“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

December 24, 2014 we visited Martina at Naturellement. Naturellement is a social enterprise, which Martina originally did not attend to open, as she is a teacher by trade. Martina started out by selling jams when she was not teaching, but eventually her success lead her to open a café. Martina continues to be inspired by the ladies who make their livelihoods through the café. (Check out Martina’s full story and food products at http://www.naturellement.in/)

Martina explained to us her strategy for a happy work place for all the women involved. Martina welcomes women to work at her restaurant from any background. In India, there is a very prominent caste system and often people from different castes will refuse to interact with each other. Martina has created a workplace environment that fosters positive interactions between these women despite their differences. Martina promotes group interactions through movie nights, team meetings and other fun activities. Martina also fosters healthy habits in her employees through jump rope workouts during breaks and by teaching about alternatives, such as swapping brown rice for white rice.

Martina also talked about the some challenges she faces working with so many women from different backgrounds. She shared with us that just recently several of her employees had been making fun of another employee and despite many conversations about bullying it did not stop. In order to maintain the ideals of a positive working environment, Martina was forced to talk about firing employees until the bullying stopped. Although it might seem harsh, so many women in the local villages are trying to find employment who would be willing to maintain delicate balance of a positive working environment. Martina, being the kind-hearted women she is, informed us that before firing anybody, she would first find them another job with a local business. I was inspired by Martina and her dedication to helping the women of India, while also demanding positive attitudes and respect from her employees. I have worked for several companies in the past and always appreciate a boss who demands respect and unity between all employees in order to make work a positive experience.

Photo taken from http://www.naturellement.in/index.php/about-us

In addition to learning about the great job Martina is doing with her employees by facilitating a healthy and positive working environment, we also experienced the delicious food at Naturellement. The cheesy vegetable lasagna and salad was ranked by many of the AUP students as one of the best meals we have had so far in India!

Photo courtesy of Paige Nelson

R.K.H.

Back on December 22, our visit to the Yatra Arts Foundation began with beautiful kolams as we entered.

Beautiful kolam at Yatra.

We watched Yatra Srinivassan’s short film “Maattram” about the dangers of illness and environmental damage from garbage, and heard about other programs that Yatra runs including after school tuition for children to get help with homework. On weekends, children can learn in many arts programs including painting, classical or folk dance, and the Saraswati veena. Four girls gave us a fantastic demonstration of both classical and folk dance. One girl was professional enough to dive off stage to have her skirt fixed and then jumped right back into the dance!

Yatra Arts dance students.

After finishing our scheduled visits for the day, we were invited to visit a village that night to see a street theater performance by Yatra’s company of very talented actors.

Finding the village was a challenge in itself, and our taxi had to stop briefly for directions. But once we were off the main road you could hear the theater. In a quiet countryside, the loudspeakers carried the Yatra Theatre Team’s amplified performance further than I would have expected. But once we turned the last 

The Yatra Theatre Team

corner, we found them right away. The lights lighting their stage were simple shop lights. The sound system was an electric drum and effects set, three wired microphones, two speakers, and an amplifier. Their backdrop and backstage was the van they had arrived in, draped with their theatre’s name. It was a simple set up, but very effective – especially if the cheers and responses from the village children were anything to go by.

There were musical performances, including dances by some village children, and Yatra helped them discover some dance moves if they were struggling. Some of the women standing with me saw me kind of bobbing along with the children dancing and tried to get me to dance a little more. I did for a little bit, and they laughed. It was interesting to see the women laugh so freely when they had been so reserved when we first arrived. There was an adorable baby girl who played peek-a-boo with me and my pashmina while her mother watched the show.

Then came the all Tamil, no subtitled, live version of Maatram. This time, instead of garbage being the culprit it was dirty water. Once the cricketer son appeared on stage and said, “Hi daddy!” and “I have strong body,” the english ended. The kids were laughing and hopefully learning along with their parents and other villagers who wandered into the performance.

This short clip, in Tamil with some muttered english translation that is not really necessary to understand, shows the good bacteria in the water and the bad bacteria. Listen for how the children react. 

As we were leaving, the taxi driver told us we had just left a Dalit village. As I spend the next few weeks here, I am looking forward to learning more about this caste divide and to see how what I saw in that village compares with what I learn.

See Yatra’s short films here : http://www.yatramultimedia.org/videos/

Learn more about Yatra Arts here : http://yatraarts.org/

Yatra’s blog of this event : http://www.yatraarts.org/yatra-theatre-team-presents-giramathuvassam-a-street-theatre-performance-on-water-and-sanitation-in-saanimedu-village/ 

By Felicity Foster

22 December 2014

On Tuesday, we visited several NGOs that had foundations in education – whether vocational, elementary, or health-wise.  I think it was interesting to examine the Indian system, and particularly how these NGOs worked to satisfy the needs that are not met through government schools.  In Indian government schools, children are taught “fundamental” subjects – math, science, etc. that will maximize employability.  An education in art or music or other creative outlets isn’t offered, and children have to go to other after-school “tuitions” or weekend institutions for these expressions.  This sheds some light on the nature of their culture, in other words, many parents are purely interested in measuring a subjective “success” of their children, whom many want to study to become doctors or other highly-specialized professions.  At the Aikiyam School, our speaker (the school’s principal) told us that most parents just want to know their child’s grade, not necessarily how they are developing otherwise.  There is a clear emphasis on the academic performance of the children, since many parents want their children to have promising, respectful careers that will both be a mark of pride and support for the family.  While this notion is understandable, children – around the globe – benefit from creative outlets where they can grow and express themselves creatively.  Children, and adults, also effectively learn from “play.”  In the Tamil villages, this idea is also two-fold, since there is a need to preserve the Tamil culture in a context of increasing globalization.  In my communication courses, there were many discussions relating to Western cultural imperialism, so I understand there is great importance on smaller states to preserve and promote their unique cultures and traditions, which is so often expressed through dance, music, and art.  Instead of letting Western, especially American, influences dominate the society, local customs should be celebrated, embraced, and communicated so that the culture can be sustained.  Since the government schools don’t provide for this (and since many families cannot afford to choose otherwise), the work and efforts of these NGOs is admirable.  When there are other rapid social and health issues, like water scarcity, sanitation, etc., the creative needs of children could easily be neglected.  However, we encountered a variety of truly passionate individuals who are working hard to empower children, specifically those whom are disadvantaged, but even more globally, to empower a collective group of individuals whose culture is under threat, which is very inspiring.

//CH

Aikiyam School tour & lecture