This is Africa!

Hey All, I am writing to you from Cape Town, South Africa aka my new favorite city. I know I probaly say this all the time but I am really having the time of my life here in Cape Town. I absolutely adore this city, both the good and the bad. Cape Town is the quintessential Tale of Two Cities. One moment you are standing in the hub of a booming metropolis, the next second you are in the middle of a virtual shantytown. I got a great look at all of the spoils of Cape Town during our Introduction week. I also got an in-depth look at the legacy of apartheid. The best part of the week was going to Robben Island and visiting the cell of Nelson Mandela! I have included some of my favorite pictures from the first two weeks. This week I started my job at the Cape Town Office of Social Development where I am revamping their all-city poverty strategy and establishing a Social Entrepreneurship Incubator. Everything has been moving super duper fast and I have been journaling most of my thoughts as they come to me, thus I will probaly not be blogging that often or with as much depth as I did while in India. Although, I promise to keep the pictures and short updates coming on a biweekly basis! Miss and love you all dearly. Jen

Back in the USA

Hey All,
I am safely back in the USA. I am in Chicago doing debriefing at Northwestern for the next three days. I will do a final post on India, complete with pictures when I get back to Detroit. Tune in soon for the final conclusion of India 2010.

Falling in love with India……finally

NAMASTE,

It has been rocky but the moment has finally arrived, the moment where I fell in love with India. I was riding to work in a tempo after having woken up covered in bed bug bites and going to the pharmacy and buying anti-itch cream. On the tempo a woman smiled at me, pulled my hair, showed me her mahendi (henna designs on her arm), called me her new sister, and expressed how much she wanted to learn English. That is when I realized that despite the chaos, the discomfort, and the cow poo everywhere; India is a gem. The richness of this culture is unexplainable but I have found a level of acceptance here that I never thought possible with people who I share so little in common culturally.

It has been awhile since my last post, sorry guys but it has been a hectic week. I have gone to the village again and taken a vacation to Delhi/Agra since my last post. I just want to say I took some amazing pictures this week and yall cannot handle them all in a single post so you have to tune in again soon for those Taj Mahal and Lotus Temple pics that I know you are dying to see. Also, the shopping was AMAZING! I cannot wait to show everyone all the stuff I had to bargain my butt off for in the bazaar of the capitol city.

It was amazing to see two great cities of India, Agra and Delhi, and experience the Indian Railway System for the first time. The more beautiful places that I visit, the more I realize that for some reason it is always the people I meet that have the most impact on me when I travel. It is always the interactions with other people that I remember and cherish the most. I met a wonderful woman named Sonya at the train station on the way to Agra, she was a lawyer in Delhi for 20 years and she has been a life coach for the past 5 years. She has visited over 30 countries in her life but will always remain a lifelong resident of India. We talked for a long while about tradition, family, and the caste system in India. It was amazing to pick her brain. Another great person I met in Delhi was Muhammad, an Indian by birth, he went to high school in the United States but has been living in India for 1.5 years now buying real estate and clearing up litigation around it then reselling it for profits in the six-figures (American dollars). He had some very interesting views on the current state of India as well, though I did not agree with most of them. He told me that independence was the worst thing that ever happened to India and that if the British were still ruling then everything would be better, like I said RADICAL. He also said that the slum dwellers were a cancer that was going to eventually destroy India, funny I feel like I have heard a quote very similar about poor blacks and latinos in the US.

I keep coming back to three random thoughts that I want to share.

1. Lost in Translation
   

The longer that I stay here the more I realize just how big of a barrier language can be. Although most of the time there is always a translator with me or someone who knows Hindi, I feel like a lot is being lost in translation. It just seems that stories are not as rich, jokes are not as funny, and pain is not as heartfelt when translated. It scares me to think that I may not truly be addressing the needs of the community because of these lost messages.

