August 10, 2008
Agra and a Village-Ginger
It seems that the past week has been rather busy. Last weekend I went to Agra with six other people who are staying in the guest house. We took an overnight train, which was a pretty good experience since the car was air-conditioned. Once we arrived we had breakfast in a nice hotel and were greeted by a tour guide. Our group started by going to the Taj Mahal, which I found to be absolutely amazing. Of course I've seen it in so many pictures, but to see it up close is a truly breathtaking experience. The symmetry and elegant artwork is unbelievable. Next we went to a marble shop and had the opportunity to see how the designs are carved into the marble. They showed us beautiful marble tables and statues (which were all very pricey). We also got a tour of Agra fort and went to a famous Sufi shrine. That same night we all took the overnight train back to Lucknow.
On Tuesday I went to a village with a group of Italian tourists. The tourists were on a program where they get a tour of "real India" in which they stay in lower cost accommodations and go out into villages in different parts of the country to see how people are living. Part of the tour is arranged through SEWA, which is how I was able to come along. SEWA runs a school in a village for girls from the surrounding areas. The children are taken to from their families and live at the school because they would otherwise receive no education. Most of the parents are illiterate and, according to our guide, do not understand the value of education for girls. We sat in the class room with the children and observed some of their maths lesson. It was good to see that the girls are learning these skills, but at the same time it must be very difficult for them to be separated from the families. We then went into one of the villages and saw rice fields, straw homes and several cows, and had a chance to talk to some of the people who were living there. The Italians taught the children a couple of traditional Italian songs, which was nice to see. We then came back to SEWA, shared a wonderful lunch and went on a tour of each step of the chikan making process.
Last night I went to a Dastarkhawn, or an evening of Lucknowi cuisine and culture. It was held at Iqbal Manzil Palace, where a prince lives. When we came there was a small mina bazaar with jewelry and perfume then we sat on the floor of one of the palace bedrooms and listened to a Qawwali performance. The meal was held on a long, low table so that everyone was sitting on the ground while eating. The food was very good, although I don't think it was quite worth the 1300 rupees it cost for the evening.
Posted by gcline at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)
August 03, 2008
Book-makers, Brides-to-be , and Beggars-Ginger
The book project at the school is progressing quite nicely. Most of the students have glued the cloth covers onto the cardboard pieces, bound the two sides together with binding tape, and sewn the pages into the books. I bought some other decorations to go on the covers once the stories have been copied into the books.
There are three classes that we are working with, so varying levels of English proficiency are represented. Some of the stories have developed beautifully, while others still need significant help. Beth, Tiffani and I are now beginning to go through each student's work to correct grammar and spelling. The biggest problem is that because there are so many kids, it is hard to find the time to work individually with each one. In fact, it can get very chaotic in the class room, especially when there are two classes being taught right next to one another, as was the case on Friday. I was working with the over 30 students that make up classes 6, 7, and 8, and another teacher was teaching younger kids in the same room. All of the kids were constantly asking me to check their work, producing a chorus of "Ma'am! Ma'am! Ma'amji!" Everyone was trying to get my attention at once, either to ask how to spell a word, to request scissors, or to show me their progress so far.
Another problem is that a lot of kids have been showing up who had not come to school in the past, so I have had to keep creating and buying new folders and catching the new students up to speed. We now have nearly 40 folders, one for each kid. It is important to save all drafts and drawing to keep a record of progress and the writing process.
. . .
The other day I was sitting in a coffee shop reading my "Teach Yourself Hindi" book when I heard someone saying, "excuse me, excuse me." When I finally realized that the voice was seeking my own attention, I turned around and saw a group of two men and one woman, all in their mid-twenties. One of the men asked me, "what do you think is better, love marriage or arranged marriage?" I didn't quite know what to say so I replied, "Well I don't really know much about that." The man continued to ask, "Do you think it's better to have a big arranged family wedding, or to run away and get married?" Again, I didn't know how to respond so I asked him to give me more details about the situation. It turned out that he was engaged to the woman in the group and they were having a disagreement about how they should proceed with the wedding. The woman wanted a traditional Hindu wedding with all family strings attached, while the man wanted to go away and have a more simple "love marriage." They asked me to join their table, so I did and we had an interesting conversation about Indian culture. They then asked me to go to lunch with them, so I did, and we continued the discussion over matar paneer and naan. They were all very nice and we exchanged phone numbers and are planning to get together again before I return to the states.
