Quarterlies: Cleaning the Streets of Rait!

This February 2015, quarterlies took place combined in Naddi & Rait. Quarterlies is a coming together of all 4 centres of EduCARE India: Naddi, Punjab, Bikaner and Rait. During such a week project managers are able to discuss achievements and challenges with managers of the same projects from different centres. Furthermore, a week like this is filled with workshops, discussions, brainstorming, sports, good food and fun, much. fun. A combined quarterlies was possible since both the centres Naddi & Rait are situated near Dharamsala. Naddi in the Himalayas, Rait 30 kilometres towards Kangra. The week started off in Naddi with presentations of centres regarding their centres, the communities they work in, and implemented projects. It ended in Rait with a big clean-up.

Rait is a relatively new centre, and its projects are very young or even not yet existing. This quarterlies was an enormous opportunity for EduCARE India to make its presence known in the village. A good connection has already been established with the closely by situated ‘South-East’ community, yet we still are the unknown ‘outsiders’ for many people in this +/- 2000 heads counting village. For me, Bruno; manager of SWASH in Rait, this quarterlies brought the opportunity to turn this around, and to create a positive change regarding waste awareness in Rait.

In the afternoon of Sunday the 5th of March 2015, two formed groups left the Rait intern house. 30 people armed with empty bags planning to make the Indians mind dazzle. As waste is defined to be filthy and gross, people cleaning it are associated with the lowest of society, and ‘people from the West’ often is being looked up to as ‘wealthy’, western people picking waste would surely create one huge contradiction.

We split up in 2 groups: one going into the ‘South-East’ community, the second heading for the main street and shopping area. The mission was not necessarily to pick-up as much waste as possible. The core-idea of this clean-up was to smile, laugh, and namaste our way through Rait: People had to see us, people had to start gossip about us!

As I was in group number one I was walking through the South-East community. This community is the one that our intern-house is situated in, and the one which we for example celebrated Holi with, a couple of weeks ago. A similar path was chosen to the one that we walked together with the community during this event. While separating waste in ‘soft plastics’, ‘recyclables’, ‘paper & cardboard’ and ‘general waste’, we encountered a lot of people. Striking was: most of these were smiling and greeting us. However with a questioning face -what in the universe name these crazies were doing -. As far as I could understand people did not directly disapprove. They still might have disapproved anyway. They might have started the rumor: “have you seen them doing that?”: perfect

Now the question might have occurred by you: reader of this blog-post, if this is the approach that EduCARE India is striving for: 30 people walking through a village picking up waste yet there much more is to be cleaned and picked up. The answer is no. This walk was a perfect opportunity to create awareness amongst them who questioned what we are doing here. SWASH: waste management in Rait aims for creating a sustainable, community-owned household/shopkeeper level system for reduce, re-use and recycle of waste. This in close cooperation with people themselves. EduCARE India tries to create responsibility under people, hoping to one day leave a Rait which has the ability to maintain a waste disposal system itself.

Has this community clean-up been effective? Yes. Whether I extremely badly want to see this, or this is actually happening; I have the feeling more shopkeepers have put bins outside their shops. A shopkeeper showed me a sign on his bin saying: ‘waste disposal’ in English and Hindi. He mentioned he put it there after he saw us performing the clean-up. Another shopkeeper actually grabbed a bit of plastic and put it in a bag during the clean-up. Best for last: one day after this event an interviewer came to the Rait intern house asking whether he could write an article about EduCARE India and its activities in Rait.

See you in a cleaner Rait!

Bruno Lauteslager - The Nethelands

SWASH Project Manager, Rait

Things Are A-cookin' in Abhowal

On Sunday, July 24, Girls Club in Abhowal held an event for the entire Abhowal community.  The event showcased artwork by the girls, a skit about nutrition, a dance that promoted physical fitness, and an inspiring song about humans and the Earth! 

Girls Club Abhowal, which began in early June, has focused on the topics of personal hygiene, nutrition, food safety, and physical fitness in its first month.  While the event served as a way to show off what the girls had learned over the past month, it also was a great way to connect with the girls' mothers, siblings, and community at-large in Abhowal.  Taking place at the Gudwara, it began with an introduction of the girls and an explanation of why Girls Club exists. 

After the introduction the girls performed a skit written by our very own Yiwen Hsia, focused on the importance of healthy eating.  The crowd was delighted by the heart-warming tale of five sisters who all had different diets.  One daughter only ate fruit for healthy hair, the second ate only dairy for healthy skin, the third only grains for a strong body, and the forth only vegetables for a good figure.  Only the youngest daughter ate everything her mother prepared.  When all the other daughters suffered from poor health due to their limited diet, the mother asked for help from the wise old women of the village. The wise old woman realized that the girls' picky diets were to blame for their health problems and she decided to teach them a lesson. She gave them two solutions to their problems: to either change their diet or to hop on one leg repeating “dippy dippy doo” three times. While the older sisters hopped and chanted, they envied their youngest sister for her long healthy hair, her strong body, her beautiful figure, and clear skin. They finally realized that she was so beautiful and healthy because of her balanced diet, reflecting on their own poor choices.

The skit ended with an uplifting dance choreographed by the girls. The audience was dragged to the dance floor and everyone joined in on the fun and physical fitness! Volunteers displayed art projects from previous Girls Club meetings, including plates of healthy meals and posters on personal hygiene. The event was a huge success; the Abhowal community took pride in the girls and all they had learned.  The sense of accomplishment the girls felt and the joy they took in showing off to their friends and family was a great step towards empowerment!  Thanks to all who came out to the event and supported the girls! 