1. Ownership and Responsibility
   

This has been an issue as we design our project; we have tried to make sure our organization has a firm hand in it so they can sustain it well after we leave. Everyone seems to understand that this is their community and they have a much larger stake in it than we do. We understand that we are outsiders. On the other hand, we all got pissed at the Taj Mahal when foreigners had to pay 750 rupees and Indians only had to pay 10 rupees. However, when you talk about ownership it makes perfect sense. This is their country so it is only logical that Indians would pay less. We felt like we should not have to pay the tourist price because we had been here one measly month, and that was wrong of us. I am starting to feel like I only talk the talk of community ownership when it is beneficial for me (Ex. When it means less work for me and more work for my NGO) but when it does not benefit me then I want to embrace a "global unity" mentality. I don't really know what I am getting at here but I will try and hash it out later.

1. Girls All Over the World Just Wanna Have Fun!
   

I feel like people all over the world are fascinated by Indian women. We see the beautiful saris, nose rings, and precious jewelry and hear about the arranged marriages and the caste system but there is so much we do not see or hear about so we just assume that their lives must be drastically different than our own. For example, Indian women do not have to cover their hair but most do. As a Westerner, I could say that is oppressive but after being here awhile I know that is just not true. It is actually hot as hell here, and covering your head actually cools you down. I am not saying that Indian women are liberated by any means but I am saying that by being here I am seeing more parallels between their lives and my own than I ever could have imagined. The Indian women that I have met love shopping, jewelry, perfumes, cooking, and doting on their children. Sounds just like every American woman I know, including my own family and friends. Many of the women I have met here, either through work or just on the street, have looked out for me as if I were their own daughter or sister. The spirit of camaraderie here between women is awe-inspiring. Whether a woman was buying me a coke or saving me from a rabid dog, my spirit has truly been touched every time by these women and their kindness.

Random stuff from trip

-I jumped off a moving train in Agra and fell, knocking over a woman and her baby. Forgive me Jesus J.

-We went to a club in Delhi and paid 1000 rupees to drink and get ripped off finding a way home. But we rode the New Delhi metro station to get there which was sooooo nice.

-I fed some cookies to a monkey off the side of the train.
Ok that's enough for now, I feel like I have been typing forever but I promise to update again soon. Only 2.33 more weeks, time flies.
Jen

My Birthday

Namaste,
First of all, I am super exhausted but I feel like I need to make a post about my bday so here goes. This is just a warning in case it sucks lol.
My birthday was yesterday. I am now officially twenty years old, wow. I had a great time on my birthday. Two days before my birthday, my host sister and mom made me a great Rajasthani birthday dinner of paneer masala and some special curry. Earlier that day Didi took me shopping at hati pol, a local bazaar, with my friends. Then there was the conference. We had a conference with students from the Udaipur School of Social Work this weekend and discussed "India's Development Sector: Macro Perspectives and Innovative Strategies". It was really cool to listen to experts present on topics that we are seeing in the field and then share ideas with the Indian Social Work students. After the first day of the conference a couple of people in my program spent the night and presented me with a cake and candles at midnight. It was cute. Since my birthday was on the second day of the conference my new friend Sita from Udaipur sang me a traditional Indian birthday song so that I will have 1000 years of prosperous life. After the conference was finally over, we ate dinner and then went out. The bar we went to for my birthday was called Lal Bagh, I think I spelled that right. It was a really nice spot, picture an outdoor bar in a garden with asian pillars everywhere, couches, a few tables, and plasmas hanging everywhere. The best part was our group which basically consisted of my friends and our translators with their friends, who are mad cool by the way #just saying. After a few drinks we rode out to FS, Fateh Sager Lake to hang out for a bit then we went home. Overall it was a good birthday but I really missed my family and friends at home. Thank you all for your birthday wishes, and I hope to talk to you all soon.

Video from monsoon palace

Namaste,

I went to monsoon palace awhile back and put up some pics but here is a vid I found on my cam. Once again the view is incredible, and im obnoxious while I record lol.

CHANGE OF PLANS

Namaste,
so mid-week post because something big happened........... we changed our project! Yeah, I know yall were all thinking wtf why are you doing a water project when you dont know anything about water, so was I. I love our new project though. We are basically designing an organizational development project for a new internship program at Jagran which will recruit foreign interns and allow Jagran to double their annual operating budget. Thus, they can do more of the wonderful programs I have already told yall about. The program we are designing will be very fun and enriching for the interns while also helping them build projects which are sustainable for the community. Here is a little of our proposal summary which we sbmitted today.
"Goal/Objectives: To reorganize structure of JJVS to maximize utility of future interns by developing a summer intern program. The program will teach interns about Jagran’s programs, with specific concentrations in their field of interest. With knowledge of how Jagran works, they will be better equipped to work on projects with the Jagran staff to develop projects for sustainable development.

