Erika Takeo Abroad

A short reflection on Thailand

2012-01-17T18:45:00.000-08:00

I have been in the States for less than a week, and thus myexperience in Thailand is still a very large part of my daily thoughts (heck,my experience in India is still a very large part of my daily thoughts). Processing experiences abroad seems to take along time and I would not be surprised if it was a lifelong process. Thus, I do believe that my reflections on mytravels in Thailand will develop and change over time. Here are some things I have been thinkingabout in the past few days.

1. I learned a lotabout ways to approach life changes, especially death, in ways other thansadness or anger. I heard many Thaipeople talk about taking life day by day, without regretting the past orworrying about the future. I also sawthat when someone died, people did not just completely shut down withmourning. A funeral was not just a placeto cry but also to celebrate and enjoy the company of a community. I think that Thai people had a nice balanceof emotions and were much more accepting of life changes. They seemed to “go with the flow” much betterthan we do here in the States, where we will stop at nothing to retain ourAmerican lifestyle of valuing youth and high consumption.

2. This second point relates to the emphasis of taking lifeday by day without regretting or worrying. I think it also has to do a lot with different perception of time: theidea of schedules, due dates, and plans seem are not as rigid in the Thailandthat I experienced. Thailand seemed likea country where stress did not exist. I’mnot sure if this was me oversimplifying (it probably was), but at least thenotion of anxiety was nowhere near as prevalent as it is in the American societythat I inhabit. Since I have returned I havetried to live without a constant feeling of avoiding stress, being stressed, workingin a hurry, or focusing on deadlines. Myquestion is this: Can I live without a concept of stress at The College ofWooster, an environment which I have always perceived as very high-stressbecause of how hard I expect myself to work? Some people think that at least a little bit of stress can be veryhelpful in achieving one’s goals. Sofar, I am feeling very good with my “no stress” attitude and I seem to be doingalright with just taking things as they come. Will it survive?

3. Can the way we approach spirituality and religion in theUS be changed? I have seen howintertwined and fluid spiritual life is with the rest of society in othernations and think that this can really enhance one’s quality of life. It may even, if practiced correctly, lead toa more ethical life. (However, as I haveseen in Thailand, religion can often be used as a form of oppression.) In Thailand, I really appreciated howspirituality, faith, religion, etc. did not need to be put into boxes like itdoes in the United States. It bothers mehere how much emphasis we put on separating church from state (even if thatdoesn’t really exist), how we judge people based upon their religion, and howwe say that people who aren’t part of a specific religion are not religious people. Why is it so important that we are aChristian or a Muslim or a Jew or an Atheist? And why is it so important that we often seem to keep our own faith practiceshidden or separate? After all, we areall human beings. Even if we practicedifferent forms of spirituality, we could still at least talk about them or usethem for the common good. I saw someexamples of these practices in Thailand, such as in HIV/AIDS work. I also saw the acceptance of many forms of spiritual practice in Doi Lan, the Li Su village.

4. Thailand appearedto be a very hierarchical country, with so much emphasis placed on the king andalso one’s own personal status. Despitehow Thailand is often portrayed in international media, it did not seem likeany more of an unstable nation than any other country I have visited or livedin. I learn a lot in my sustainabilityclasses about how development is best when it is a grassroots, bottom-upinitiative. So what about the case ofThailand, which appears on the surface at least to be the exact opposite? (Note that I am someone who is a big advocatefor bottom-up development, and even I am asking this question. Perhaps everything is not so black andwhite.)

It’s still hard for me to write even these comments downbecause I feel unsure of what I write about. In the end I leave with more questions that I started with. However, I am very thankful to have had this trip. I am especially very grateful for getting tomeet and learn from many unique people while in Thailand. My weekly Asian and Asian American FeministTheology course starts tomorrow night and so I get to continuequestioning. Thus, I hope to continue towrite follow-up posts on topics such as those that I touched on above. (Also, a sneak peak at my next “abroad”experience: driving from Tucson, Arizona to Nogales, Mexico with a BorderLinkseducational experience in March.)

Here's to feeling stress-free in Thailand and the US. (Hopefully that also goes for my Li Su cat friend.)

Back in the States

2012-01-15T01:03:00.000-08:00

Dear friends,

I am back in the States now and will drive from Allen Park, MI to Wooster, OH in about 12 hours. I haven't been able to muster up a reflection post yet, but hopefully I can have one in the coming week. In the meantime here are some photos I would like to share with you.

International Women's Partnership for Peace and Justice visit
Anna and Liz's blog post on the visit
IWP's website

Soybean fields at IWP. Just like Ohio, right?

Ginger, our IWP host, was using these bricks to build her new home.

Visit to Doi Lan, a LiSu village
The LiSu are an ethnic minority of northern Thailand and Burma. We stayed in a village of about 100 households, called Doi Lan, for 3 nights at the end of our stay in Thailand.
Nancy and Abby's blog post about our last full day in Doi Lan

My host family was drying beans outside when we arrived.

After Thai government programs to eradicate opium production, coffee has become a main crop for Doi Lan.

Doi Lan seemed to have the best food in all of Thailand. This is sticky rice, similar to mochi, toasted with cinnamon and sugar.

Eggs, tomatoes, cilantro, squash, greens, rice.

One of our furry and flea-filled friends.

The largest livestock which the people in Doi Lan raise are pigs.

Celeste, Erin, and cat in front of our host family's house and kitchen.

