I have chosen to volunteer at LEC (Life Education Centre) for my communication project during this practicum. The center provides educational programs for young women, allowing them to develop skills and self-confidence. My project is twofold: I will be reconstructing the organization’s website and also crafting a proposal for a UN grant to end violence against women. I had briefly met Harini, the head of LEC, and Oga, a volunteer who often comes to Auroville, during our visit 10 days ago. Today was the first time that we actually sat down and discussed the project in details.

I met Sofie, a Linneas University student who is also working on the project, and we jumped on her scooter, riding through the thick forest on bumpy dirt paths and finally arriving at LEC. We arrived a bit early, and slowly walked through the gates, trying to find a familiar face. It was 9:15am, and the girls were chanting their morning prayer in a small, screened in rotunda. A woman leading the prayer saw us and motioned us inside. We took off our shoes and timidly sat down on the yoga mats arranged in a circle around incense, flowers, and two portraits: one of Sri Aurobindo and the other of the Mother. The girls were probably not sure what to make of us, as they giggled and whispered behind their raised, colorful scarves.

The coordinator passed out music sheets, leaving Sofie and I out, as we do not speak any Tamil. Despite the total language barrier, I was amazed at how it was still possible to decipher the girls’ social roles within the group by observing the tone of their voices and gestures used in their exchanges. I noted the roles of the comedian, the leader, the shy girl, and the bully. The leader scolded the shy girl for being off pace in the chanting, and the bully rebuked in her defense. The coordinator quickly brought everyone back to focus and they continued with their chanting. It was amazing to see how concentrated the girls were during the songs. We sat there listening to them practice, unsure of our position in this situation, until Harini arrived and called us to the meeting.

She explained one part of the song to us. There were two girls bantering back and forth, one girl was telling the other to get out of bed and stop being lazy, and the other was proclaiming her love for her bed and that it was too cold to get up. These prayers are sung from December 15^th to January 15^th – during the period of what Christians would equate to as “penitence”. This tradition is of Dravidian origin, which shares many beliefs with Hinduism.

It was overall an interesting way to start the morning, feeling like an outsider in one sense yet privileged to have been invited into their tradition in another.

– Lara Heskestad, The American University of Paris

Our yoga mats on the rooftop at Mitra Youth Hostel

For the past two weeks, my first activity in the morning has been Yoga on the rooftop of our hostel with our lovely teacher Natasha and some of my adventure-mates. Yesterday, as I was transitioning from one asana to the next one, I was reflecting on a kind of Yoga that is followed in Auroville and that I find particularly interesting in the framework of sustainable (self)development. I am talking about Karma Yoga. By an approximate definition, “Karma” means action and Karma Yoga is the Yoga of work, the way of good works, aimed to a greater good; the work of Mother Teresa for example. It means to unify body, mind and soul through action and practice. So it isn’t simply doing some stretching exercises in a gym, but it also doesn’t necessarily entail devoting one’s life to healing the sick and helping the poor. From what I have experienced so far in Auroville, Karma Yoga means to help, heal and share as part of our everyday actions, wherever these might take place.

Reading about or even seeing people involved in socially responsible work often does inspire us momentarily, but after some time we are back to the same place from where we had begun. There are so many things that come into play when people want to bring change into society. And change doesn’t inherently equal a positive force, it can also be negative. It all depends upon the human intention behind it. In its turn, human intention is dependent on the underlying motivation. Unless we are motivated to do something, the seeds of intention just do not germinate in us. According to the theory of reasoned action, if people evaluate the suggested behaviour as positive, and if they think that their significant others want them to perform such behaviour, this results in a higher motivation and they are more likely to do so. Karma Yoga is but one such motivation to do good to society. It is a means to give something back to society. It is a way of changing behaviour for the common good. We shouldn’t just learn from society and move on in a selfish learning process. We need to ask ourselves “What good have I brought to society?” When the answer is a long deafening silence then it isn’t a sustainable practice. Learning about sustainable development also means learning to bring about incremental positive change in our own lifes.

Imagine how easy life would be if we all started helping, healing and sharing with each other and in the process continuously and positively influence one another. This is in essence what I see sustainable development striving towards. And it is what many units in Auroville, especially the social enterprises, are working for. I believe that society worldwide needs such enterprises not for economic reasons alone but for socio-cultural empowerment as well. Hence, as future managers, directors and administrators, it becomes our responsibility to lead all kind of actions with a perspective of giving back to society. It all depends on us and on whether we can fill the gap between what we want and how we behave.

In conclusion, there is one piece of advice that I would like to share with those who think that it is too hard, if not impossible, to make a difference. This was given too us during a lecture in Auroville about choice architecture by Minhaj Ameen, a sustainability consultant in the fields of renewable energy, agriculture and waste management (and a lot more!). First, commit to one change in your life that will align you with your core values. Then, connect with projects and initiatives that will help you implement that change and you will start to unconsciously make decisions for a sustainable (self)development together with the other people involved. So I say let’s all Karma Yoga!

