On February 21st, Mr. Sampson, Kat, Tim, and I set off for a 5 day visit to the YMCA of Ranchi. Ranchi is the capital city of the state of Jarkhand, which is west of our state of West Bengal. We boarded an evening train from Calcutta's Howra station and it was quite an experience. We traveled sleeper class, one of the less expensive classes, and unlike the trains in the United States, every seats folds into a flat bunk bed. I must admit, while it is definitely more comfortable then traveling overnight on the U.S. Amtrak, I did not sleep well. However, that is to be expected. Anyways, we arrived around 7am in Ranchi and Mr. Sanga the general secretary of the Ranchi YMCA was eagerly awaiting for us at the station.
Mr. Sanga took us in a Y vehicle to a christian convent/conference center where we were to stay during our visit. We then met with the general secretaries of the Ranchi YMCA and had introductions. The debriefing was quite nice where we were given a very comprehensive and jam packed schedule for our visit and much reading materials about the Ranchi YMCA and their programs. We then headed off to start our first day that showed us the Ranchi's Urban Slum Development Program (USDP).
The USDP was started in 1969 as a means for the Y to better help the community, especially the members of the very poor living in the slums. Today, it serves 11 slums in the city of Ranchi. It gives an emphasis on Children's education with a free mid-day lunch, Health Care, Adult Education, Youth Forum, Construction of Roads, Drainage, Sinking Tube wells, Legal Aid, and people's action group. Presently the Y has adopted 2700 children including 1770 studying in schools of Ranchi City and 300 older youths who study at the University of Ranchi. The USDP has helped 90 slum children to graduate from the University and become gainfully employed. Therefore, our first visit was to the Islam Nagar Children's School.
The Islam Nagar Children's School provides nursery and early education to children of the slums. The teachers teach the children basics, and this classroom was quite nice as it has donated desks and chairs. The free lunch meal is very important for quite a few reasons, first the slum children are often undernourished and this provides at least one satisfactory nutritious meal per day. Many of the people of the slum struggle to be able to have a consistent and steady supply of food, and it is not guaranteed that they will have food everyday. Not only does the food program help keep the children fed, but it insures their participation in the school day. It is often hard to get children in the slums to school as the family needs them for other tasks and sometimes the importance of school is not considered to outweigh the benefits of keeping the child at home. However, a free meal is often enough to get the children into the classroom. After our visit where the children sang songs we headed over to the YMCA's health care center set up right next door.
The Y health care center is a very important asset to the community. Here the people of Islam Nagar and 10 other slums and the general public can receive real medical care at a very nominal expense. While the Health Care center can not afford to give free care, it charges a very low fee. For example, it provides important child vaccinations that run around 500 rupees anywhere else for about 20 rupees. In addition to vaccinations the health care center provides both in and out patient care, health education classes for the community, nursing care, family planning, pre-natal and ante-natal facilities, and mother and child care. It also has 15 beds, and an ambulance. It also organizes free eye clinics, tubectomy, and campaigns against the development of leprosy and tuberculosis which still run rampant in the slums. After our visit to the health care center we went to visit people affected by these very illnesses. First we arrived at the Overbridge Children's School.
The Overbridge Children's school is literally a classroom established under a bridge in a slum. Therefore, it is open aired and consists mainly of a blanket for the children to sit on, and some teaching tools like flash card etc. There is a shanty room built on the side where the cook lives and sleeps to ensure that all the cooking utensils are kept safe. Here like at all the nursery/early education schools the children receive free lunches. Like all the slum YMCA sponsored schools, after a certain age the Y helps to sponsor the enrollment to the children into the various 65 primary schools in the city of Ranaghat. The Y also helps to provide school supplies and uniforms. For the children in the slum school donated clothing is also given. The children at the Overbridge school are very special, and in fact almost all come from the nearby leprosy colony. The children of the leprosy colony do not suffer from the disease themselves, it is their parents whom have the illness. After the children showed us how they could count, we continued on to the leprosy colony.