Some more of our furry friends.

Coffee tree starts.

The school garden.

A view of the hills. Much of the area has been deforested.

Can you tell that Celeste, Erin, and I spent most of our time playing with animals?

A visit to Doi Chaang's luxury coffee production operation.

The first rice and pig slaughter ceremony.

Our host parents (Asapa and Alima) weighing and selling their beans on our last morning in the village.

Last Day in Bangkok

The Erawan Museum's 5-story 3-headed elephant.

At the top of the elephant structure is a room filled with centuries-old buddha figures from various kingdoms in Thailand.

The Erawan Museum also had beautiful flowers spread across their grounds.

Too bad these don't grow as well in the Midwest.

We used the skytrain as a nice alternative to Bangkok's road traffic.

Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai

2012-01-06T16:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday our class visited Doi Suthep, a large mountain in Chiang Mai which has a famous wat (temple) at the top.


Heading up the mountain (there's Ken in front of us).

There are 3 objects often involved in making an offering: 1. Two candles, which represent the teachings of the Buddha (both what to do, and what not to do). 2. Three incense sticks, representing the 3 qualities of Buddha: purified, wise, and full of loving kindness. 3. One lotus flower, representing well-practised monks that show that no matter who you are, you can become a spiritually beautiful person.

These bells surround the wat and anyone can ring them (such as Erin and Anna). They can be very popular for children, or children at heart.

Here is a man creating a statue of a famous monk. You can see the drawing of the monk in the background.


A view of Chiang Mai from the top of the mountain.

A mythical creature, taken from Hinduism, which connects water and sky because of its physical features.

The large pagoda represents the residence of Buddha.

We saw many Buddha images, each of which represent the image of Buddha according to certain group of people. The first Buddha image was not constructed until 500 to 700 years after the death of Buddha. This original image was constructed by Greeks, and then later went from India to Burma to Lanna to Sukhothai (Thailand).

Heading back down the snake-lined stairway to the bottom of the hill.

Some photos from Thailand thus far

2012-01-03T04:04:00.000-08:00

Wat Arun, Thonburi (across the Chao Phraya River from Bangkok).

Wat Arun.

Wat Pho's reclining buddha, Bangkok.

Chinatown, Bangkok.

Chao Phraya River, Bangkok.

New Year's Eve, Chiang Mai.

Fields in Mae Ta village.

Mae Ta village chicken (the village also had fish, frogs, deer, porcupine, and hogs).

Working the fields.

Nature walk, Mae Ta village.

Don't forget to keep following our trip here: http://woointhailand.blogspot.com/.

Off to Chiang Mai

2011-12-30T17:03:00.000-08:00

Dear friends,

After 3 full days in Bangkok our group is heading off to Chiang Mai today at noon. This is an abbreviated post so I won't say much, but here are some sites I have visited: Wat Arun, Wat Pho, Mountain Temple, Democracy Monument, Vivanmek Mansion, Chinatown, Giant Swing, a wholesale market, and many other markets. I have also explored 3 different forms of public transportation: the bus, the sky train, and the river bus.

My biggest reaction so far is how differently I am treated when traveling around Bangkok with two other Thai women (days 1 and 2) and when I am traveling with 16 other Americans (day 3). In the first case, I think people tend to assume I am Thai; in the second case, it is obvious that I am in a group of foreigners. Even the process of getting in at temples for a Thai and for a foreigner is completely different- foreigners usually have to pay and Thai people just seem to walk in. We'll see how it is in Chiang Mai.

Happy New Year's Eve and Happy New Year tomorrow. Chiang Mai is supposed to be a good place for New Year's Eve; hopefully I can stay up late enough to partake in the festivities. Then tomorrow we'll head out to Mae Ta, a village which recently converted to organic farming.

-ET

PS: Sorry the photos are absent. I probably will not be able to post any until I return to the States on the 13th of January.

Guest Blogger Colin: Look to See

2011-12-26T07:52:00.000-08:00

I asked my brother Colin, a senior at Riverdale High School, to reflect on his experience in India, so here it is for you to read. Can you tell that we are similar? Enjoy, and thank you Colin for your reflections.

Bridges to India students 2011. Colin is second from left.

From November 18^th to December 10^th I was on a trip to India with 12 other students, 1 parent, and 1 teacher from Riverdale High School. This trip, known as “Bridges to India”, has been occurring for the past 8 years. Before the trip we had spent over a year preparing and gathering donations in order to fulfill our goal of $40,000. The money all goes to the whole reason for the trip: supporting Hope Charities. Hope Charities is non-profit that gives aid to poor areas of people in Kerala, India. So far, Hope Charities has created a free clinic, tutoring school, women's sewing/empowerment center, a well for a impoverished community, a house for a poor family, and now, a new Pre-K school for local children. On our trip we visited major sites such as the Taj Mahal, we went to schools and talked with kids our age, and we also painted the new Pre-K school. Before we left on our trip, Daisy Kuchinad, the founder of Hope Charities, gave us one bit of advice: “Look to see”.

From when I landed to when I left, India never failed to be engrossing and surprising.