Mia Marzotto, American University of Paris

After a week and a half in Auroville some of the question marks have been ironed out, only to be replaced by more questions. Questions are always going to arise when travelling to new countries or places where one is being confronted with new people, places and cultures.

The What, Why & How? Are more often than not connected to the ‘others’. The ‘others’ being the people belonging to the place and culture in which we are the visitors. Less frequently are the What, Why & How directed at oneself. What should I do now? What is expected of me? Why do I react in this way?

It is so easy – almost too easy, to look at new experiences from a Eurocentric perspective – to use ones own culture as a measurement for what we consider to be right and normal, to think that there is a proper way to go about things and the way one is most familiar with is often considered to be the ‘only’ way to approach issues.

The questions attached to ‘the right and only way’ are important to keep in mind in the context of positive change and sustainability.

Too often, development, or the new term – positive change, has had a Eurocentric framework. Meaning that we in the global North believe that we sit on all the right answers and solutions. Not often enough are the people that will be affected by the change actually asked what they need, want, wish or are in need of.

Recently development workers have started to realise that local people know perfectly well what they need and how to achieve it – if they had the means to do so – all we need to do is engage in a dialogue!

The more I learn about environmental and social development, I realise that in order to make it sustainable, we need to make sure that the project, skills, ideas can be continued by the local people themselves. Also ideas and values need to be given the space and time to be developed by the people themselves on their own terms.

But. For a substantial sustainable change to be able to take place on both a local and a global scale, that will enable projects, local NGOs and entrepreneurs around the world to reach their goals and realise their vision, the inhabitants in the global North need to get better at engaging in dialogue. We are also the ones that should be prepared to answer some questions regarding our own outlook and values.

The global North needs to be willing to reassess our views of local cultures and change. We are the ones that need adopt positive change and maybe realise that development is not equal to the ability to upgrade to the latest model of iPhone.

So maybe we are the ones who have to be prepared to reflect on our lifestyle choices and answer the questions What, Why & How? in order to make positive change sustainable.

Angela Fjordmark, Linnaeus University, Sweden

To all of you out there (even males), this is something that concerns all of us. Menstruation is not only important for young women who just had their first period, but something they will experience for most of their lives. It concerns women, but also parents and relatives whom are responsible of informing young girls about menstruation and sanitation. One dimension that often is forgotten is the environment.

Statistics show that the average North American woman uses and throws away 16,800 disposable pads and tampons in her lifetime. Using disposable pads is bad for the environment in terms of being made out of plastic, meaning they are not biologically degradable. The life cycle is 500 – 800 years in nature. So how could women (note: half the Earth’s population) contribute to a better environment as well as lower our economic expenses? The answer is reusable cotton pads.

Eco Femme is one of the producers of disposable pads. The pads are made out of cotton with a leakproof protection as well as wings to keep it in place, thus providing the outmost protection for women. Not only are they environmentally and financially friendly, but also fashionable and well made. They come in different sizes and colors and can hence be adapted to different needs. One pad can be washed 75 times before it needs to be replaced. When used it needs only to be soaked in cold water for 30 minutes and can then be machine- or hand washed and sun-dried.  Eco Femme is a social enterprise working for grassroots community development. It started in Auroville, South India, in 2010. Besides the eco-friendly pads, Eco Femme also works with educating girls and women on managing their menstruation.

Personally I believe these pads can make the menstruation into a more positive experience. Instead of stuffing your trash can with used pads, you can choose the EcoFemme pad that best matches your underwear. Make something more positive out of it, and most of all: celebrate being a woman. The wide selection of patterns and colors provides you with the opportunity of making it more personal by wearing colors that makes you happy. They are also splendid gifts for friends, sisters, mothers and daughters, benefitting both them and the environment.

So spread the word and exchange “the bad week” into an environmentally responsible and more positive experience.

/Louise Jönsson Andersson, Linnaeus University

Source: http://ecofemme.org/

To begin with this day was special for me because it was my birthday. So, to step outside the projects and the syllabus I was congratulated by all my Swedish colleagues fifteen minutes to seven in the morning. I was given a coffee and a cake to start the day with which was great. The price of having a birthday was to miss out on yoga – a loss well worth it.

First place to visit in the morning was Pour Tous. This is a cooperative where all the members pay fees to be able to purchase food from the store. The store has been open for seven years and so far it’s working well. Instead of having a big selection to choose from the concept is built upon a few products where ecology, collaboration and fair-trade are in focus. It was a special feeling walking around in the store where prices were hidden. Only the store management and the economy department know how much all the members were spending. This leads to higher awareness when buying commodities. There are three levels of membership (payments) depending on the needs and the size of the family, they are: small, medium and large. As the focus is on needs instead of spontaneous spending the long-term aim is reached.

