May 26, 2008
first contact = first (big) ring of excitement
PLACE: Rajgurunagar, Maharashtra, India (rural); Pune (industrial, mainly automotive, 40 km from former)
TIMESPAN: June 15 - August 15
LANGUAGE(S): Marathi, Hindi, English (business)
ORGANIZATION: The Bombay Mother's And Children Welfare Society (BMCWS), est. 1919
SCHEDULE: 40 hours/week
PAY: $100/month
POSITION: intern
TASK: mainly corporate-community communication, i.e., spreading the word of the organization, presentations, education
FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
No, this really doesn't have to be this formal--I just figured I'd lay it down and set things straight from the start. The above is, after all, what I will be doing in India.
Here is how it all began.
Earlier in the year, must have been in February, I saw a table in the lobby of Angell Hall at U of M, advertizing for a program called AIESEC--Association Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques et Commerciales. It claimed to offer international internships, ranging from as little as two months, to as much as one year, which give students the opportunity to gain experience in one of the following areas: education, development, information technology, or business. Development has recently been one of my primary interests, and increasingly more so, to the degree that I may just pursue a career in the area, so I naturally thought obtaining such an internship would make for a great summer experience. So I followed through and got accepted.
I first looked into Africa, but my dad, unfortunately, was a bit displeased with the idea. I'll give it to him, Africa is, generally speaking, one of the less safe areas of the world; while I was, of course, obliged to put up my fair fight, this was one of those circumstances in which he was able to pull out the parental, I'm-still-paying-for-your-college-education, and, what's more, a-good-amount-of-this-trip, ugly, "now son...," red tape. In one of the places I was looking at, he heard about a couple of people getting their heads macheteed off, and I guess he thought it would therefore inevitably happen to me. It took a good forty-minute argument while my girlfriend sat on her bed and watched in boredom, waiting to study; after a good deal of those nasty stomach juices and a fatherly apology the next afternoon (preceded by a motherly pacification of the fatherly, of course), the decision was practically set: my final destination would be in India.
India, under my circumstances, was the perfect choice. For one thing, I had already been there and was comfortable with the climate--in all respects. For another, it offered the same kind of developmental jobs as Africa--provided, as we know, by terrible poverty. And finally (for my dad, most importantly), it was theoretically (i.e., according to the U.S. Dept. of State...) safer than pretty much any African country. That is not to say that I am not happy with India; in fact, I love India, and when I was there last time, I spent the least amount of time in Maharashtra (all of one day), not to mention a rural area--none at all. So this would certainly not be a "been there, done that" sort of thing...far from it, at that. Of the three internships that I applied to in India (and only India--my mind was set), I cannot describe how pleased I am that this organization (BMCWS) got back to me first--it is by far the most interesting choice, certainly my top pick.
My task in this internship is far removed from paper-shuffling, phone-answering, or some typical no-pay-and-be-used-like-a-dog internship--this one, as far as I can see, is a far more interactive job. I just spoke with Dr. Sathe (sah-tay w/ soft t), the honored Secretary of the program of twenty years, and he laid it out as follows: First thing, I get to know the community of Rajgurunagar, and the role of the organization within it. (The org. runs three hospitals in Maharashtra, one of them in Rajgurunagar. The org. also focuses on educational programs: for instance, they have an annual 2-month camp [just about to finish] where young women can learn skills (like computers, languages, writing, agriculture, sewing) which, ideally, they can use in the Pune job market--and, in addition, which they can use to start their own businesses, bolstered by microfinancing, something the organization also provides. The org. also implements programs like growing banana trees in homes (they can each grow up to *eight-hundred* bananas a year, which helps to relieve malnutrition and helps family income by lessening to a significant degree the need for food) as well as distributes deworming pills, which significantly reduces the parastite problem, conveniently cutting down on medical costs for everyone. The organization, therefore, adopts a versatile and, to my knowledge, rather effective development strategy: welfare (immediate relief from poverty, yet in a sustainable, teach-a-man-to-fish as opposed to simply throwing food or new houses at him, which it strictly opposes) combined with education and training--the necessary complements to any welfare program, and the prerequisites--perhaps most important of all--to moving people out of poverty. Their ideology, roughly speaking, is simple and exemplary: use little capital to make great gains. They run on little funds, so they have to be innovative. They are all about efficiency--a tightly knit organization, from what I see. There is one problem, however: the success of their program is not so well known outside of the village [like it or not, among a world run by corporations]. That is where I, to however big or small a degree, come into play.)