The traffic is insane, and when I say insane, I mean insane. Auto rickshaws drivers don't seem to understand the idea that the oncoming lane is for vehicles going the other way. Drivers swerve, drive perpendicular to traffic as traffic police who have given up trying to control the chaos stand by. People will cut off others and get into space that looked too small to fit their car (sometimes drivers do try to get into space which really is too small, the scuff marks on the sides of everyone's car is proof of that). Not only is the traffic hectic, but the horns are like an orchestra of the worst musicians ever. Honks surrounded me as soon as I stepped out of the airport in Delhi and they never ceased. Some horns are a standard beep, but in a place like India, being standard is way too boring. So, there are some horns that boom, some that squawk, some that scream, some that yodel, some that sound like “alalalalalalala,” you get the picture. Some cars even have multiple horns that drivers can switch between.

Indian people are by far the most hospitable, friendly, and open people I have ever met. In every school, the students would swarm us, asking for handshakes, our names, pictures, and even autographs. (Would students at a high school in the United States swarm some Indian students like this? Probably not.) The students' hospitality made our integration into their community so much easier. We didn't have to force ourselves in and hope for the best, the students wanted us to join them and they wanted to learn from us as much as they could. Just walking by on the street families will run out to their front porch and watch and wave. At first they may have a slight scowl as they try to figure out why 14 non-Indians are walking down their street, but as soon as they got a wave from us, we got one back and the scowl changed into a full face smile. As we visited houses in the poorer communities, people would sometimes give us gifts. Once the families saw us walking down to their house, they would run over to the nearest fruit tree and grab handfuls of some fruit that you've never seen nor heard of and then hand us every single one. All the while, they are smiling and laughing, clearly happy to give us the fruit.

When economists and politicians say that India will take over the world from the U.S., they mean it. India is constantly moving and evolving. Construction is never ending and people are always working. Neighborhoods and giant business buildings are shooting up everywhere. Outsiders always think of India as a place full of poverty, and while it is, India is also a place full of commerce. Without getting into the numbers, the Indian economy is booming. Now, I don't necessarily care what this means for GDP or how much I can gain from this, I care more about how this could change the way the world is run. The U.S. in terms of spirituality, poor population, population in general, and work ethic is dwarfed by India. Perhaps having India “take over the world” may prove to be a very positive thing. Just like with U.S. culture spreading across the globe, perhaps Indian culture will spread as well. Maybe one day, Americans will be living their lives with a little bit of an Indian attitude. Maybe they will think a little more about the problems that affect the poor, maybe they will be more in touch with their spiritual side, maybe they will think about how the world is not all about them and that there are 7 billion other humans sharing the world with them, and maybe Americans will have to work as hard (not necessarily at their profession) as many other people do across the globe right now.

Living in the U.S., even the most well-educated and globally aware people are still sheltered by the luxuries of American society. Moving out and exploring other countries is completely necessary in order to see how the majority of people actually live their lives. If every American traveled to another country and “looked to see” (and not to a resort town full of people exactly like us), they would begin to understand that the U.S. is not normal at all, but the exception. They might feel grateful to live in the U.S. and they might lose the complacency that all Americans have towards the problems of our world. They might see that American society is in some ways great, but in other ways completely unrealistic and wrong. I know that India did that to me.

Hope Charities, where you can find information and donate: http://hopecharities.org/

Bridges to India 2011 blog: http://riverdaletoindia2011.wordpress.com/

P.S. Be on the lookout in the next few days as my Asian and Asian American Feminist Theology class begins posting about our Thailand trip at http://woointhailand.blogspot.com/. If I have computer access you'll also find some posts or photos on my own blog. Thanks for reading.

Thailand and India

2011-12-22T15:22:00.000-08:00

Dear friends,

Hello again, this time from the sunny Portland, Oregon. I'm here for a week before I make my way to the Land of Smiles, aka Thailand, for 3 weeks. This is part of a field experience for an Asian and Asian American Feminist Theology course I will be taking at Wooster this spring. Please follow our class' blog here, as I will not be bringing a laptop to post on my own frequently. I will, however, provide some sort of reflection and photos on this blog once I return in January.

I will start and end my journey in Bangkok but will spend most of my time in Chiang Mai.

We have got quite the full itinerary for our trip. We'll be learning about the Thai culture (in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Mae Ta, and Doi Lan), visiting with religious and feminist organizations, and also learning about work to eradicate social injustices by various groups in the country. For me, I see this experience as a way for many of my interests to come together: travel, my identity as half-Japanese growing up in America, social change, and cross-cultural interaction. I'm also looking forward to all things agriculture: we will be visiting Mae Ta, a village in northern Thailand which recently converted to organic farming. And, as a special bonus I will get to meet up with Teya, my family's former exchange student who lived with us in 2008-2009!

Thailand's not all about the Grand Palace, although it is definitely one of Bangkok's amazing architectural features.

On another note, I have done little to forget about my experiences this past summer with Global Social Entrepreneurship in India. I participated in recruiting the team for GSE 2012 and out of a large applicant pool 12 amazing students were selected. We even made it into the Huffington Post.

My brother also was lucky enough to travel to India for 3 weeks just a few weeks ago, doing some educational tours and also volunteer work in Kerala (see his trip's blog here). I will post some of his reflections before I leave for Thailand, so be on the lookout. In the meantime, here's some sneak peek photos.

Part of the time Colin spent in India was devoted to making a mural at Hope Clinic.

The yellow submarine credit goes to Colin.

A beautiful Kerala sunset, taken from a Kerala backwaters boat ride.

