"Education is a Right, Not a Privilege"

If you are able to read this blog, you are already more fortunate that about 50% of the women we met at Gandamunda.  In a state that has one of the highest illiteracy rates in the county, 47% of the people live below the poverty line, and around 80% are considered poor, people have to fight for everything if they want anything.

Madhyam set up a trip for Ben, Katrina and me to go to Sambalpur, which is a fairly rural city in western Orissa.  While there we went to the village of Gandamunda to meet with one of the women's self help groups (SHGs).  We were fortunate enough to be accompanied by Apurba (one of the guys that works in the office with us), Pradeep (who also works with Madhyam but is based in Sambalpur) and two older gentlemen who are also from Sambalpur.

 Apurba and Ben on the train

Katrina and me

One of the millions of pictures I took on the ride to Sambalpur

The premise of out trip to Sambalpur was for Katrina to get information for her project.  She is doing a client satisfaction survey on people who have received loans from MFIs.  Although her research is quite interesting I do not envy her in the sense a lot of her data will be obtained from surveys taken from people who speak only Oriya.  I have to say it is really debilitating not being able to understand the native language of the place in which you live and on a professional it is downright crippling.  Fortunately for us we had our leader and translator extraordinaire Apurba to lead the conversation in the self help group and help translate the survey for Katrina.  You could tell that these women were more used to be talked at rather than talked to so we were very grateful to have Apurba who was wonderful at engaging the women and connecting with them so they felt free to speak.

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Us receiving flowers from the women at the SHG


I do have to say one uncomfortable part of the day (besides waking up at 4 in the morning to catch out 6 o'clock train was when they gave us the flowers.  In India to show respect they touch your feet and it is extremely awkward to have someone who is 20 years your senior that has been through so much more than I could probably even fathom touch my feet.

Apurba and Katrina with the self help group

Seeing as I have never conducted a client satisfaction survey and completely useless at Oriya I left the room while they were conducting the survey and went outside to talk to the 2 older men that came along with us and of course play with the children.

One of the men that came with us had been an educator his entire life and had retired and the principal of a school.  He was explaining to me the education system of Gadamunda, where there are about 250 households.  By decree of the constitution of India it is to be free and compulsory for children to have primary education and 60 some-odd years after independence it is finally being made a reality.

Perhaps the most appealing aspect of children going to school in Ganamunda was the promise of a hearty meal.  Malnutrition has plagued this village for years and initially in the schools children were only fed dry food.  However a couple of years ago one of the education ministers made it a law that government run schools are to provide hot food and in the subsequent years there has been a significant decrease in malnutrition.  From what I saw there were no distended bellies and all the kids seemed to be in pretty high spirits.

Unfortunately in these government schools it is not all sunshine and rainbows.  Apparently in April, the government failed to deliver the textbooks and workbooks for the students, with a promise they would get them at the beginning of the next school year.

Some of the schoolgirls

This really makes you think about our education system.   So many times you hear complaints that our school textbooks are outdated and that they need new ones every one to two years.  God forbid they look up the new material on the internet (sorry Mom).  Children here are going to classes in one room school houses, in some cases with dirt floors, with no fans in the sweltering 100+ degree heat, and textbooks that just don't show up.

What is even more sickening is that fact that one year of college at a university in the U.S. is more than a vast majority of people in India will make in their entire lifetime.  There is this great sign in downtown Bhubaneswar with a plain green background and white lettering that states, "Education is a Right, Not a Privilege." No one should be restricted from receiving an education because they were born into a lowly caste, or that their parents need them to work or beg for a few rupees a day, or even if they or their parents do not make a small fortune each year in order to go college.

6th Annual Public Interaction Day "Emerging Challenges in the Non-profit Sector"

To celebrate the establishment of the Madhyam Foundation, the staff organized a public interaction day where influential and leaders of the non-profit sector were invited to discuss the some of the emerging challenges of the non-profit sector.  Typically when a place celebrates its founding, it is a time where people sit around, eat and drink, and congratulate themselves on all they have accomplished throughout the year, but not at the Madhyam Foundation.  They found a way to include people from different walks of life to still  do something productive and meaningful.  Although we were served an excellent lunch and the traditional onslaught of chai and biscuits, it really showed that Madhyam (which incidentally means medium) is more than a typical non-profit.

Subrat speaking at the event

There was a panel of speakers, that ranged from a former Indian Ambassador to a reporter for the Times of India, invited to give their insight on what some of the key issues facing the non-profit sector today.  The general tone of the day was that of skepticism.  So many times when you hear the word non-profit, altruism comes to mind but that is not always the case.  The facts of life are that money corrupts, profiteering and greed are ever-present and the goal is to be socially responsible, whether you are a non-profit or a multi-million dollar corporation.

Another problem that came up was the fact that non-profits are also taken for granted as well as having a great deal of autonomy because of the nature of their work.  The Ambassador said it best, the non-profit sector is not a social good, it is a necessity.  The attitude of the population needs to change for what is socially needed and there should be no distinction made between the profit and the non-profit sector.  Everyone should be help accountable for their actions, and there seems to be a lack of regulation in the non-profit sector.  Micro-finance institutions (MFIs) and non-profits are making gross amounts of money and in the meantime farmers are committing suicide because they are being hounded day and night by collectors to repay their loans.  Too often institutions lose sight of their original mandates and do much more harm than good.