Rationale: As interns, one of the things we feel would be most beneficial was having an orientation program that would help familiarize us with the different aspects of Jagran, because they are a very diverse NGO. Jagran’s founder, Ganesh, expressed a lot of interest in developing an intern program to help the NGO better orient their interns so that they can ultimately do better work for Jagran. Therefore, the community that we are helping is the Jagran community, with secondary benefits to the villages, because if Jagran is able to better manage their resources, they can ultimately be more efficient and productive in achieving their goals.

Expected Deliverables / Outcomes: We will develop intern programs for public health, livelihood programs, natural resource conservation and management. The program will include an orientation to Jagran in general, along with more specific programs tailored to the aforementioned topics.

Resources Needed: Translator, transportation to and from field sights, knowledge of Jagran staff members about their programs, Jagran computers/printer, food and shelter in the field, purified water during field visit, FSD site team, internet access, contact with former and current volunteers"
Update more with pics on Sunday, (my bday). Chow!

Week 2 review

Ram Ram (another way of saying hello that is most often used in rural areas),

-Another week has gone by already! I cannot believe the time is going by so fast. I will try to update every Sunday if possible, I would like to blog more but I rarely have time to write down my thoughts much less type and post them.

-Not trying to be stereotypical but seriously I would kill for some fried chicken right now, I have now been a vegetarian for two weeks and I am dying of protein/iron withdrawal.
-On Monday there was a nationwide bandh(strike) because the cost of petrol(gas) has gone up way too much. Thus, there were no tempos(bus-ish type thing) to ride to work. This could have put a dent on our plan to go to Valli, a village 1.5 hours away, for a field visit to view some of Jagran's programs in action. However, my boss got the great idea to drive us to the village himself in the back of an ambulance (I almost threw up on my least favorite team member 10 times). Because there was a strike we had to go through several checkpoints on the way to the village and my entire team was ordered to duck because any sight of foreigners would send the strikers into a frenzy. Also, on the way to the village we found out there was a murder in the night in a nearby village and we might not be able to talk to anyone that day because it was such a shock to the community. The ride to Valli was beautiful, btw the ambulances here have windows in the back.
-We made it to the village and after 7 hours of meetings between my boss and his staff (in Hindi), we finally learned that there was no water or electricity in the village that day so we could not stay overnight. I cannot say I was surprised or upset by the news. I had found out there was no water when I attempted to go to the bathroom. I entered the bathroom and was faced with a porcelain hole in the ground, a.k.a a squat toilet. Now mind you that although I had been warned about squat toilets, I had never used one myself. I will just say it was an experience to be remembered but at least I did not fall in. After my ordeal when I tried to flush the hole by twisting a knob on the wall, as I had learned in training (thanks Chicago), no water appeared. Then I tried to wash my hands in the sink, again nothing. Thank god for Wet Ones. The lack of electricity was a little easier to notice as I sat in a sauna of a room for seven hours in the dark.
-On Tuesday, I went to work at Jagran as usual and they said we would try to go back to the village on Wednesday. Tuesday night, I went to a park near Fateh Sagar Lake, this place has beautiful views as you can see from the pictures.
-On Wednesday we went back to the village and were able to stay until Friday night. I didn't bring my camera with me so I will get pics of the stuff I describe here from my team members and post it later. I will now post what I wrote in my journal on my days there.
-07/07/10 "Today was my first real day in the field. Monday we did not stay the night, although on the way home we did stop by the Guni (traditional/herbal medicine men and women of the villages) Ashram (compound). Only the gardener was there but he showed us the guni's herbal medicine gardens and the guni hospital/pharmacy. There is a great view from the top of the Hospital. There is also a great view from here, the roof of Jagran's Valli field office. I have never seen so many stars, the sky literally looks white at night out here. Today we worked primarily in Microfinance and Livelihood programs. We visited 3 Joint Liability Programs in Jaisamond. This village is near Jaisamond Lake, which is the largest man-made lake in Asia. The view from there is also beautiful. One of the men we met used his loan to open a video store. Another man opened two new shops and bought a car. A third client, this time a woman, was basket-weaving as part of a group income- generating activity. Later today, we visited a dairy cooperative, here in Valli, started by Jagran in 1992. All of Jagran's microfinance and Livelihood programs seem to be run excellently and are making dramatic strides in increasing the quality of life for these people. I am so proud to be affiliated with Jagran, there does not seem to be any other NGO in Udaipur district that's has the trust of the people like they do."
