One thing that was pointed out to me before coming to India was the problem with the garbage. It was explained to me that they did not seem to have any particular understanding of how to take care of their garbage other than throwing it out in the street. It was the first smell that hit me, and it has constantly been present ever since I got off the plane.

We have been consistently educated in how diseases are transmitted and how we should use hand sanitizer to keep healthy. Just because we come here for a month, we suddenly need to act as we are in the middle of an epidemic or sanitary crisis. And yes, I understand we are not adapted to the bacteria here and that of course we need to be careful. But what about all the people who live in these conditions? Not, as we do while staying here, in a nice hostel with a regular toilet, a sink, and access to clean filtered drinking water. What about the rural villages?

Pondicherry dump

Since this has been in the back of my head ever since we left Sweden, I was really impressed when we visited an NGO called Yatra Arts Foundation. They work with what one would categorize as edutainment, or social marketing. They sing and perform plays with important social messages regarding health education. We got to see a movie about the issues raised dumping garbage, and how it could make you sick if not taking care of it in an appropriate manner. A few of us were even able to attend one of their live street performance later that evening where they sang in Tamil, and performed a play that focused on how dirty water could make you sick. It was truly wonderful to see how the children watching (and they were many, maybe, close to 50!) were laughing and participating in the play and in the vocal performance. They even took part in the dances on the little lit up area the artists were using.

Live performance by Yatra Arts Foundation

The work being done by Yatra is really important, and I believe it should be spread across India and to other countries that are facing similar problems. Grass root level edutainment comes across as a very effective way of teaching children about these issues, since they may not have access to other sources of information. How could they be exposed to a national television campaign regarding these issues if they don´t even own a TV or if they barley have electricity?

//Anna, Linnaeus University

Coming to Auroville, India there is an unique custom of bargaining with store and shop owners that  is not available in fixed price shopping in the European world. By making the price negotiable, there is an opportunity to satisfy consumers whose willingness to pay is significantly less than the shop owners asking price. Bargaining is a system of exchange by which goods or services are directly exchanges for other goods or services such as money. The bargaining system enables two parties to exchange goods or services based on mutually perceived value. It is enacted by an individual picking one or more items and bargaining the price with the producer of a product.

An instance in which I chose to bargain shop in the town of Kulapalayam, there was a negotiation of the price of a scarf that was initially 1,000 rupee. After many attempts to bring the price down to 800 rupees I chose to purchase two scarfs for 1,800 rupees. In the specific shop there were two brothers who were the workers under the direction of their mother who sat in the middle of the store as an overseer and keeper of the money. Realizing the relation between the three individuals, I recognized quickly that this was a family business who relied on the money to survive. Upon this realization I came to the question of “When is it alright to bargain when the consumer is in need when the family is in need to survive?” Is it proper to meet their asking price or is it proper to to honor your willingness to pay?

Finally, it is not a question of “who is more in need?”, but of “how can we both benefit from this process?” Watching the mother in the of the shop laugh at her sons attempt to negotiate made me realize that she is having fun with the process and was not counting on the profits of the night to sustain and was impressed with my bargaining skills. The process is not black and white and is built on a system of understanding. There has to be a middle ground to satisfy both parties that takes into account all of these elements. You get your scarves for a fair price and the family is able to sustain itself on their profits. 

Whether you choose to lap up the new-age and mosquito laden kool-aid or not, the beauty of Auroville is undeniable. Lush, green, and tranquil; it possesses a sense of calm (and western toilets, hallelujah) absent outside the Mother’s territory.

RMK

“Some lose all mind and become soul, insane. Some lose all soul and become mind, intellectual. Some lose both and become accepted”
This saying of Charles Bukowski was the first thing that came to my mind after the presentation of Karthikeyan, the founder and the director of “Sirsti Village.”
Sirsti Village is trying to establish a self-sustainable, inclusive and eco-friendly village, which provides a family atmosphere where people with intellectual disability and the marginalized could be equally active contributors.
Karthikeyan who spent 15 years in an orphanage, mentioned in his speech how when he grew older and left the orphanage, a part of the mainstream “normal” folk found jobs and felt integrated into society, while his intellectually disabled siblings were still not accepted and were treated with pity rather than empathy in the society. This behavior of underestimating the ability of his friends and brothers as he insisted calling them, motivated him to start the “Sirsti Foundation”.

Sirsti Village’s land near Kunamangalam village in Tamil Nadu.

Since we arrive to Auroville we had the chance to meet and explore a world of extraordinary projects of sustainable development and passionate innovators with complete realization of environment and human beings. Sirsti Village was able to raise several questions in my mind: firstly the relation between sustainability and social responsibility when we address a sensitive and critical issue as the disabled and marginalized people in India and many developing countries. Secondly, the potential connection between a nobel purpose and a sustainable project. Thirdly, the necessity of creating a sustainable project in the case of Sirsti Village as an effective and suitable strategy or as a supportive policy for fundraising.
Without a hesitation, Sirsti Village was my first choice of the organizations that I would like to work with, not only because of all the mentioned queries, but also because of the deep stories that Karthikeyan was not able to tell in a 30 minutes presentation. The stories that we could imagine with conditions of life to an intellectual disabled person in any context and anywhere on this planet.