Many of the people of the colony were out and about busy with their day. This often includes begging, as the life of a leper is very hard. There hands are worn away from the illness and in addition to the physical limitations that come with leprosy there is a stigmatization against people with the illness. For fear of contamination along with their disability they can not get jobs. The people in this colony have been receiving their medication which makes leprosy not contagious if taken properly. However, it is an atrocious illness. Not only is it very painful, but is spreads across your body slowly eating away at limbs and body parts that ooze from decay. While the people we met were severely afflicted with withered body parts, the disease could not capture their smiles as they shown across their faces. These Indians were the most welcoming of the people who live in the slums, with their bright smiles and namastes. The YMCA has helped the colony by providing the children's school, setting up clean water, providing a room for the community to meet as one, helping to fund special events (such as providing the rice for community celebrations) and they are looking into raising funds to help raise the wall around their area a few feet. They are also planning on building a women's bathroom area so they can have privacy from the public. The Y also helps distribute the medicine that is sponsored by the government. We then headed off to see one of the vocational training centers set up in the Grihni slum.
We arrived at a one roomed building, filled with beautiful women and teenage girls and their crafting material. This is a vocational center set up by the YMCA and now with the help of the community is a bit more self-reliant focusing on its own goals. In the morning the room functions as a classroom and in the afternoon a room where the women can learn, sewing, embroidery, fabric painting, typing, and stitching. The programs range from months to about a year and at the end their is a skills test and then a certificate is awarded. This is very important to the women as they will have a means to earn money for their household. Not only does this help bring needed money to the families, but the women do not need to be as dependent on their fathers and husbands for money. The teacher at this particular center is so well known for her skills and teaching ability that women come from very far away just to attend her classes. Her teaching skills must be superb as the hand embroidery work is astounding. The pieces created are so beautiful it is absolutely amazing to see the end products. Some of the women have an undenied talent, and this will hopefully help them find work in the future. Also after graduation the if a women would like to purchase her own sewing machine to start a business the YMCA will pay for half and the women must save up money or take out a loan from their co-op to pay for the other half. I will discuss more about the vocational programs later as we visited ones at the YMCA main center the next day. These women were probably my favorite people of Ranchi as the girls who were our age were so happy to meet us. They gave us flower garlands, sang beautiful songs, and asked us numerous questions about ourselves and the United States. Despite their poverty, they carried themselves with such an uplifting spirit, grace, and beauty.
That evening we had a delicious meal at a wonderful restaurant with all the secretaries from the Ranchi YMCA. Their hospitality is unmatched, and we chatted until late. We returned to the convent and the first day then concluded and I fell fast asleep. The day truly was a roller coaster of sights, experiences, and feelings. The next two days promised to be nothing different.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Sports DAY!!
On February 17th, the girls celebrated the much anticipated "Sport's Day 2009".
Hosted by World Vision, Sports Day is a day of sporting competitions and festivities for the girls and their parents. The day started off with loud dance music bumping through the air. The girls all dressed in uniforms, created especially for sports day, energetically danced on their balcony and waited for the day to begin. While by the kitchen, hired cooks were busy preparing food for all the girls and their families. World Vision truly transformed our little home into a new place. In preparation, they had hired a DJ for the event, set up a small bamboo and cloth building for the girls and the Ranaghat teachers to sit in, created a long jump, transformed our field into a sporting field with use of chalk powdered lines, put up flags, banners, laid down blankets for the family spectators and finally hired a bus to transport all the parents and families from Calcutta to Ranaghat.
When the families arrived, everyone was given tiffin (tea, sweets, and sweetmeats) and settled onto the blankets for the days events. The girls then marched out by team separated by team names and colors: Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue. The teams had been previously organized by the World Vision representative to ensure that they were evenly matched for ages, skills, and size. Then began the days games: 50 yard dash, balance of clay pots on head races, cracker on string races, thread the needle races, makeup races,Marble on Spoon races, high jump races, and many more. It was quite enjoyable to watch. I did notice the girls were quite serious with many feeling quite upset if they lost. However, in the end it did not matter as all the girls received the same prizes regardless of how their team placed in the final tally.
Afterward all ate the delicious meal, and the girls had time to visit with their families. It was very touching to see the girls with their parents as they seemed very proud of their daughters and you could tell there was much love amongst the families. The girls were all very excited to introduce their parents and show off their american "Didi's" and "Sir". All in all the day was one of my favorite days so far in India.