-07/08/10 "Today we travelled with the GPS Team. I met two different families and surveyed their properties. We surveyed how big the properties were, what type of soil was on the property, what livestock was on the property, what the occupation of the household members were, and if the children were in school. After talking to villagers it seemed that there main concerns were leveling their land which is very hilly/rocky, lack of potable water, lack of technology in agriculture, and a lack of education. The 3 goals of the GPS project are 1. To make sure the people know the exact location of their land in relation to the rest of the world. 2. To asset map the community for micro-planning purposes. 3. For further development in the village by Jagran. The GPS Project is so amazing but I was literally about to die of heat stroke. It was really informative though, and I learned a lot! My group is still annoying. I mean must everything be sarcasm! Also, I thought sarcasm was supposed to be funny? These kids just say stuff and pray for each other to laugh, but they cant even get that right. Anyway enough about them (by them I am really just talking about one particular member of my team that I don't care for). I miss you guys! I have not seen a black person besides Brittany for two weeks and it is the weirdest thing ever. No playing cards, no chicken, no family, no air conditioning, no partying. What am I doing here? Oh right, Jagran IS amazing. Getting insight into their organization makes me really appreciate what makes a good team and that will be an asset throughout my life. "
-Ok back to the present. On my last day in the field, I visited a guni at her home. This guni's specialty was treating earaches and toothaches . To treat a patient, she pours a mixture of water and this chopped up plant in your ear and then you lie down for five minutes. After that, she turns you over and the liquid comes out of your ear along with about 5 rice grain shaped particles, which she called germs. I saw her do this to five different people and they all were cured. AMAZING! When I first met her she told me that she had looked upon my spirit before, I really don't know what that is supposed to mean but I liked it lol. After we met with her, we went back to the guni ashram to get a proper tour and talk to some more gunis. Jagran is doing so much to revive the use of traditional medicine in India. When we returned to Udaipur on Friday night we had a workshop with the Foundation for Sustainable Development and our speaker was from the ministry of health. We asked him what the place of traditional medicine was in India's current healthcare system but he just blew the question off. That was kind of disheartening.
-Yesterday was Saturday but we still had to work. It was the end of our observation period and we had to decide on a project and get it approved by our boss. We decided that Jagran was doing an EXCELLENT job in microfinance and traditional medicine with the gunis so they did not need our help in those areas. However, the entire time we have been here the watchword in Rajasthan has been WATER. There is just not enough of it. Since 2006 there has been a severe drought in this area, and the monsoons have gotten weaker and weaker every year. Jagran has been trying to implement home herbal gardens in the villages so that even without gunis people can cure themselves of common illnesses like cough, cold, sore throat, and fever. However, the lack of water for basic needs has made the home herbal gardens project fail. We have designed a project which will be a water conservation and management education project that has many health dimensions. Not only will we focus the education on convincing the villagers to use the water they conserve to water their home herbal gardens but we will also include lessons on sanitation and hygiene. This last bit was added to the curriculum because in the village we often saw people bathing in the same water they peed in, drank, and watered crops with.
-Today I visited the monsoon palace with my host family and it was awesome, check out the pics yourself. I got really lucky my host family treats me like one of their own and I like them a lot. We also went to a temple for a celebration with my Auntie's extended family, that was fun to say the least. We prayed to the gods and ate food blessed by the gods at the shrine. The blessed food consisted of coconuts, rose petals, and this sugary ball thing called sera. Might not sound the best but I must have been hungry because it definitely disappeared.
-I have already written too much and am probably leaving a lot of stuff out but thanks for reading and I will try to post again soon. Also, if you're feeling generous you should call my Indian cell phone the number is 011919352188506.