We had a lot of food left over after the meal and they gave it to me and insisted I bring it to my friends. I carried the bag with me down the street in search of a cycle rickshaw when I saw one of the usual beggars, an elderly toothless man, sitting barefoot in the street with an empty bowl, asking for "khana" or food. I usually don't give money to beggars because of the rumors of scams and mafia connections. Additionally, the sheer number of them can be over whelming. I walked past the man at first, then realized that I had a bag of good food in my hand, so I turned around and gave it to him. I felt incredibly heartened by his reaction. The look on his face was one of shock, joy, and gratefulness all at once. He thanked me and gave a gesture of respect, shaving away some of my fears that all beggars seek money for illicit means. I assure you that look he gave me made my whole week, and I plan to start saving any leftover food to give to people on the street, as there is always an abundance of those in need.
Posted by gcline at 05:22 AM | Comments (0)
July 27, 2008
The Costs of Care-Ginger
Last week I did five more interviews at SEWA, so I now have a total of 15 done. Most of the women have been saying the same things about the difficulties of obtaining health care. Many of them put their children's health before their own, as they cannot afford look after both. They need eyeglasses and basic medicines, but often cannot even think about getting such things when they have to worry about food and rent.
I interviewed one woman, Rabia who had a truly tragic story. She told me that she was married 16 years ago to man who married her only because he was after her father's truck. Her husband had several extramarital affairs and even plotted to kill her. He tried to set her on fire, so she escaped and has not seen him since. She never had children of her own, but has an adopted daughter that was given to her when the girl's biological mother was very ill. Since coming to work for SEWA, Rabia has earned the ability to support herself and her daughter financially. She also said that she has gained much more confidence, and stopped wearing the burqa that she had felt compelled to hide behind. One year ago, Rabia was in a serious accident when she fell from a cycle rickshaw and fractured her spine. She spent several months in the hospital and now wears a back brace. The extended hospital stay was exorbitantly expensive, but her brother helped her pay for it. After five months in a private nursing home, Rabia was able to move to a government hospital and receive care free of charge because she has health insurance as a staff member of SEWA.
Unfortunately, most SEWA artisans are not staff members but are self-employed and thus do not qualify for government health insurance. I spoke to Runa Banerjee, the CEO of SEWA, who told me that it's sad not to have the women covered because they end up spending what little they earn on health care anyway. Runa estimates that in order to set up a proper insurance policy for all 7,000 SEWA artisans, SEWA would need to raise 87,000 USD. It's incredibly difficult for NGOs like SEWA to raise these kinds of funds. This would be for a policy that costs 500 rupees per artisan per year, which is only about 12 USD, but is still far too expensive for the workers. SEWA would be able to pay some of the cost, and the artisans themselves some, but there is still large outstanding cost that needs to come from somewhere.
I've also returned to the elementary school a couple of times. The first time we did an activity where I had the kids say their names and an English word that they like that begins with the same letter. As an example, I said "My name is Ginger and I like giraffes." I wrote the sentence in English and in Hindi (which I have finally learned to read, albeit slowly) on a piece of paper and drew a picture to go along with it. The kids used colored pencils to draw their own pictures, and many of them are quite artistic! It was nice to see them work together, helping out those who could not think of any English words that fit with the task. One boy, Vikram, was having trouble and other students shouted out, "vampire! van! vegetables!"
The second time I went to the school I went with Beth, a woman who is staying in my guest house. Beth was a teacher in the US for ten years and is now working on getting a grant to teach in India. She is currently working on a book making project with the same class I have been visiting. Yesterday the class worked both on writing their stories as well as binding the books. They picked out colorful cloth to put on the covers and worked on sewing the pages together. Beth's goal was to make sure the stories had beginnings, middles, and ends, rather than just strings of sentences. Most of them had been writings things like, "My best friend's name is Mounisha. She is very beautiful. Her favorite colour is red." So, as an example, Beth wrote a short story about the time one of our house mates rescued some puppies from drowning in the monsoon. After the example, several of the children started to think of events that had happened to them and their friends that they could write about.