The second visit for the day was at Yatra cultural center. The foundation was created in 2005 to promote aesthetic feelings and expressions among children. Many of the classes that the children take are in drama, music, singing, dancing, drawing, painting and theatre. Yatra focus on two main areas when engaging, the first is to sustain the cultural traditions that India, Auroville and the surrounding villages are built on. The second objective is to promote areas of expression that public and private schools ignore. According to Yatra cultural center the school system in India is rigid and not that flexible when it comes to aesthetic subjects.

Yatra cultural center also works with video production and edutainment. Some of the edutainment movies that they produce address solar-cells and recycling of trash. One ingredient that is important is humor; this is the method used to get the potential consumer attached to the issue. The movies shown were funny yet serious at the same time so entertainment and education were combined effectively. Yatra cultural center argues that there are several real cases where social change has been achieved.

The third place we visited was the Dental center. The manager Jacque showed us the clinique and introduced us to the project ADCERRA. This project aims to give 1 billion people in India better dental health-care. This project was started in Auroville and is unique in the sense that it focuses on easy and natural ways of filling and preventive dental care. The main concept is about reaching the rural areas where most people in need live. There’s one main center and ten sub-centers where nurses are taught how to apply dental care in the spirits of the project. The project prefers to train women as they are considered “mothers” in the Indian context. The image of the “mother” in India is respected and revered, thus enabling access to dental health-care.

The fourth project to visit was Naturellement. This organization empowers women through employment. Due to poverty in India many men suffer from alcoholism that affects the whole family. In many cases women are left alone sustaining the household. The organization thus works by promotion a happy and joyful working climate where women can ventilate their problems. So far the organization has succeeded in this area. There is a café-part where people can eat and have a Swedish cinnamon-role. They also produce marmalade, jam or syrup for the Indian market. Issues such as health care and education are commonly discussed. One objective is to make Indians aware of what they are eating and thus promote a healthier lifestyle.

The evening then turned out to be the best birthday ever. We all played a Christmas gift-game where we shared presents that we bought for each other. I ate some cake but also had it smeared in my forehead Hindu-style in the face!     

Carl Larsson, Linnaeus University, Sweden

Yet another amazing day in Auroville. After a serene morning run through the red dirt and thick green forest, us AUP students met at La Terrace to check in and enjoy a delicious breakfast. We had the rest of the day free and decided to make the most of it. One of the students had met a beach conservationist named Mikael last week, so we decided to go back to try and find his organization to learn more about their cause.

We jumped in some tuk-tuks and after a bumpy and somewhat chaotic ride through speeding traffic and small side streets, we made it to the beach.

We walked along the sand until we found Meera Youth Camp, the beach conservation organization that Mikael leads. He and an international group of volunteers work on preserving beach erosion, which has been a huge problem since a cyclone hit in 2011. Although we stopped in just to say hello, Mikael warmly invited us to stay for lunch, as they were just about to get fresh vegetables from the market anyway. We accepted his kind invitation and once the vegetables had arrived, we all began the cooking process together. It was quite a site with all 13 people in one open-air kitchen, each lending a hand. There was a real sense of community, one of Auroville’s key principles, as we all worked together to create the delicious meal.

Once the meal was prepared, we all sat around a stone table and listened to Mikael’s story. Originally a prestigious tax lawyer in Paris, Mikael realized that his heart was not in this line of work so he decided to travel for a year, Auroville being on his route. After spending 10 days here, he decided that Auroville was where he needed to be. He gave up his job and material possessions and began to work on his current project to protect the beaches along the east coast from further erosion. Although he still goes back to Paris from time to time to work on his PHD in volunteerism, the Meera Youth Camp has become his ultimate passion.

Although the cyclone had displaced large amounts of sand, it usually comes back naturally with the tide within just a couple of years. The problem in this particular area is that the sand has not been able to come back because it is blocked by a nearby port that extends unnecessarily far into the ocean.  One of Mikael’s main goals is to shut down this port, that is apparently being used less and less, to facilitate the sand coming back. He claimed that if no changes are made by August 2014, the Meera Youth Camp will be in the water. For now they have sandbags out, ready to be used if needed.