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Audience at the 6th Annual Public Interaction Day

All in all it was an excellent day for the Madhyam Foundation.  There were about 50 attendees (although only 4 of whom were female including Mrs. Singhdeo, Katrina and me) and many great ideas were thrown around and discussed.  Madhyam is the archetype of how a non-profit should operate.  It involves the community and shares what needs to be accomplished in a manner that is informative as well as entertaining.

Wedding Season

Since I have been in India I feel as if I have been going non-stop, and I am not complaining...  Last night we were fortunate enough to attend the wedding feast of our colleague Kartik's two younger brothers.  The weddings here are a three day affair where over 1,000 people we invited and in attendance.  While we did not observe the actual ceremony the dinner was just as interesting.  Kartik's village was roughly 50 km. outside of Bhubaneswar but took almost 2 hours to get to due to one-land back roads and a lack of GPS.

Sunset on the way to the village

Over the past few days we have driven by numerous wedding celebrations.  Evidently some of the summer months have very auspicious days for couples to get married.  They are usually accompanied by a caravan of trucks and cars decked out in lights and flowers with people dancing in the street, blasting music and shooting off fire crackers.

Once we arrived in the village we were greeted by an exuberant Kartik, still glowing with pride from the marriages of his little brothers.  Kartik introduced us to all of his family, which is quite large due to the fact they lived in a joint-family home where both his father's family and his uncle's family resided.  There were massive tarps tied to the roof to protect the party-goers from the monsoon rains.  After meeting most of the family we were presented to the brides and bridegrooms, who were essentially put on display for people to take pictures with and congratulate them.  The room had a huge spot light in it and felt like it was about 110 degrees.  I did not envy them having to stand there in their suits and saris.

Kartik, me, Mrs. Singhdeo, Ben, Katrina, with the brides and bridegrooms

We were then ushered out of the room and taken around the back of the house where a spot was cleared for us in the banquet hall.  The elder brother and family members were carrying around pails of food and filling out plates with rice, mushrooms, paneer, and all different types of curries.  After declining many offers of second and third helping we were given kheer, which is a rice pudding seasoned with cardamon and cashews but almost has the consistency of tapioca pudding.

The banquet hall

 The firepit and massive pots used to cook for the thousands of guests

We have noticed that once you are finished eating people do not sit around and chat, usually this is done before the meal and immediately after they leave the home.  We said our goodbyes thanking the family for inviting us and thought we were heading home.  However Apurba, one of the other men that works in the office took us to his village or "native place" and we were introduced to his wonderful mother who he is almost the spitting image of.

Our schedule for the rest of this week is going to be quite full with the celebration of Madhyam's founding on the 8th and the our departure for Sambalpur (a district in North-Western Orissa) where we will get to see what life is like in a more rural setting and some exposure to some of the Scheduled Tribes.

4th of July, Indian style

While it wasn't a traditional Independence Day celebration, it was still a great day nonetheless.  Originally our plan was to go to the store, try and find whatever "American" type food we could and make a 4th of July feast while sitting out on the terrace.  However, when we came downstairs in the morning Subrat and Mrs. Singhdeo surprised us with a trip to Puri, which is a beautiful sea-side city right on the Bay of Bengal and roughly 50 km. from Bhubaneswar.

After Katrina, Ben and I went to this huge department store called Big Bazaar to get clothes for the wedding we are supposed to attend today and had some lunch at a Chinese restaurant (very American I know...), we departed for Puri.  The road from Bhubaneswar to Puri has to have some of the most beautiful greenery in all of Orissa.  The sides of this road are decorated with rice paddies, palm and banyan trees, cows, farms, and even little watering holes where villagers bathe and wash their clothes.  

 On the way to Puri

 One of the watering holes/ponds

Evidently it is tradition for Subrat whenever he makes this trip stop at one of the roadside coconut vendors for a water break.  These men on the side of the road climb up the trees and bring down hundreds of coconuts which they sell.  First they cut off just the top with a machete and give you straw to drink the water.  After you finish they cut the coconut in two and dig out the meat of the plant to eat, a refreshing treat on such a hot day.  People also collect the fibers of some of the coconuts to stuff in mattresses or make brooms out of.

Katrina, Ben and I with the coconut vendor.

Bushels of coconuts

It was such a nice break from the city once we reached Puri.  The beach was packed with people and we found a really nice spot on the beach  and Subrat and Mrs. Singhdeo got us some peanuts, coffee and this really good mixture or puffed rice, peanuts, corn and masala from these guys that just walk up and down the beach.

 People swimming on the beach, notice what the women are wearing

Children riding the camels, you can also get rides on horses.

We watched the sun set and then the Singhdeos took us to the Puri Club where Subrat is a life member.  I would equate to something like a country club, there were tennis courts and a beautiful club house.  People in India tend to eat dinner around 10 at night so when we arrived at 7:15 we were literally the only people there besides the security guard and attendants.  We had a wonderful meal of pakora, American sauteed corn, a chicken roll, and of course a beer to toast the 4th.  It was the perfect end to a great day.

 Mrs. Singhdeo at the club

There is something really interesting going on throughout India as well.  The party in power opted to take away the petrol subsidy so there is a nation-wide strike led by the opposition party and people are not even supposed to drive their cars.  Last night some government workers decided to work through the night so that they would not miss any work and as a result when they were leaving the office they had clashes with mobs and several people were taken to the hospital.  As such the strike today does not seem that bad but typically strikers barricade the road with tires and trees and sometimes will even throw rocks at the cars.  On our way to work today we had to stick to the back roads and the front gates of the office are locked shut as well as the front door.  We are supposed to go to the wedding feast tonight but will not be able to leave until 5:30 once the strike is officially over.