A Few Final Notes

2011-07-20T11:43:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,

Now that I have been in the US for 9 days I thought I would provide some final thoughts on my Global SE experience. Like one of my Wooster professor uses in class, I have a few "take-home" points to share with you:

As a generalization, Americans are much more individualistic than Indians. While family is important for many Americans, it is a significantly larger part of Indian life. I liked this aspect of Indian culture and I am hoping to replicate it in my own life because I think it will remind me to think of more than just myself.
I definitely want to return to India. This time, rather than living in the city, I hope to live in a rural setting. I found rural India to be very beautiful and I liked the slower pace of life.
More than feeling like I was collaborating with an NGO on a project, I think Global SE fostered lots of personal growth. By pushing myself and putting myself in an unfamiliar setting I learned a lot about my own personality, what I value, and what I want to do in the future.
There are many individuals out there who want to change the world but just don't know how to do it. If these people could be leveraged, change could be systemic.

I hope you've enjoyed reading about my time in India. There is a good chance this blog will come back to life soon as I continue my study abroad experiences (I'm headed to Central America in January) or if I learn some cool things at Wooster that I would like to share. Until then, peace.

ET

Visit to Magadi on 9 July

2011-07-12T07:37:00.000-07:00

The Saturday before I left India I had the opportunity to visit Magadi, a peri-urban town located about 45 kilometers outside of Bangalore. Magadi is home to one of the Resource Centre on Urban Agriculture and Food Security’s (RUAF) projects which I wrote about in a blog post a few weeks ago. It was great to go see it in person and I learned a lot more about the program.

RUAF has projects around the world (Latin America, Asia, and Africa). A few years ago they started the From Seed to Table project at a number of sites including in Magadi. This program was created to strengthen the marketing capacity of farmers. In Magadi, an association of farmers was started in order to better market their products and thus improve livelihoods. There is also a special savings group specifically for women. In addition to better marketing, the association members learn organic farming techniques and have achieved a unity among the agricultural community that did not exist before the association.

These farmers grow a variety of vegetables but their star vegetable is the carrot. It was chosen because it can get a high selling price in the Magadi and Bangalore markets where the farmers’ produce is sold.


Value Chain Map for Magadi's carrot. (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

Some of the farmers in Magadi. Can you pick out the academic?

Project director, a few female farmers, Laura Valencia (my Wooster friend), and me.

We got to talk to about 15 total farmers (out of the current 157) who are members of the producer association. All of these farmers are within a 2 kilometer radius of the project office where the group meets once a month. In addition to trainings, the association gives the chance for farmers to discuss issues or ideas to improve their businesses. A few of the recent/upcoming initiatives by the association are growing carrots year-round, starting up a nursery, and reintroducing traditional seed varieties into the fields.

In addition to talking with farmers and the association’s facilitator we briefly got to visit one of the fields. Here we saw an example of a vermiculture system (I of course dug for worms) and we got to view some women weeding a field of radishes (I of course jumped right in on this activity until realizing that no one else was following me).

I was surprised at how successfully this project seemed to be going. Even though I loved working at Green Corps in Cleveland last summer there were still many, many challenges that the organization was facing. I did not see nearly as many challenges in Magadi. Of course, the contexts of the two projects are entirely different. But I still wonder if there’s something that Cleveland's Green Corps could learn from Magadi? This question or something similar is something I will probably be exploring in my senior thesis.

Working on our Hiroshi Takeo faces even in semi-rural India.

Back in the USA

2011-07-11T02:39:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,

I just wanted to inform you all that I have arrived safely back in the United States. I am currently sitting in the Newark International Airport waiting for my flight to Detroit. Once I'm in Detroit I will have a few more blog posts to put up about some of the things I did at the end of my stay in Bangalore (things got a bit too hectic to write the posts there). I hope you've enjoyed reading and be on the lookout for a few last posts.

ET

New York Times Article "In Fight for Better India, Best to Look Within"

2011-07-06T22:54:00.000-07:00

Since I have been in India I have heard a lot of talk about corruption. Here is an article in the New York Times that takes an interesting approach to solving this problem of corruption. Our GSE Team has been discussing what we think about this approach. Feel free to add your own comments on the blog.

Looking Sharp with Two Days of Work Left

2011-07-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

Sam and I have two days of work left at EnAble India. We presented our project to our supervisors, Anju and Shanti, yesterday. Tomorrow (Friday) we will hand in our report that proposes the creation of a knowledge-sharing network of Indian NGOs that work for employment of persons with disabilities.

Until then, we have lots of work to do!

Center for Social Initiative and Management, Bangalore

2011-07-05T20:44:00.001-07:00

Click on the photo to enlarge.

More photos at SE Wooster's photostream.

Reflections on Global Social Entrepreneurship

2011-07-03T06:40:00.000-07:00

Every week we spend three hours at a session hosted by the Center for Social Initiative and Management (CSIM). This week our own program was featured in the session. As preparation for this presentation, Professor Moledina had us answer the following four questions. I answered them for the CSIM session and then revised my answers afterwards based upon insights I gained from our discussion. Here’s how they turned out.

