as I travel throughout India, learn about the development space in India, and progress in my own project. For many of you who are unfamiliar with the organization that brought me to India, perhaps I should first tell you about AIF and the Service Corps.

AIF is a non-profit that works in the development sector in India, primarily through its partnerships with local NGOs (non-government organizations). The AIF partner NGOs usually fall into one of the three areas of focus: public health, education, and livelihood. Besides providing funding to the local NGOs, AIF also runs two of its own projects, one of which is the Service Corps. The Service Corps consists of twenty to thirty young professionals from the US who spend about a year at an NGO in India. The program basically offers each Service Corps Fellow an opportunity to work at the grass roots level in the development sector, while also providing the host NGO a free volunteer that will hopefully have some relevant skills to aid in a capacity building project. To read more about the Service Corps, here is the website: http://www.aifoundation.org/serve/servicecorps/default.htm

My placement has been with an NGO in the livelihood sector called Seva Mandir. Seva Mandir is based in Udaipur, Rajasthan and works in many different aspects of development. As I get settled into Seva Mandir and develop the project that I will work on over the next year, I will post more information. For now, I will try and give you a quick glimpse into what I have been doing for the past two weeks.

I arrived into Delhi on the first of September and have spent the past two weeks at AIF Service Corps training/orientation. It was a transition period set up to help us get acclimated to various aspects of India and the development space. The majority of the formal orientation time was spent in classes where we had speakers who would discuss the issues facing India. It would be impossible for me to go through all the speakers we met with and the topics that were covered but I’ll try and offer a couple of the highlights. The speakers were all very impressive and included academics, business leaders, government officials, authors, artists, and many inspirational leaders from the development space. The topics that were covered included politics and history, issues related to gender and sexuality, the caste system in India, the Hindu/Muslim conflict, environmental issues, and development under AIF’s three areas of focus.

Along with the lecture/discussions, we also took a few trips “into the field.” This included touring the slums of Delhi, visiting schools out in the rural villages, and meeting with a group of women in a village to see how microfinance has changed their lives. Along with providing great exposure to the development side of India, the orientation also included a private tour of the National Gallery of Modern Art, Bollywood dance lessons, and a couple of nice dinners hosted by some of the important leaders in the Indian private sector.

I thought the formal orientation was amazing; AIF did a terrific job connecting us with great speakers who were able to cover a wide range of important and relevant issues. But even better than the lectures was the informal aspect of orientation. This includes getting to know the other Service Corps Fellows and the adventures we had throughout India. I’m going to save this for my next post after I’ve been able to organize and upload some pictures.