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Tarana - a little village with ALOT of potential...

sorry it has been a while since i have posted a blog, my cousin's computer died, so until i was able to load the software on my computer, i have been unable to access the internet...but regardless, i have lots to tell - maybe i will blog twice today... ;-)

so yesterday i went on a village visit with the organization i am working with - Jan Shikshan Sansthan - JSS - the small village was about 50 km from Ujjain and it is called Tarana. Tarana is a typical small town, population of about 20,000, primarily farmers. The town has children that run around naked and are happy to be. JSS has several income generating trainings going on out in this area from the girls and women of the area. These trainings include cutting and tailoring, beauty parlor, and mehndi - JSS also does literacy training for the mainy illiterate women in the village. it was amazing how energetic these girls and women were to be learning a trade - some of them had jobs, but realized that upon marriage they might have to move and may not find another job or so they are picking up a techinical skill so they can still work and earn money. About 85% of the girls and women i met did not want to be dependent upon their husbands or family members and wanted to be able to do their own work - earn their own money. now the true test is that after all the training if they actually go and do work. how they accomplish this and what happens next.

but before the village visit, we met up with a group of women that were travelling from Jawalpur (another district in Madhya Pradesh) to meet with a group of women near Tarana that have started a self-help group (SHG) that has grown from 10 member to 130 members! First off, let me tell you one thing, this is an amazing accomplishment for women in india to have such a large SHG - most are about 20 people and no larger. So to be able to manage a group of 130 people is amazing! so they came to learn how these women did it, how they manage it and what rules and regulations they have in place in order to make sure it runs smoothly...it was amazing to hear what these women had to say about it - i was in awe. I sat there and listened to all the good and bad things that have happened, eating it up alive! they have helped to increase the overall livelihood of the village - by simply saving a minimim of 30 rupees (.66 cents, $1=45 rupees)) each month and now, two years later, they have close to 400,000 rupees (~$8,900) ...now that much money is UNHEARD of in a village that small - but it shows you what women can do together saving just a minimum of 30 rupees each month. Now they have the ability to help each other out with moeny if they need to make their house better, their child has a health emergency, etc. And to date, no one has been late in making the monthly payments and no one has defaulted on their loan...damn - makes me smile ;-) gotta love it - i wish i could spend more time with them seeing how they operate and working with them and teaching them some awesome income generating projects, teach them some small business practices, etc. - work with them and see what more they could do! it was awesome to see that! cause you know within that group of 130 women, there have been business failures, learning and successes of work that they are currently doing - the social system that is in place to keep them growing and having women join them - amazing.

it is nice being out here and seeing such amazing things, but i know there is so much more - more villages that can do that - more work created so they don't have to just depend upon the monsoon rains and harvest in order to earn their money - by creating an economy within the village, then that would help to reduce the rural/urban migration that occurs seasonally and help families to ensure that their children and family members have access to education, proper food, housing, and other basic needs - especially water. Water in most of these area's is in shortage - with this money they could build a well or a water catcher in order to ensure that they have proper potable water - drinking water, bathing water, etc.

i met some of the most amazing people in the village - in fact, i enjoyed being around the people in the village much more than the people within the urban area. The simpleness of the life out there, the way they appreciate the little things and enjoy learning and understanding what more they can do in order to progress...in fact it reminded me of my time out in Nepal - in my small town of Sano Thimi they were appreciative of everything that i did, no matter how small. plus, the kids in the village just cracked me up - they all called me Sir and just would look at me! haha! the funniest part of it all is this, when i speak in hindi, they all laugh, then listen and then smile - and that makes me happy - it means that my sloppy hindi is actually making some sense! hahaha!

before i talk i tell them, my hindi is just like your english! tooty-footy, meaning broken! haha! and they all start to laugh - then i fully butcher more hindi words, stop and think and then say it a completely different way, then Siddarth or who ever is with me, translates my hindi into proper hindi! haha! it is awesome - i love it - so what i say, gets said about 4 times! haha!


till later -

posted by ravi @ 2:59 AM