Hosted by World Vision, Sports Day is a day of sporting competitions and festivities for the girls and their parents. The day started off with loud dance music bumping through the air. The girls all dressed in uniforms, created especially for sports day, energetically danced on their balcony and waited for the day to begin. While by the kitchen, hired cooks were busy preparing food for all the girls and their families. World Vision truly transformed our little home into a new place. In preparation, they had hired a DJ for the event, set up a small bamboo and cloth building for the girls and the Ranaghat teachers to sit in, created a long jump, transformed our field into a sporting field with use of chalk powdered lines, put up flags, banners, laid down blankets for the family spectators and finally hired a bus to transport all the parents and families from Calcutta to Ranaghat.
When the families arrived, everyone was given tiffin (tea, sweets, and sweetmeats) and settled onto the blankets for the days events. The girls then marched out by team separated by team names and colors: Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue. The teams had been previously organized by the World Vision representative to ensure that they were evenly matched for ages, skills, and size. Then began the days games: 50 yard dash, balance of clay pots on head races, cracker on string races, thread the needle races, makeup races,Marble on Spoon races, high jump races, and many more. It was quite enjoyable to watch. I did notice the girls were quite serious with many feeling quite upset if they lost. However, in the end it did not matter as all the girls received the same prizes regardless of how their team placed in the final tally.
Afterward all ate the delicious meal, and the girls had time to visit with their families. It was very touching to see the girls with their parents as they seemed very proud of their daughters and you could tell there was much love amongst the families. The girls were all very excited to introduce their parents and show off their american "Didi's" and "Sir". All in all the day was one of my favorite days so far in India.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
The Women's Co-Op
After our daily breakfast of egg, thick toast, and jam, Mr. Sampson gathered Tim, Kat, and I on a rickshaw and we headed off to visit the women's co-op in nearby villages. Not only is the YMCA here in Ranaghat the girl's home, but it also is involved in some great community outreach programs such as the women's co-op.
The women's co-op is a collective of 14 local village women's groups that work together to produce goods and products for sale at the local markets. Each Village or group has 12 to 20 members whom form their own co-op team. These teams work as individual teams in various areas including: rice cultivation, patty making, poultry farming,and animal products like goat and cow milk and eggs. The profits from the sale of these goods then go back into the co-op to help progress the program and ensure that it is self-sustaining. The women receive pay for their individual group's work and are also allowed to take out loans from the co-ops funds at an extremely low interest rate. In fact, we met one family that had just taken out a loan so that they could start their tailoring business. This consisted of a sewing machine, materials, and a small tailor shop.
Our visit was very lovely, as the villages were very peaceful and the women extremely nice. Their husbands also work in town, but the co-op is something run by the women to help provide for their families. The members needs are being met, and you can see there is a great camaraderie amongst the women and village people. The villages, by the way, are very small and close together. Without realizing it, during a few minute stroll we had traveled through a few different villages.
The YMCA has little role now that this co-op if self-sufficient, but the members are still quite grateful to the Y and welcoming as it maintains an overseeing role. The Y, mainly donated the first rice seeds, chickens, etc. for the formation of the program. Also, their is a small building where a doctor comes on Mondays and Tuesdays to treat the women especially for women health issues such as helping with their pregnancy and pre-natal care. I believe the Y had a role in finding a doctor who would donate thier time for little or no pay.
After our tour we were invited for tea and sweets at one of the homes. In true Indian style, the women here were very generous buying sweets for us and giving us tea when they themselves and thier families have very little money. I definitely have noticed a great generous spirit amongst the people of India to make you feel welcome and to share what little they have. Even the girls at our home are always trying to give Kat, Tim, and I their snacks and breakfast...which of course we politely decline. Thinking of generosity. Namaste.
The women's co-op is a collective of 14 local village women's groups that work together to produce goods and products for sale at the local markets. Each Village or group has 12 to 20 members whom form their own co-op team. These teams work as individual teams in various areas including: rice cultivation, patty making, poultry farming,and animal products like goat and cow milk and eggs. The profits from the sale of these goods then go back into the co-op to help progress the program and ensure that it is self-sustaining. The women receive pay for their individual group's work and are also allowed to take out loans from the co-ops funds at an extremely low interest rate. In fact, we met one family that had just taken out a loan so that they could start their tailoring business. This consisted of a sewing machine, materials, and a small tailor shop.