1. What do you think Global SE is?

GSE is all about context. Global = contextual. This context could be cultural, geographical, socioeconomic, gender, values, etc. When we come to volunteer at Dream a Dream and EnAble India we need to understand the contexts that these organizations are working in. Once we understand the contexts we learn how to find solutions that are contextually appropriate.
GSE is also all about having a special mindset. It’s a learning mindset rather than a “I’m going to give you an answer” mindset. Asking questions. Observing what’s around us and what’s been done before. Could something that was successful somewhere else be modified to fit the special context we’re in? Part of this learning mindset is understanding the ecosystem we are are in.
Because GSE is all about understanding context and having a learning mindset, it becomes a highly collaborative experience. In this collaborative experience we are avoiding hierarchy and avoiding arrogance.
In the larger scope, global social entrepreneurs envision systems-level change. I like Bill Draken’s quote about changing the entire fishing industry rather than giving someone fish/teaching them how to fish (I used this in a previous post about Ashoka Fellows). In order to achieve systems level change, global social entrepreneurs need to think outside of the box.
The systems level change means that the models for change need to self-sustaining models. They need to empower those who are experiencing the social problem and make sure that the solution is rooted in the entire community. When one person or one NGO leaves the positive changes should not disappear.
Wooster’s GSE program is about trying to actively create change rather than just talk about it. So much of academics is talking, but sometimes you just can’t understand the full scope of a situation unless you’ve experienced it yourself. Once we’ve participated in the experiential learning process, then we can start devising solutions.
Finally, Wooster’s GSE program is about personal growth. What do I learn about myself? What do I enjoy working on? Where do I fit in to help affect change?

2. Why did you enroll in it?

I chose to participate in GSE because I’m interested in social justice. However, I don’t just want to talk about social justice. I want to do social justice. If you received a letter from me in the spring you might remember me mentioning this. At Wooster we do lots of talking about social problems but not as much action. I think that action is just as important, especially in an academic setting where you are learning skills and methods to take your forward in your life.

I also chose to enroll in GSE because I thought it would put me out of my comfort zone. I’m used to being a volunteer in American NGOs and doing labor that pretty much anybody could do. In GSE I am completing a very intensive project in an entirely different context. I wanted to make myself do something new like that.

3. What was your project?

Sam and I worked at EnAble India which is an NGO that works to train and then find employment for disabled adults. We are finishing up a report that proposes the creation of a knowledge-sharing network for ten Indian NGOs that work for employment of persons with disabilities (PWD). By sharing knowledge (including best practices) the hope is that these NGOs can better achieve their own specific goals while also working for the common good. In order to devise our report, Sam and I did lots of research on effective NGO networks. We also interviewed a number of potential member NGOs to hear their thoughts on knowledge-sharing and see what knowledge they could provide to other NGOs.

4. How has this project affected how you think about working for social change?

I have learned a lot about how I fit into the social change spectrum while working on this project. I’ve learned that I do not consider myself a social entrepreneur. Social entrepreneurs work 24/7 and are usually very intense and extroverted people. I am not like that. Maybe I can be a different type of person that works for social change. Or, maybe I should redefine my notion of “social entrepreneur.” Nonetheless, I know that I am more of a “hands” worker rather than a “head” worker (which is ironic because I chose to attend a liberal arts college where we pretty much only do head work). I want to be out in the field carrying out the programs rather than thinking up how to do them. And I’m okay with being this type of person. I continue to believe that I want a large part of my life to be working for social change.

Conclusions

There is no right answer to what GSE is. This is just what I’ve gathered so far from our seminar, this internship, and from talks with people we’ve met along the way. I have done a lot of personal reflection during this experience and I will continue to reflect even after I get on a plane in one week. I don’t think that my notion of GSE will just stay as what I’ve written above. It’s still an incomplete picture. Like most things in my head, it will change.

Traffic and Approaches to Development

2011-06-28T22:56:00.000-07:00

Read a post by Kipaya about development here.

Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, Bangalore

2011-06-27T05:50:00.000-07:00

Cleaning up after Bangalore 10K

2011-06-23T21:12:00.000-07:00

Saahas is a social enterprise in Bangalore that is working to solve the city's waste management problems. They organization is made up of twenty women who do a variety of waste collection and sorting programs around the city. We learned yesterday that they were responsible for cleaning up the waste generated at the Bangalore 10K that I wrote a post about a few weeks ago. See photos on facebook of this clean-up effort here. While it does not justify the waste generation of the event, it is nice to know that an NGO has filled the need to make Bangalore cleaner.

Social Entrepreneurship, Ashoka Fellows, and Where I Fit In

2011-06-23T05:56:00.000-07:00

Our program is called Global Social Entrepreneurship. So, naturally, I should be thinking a lot about social entrepreneurship. It seems though that the more I learn about social entrepreneurship the less I know about it. This post will hopefully help me organize some of my knowledge and thoughts about SE.

I’ve learned a fair amount about social entrepreneurship in the context of the Ashoka Foundation. The Ashoka Foundation was started in 1980 by Bill Drayton and is a platform to provide social entrepreneurs with resources and networking. For Ashoka, a social entrepreneur is someone who has an innovative idea to solve a social problem with the ability to create systemic change. Social entrepreneurs are very creative people who devote their whole self to making social change a reality (this is where the entrepreneurial quality comes in). There is a quote by Drayton that helped me better understand social entrepreneurs when we were learning about it in our spring seminar. It was again repeated by a woman from the Ashoka Foundation that we met when we first arrived in Bangalore:

“Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or to teach how to fish. They will not stop until they have revolutionized the fishing industry.”