The principal of the school also showed us that she had been teaching the girls how to do embroidery. She said the reason was that they could have a skill that might benefit them after they graduate from the school. Unfortunately, they can only teach the children through the 8th grade, so many of them will not have the opportunity to have a high school education. Most come from poor families who cannot afford to pay the fees to send them to a more advanced school. Many of the kids are extremely bright and it would be an awful shame for them to miss out on the chance to receive a secondary education. I want very badly to do what I can to help these children and the women of SEWA, but it seems that the real obstacle to improvement is in so many ways lack of money, something that I am not in a good position to help with.
On Tuesday I plan to go back to the school and help out more with the stories and perhaps do a brief grammar lesson. I also have several more Hindi grammar lessons to learn myself!
Posted by gcline at 07:57 AM | Comments (0)
July 20, 2008
Living and Learning in Lucknow-Ginger
With a few more days under my belt, I feel I am staring to get adjusted to this place. I love the chaos of the streets. It never really seems to be silent here, at least not for more than a minute or so. There is never ending stream of trains passing or horns blowing, people talking, dogs barking. The city seems truly alive, a feeling that I especially appreciate at night. The streets are never empty, as many people sleep, gather, and light fires to cook along the sides. The middle of roads are often claimed by cows and stray dogs who have an equal command of the space as do the humans speeding by them. There is always a plethora of smells, not always pleasant, but always interesting to accompany what meets the eye.
Last Tuesday I returned to the elementary school, alone this time. As soon as I arrived I was greeted outside by one of the students who cheerfully exclaimed, "good morning, ma'am!" I'm not used to being called "ma'am," but in India that seems to be the norm. Once in the classroom I had the students work on a project of coloring and labeling a map of the US. I had them repeat the names of the states after me and I wrote them on the board for them to copy. It can be difficult to give clear directions since so many of the kids do not have very developed English skills. I think they did like the activity overall though, and I greatly enjoyed working with them. I am stilling planning my next lesson for this coming Tuesday.
For the past few days I have been going to SEWA, first to learn more about the organization, and secondly to begin conducting interviews. SEWA was formed in the early 1980s as a way for women to gain skills and a means of self employment without a middleman. SEWA trains artisans in making chikan, an embroidery native to Lucknow. The women then sell the products back to SEWA for a fair price, or to independent buyers of their own choosing. The idea is that the women can still do all of their normal duties at home, such as cooking, cleaning, and taking care of children while also earning income by doing some stitching on the side. This way, women have financial leverage within the family. This can serve to mitigate the pervasiveness of male domination that is a cultural norm in much of India, especially amongst the poor.
On Friday I interviewed three women about their health. The reason for this is that because the workers are poor, many of them have barriers to receiving proper care in times of need. I am aiming to determine what aspects of health are most problematic, and what potential solutions are out there. In India, only 3% of the population is insured for health care. Government hospitals exist and provide medicines and treatments at low costs, but are not always of high quality and come with the price of long waiting times. Private doctors can be very expensive, but can often deliver results in a far more timely fashion.
The women I interviewed make between 1000 and 1200 rupees per month, which is roughly 25 US dollars. Their husbands made an average of twice that amount, and all had at least 3-5 children. So far it seems that the women would love to have insurance, but can only afford to pay about 15-25 rupees per month towards the policy. The next step is to do more interviews and contact insurance companies to see how much it would cost to keep them insured. The other option is for SEWA itself to act as the insurer, collecting fees and reimbursing workers for their health care expenditures. SEWA originally tried to manage its own hospital, but this proved prohibitively expensive. Beyond having insurance, there are other things SEWA could do to improve the health of the artisans, and I am trying to gather what types of projects are most needed through interviews. Hopefully I will get some more done tomorrow, and will give an update when I have more information.
