My Last Home Cooked Meal With Sushma

I have been away from the blogging world, and all things internet for the past week almost. My broadband internet card really doesn't like the village I live in or the rain. (Though I am happy to report that India finally got the monsoon it was looking for, with over 100% rain fall in August the drought is not going to be nearly as bad as they had previously forecasted.)

My last couple of days at DSK flew by, and now I am in Goa at Navsarjan's strategic planning meeting. But before I left DSK Sushma said she had to cook for me one last time. So friday night before she went home for the weekend she cooked for me and we spent our last night talking together. 

 The food was delicious and spicy as usual. 

 After dinner we decided to go for a walk and stopped by the local store to talk. While we at the store we ran into these two guys who were grabbing a quick bite to eat. The one on the right is Sushma's friend's nephew and the one on the left is his best friend. I swear anywhere we would go we would always run into friends or past students of Sushma's. 

But it was a wonderful last evening with Sushma at DSK, and I can honestly say the thing I am going to miss most about that place is her. She took care of me showing me the ropes and making sure I was always fed. I really am going to miss our late night talks in the garden and her cooking. I learned so much from her these past couple of months, and I can honestly say I am a better person now for having known her. 

Thanks Sushma! I'll miss you!

Finals Week

Finals week is always the week that everyone dreads at school.

 It is a week of late nights, early mornings, tones of caffeine, and hours spent with your head in a book or glued to a computer screen just to so you can finish all of your last minute assignments or pass that final cumulative test. 

This is my last week here at DSK. Next week I will accompany the entire Navsarjan staff to Goa for their strategic planning meeting. The meeting will take place over a three day period,  during which time we will hear reports from all the field workers and district coordinators. Once we finish hearing about what was accomplished this past year, we will set to the task of planning the agenda for next year's work. I will be presenting all of my findings and work up to this point at the end of the third day. They gave me an hour to go through the environmental issues that I see threatening their target audience (the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes), and provide suggestions for how to mitigate those issues in a new Environment Issues Campaign I designed to be implemented over this next year.

    

My research and work in India is far from over. But having such a big presentation to prepare for makes me feel like its finals week all over. 

I have made my rather long to do list, (which just keeps getting longer) and now I am sitting down to work. With any luck I will be able to pull off this massive presentation and finish everything on my list. 

Wish Me Luck! 

Only in India!

Over the past two weeks I have slowly been introduced to the wildlife of DSK. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of all the animals to show you, but I was able to get some good photos of the family of monkeys that live here. The first time I saw them I was coming out for breakfast and they were just chilling on the top of the cafeteria, and I thought to myself "only in India!"...haha

Do you see the baby monkey attached to the mother's belly above? It is the newest member of the monkey family just born a little over a week ago. 

Besides monkeys there are also a number of cute but dirty stray dogs (whom I would love to adopt if I had the chance), peacocks, various other kinds of birds, mice, squirrel looking things, scorpions, lizards,  and snakes. I have yet to see a snake and I am praying that I never do, as they are pretty much the only thing I am afraid of...I know it is a stupid fear but what can you do. At least these snakes are not poisonous or so I am told. 

The most entertaining encounter with one of DSK's many animal inhabitants, happened two days ago. I was sitting in my office working at my computer with my headphones in, when all of a sudden Naresh (Manjula's secretary) came running in and told me I had to get out of the office right now. There was a giant lizard who had somehow gotten In when I wasn't paying attention. Turns out it was a Monitor Lizard and it was almost two feet big. It was literally right behind my desk when Naresh came to get me. All of a sudden my office was filled with the ground's manager, all of the accountants, and Naresh standing up on chairs with big sticks trying to scare the lizard out of hiding. By this point it had taken refuge under my desk. 

I just waited and watched as they kept moving my desk and poking the mysterious animal until finally it ran out from under my desk and into another corner of the office. At that point I went back into the office and collected my things and left them to it. It took over an hour for them to get the lizard out of the office. Sushma screamed as the farm hands waving long sticks scared it out of the office and into the auditorium. I heard a loud smack every time they hit the ground around the lizard trying to force its chosen direction towards the door. On more then one occasion the lizard played dead and they had to push it with the sticks they were using to get it going again. 

After that day Sushma and I made sure to push our desks closer to the wall, and fill in any places another giant lizard might try to hide in...haha 

Only in India must I learn to watch out for giant lizards in my office. 

Convocation

Currently there are about 150 girls taking classes and living on campus with me. They are enrolled in one of three classes: sari dress design and tailoring, punjabi dress design and tailoring, or beautician training. Their classes run for three months...during which time they are only allowed to leave for one weekend after a month and half to visit their parents. 