So, once I am fully educated on the organization's role in Rajgurunagar, I am to create some sort of presentation...I suppose the first two or so weeks will be devoted to these efforts. Dr. Sathe said that this can be quite fun--I will get to interact with the villagers, with a translator by my side. (I plan to use a computer program to learn as much Marathi as possible in this short two-week span before I leave...why not?) So after I get the gist of what's going on, I prepare my presentation, then go into the industrial center of Pune (the Detroit of India, at least after Bangalore) and see what it's like to communicate with big corporations.
Indeed, it will be an interesting role to play: advocating an Indian village vis-a-vis large corporations. I figured such a task might entail a fragment of my internship, but did not realize that it would define it practically in its entirety (yet it seems that I will also have a say in the development of the program itself, granted I come up with a suggestion or two after i see how it works and all). I could have imagined protesting against corporations, something like that, but, especially after watching the (admittedly, probably slightly propogandistic) documentary, "The Corporation," plus school learning combined with my own resources, could not imagine working with such fine persons as these--I mean corporations. But as I said earlier, to a large degree, this is how the world runs nowadays: transnational corporations carry the bacon, which fuels the world.
No, that does not mean that I will simply accept the "world order" as such, oh no, not without a fight (and this is an understatement!); nor does it mean that I will sardonically say "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer"; nor am I not exaggerating, for I realize that there can be "good" corporations, too (never, lest my notorious [in its own right] one-tracked mind forget, is it ever all or nothing): all I am saying is that I am skeptical--knowing relatively little about the entities save for negative (i.e., bloodthirsty, merciless, depraved, yes, might we say philandering?) things that many have done in the innocent, all too forgotten past (an example among many: privitization of Cochabamba, Bolivia's water supply--wiki: "Cochabamba Protests of 2000") and are engaging in presently--and thus I am interested to see what it will be like to work with them, keeping an open mind (yes, yes...I know what you conservatives are thinking now...well keep thinking, that's good!) so that I may learn more.
If I am able to exercise some influence in the corporate world, and to the benefit of Rajgurunagar (as much as time permits) in the process, I will be satisfied with my work. The idea of the program is that, if proven successful, it will serve as a model to be implemented by other rural communities--a keystone project. The initiative sounds fascinating, and I exuberantly look forward to learning more; documents to be enclosed by Dr. Sathe are on their way. Experiencing the program, and village, in person, and getting to know some people there, in a way that would be far from possible via some touristic venture, should prove invaluable, and I cannot describe how appreciative I am to take part.
Feel free to check out their site:
http://www.bmcws.com/history.asp
"The Bombay Mothers & Children Welfare Society is a Public Charitable Trust Registered under Registration No. 1500 of 1946-47 & Public Trust Reg. No. F-137 (Bom), Pan No. AAATT4743P, Tax Exemption No.DIT (E) MC/80-G/1485/2004/204-05, Foreign Contribution Reg. No. 083780521.
Established in 1919. We introduce our Trust as one of the oldest Institution, which has been working in the field of Women & Child Health Care from last 87 years through its four Hospitals and five Day Care Centres.
This Trust, with its present name was formed 58 years ago with amalgamation of Bombay Presidency Infant Welfare Society, Bomby Mofussil Maternity Child Welfare & Health Council & The Bombay Presidency Baby and Health Week Association.
Lady Cawasji Jehangir, Sir B. Rama Rau, Shri. Purshotamdas Harkisondas, Esq. Mr. K.S. Sethna, Dr. K.S. Mhaskar, Dr. H.V. Tilak were some of the founder members of this Trust, since from last eighty years our Trust carries its work among the poor and needy in workers colonies of the City of Mumbai and in the Rural Areas of Maharashtra.
As our Institution is carrying on its activities in the labour areas of Mumbai City and in the rural parts of Maharashtra (Rajgurunagar & Bhilwadi) he charges of our Hospitals are nominal and therefore income is also negligible. Since our charges are just and nominal, we have always to depend on the financial assistance from Charitable Trusts and philanthropists. Our Trust runs 4 Day Care Centers.
Ours is a Welfare Trust engaged for the last 86 years in providing Women Care and Child development to the weaker sections of the Society. For this purpose we are maintaining 16 Centers of which 3 are Hospitals and out of these hospitals 2 are in Rural Parts of Maharashtra. Our Trust has now decided to set up an advanced Rural Development Programme at Rajgurunagar Hospital which is a rural area of Pune, Maharashtra.
We received donations from many Private Trust & Public Charitable Trusts like Shahani Trust, Dorabji Tata Trust, Mahalaxmi Temple Trust, and Shree Siddhivinayak Mandir Trust. Total amount of Donations received up till now is beyond 1.5 Crore approximately.
Donations are accepted for new projects only and are project specific. No donations are received or accepted for day-to-day activities of Trust."
Posted by dmbenn at 06:29 AM | Comments (0)