A lovely launch in Abhowal

The girls pose for a photo!

On the back of the success with the Abhowal After School Programme (ASP), Yi Wen, Centre Manager for Dosarka, has managed to form a new Girls Club in the same village! People are seriously starting to question when she has time to sleep!

On the launch of the new club, a really buoyant group of fifteen turned up to mark its inception - from which more than half of the girls attend ASP too. So, there is a nice sense of continuity within the group that Yi Wen has to work with. 

Yi Wen's account of the launch is as follows:
We started off a little bit later than scheduled, but as we are in India and we have to take into account IST (Indian Stretchable Time).

Our first stop was Amrit’s house, where we waited for the girls, as well as two of our interns – Natalia (Adampur) and Maria (Janauri), who joined Martha, Julia and myself who all came to support the launch. At Amrit's we had some tea and refreshments, and then went to the village Gurdwara.

With the girls, we started off with a short introduction of the organization, what we do, and what we want to achieve with Girls Club. The girls were listening very closely and were very enthusiastic. Chenni was the translator. Although her English is not perfect, I think she got the essence of what was being said, and relayed this information accordingly.

Afterwards all the girls had to introduce themselves, by saying their name, age and what they liked to do. Although some of the younger ones would repeat what the older girls said, it was clear that the majority of the girls liked to dance. It was a good way for the girls to get to know one another, as well as a perfect opportunity for them to practice their English too.

Listening intently...

This was followed by some icebreaker games - name games - where we had to memorize each others names. It was a good way to interact with the girls and to learn each others names in a fast and fun way. It also made us bond more with the girls. They were a bit shy at first, but afterwards they became more confident with speaking English and speaking to the other interns.

We then had a break, which I definitely think is a good thing. To have a small break in the middle of each session is nice, so that the girls will feel that they are in a fun and relaxed environment, where they feel comfortable. We had chai and snacks, and then went to Chenni’s house to meet her family.

After this, we went back to the Gurdwara and did our final activity. We split the girls in five groups, and each of the interns supporting the launch, had to ask the girls what they wanted to become, and how they thought they could achieve it.

Chenni was extremely helpful in translating for us, and she was very diligent. With this activity the girls experienced some troubles in expressing themselves, but I’m confident that with the English classes, they will improve fast. 

After this we presented our future dream job to the other girls. And many of them aspired to become a teacher or a nurse. We will keep these documents, and after a month or two, we will take them out again and see if anything has changed, and if so, how and why it has or has not changed.

The girls saving 'bye' as the interns get the bus :)

By the end of the launch the girls were extremely excited, and the interns were left very happy with the success of the days proceedings. 

Finally, Yi Wen enthused, 'I’m really happy with the results. It was a good introduction and there was a good atmosphere and positive attitudes. We are all looking for the next Girls Club, next week Friday'. Great to hear!

Organic Farming: Update from Sotla

Manuel raking away

Today was the first EVER coalescence of EduCARE interns on the organic farm plot in Sotla, Punjab. Thanks to all the 14 heroes that turned up today at 7am to help out, we now have 100 square feet of dirt primed for folding in manure and planting seeds, a working compost system, and only one broken hoe. There were lots of ups and downs, though mostly ups in terms of temperature. There were surprise guest appearances from Mr. Bhullar (with chai and cookies), a giant spider, and various local spectators. Despite the distractions we hoed like mad all the way to midday.

Our patch for organic farming in Sotla, Dosarka

The organic farming project has come a long way in only three weeks. We've expanded our plot from 30 square feet to 100, removed all of the weeds, wildflowers, and abandoned carrots, and aerated the soil by hand. Thanks to Tom Kee, EduCARE's waste management intern, we've got a 2- bin compost system built, and lots of organic waste to fill it with. There's a completed survey to conduct among the local farmers so we can start building relationships with them and understand the lay of the land here in Sotla. Channels of communication are open with other organic farms in the region, and through them we've already got local, organic, heirloom seeds of okra, gourd, amaranth, and cucumber. We're also hot on the trail of organic green manure seeds and red wigglers for composting.

In the next 2 months we're confident there'll be little organic seedlings of oat, okra, gourd, cucumber, cantaloupe, amaranth, and beans braving the Punjabi sun, and a big batch of rich compost ready for the soil. By June there should also be a wealth of information about the farming community here in Sotla, as well as increased local understanding about the organic farming project. We're looking forward to the next round of interns who will keep this ball rolling, and enjoy the fruits (and vegetables) of the labor done so far. 

Yi Wen and Isis help clear the land

To newcomers, the plan is simple: start an organic plot, spread to hundreds if not thousands of acres and thereby save the world by reducing pesticide use in Punjab, then India, and then the world. Obviously, this is far easier said than done. In order for the organic farming vision to take hold in the region, there needs to be a paradigm shift. The immeasurable value of organic farming needs to be embraced by the community. Luckily, with this first assembly of dedicated interns this process has started. With every morning spent in the field, Punjab, the breadbasket of India, gets a step closer to organic. When asked by the locals, “What are you doing with those tools?” we reply, “We’re farming.” This has changed the perceptions of what the interns are here for and this will open the door for the merits of organic farming to be heard, and hopefully embraced in the community.