My colleague Martin from Linnaeus University and I who chose Sristi Village to work with have the opportunity to visit the village.
We arrived to the main office of the foundation which is 40 Km far from Auroville to find Karthikeyan waiting us with the members of the village and the volunteers. We had a real and effective discussions regarding our contribution to the foundation, the stories of the members with a lot of joyful and optimistic comments of Karthikeyan. Every member in the village has a unique story to tell and that is what suddenly give you a new relation with a project or a work. It is not only the visual project that we are supposed to produce at the end, it is a position of responsibility when it comes to a project that you believe in and you really care about the people who you work with and who essentially trust you. Therefore, the most memorable idea that sticks to my mind at the end of the visit is the understanding of the social context that generates these projects and the recognition of the importance of the human being existence as an end and not a mean in the process of sustainable development generally.

L. A

After two weeks of visits to social enterprises and organisations in and around Auroville, I feel a lot closer to understanding what management models may effect sustainable social change. Though each one was unique in its operations and services, the recurring learning is that:

Effective change takes time. Deepti shared with us how the Auroville we see today is nothing like it was 45 years ago when the first settlements began. The transformation of a barren near-desert into the verdant and productive village we walk today took years of experiments and passionate effort from peoples of over 50 nations. The change was not immediate and yet you get the sense that it started with the first step towards achieving the vision for Auroville and it is still in process. This same energy that builds on small steps is evident in the other organisations.

The first time the Auroville Village Action Group (AVAG) offered loans to its self-help groups, only one group came forward and to take only 500 rupees (€6.50). Anbu, who manages the organisation, recalls the experience with a laugh but at the time it was disheartening. However they persisted with the community, assuring them that the loans would free them from exorbitant money lenders and offering other services for personal and social development. Years later, they are now lending out hundreds of thousands of rupees to over 800 self-help groups.

The other key learning reminds me of an over-used African proverb that says it takes a whole village to raise a child. Watching the Auroville entrepreneurial and social support networks, there is every indication that in turn, it takes every child to change a village. The interconnectedness between the organisations, and how they complement each other’s services to serve the community, is outstanding.

Krishna, manager of Solitude Farm that is set up to come to a point of agriculture with non-action.

The Auroville Botanical Garden does landscaping work for individuals and organisations in the community and supplies seedlings and seeds to farmers. Solitude Farm gives free meals to children in one school twice a week. Some of the self-help groups of AVAG work at the Bamboo Centre, making bamboo crafts and jewellery. The men’s self-help groups make blocks at the Earth Institute, which supplies building materials for most of the construction in Auroville. Mason & Co (Craftsmen of Chocolate) is consulting with Wasteless to help them design a transportation device with a cooling system. Wasteless in turn consults with Unltd Tamil Nadu that provides business development and mentorship services to the social enterprises.

There is no perceptible competition between organisations; each one stems from the passion of an individual to meet a need. And it would seem like once that need is met, there is no need to duplicate that service, instead another organisation forms to meet a different need. A guest I spoke to, who is exploring the possibility of settling in Auroville has already identified the need she would meet if she chose to stay; that of stray, neglected dogs that roam the village.

In contrast, none of the organisations outside of Auroville boasted of cooperation with another NGO. Each one is working in seclusion from the others and yet trying to effect change in the same community.

There sure is a lesson to be drawn from the Aurovillian organisations and I wonder if this model to social change can be replicated and scaled up from a commune like Auroville, to a nation or at least a larger community.

 — P.Otali

Today, on the 30^th of December we all finally had to decide which organization we wanted to work with. This was, for many reasons, not an easy choice to make. During our first two weeks in India we’ve visited over 30 organizations, which are all working with fundamental and great issues. At every organization we’ve been welcomed with so much love and warmth, that a few of us have shed a tear now and then. The passion of the people in the different organization has been heartfelt and having to choose one cause has been difficult, because so much help is needed.

Today, when we all entered the “yoga room”, where we’ve been gathered many times before, one couldn’t help but notice the anxiety that was present this morning. On pieces of paper were written the names of the different organizations that we’ve visited or who have been speaking about their organizations to us. We each had to write our name at 2-3 organizations that we wished to work with according to preference.

Some of us were lucky and we get to work with the organizations that we listed as our first priority. Other were, however, not so fortunate. When you’ve set your heart and mind to work for a certain cause, it is a disappointment to realize that others may be better suited for the job. Tanya said to the remaining group of people, who were left disagreeing on the matter, that they should shift their perspective of the situation:

“When the Tsunami hit India all the NGO’s involved claimed to have territory over certain aspects of the disaster, instead of viewing the situation as a possibility to work together for a greater cause.”

Throughout the first couple of weeks in India we’ve become aware of the struggles that all these NGO’s are facing everyday and we’ve felt their heartache. We’ve become so eager to help, because we’ve seen so much despair, that we’ve almost forgotten the greater purpose with our visit: to aid some of these struggling NGO’s in their fight. And they are all fighting: for education, for money, for more sustainable means of agricultural, for children’s rights, for better health care conditions, for more sustainable energy, for human rights etc. With that in mind everyone left the “yoga room” content and eager to embark upon the third phase of our visit: the phase where we will get the opportunity to help and learn from these astonishing, compassionate and selfless people who are trying to make the world a better place to live.

IET