Our visit was very lovely, as the villages were very peaceful and the women extremely nice. Their husbands also work in town, but the co-op is something run by the women to help provide for their families. The members needs are being met, and you can see there is a great camaraderie amongst the women and village people. The villages, by the way, are very small and close together. Without realizing it, during a few minute stroll we had traveled through a few different villages.
The YMCA has little role now that this co-op if self-sufficient, but the members are still quite grateful to the Y and welcoming as it maintains an overseeing role. The Y, mainly donated the first rice seeds, chickens, etc. for the formation of the program. Also, their is a small building where a doctor comes on Mondays and Tuesdays to treat the women especially for women health issues such as helping with their pregnancy and pre-natal care. I believe the Y had a role in finding a doctor who would donate thier time for little or no pay.
After our tour we were invited for tea and sweets at one of the homes. In true Indian style, the women here were very generous buying sweets for us and giving us tea when they themselves and thier families have very little money. I definitely have noticed a great generous spirit amongst the people of India to make you feel welcome and to share what little they have. Even the girls at our home are always trying to give Kat, Tim, and I their snacks and breakfast...which of course we politely decline. Thinking of generosity. Namaste.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
A breif history of our Girl's home
It is another sunny warm day in India, and I am still very much enjoying my stay. I thought I would provide some information in responce to some inqueries about the YMCA here and the history of the girl's home.
The YMCA 14 acre campus in Ranaghat began as hospital in 1916 serving the people of Ranaghat and surrounding areas. Most of the buildings were erected for this purpose and the clay that built them came from the land itself. There are presently two ponds on the campus which were dug for the clay and to create a water source. The history of the hospital is a little hairy to me, but from what I am told there was some disagreement between the various doctors and at some point the hospital ended. (On a side note, the hospital system here in India is divided between Government hospitals and private hospitals with the latter apparently having better care.) Then from 1970 to 2002 the YMCA in Ranaghat (acting as a satalite campus of the Calcutta YMCA) was a boy's home.
Around 80 boys were selected for the home based on thier poor living conditions. They came from surrounding areas, but mostly Calcutta where many of them lived with their families on the streets. It was here at the YMCA that the boys were given proper nutrition (three meals a day and perhaps snacks), clothing, a place to live off the streets, and were placed in local schools for the needed education. They had a very organized daily schedule that included games, gardening, prayer, the school day, and most importantly study time and tutors. The tutors included curiculum based tutors and trade teachers. In addition, the YMCA boy's home had a strong community outreach program and was visited by India's generla secretaries, the vice-president, and Mother Teresa (whose home for the destitute is based in Calcutta). The boys left after 10th grade and many have become successful based in strong part from what they learned here. I have met a few whom continue to work for the YMCA, and I also met one man who is now an excellent artist. His art pieces have recently been selected for an upcoming show in Calcutta where only 100 artist throughout all of India were chosen to display. Despite all the sucess, most of the buildings were in such need for repair by this point that the whole program was becoming too costly and came to an end.
The campus was inactive for some time and then in 2005 it was reopened as a girl's home. The builings on campus remain vacant with the newest building, the Terry Waite Vocational Training Center, becoming the sole building used on campus (besides the guest house where I now live). There are 52 girls ages 5-16 whom now call this building home. There are three large bedrooms upstairs which the girls share and thier house mother Mrs. Roy stays with them. On a floor above there are also one or two rooms for some staff members. On the main floor there are three class rooms that the girls use for study and socializing. There is still ample amount of lands and gardens for the girls to roam. The girls home is set up in structure very much like the boys home but on a smaller scale and with some additional activities: no gardening but sewing, cooking, computure, and dancing. A lot of this was made possible by a joint venture between the YMCA and World Vision, a charitable organization that funds the girls. Without World Vision's support the YMCA would not be able to provide the building and caretake for the girls. A representative from World Vision stops by on a monthly visit.