Posted by gcline at 12:57 PM | Comments (0)
July 13, 2008
First Week in Lucknow-Ginger
I arrived here in Lucknow City, India on Wednesday. Since then, I have begun to get a feel for the city and how to navigate on my own. The first major difference between here and the states that jumped out at me was the traffic. Instead of just cars, there are cows, dogs, bicycles, motorcycles, and rickshaws that compete for space on the streets. On my first day in the city, I went for what seemed like a truly hair-raising ride on an auto rickshaw from my guest house to the shopping district of Hazratganj.
My first endeavor was to buy a cellphone, which proved more difficult that I had originally anticipated. In order to get one, I needed signed copies of every page of my passport, passport photos, and a signed letter from my landlord certifying that I was indeed staying in his house. I went into the photo shop in Hazratganj dressed as an American, feeling out of place and overheated in my western attire. An hour later, I came back to pick up my passport photos dressed as a much more comfortable Indian. It turns out that I happened upon the store run by the women of SEWA-Lucknow, the very organization for whom I came to work. I bought a pink chikan suit and some other articles from nearby FabIndia.
Over the next couple of days I got to know some of the other guests in the house. Most of them are here to study Urdu, and a couple of them are doing medical research. I went with them to various coffee shops around Lucknow that provide pleasant, air conditioned places to study. Raj and Naheed, the husband and wife with whom I am staying also took me around to see the mall, golf course, and old European college of Lucknow. While at the mall, Naheed insisted in taking me to McDonald's, which was definitely an interesting experience. There was no line, but rather people pushing their way to the counter, waving money. What I found most notable was that in contrast to the American McDonald's menu, the Indian menu had a substantial vegetarian section, with a significantly smaller "non-vegetarian" section that was limited to chicken and fish. As a vegetarian myself, I found this pleasing. The veggie burger was pretty good, I must admit.
Upon my arrival I was very anxious to begin my internship with SEWA, but I found the process to be a bit slower than I had anticipated. I had some trouble contacting the CEO of the organization, as well as getting transportation to the facility. I spent a few hours reading over my files about SEWA, going over interviews that had been done in the past. Most of the workers there seemed to most desire eyeglasses and help with family planning. Naheed has agreed to translate for me as I conduct a few more needs assessments. I will go to SEWA tomorrow to begin this process.
In the mean time I had the opportunity to teach at an elementary school in a rather poor area of Lucknow, which is right near the Urdu language institute where many of my house mates are studying. At U of M, I regularly tutor school children in Detroit through my involvement with the Detroit Partnership, but I had never been given a whole class in front of which to stand up and teach, for two and half hours no less. Thankfully, I was not alone. Tiffani, a beginner Urdu student and aspiring teacher from Washington DC had worked out a plan the previous week. We (mainly Tiffani) taught the kids about where we lived in the US, went over question words (who, what, where, when, why, how), favorite songs, movies, and colors. Many of the children spoke virtually no English, so it was often difficult to convey the information. Tiffani knew a few words of Hindi, but I sadly knew hardly any at all. I think the kids really did enjoy our company, though, and they even asked us for our autographs at the end of the day.
I plan to go back to the school on Tuesday to teach another lesson, but for just one hour next time. I am nervous to go myself, especially with the language barrier. I plan to teach them about US geography and will hopefully learn a few more Hindi words before I return. I am hoping that Beth, a former teacher and Urdu student staying in the house will be able to help me put together a lesson plan. I will update more in the coming days, hopefully after making much progress with SEWA and the school!
Posted by gcline at 12:00 AM | Comments (2)
May 05, 2008
Introduction - Ginger
Hello everyone! My name is Ginger Cline, and I'm a Center for South Asian Studies India Summer Program fellow. I will be posting to this blog regularly to document my experience in Lucknow, India. I will be working with the Self Employed Women's Association(SEWA) of Lucknow, conducting a health needs assessment for workers. My goal is to help develop a health care program or insurance policy for the women of SEWA. I will arrive in India in early July and will stay through 16 August. I look forward to keeping you posted!
Posted by gcline at 11:05 AM | Comments (0)