The Ashoka Foundation elects leading social entrepreneurs to become Ashoka Fellows via a rigorous selection process. There are over 350 Ashoka Fellows in India alone. Shanti Raghavan, the founder of EnAble India, is the Ashoka Fellow that I have personally worked most closely with. She started EnAble India in 1999 after witnessing the difficulties her brother (who is visually impaired) had when trying to find employment despite having great qualifications. This was a social problem that she wanted to change. Her innovative idea was to start providing training for persons with disabilities that matched what was needed by the employers.

At EnAble India, candidates (the people with disabilities) are registered and then an analysis is done to see what type of job would best suit the candidate. The candidate then receives the proper training for the job and EnAble helps place them with an employer. Moreover, EnAble visits the employers themselves to come up with “workplace solutions” that will make that company accessible for someone with a disability. A workplace solution could be something as simple as screen reading technology for someone who is visually impaired. Once a disabled person gains employment, EnAble’s job is not complete. They continue with post-placement reviews. EnAble also does trainings with employers to so that workers in the company can understand how to work with a disabled person.

EnAble India trains its candidates very well. When a person with a disability is placed into a company by EnAble India, they become a change agent. This is where Shanti’s ideas begin to create systemic change. Employers see that a disabled person can do excellent work and they then begin to want to hire PWD just because of their skills, not necessarily to fill quotas. This starts a process where disabled people can have more than just employment. They can have economic independence. They can have dignity because they enjoy their work and their work is valued by others. They can have a livelihood. They can begin to teach people that disability is just one part of a larger diversity of human beings.

Talking with Shanti in meetings has been very inspiring for me. She is truly driven by her vision of dignity for all persons with disabilities. She has countless ideas about how to work on these social problems and she is constantly networking and partnering with others to work for social change. Working with Shanti and learning about her path with EnAble India has really shown me the power of someone who is a social entrepreneur. It is great to see that people like her have become Ashoka Fellows. (And, as someone who was brought up with an empowering all-girls high school education, it is great to see that a large number of Ashoka Fellows are women.)

Since I’ve arrived in Bangalore I have been thinking a lot about where I fit in in terms of social entrepreneurship. Not everyone is a social entrepreneur. I do not consider myself to be one. If you have read any of my blog posts you know that I am passionate about working for systemic change. However, I don’t have any innovative ideas to a social problem and I don’t have the entrepreneurial skill set like social entrepreneurs do to create the systemic change. Or at least I don’t have these things right now. So is social entrepreneurship the only way to create systemic change? What can I do in terms of helping to create the systemic change? I reflect on it every day. I don’t have any answers yet, nor do I think I will by the time I leave India. But that doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about it.

About Food and Livelihoods, by Sarah

2011-06-20T05:53:00.000-07:00

Check out Sarah's post on the Global SE blog to hear her thoughts on our Russel Market experience last weekend along with her experience in general in India. Sarah, a rising Wooster senior, is a great addition to the GSE team. She and Kipaya are working with Dream a Dream, an NGO that helps teach life skills to underprivileged children in Bangalore.

Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement in Rural Karnataka

2011-06-17T23:13:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday and Friday the GSE Team took a trip to rural Karnataka to see the work of the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM). SVYM is an organization that focuses on development with three areas of focus: health, education, and community development. They began in the 1980’s after a group of young medical students in Mysore wanted to make a positive impact and improve the lives of the poor that they saw around them. Today, SVYM runs countless projects, mostly in the state of Karnataka, to create community-driven empowerment and a better civil society.

On our visit we got to tour two hospitals and two schools, some of which were in very rural areas. These institutions cater to rural peoples as well as tribal groups who have traditionally been marginalized members of society. SVYM receives special government funding to make healthcare and education affordable for tribal peoples. However, as SVYM staff noted, it is often difficult to get tribal persons to come receive medical care at the hospital or to attend school because of a number of cultural reasons. This includes a tradition of needing children to stay at home to help with work, having to travel far distances from home, and having parents who have never attended school.

School artwork made from waste materials.

Sarah (the cook of the group) in the kitchen at one of the schools, frying up some onions and garlic.

Sam, Sarah, Kipaya, and I really enjoyed meeting all of the kids at the schools. They loved taking photos with us and asking us “What is your name?” This was the major highlight for most of the team. Of course a major highlight for me was getting to see the “sanitation park” at one of the hospitals where all of the different toilets are displayed that can be purchased by villages (perhaps I should thank my father for this interest in toilets).

Squat toilet at sanitation park, along with a list of pricings.

In addition to the hospitals and schools, we visited the Vivekananda Institute for Leadership Development in Mysore. Here, people receive training to work on various SVYM projects. There is also a very cool graduate program in Development Management (MDM). It was very inspiring to meet the students in the programs and see students like us who were very passionate about social change, development, and sustainability. The students were full of energy as they told us about their final research projects and what they hoped to do after graduation.

One of the greatest parts of the trip for me (perhaps my most favorite) was the agrarian landscape as we travelled out of the city and into rural village life. I wish I could have visited a farm to see the operations up close, but even from afar it was fantastic to get to see small-scale agriculture in action. The photos don’t do it justice. Lots of people working with their hands or directing a team of cattle in very small fields was a typical scene in the areas we traveled. There were definitely no John Deers the size of a house out in Sargur or Hosahalli! It was so calming and at the same time uplifting for me. I would have loved to go join the farmers in their fields. I'm sure they have lots of wisdom to share.

A stop at Mysore Palace on the way home.

Is there urban ag in Bangalore?