Like the boy's, the girls were chosen based on thier poor living conditions. Local community leaders recommended the girls as possible canidates for World Vision sponsership due to their financial needs. Perhaps, the leaders noticed our girls on the streets begging, or living in inadequate housing along the footpath and thought of them as being able to benefit greatly from this opportunity. Some of the girl's come from single parent households and caring for them is a great monetary stress on thier parent. World Vision then approached the girl's families and asked if they would like to participate in this great opportunity. So while our girl's home may look like an orphange, it is not as the girl's all have families. The parents do visit on parent's day, the journey is 2 hours by bus from Calcutta, but Ranaghat remains their home almost year round. While this is a new program and sucess has yet to be determined, I feel it is a very worthwhile program and is a great benefit to all the girls and families involved.
The YMCA 14 acre campus in Ranaghat began as hospital in 1916 serving the people of Ranaghat and surrounding areas. Most of the buildings were erected for this purpose and the clay that built them came from the land itself. There are presently two ponds on the campus which were dug for the clay and to create a water source. The history of the hospital is a little hairy to me, but from what I am told there was some disagreement between the various doctors and at some point the hospital ended. (On a side note, the hospital system here in India is divided between Government hospitals and private hospitals with the latter apparently having better care.) Then from 1970 to 2002 the YMCA in Ranaghat (acting as a satalite campus of the Calcutta YMCA) was a boy's home.
Around 80 boys were selected for the home based on thier poor living conditions. They came from surrounding areas, but mostly Calcutta where many of them lived with their families on the streets. It was here at the YMCA that the boys were given proper nutrition (three meals a day and perhaps snacks), clothing, a place to live off the streets, and were placed in local schools for the needed education. They had a very organized daily schedule that included games, gardening, prayer, the school day, and most importantly study time and tutors. The tutors included curiculum based tutors and trade teachers. In addition, the YMCA boy's home had a strong community outreach program and was visited by India's generla secretaries, the vice-president, and Mother Teresa (whose home for the destitute is based in Calcutta). The boys left after 10th grade and many have become successful based in strong part from what they learned here. I have met a few whom continue to work for the YMCA, and I also met one man who is now an excellent artist. His art pieces have recently been selected for an upcoming show in Calcutta where only 100 artist throughout all of India were chosen to display. Despite all the sucess, most of the buildings were in such need for repair by this point that the whole program was becoming too costly and came to an end.
The campus was inactive for some time and then in 2005 it was reopened as a girl's home. The builings on campus remain vacant with the newest building, the Terry Waite Vocational Training Center, becoming the sole building used on campus (besides the guest house where I now live). There are 52 girls ages 5-16 whom now call this building home. There are three large bedrooms upstairs which the girls share and thier house mother Mrs. Roy stays with them. On a floor above there are also one or two rooms for some staff members. On the main floor there are three class rooms that the girls use for study and socializing. There is still ample amount of lands and gardens for the girls to roam. The girls home is set up in structure very much like the boys home but on a smaller scale and with some additional activities: no gardening but sewing, cooking, computure, and dancing. A lot of this was made possible by a joint venture between the YMCA and World Vision, a charitable organization that funds the girls. Without World Vision's support the YMCA would not be able to provide the building and caretake for the girls. A representative from World Vision stops by on a monthly visit.
Like the boy's, the girls were chosen based on thier poor living conditions. Local community leaders recommended the girls as possible canidates for World Vision sponsership due to their financial needs. Perhaps, the leaders noticed our girls on the streets begging, or living in inadequate housing along the footpath and thought of them as being able to benefit greatly from this opportunity. Some of the girl's come from single parent households and caring for them is a great monetary stress on thier parent. World Vision then approached the girl's families and asked if they would like to participate in this great opportunity. So while our girl's home may look like an orphange, it is not as the girl's all have families. The parents do visit on parent's day, the journey is 2 hours by bus from Calcutta, but Ranaghat remains their home almost year round. While this is a new program and sucess has yet to be determined, I feel it is a very worthwhile program and is a great benefit to all the girls and families involved.