Then after three months there is a graduation ceremony with all of the girls. At the ceremony they are acknowledge for their accomplishments and then the ceremony is followed by an extravagant dinner. 

(The dinner was honestly some of the best food I have had here yet... Samosas so good)

The ceremony started with everyone following two drummers in one lap around the campus, then we all filled the auditorium. 

Above is all the faculty and staff who run the DSK campus and programs. 

The ones graduating are the girls with the blue sashes on.

 During the convocation they announced the winners of a number of contests they run throughout the course of the three months. Certificates and prize money is handed out to the girls who performed they best. The money the win will help most of them start their own businesses. The competitions include speech, essay writing, journal writing, reading comprehension, business ideas for themselves, and events in track and field. 

  

I unknowingly was included into the program. I had to hand out the certificates and prizes to the girls who were recognized for their journal writing. After I was done handing out the envelopes the girls were each given a chance to say a few words, then I had to say a few words. 

Talk about being put on the spot...I said something about invest in yourself...education will take you far...and finally if you believe in yourself and are willing to work then anything is possible. 

Not my finest speech, Martin had to translate it and I am not entirely sure the girls understood what I was saying. 

The entire event took a little over an hour and then we feasted. It was such good food, I really wish I had some pictures of it to show you. Oh well I will be here for the next convocation on August 15th and then I will know what to expect. 

Photo Shoot

Right before I left for India, I decided to buy myself a nice DSLR camera (still not sure though...my parents who are sometimes to generous may or may not have covered the cost of it)...but honestly it was one of the best purchases I could have ever made. 

The six girls pictured below are among the girls I have grown closest too in the last two weeks. Every night after dinner I go and sit with them on the lawn in front of DSK and teach them things like English words, yoga, or I just talk with them. When they found out I had a nice camera they drowned Sushma about asking me to take their photos in different styles as Sushma says all dolled up in their saris. I was more then happy to comply, and so last Sunday my room was invaded with girls getting ready for their long over due photo shoot. The amount of happiness these photos have brought these girls is honestly inspiring. It is a reminder to me at least that it is the little things in life that make it all worth while. 

But I had to share with you some of the photos from that day...Enjoy!

Manisha

Jagruti 

Drakhi

Heerbai

Avana

Bachu 

The girls took the camera from me and insisted that I be in a couple of pictures with them.

Cute outfit I know but it was a Sunday (my day off) and I thought I was going to be taking the photos. They are all very sweet though they all wanted pictures with me and in my sunglasses and hat. Next photo shoot they really want to borrow my clothes...anything foreign especially something from the U.S. is really exciting to them, but I can understand for most of these girls there time here at DSK marks the first time they have been outside of their village.   

Life Changers

Receiving an education is important no matter where you are in the world. In the U.S. the current issue is both the costs of attending college, and in some parts of the country the quality of the public schools systems due to lack of adequate resources for teaching staff. I know personally being one of the thousands of individuals who has student loans, the cost of education is a really big concern... Especially when the job market isn't what it used to be, and getting a college degree is no longer the guaranteed career booster it used to be. 

While these issues are very important to us in the U.S., they pale in comparison to the overall lack of access to even basic primary education in the rest of the world. 18% of the world's population is currently illiterate, and according to UNESCO India still has the largest illiterate population in the world despite all of its recent development. Two thirds of all illiterate people are women. 

So why am I telling you all these things? Because here at DSK they offer girls and boys from the state of Gujarat the opportunity to take vocational classes...such as wood working, tailoring, computer skills, mechanics, among others. 

Currently there are 150 girls enrolled in tailoring and beautician classes. The classes run for three months and the cost for each of the girls is 3,000 Rupees which includes room and board. That is about $55. Upon completing the classes the girls are then given back 2,500 Rupees to help them start their own business. It really is an amazing program that has helped a lot of individuals change their lives for the better. The problem though is for some of the students here and other potential students 3,000 Rupees is really hard for them to come up with, and now the cost of the sewing machines they use is 8,000 Rupees, so they have to come up with an additional 5,500 Rupees to get started. That's only about another $100 in U.S... an amount that is less then most people's gas for the month. 

Education really is a powerful thing, it can help people change their lives, but unfortunately everything comes at a cost...and for some of these girls $150 or 8000 rupees is more then they can afford. 

Its crazy to realize that with just one year of my school's tuition and cost of attendance I could have sent over three hundred girls to school here, and then given them the extra cash they needed to start their own business after.