2011-06-14T02:56:00.000-07:00

One of my biggest passions is agriculture. Recently I have been most interested in urban agriculture after I spent last summer working on farms in Cleveland with a cool program called Green Corps. I even hope to write my Junior and Senior Independent Study projects at Wooster on urban agriculture. That's why of course I am putting my feelers out for urban ag in Bangalore while I am here.

I found a really cool looking urban agriculture site in a semi-urban area outside of Bangalore. I have contacted the organizers and hope to arrange a visit with them. The farms are located in Magadi and are run in part by the Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security. A project description can be found here.


A view of Magadi.

Land use in Magadi (you might want to click on the image to view it in a larger form). About half of the land is used to grow food. What if Wooster or Portland could be like this?

So far it has been hard to see what type of farming or gardening is going on in the city itself. Bangalore is growing so quickly that most of the space is used. Some vacant lots, however, present potential locations for growing in the urban setting. Still, the number of vacant lots here cannot even come close to what I've seen in Detroit or Cleveland.

If I am able to arrange a visit to Magadi or meet with the organizers I will be sure to post an update.

Russel Market 2011.06.12 Sunday

2011-06-12T23:53:00.000-07:00

Do you have change?

2011-06-11T04:37:00.000-07:00

A brief note: The GSE 2011 Team wants change!

We want change so that all Indians can have a decent livelihood and so that we can buy mangoes off the street from local vendors.

We want change so that persons with disabilities are treated with dignity and so that we can get to Enable India on the bus.

We want change so all children have access to good schools and so that we can have wi-fi access at cafes to do our own coursework.

We need change because we seek a better world.

And we need change because Indians prefer not to handle anything bigger than a 10 rupee bill.

Photos From First 2 Weeks

2011-06-06T01:29:00.000-07:00

Autorickshaw under repair.

In an auto.

Toilets and bucket showers.

Street cows.

EnAble India office space (you can see some of the honors EI has received in the background).

Eco-dryer.

Two worlds collide.

Mangalore Pearl restaurant.

Statues at UTC.

Mango, mango, mango.

To view a larger version of a photo, simply click on it.
ET

World Bangalore 10K

2011-06-05T21:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the World Bangalore 10K race sponsored by Tata Consultancy Services. This event is a large event where NGOs can raise funds for their causes by participating in the race. Moreover, businesses can “run for a cause” and raise funds for a specific NGO.

Both Enable India (where Sam and I are interning) and Dream A Dream (where Sarah and Kipaya are interning) participated in the event. Unfortunately I did not get to walk with the EI team (I missed registration) but I did get to watch all of the different teams cross the finish line holding their banners about their various NGOs and causes. The energy of the various NGOs was quite exciting and I especially liked the special cheers that many organizations were saying as they crossed the finish line. I thought the event was quite fun, with dance music and food for participants at the big stadium finish.

Dream Team

Enable Team

More great photos from the event here at SE Wooster's flickr page.

Of course, I am one to always find something ironic in an event like this. This event is a way to raise funds for NGOs who are working on very important social causes such as the employment of disabled adults and building life skills in underprivileged children. The organization of the event, however, did not always match what I would think the values would be of these NGOs.

Let’s use the example of bottled water, which was passed out to all participants at this event. Bottled water is often stolen (I use this word to show my opinion of the extraction process) from local villages to be bottled and sold for huge profits. The bottles are made with PET plastic that has a number of carcinogens that especially affect those who live near the production facilities, usually in low income areas. At the Bangalore 10k, once the water was consumed, bottles were mostly tossed on the ground. There were some trash bins (no recycling or composting) but they were rarely used. Even if bottled water were to be recycled, it is unlikely that it would be made into another product that would be recyclable (this is called “downcycling”). Thus, bottled water almost always has negative social and environmental connotations. Would many of the people at the 10K (who I presume are somewhat socially/environmentally conscious) be okay with this if this were indeed the case?

A big sponsor of the event, from what I could tell by their advertising everywhere, was Nike. (Portland’s presence is even here in Bangalore.) While Nike has done many things in the past few years to improve its image, I still do not believe that all of their practices are socially, economically, and environmentally just. How much were their workers paid in Indonesia to make my favorite pair of red running shorts? Do their factories use environmentally sound practices? I’m not so sure. Heck, some NGOs probably ordered their 10k themed shirts from Nike and they were made in some sort of “sweatshop” in India itself. Perhaps even a young child made them. Yet so many of the people at this very event are working to eradicate exactly these practices—so how could they be okay with having Nike there saying how awesome of a company it is?

To me, the bottled water and Nike aspects of the event (and these are just a two examples) are not aligned with the values underlying conscious consumption. Nor are these aspects aligned with what the NGOs at this event represent. That is not to discredit this event in any way since I think it is a good way for NGOs to network and fundraise and promote their work. It is also a great event for laypeople to get involved in a cause. I think it just goes to show that you sometimes have to be stuck within the system in order to “fight” it. I am definitely in the system even though I am trying to change the system. It’s extremely difficult to create a “pure,” “wholesome,” event to support social enterprise. Perhaps the fact that the bottled water companies, Nike, etc are here at this event provides some opportunity for the NGOs to collaborate with them to create better practices. (And this is coming from someone who’s always saying things like “I live to fight The Man” and such.) If the partnerships can be nurtured in an effective way then perhaps large scale, sustainable, social change could become more of a reality.