 Despite the risk of its disappearance, Meera continues to work towards its visions and goals focusing on sustainability. Although the youth camp is slightly outside of Auroville, Mikael’s vision for the facility has a similar concept, as he wants to make it entirely self-sustaining and autonomous. They are on their way as they already run on minimal electricity and have a small garden where they grow vegetables. Mikael hopes to purchase the neighboring plot of land to expand his garden and rely less on the village markets. He has a very minimalist outlook on life and believes that people consume far more than they actually need. He believes that what is important in life is love, hard work, and passion – everything else will follow. We spent the entire afternoon listening to him and discussing his visions, along with those of his inspiring volunteers. At the end, he gave us a tour of some of their tree houses that they live in on the beach, all built by the volunteers and Mikael together.

It was very inspiring to hear from Mikael and his eco-conscious group, as they are very determined to fight for their project to stop beach erosion in anyway they can, even if just by spreading the information. His ideas about consumption and how people too often take more than they need is relevant on a global level and is the source of many problems today including those surrounding waste, pollution and water consumption. I wish Mikael and his team the best of luck in his beach erosion project and in becoming a self-sustaining organization as he hopes for.

– Lara Heskestad, The American University of Paris

As I was preparing to come to Auroville, one of the things I was mostly looking forward to see was the Matrimandir – the impressive golden flattened sphere that extends out into twelve petals surrounded by an idyllic garden. It is often misinterpreted as a temple or some kind of religious building and since it is located at the centre of Auroville one can think that the town is built around a religious creed and that Aurovilians belong to an exclusivist sect. This is not correct and my aim here is to briefly explain what the Matrimandir is and what my perception of it is after my visit.

The Matrimandir seen from Town Hall

The Matrimandir is a place to develop a “union with the divine manifesting in a progressive human unity.” It is considered the soul of Auroville since it is located at its centre. Yet, the Matrimandir is not a temple – and more specifically it is not a temple for the Mother of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram who launched the project of Auroville in 1965. It is a place dedicated to the Universal Mother, Mother Nature – or whatever you may like to call Her. This is a concept that is well known in Hindu culture, but for Westerners (and I include myself in this category) the meaning of this building is often difficult to understand. The Matrimandir wants to be the symbol of the Universal Mother and the place where “people will not come for a regular meditation or anything of that kind; it will be a place for concentration, for trying to find one’s consciousness.” This understanding of the Matrimandir is in line with the idea that Auroville is a site of spiritual research to strive towards the living embodiment of an actual Human Unity. The Matrimandir’s construction started in the earliest years of Auroville – it required the first Aurovilians to come together and work together as a unified community.

Visiting the Matrimandir is no easily done thing. One really needs to want to visit it as there is a specific process one must follow that is quite lengthy. Now one may somewhat hastily and superficially observe that this is a sort of “ritual” or initiation which are concepts that belong to any religion. Yet, I think that all the steps are there simply to ensure that the visitor puts effort into his or her visit and actually thinks about finding his or her consciousness. I am not saying that entering the Matrimandir equals having a revelation about one’s self, but the whole experience is entrenched with powerful symbolism.

Model of the Matrimandir and surrounding garden

First, one sees the Matrimandir from a distance at a specific viewing point. Then, usually the following day, one is allowed to enter the Inner Chamber after viewing a short documentary and receiving additional instructions by a guide. In the Matrimandir, there are no windows and there is always a sort of clear half-light. One descends down before entering the Matrimandir and one comes up once inside it to reach the Inner Chamber. Everything is a symbol, but it is up to the individual to perceive those symbols. There are neither ornaments, nor music, nor incenses. People can sit anywhere but they must remain silent and as still as possible. Once you exit the Matrimandir, you can wander in the garden dominated by a large banyan tree, the geographic centre of Auroville.

My experience leads me to conclude that the Matrimandir wants to stimulate or facilitate inner progress of anyone wanting to enter it. Overall, I see the Matrimandir as a symbol of bringing order within oneself to establish order around oneself. As such, entering the Matrimandir is a very subjective experience and I cannot do much more but suggest you to visit it and see what it means for you!

Mia Marzotto, American University of Paris

Vanakam!

Welcome to the official AUP blog of the 2013/14 Sustainable Development Practicum. This blog will also be featuring posts by students of Linneaus University, Sweden.

We are twenty international students sharing one community space and, from mid-December to mid-January, we will be exploring Auroville, India to gain insight into sustainable practices.

The issues that we will be exploring include: environmental sustainable development, women’s empowerment, micro-credit financing, sustainable enterprises, socially responsible businesses and cultural heritage preservation.

During the first two weeks in Auroville, we will meet intensively with an array of NGOs, sustainable businesses and community action groups. For the last two weeks, we will each be working with one of these organizations to develop a project that advances and enhances their communications in some way, whether that be linked to fundraising, public relations, grant-writing or many other areas.

In our free time, you can find us biking around Auroville, exploring the grand market at Pondicherry. attending many cultural events and soaking in the experience of getting to spend a month in this unique place.

Thanks for reading and we hope this blog will provide a helpful and interesting glimpse into our experience.