Monday, February 2, 2009
A few new trinkets
Well the days here have taken up quite a rhythm and routine. We fill everyday playing with the girls, helping them study, and joining them with cooking, prayer, or other activities: such as the dancing, watching their marching, or hand sewing. We have played a few new games and the other day we watched them play cricket. It was a makeshift game with parts of trees as bats and a stool as the pegs that the pitcher trys to hit for one of the options for an out. While i may not have all the terminology down i finally understand the game!
I have become much more comfortable in the market, so our trips are less overwhelming and I can even find my way around. I purchased some fruit, since my diet has been lacking it to say the least. I consume 21 eggs a week!! and over that in potatoes and rice so the apples and oranges are very exciting for me. I have been filling some of my free time making jewelry for the girls for their birthdays. We have had two already: Suman and Kajal and we get the girls together to sing happy b-day and give them our gift. I enjoy hand making them a present from the three of us and I feel it is very important to acknowledge them on their special day. If we were not here, they would not be sang to or receive anything special at all. I feel it is very important to let them know they are cared for especially since their parents are not here and the workers here tend to not lavish on the attention so to speak.
Speaking of giving gifts, Kat, Tim and I also purchased the girls a large blanket for them when they are sitting inside. They get to watch TV as a group for 30 minutes a night (they love love love this, it is pretty much the only thing we can threaten to take away if they are not studying)and their old blanket was so gross it was kicked to the outdoors. (even outside i choose to sit in the dirt because it is seriously the nastiest piece of material i have ever ever seen). As a result they sit on the floor or drag down their only bed blanket, which gets dirty in the process. Needless to say they were very very excited and appreciative. They are just so cute. The power was out so when we gave it to them by lantern it had a very mysterious feel. We made some ground rules: indoors only, put in bag each night, and no Ramoan. Ramoan the adopted street dog who while so sweet has many fleas! ( I have a deep love for him though and long to give him pets but I'm advised not to really tough him... Oh Ramoan who walks us home, and has no bone).
On travel news, Mr. Sircar has plans to bring us to some other YMCA locations in the month of Febuary. It will be very interesting to see the other programs. Also, Tim, Kat, and I are planning a trip to Himachal Pradesh...which will be a once in a lifetime experience to say the least. That's all for now, although on a very funny note Kat fell into the mucky, snake filled pond which was very funny. She's Ok. ha ha. Namaste
I have become much more comfortable in the market, so our trips are less overwhelming and I can even find my way around. I purchased some fruit, since my diet has been lacking it to say the least. I consume 21 eggs a week!! and over that in potatoes and rice so the apples and oranges are very exciting for me. I have been filling some of my free time making jewelry for the girls for their birthdays. We have had two already: Suman and Kajal and we get the girls together to sing happy b-day and give them our gift. I enjoy hand making them a present from the three of us and I feel it is very important to acknowledge them on their special day. If we were not here, they would not be sang to or receive anything special at all. I feel it is very important to let them know they are cared for especially since their parents are not here and the workers here tend to not lavish on the attention so to speak.
Speaking of giving gifts, Kat, Tim and I also purchased the girls a large blanket for them when they are sitting inside. They get to watch TV as a group for 30 minutes a night (they love love love this, it is pretty much the only thing we can threaten to take away if they are not studying)and their old blanket was so gross it was kicked to the outdoors. (even outside i choose to sit in the dirt because it is seriously the nastiest piece of material i have ever ever seen). As a result they sit on the floor or drag down their only bed blanket, which gets dirty in the process. Needless to say they were very very excited and appreciative. They are just so cute. The power was out so when we gave it to them by lantern it had a very mysterious feel. We made some ground rules: indoors only, put in bag each night, and no Ramoan. Ramoan the adopted street dog who while so sweet has many fleas! ( I have a deep love for him though and long to give him pets but I'm advised not to really tough him... Oh Ramoan who walks us home, and has no bone).
On travel news, Mr. Sircar has plans to bring us to some other YMCA locations in the month of Febuary. It will be very interesting to see the other programs. Also, Tim, Kat, and I are planning a trip to Himachal Pradesh...which will be a once in a lifetime experience to say the least. That's all for now, although on a very funny note Kat fell into the mucky, snake filled pond which was very funny. She's Ok. ha ha. Namaste
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