After the 10K race.

Let me know if you all have any thoughts. Is it okay that the Bangalore 10K has bottled water and Nike advertisements (to name a few examples) at its event? Do we have to work inside the system? What would an event for NGOs look like if it were to be truly fitting with these organizations’ social values? I’m still processing these questions myself and I would like to hear other people’s responses.

Project Description

2011-06-03T04:30:00.000-07:00

As the central portion of my Global Social Entrepreneurship internship, I will be creating a project through July 8th through a collaborate process with Enable India and Sam, my project partners. After a week of work we finally know what we will be focusing on for the next five weeks. The following is a brief project description:

Recently many NGOs have approached Enable India (EI) asking them to take the lead on the creation of a national body that is focused on the employment of persons with disabilities (PWD). The first step for us is to research which type of body (forum, consortium, union, fellowship, etc) would have the best structure for creating an effective, sustainable organization that works for employment of PWD. We will use case studies (both contemporary and historic), academic works, discussion with EI, and knowledge of the social sector in India to determine the best possible structure of this governing body.

A current concern is that there are many cultural, political, legal, etc reasons that make employment different from one area to another. That is why another step in our initial research is to determine the best size (state, region, country, etc) for this body. Perhaps a nationwide body could not achieve its goals as well as a regional body could.

We want a body that will bring about effective social transformation. Hopefully our initial research can show us what type of body will be the best for EI to pursue with other partners in the field. Based upon our findings, we will propose a plan for a body that will be specific to employment of PWD in India (or a region of India).

So far Sam and I have completed research on social forums, consortia, and federations. We will be doing more research in the next few days. Hopefully though we will also get some rest over the weekend.

Happy Friday,
ET

Enable India: Empowering Persons with Disabilities

2011-05-30T05:19:00.000-07:00

I am working at Enable India, an organization that works for the economic independence and dignity of persons with disabilities. While you're eagerly awaiting my next post sometime later this week you can browse EI's website: http://www.enable-india.org/new/index.php Today we (me, Sam, Professor Moledina, and EI directors) discussed project topics for our six week internship. We're now winding down, but stuck inside because of the downpour that is currently happening outside (monsoon season).

Hope everyone is doing well back home in the US or wherever you are in the world.

GSE 2011 is off and running

2011-05-27T10:21:00.000-07:00

Amyaz, Kipaya, Sam, Erika, and Sarah at UTC (our lodging) on our official start day 2011.05.26

Hi all,
After two days of lovely exploring in Bangalore (veg food, salwar kamiz, monsoon, cockroach, autorickshaw, etc), we began our two days of orientation for GSE. We met with representatives and/or visited the following organizations, discussing how each social enterprise functions and also various topics in social entrepreneurship:

Sattva (more on them later)
ivolunteer, which connects volunteers and NGOs in India and worldwide
Center for Social Initiative and Management (CSIM), which does training for people interested in social enterprise
Ashoka Foundation, which provides resources for social entrepreneurs
Selco, which provides alternative energy sources at affordable costs in rural areas
Industree/Mother Earth, which works with Indian producers to sell environmentally/socially sustainable products

Yesterday after lunch we visited Sattva in the Indira Nagar district. This was my favorite part of the entire orientation. Sattva is a social enterprise which does consulting work for social enterprise (any NGO, business, or organization that works for social chane). What I think is really cool, though, is that Sattva has an online publication that targets people who are not yet involved in the social change sector (http://thealternative.in/). They want to make social justice topics more accessible to the "layperson" and they want to know how to communicate those messages in an important way. This I believe is truly valuable; social change cannot occur in a bubble. If you want systemic change then you need more than just your social entrepreneurs.

GSE Team and a few Sattva members (yes, there are women- they just left before we took the photo)

Sattva was also personally inspiring for me because I was able to briefly explain my major at Wooster. My focus in Global Sustainability Studies is to explore the connections between environmental sustainability and social justice. Right away the Sattva workers began listing off NGOs, contact persons, and places I should visit where I could see these two interests being put into action all together. It was personally rewarding to see that there are organizations that understand the interconnectedness of injustices and are working with those complexities to solve problems.

I will post a few more photos when I have more access to the Internet and to my peers' photos (I have not taken too many photos on my own camera). In the meantime, check out SE Wooster's flickr photostream here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/se-wooster/. I took the banana photos.

On Monday I start work at Enable India, an organization that helps disabled adults find employment in a number of awesome ways. I will leave you with two of the few photos I actually have on my camera to give you a sense of what India can look like.

National Market in Bangalore 2011.05.24

Please post comments! Peace,
ET

Leaving for India

2011-05-19T07:57:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,

On Sunday, I am traveling to India as part of The College of Wooster's 2011 Global Social Entrepreneurship team. We will be working with two NGOs in Bangalore- one which helps underprivileged children build life skills and another that helps disabled adults find employment. The 2011 team includes myself, three peers, and a Wooster prof who will serve as our adviser. I will be working from May 26-July 8 and afterward I will travel for 2.5 weeks around India. I hope you enjoy my writings and reflections as I embark on this experience.


The Team. Back: Kipaya '12 (International Relations), Sam '13 (Economics), Sarah '12 (Communication Studies) Front: Erika '13 (Global Sustainability Studies)

For additional readings (including an introduction to Team GSE 2011), please check out GSE's blog: http://global_se.scotblogs.wooster.edu/.

Peace,
ET