Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement in Rural Karnataka

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?

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

Do you have change?

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

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

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

 
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