India Final Reflection

Note - This was not written to be a blog post. This was written as the final paper that I was required to turn in to get my grade for the trip. It assumes the reader was on the trip, so I don't give details about exactly what organizations and companies mentioned do. I made the decision to post this here after it was written and turned in. Enjoy! 

           When I first applied for this exploration seminar to India, I really wasn’t sure what to expect out of it. I had a few friends who had gone on various study abroad trips, but none quite like this – most of them were taking classes or working while abroad, rather than traveling and meeting with companies and organizations. I also didn’t really know much about India as a country. I knew the women were both wildly successful on one end of the spectrum and extraordinarily impoverished on the other but I didn’t quite know what that looked like in reality, I knew India’s economic development had taken off over the last two or three decades but I didn’t know why, and I was aware of microfinance taking off as a way to help women reach economic equity, but I didn’t have a great grasp of why or how it worked. I did, however, know that I wanted to go someplace I’ve never been before, and see aspects of a country that I probably will never get to see in any other context. I knew I wanted to be challenged and inspired, and that’s exactly what happened.

            Going into the trip, I thought that microfinance would be the part of the trip I would be most interested in. I had read a few articles about microfinance, and really wanted to learn more about it and how it has helped women in India. Our first week in Mumbai, however, I figured out my passions lie elsewhere – in education. On day one when we met with Poorvi Shah and Shaheen Mistri at Akanksha, I was inspired by what they had created. They were providing real, valuable education opportunity for children who wouldn’t otherwise have a quality education, and that was making all the difference in the lives of these kids. Throughout the trip it was a common theme – we met with a very wide range of leaders in a variety of sectors, and the common thread among them all seemed to have had access to quality education in some capacity. By the time we left India, I was thoroughly convinced that change has to start with education and schools. By educating the youngest citizens of India, Akanksha is setting them up for success throughout the rest of their lives. Listening to Shweta talk about how her experience in Akanksha’s program has allowed her to pursue her accounting certificate as well as inspired her sister to do even better on her exams than she had showed me that these programs are absolutely essential to closing the massive economic gap that exists in India. Every child that is educated properly affects the population exponentially due to subsequent generations also being set up for success, and that’s really what lasting impact is about.

            Later that week, Pam and I had the opportunity to go to a TEDx event about transforming education. While those talks were not entirely focused on India, they were extraordinary nonetheless. Here I was able to get a more theoretical basis for educational transformation, as well as learn a lot more about what the people who are doing the work on education are actually doing, whether it’s in India, the United States, Brazil, or elsewhere. I kept a log of my favorite quotes from the various speakers’ talks that night, and one that stands out to me is something that Anand Shah, CEO of Sarvajal, a social enterprise focused on increasing access to drinking water, said. He said that the work that he does and that we all do is a “collaborative effort of moving towards a future we can’t explain but that we will co-create.” At first, I didn’t really think that much about his words – I jotted them down to look back at later, and if you had asked me right afterwards what my favorite part of TEDx was, this line would probably not have come to mind.

By the end of the trip, however, I saw the power and truth of Anand’s words. On one of our last days in India, we were all asked to connect our final visit with Grameen Financial Services to one other visit we had made over the previous few weeks. When I got up to say my piece, I talked about how Grameen is similar to SEWA, and many other visits we had in India, in that it’s all about working together and helping each other. I don’t remember word-for-word what I said at the time, but I basically made the point that in order for us to be successful as a group, community, country, or world, we have to help each other out, and not be greedy and selfish. I feel like in the United States we very much have a culture of individualism – everyone gets what they deserve and if they are not successful it’s because they didn’t work hard enough. While this is not a sentiment I have aligned myself with for quite some time now, India showed me what the opposite of that can look like: how beautiful and successful and powerful movements can be when they are focused on common ground and making sure everyone is represented and appreciated. We saw this with the women of SEWA, who really embraced the collective spirit and making sure everyone was taken care of. We saw it again with Grameen, where the women made sure everyone in the group was able to pay back their loans, and if they couldn’t they were still taken care of until they could. We saw this with Reality Tours, who were using people’s interest in the lives of people they don’t know to better the situations of those living in the slums. We also saw it at the corporations we visited – women had plenty of time and care for maternity leave, so they weren’t left behind because they wanted a family and a career. This theme came up again and again throughout our trip, and by the end when I looked back on the quotes I had written down that first week at TEDx, I saw how true Anand’s line really was. We have no idea what the future is going to look like – not in India, not in America, and not globally, but if we can put aside our differences and work together and learn to help each other despite our own self-interests, the future will be a true collaborative effort.

Before and throughout the trip we were constantly being asked, “what makes a leader?” The first day of our classroom days that we were asked this, I had no idea what to say. I could list a few characteristics that make a good leader, but none of those seemed absolutely necessary to leadership. I still haven’t really come to any definite conclusion on what it really means (and takes) to be a leader, but I did realize that “leader” encompasses a very wide variety of people. There is no real way to strictly define what a leader is in my opinion, since there are so many ways to be a leader. I think the only way to really characterize leaders that encompasses all the different forms that they can take is by saying that it is someone who makes a positive impact on another person. Shweta, for example, was a leader to her sister because she was able to inspire her sister to also seek an education. On the other hand, however, Poorvi was a leader to Shweta because she was able to provide the skills and training that Shweta needed to pursue her own education. Some people may be a leader to one person or group, but not to another. Srilata, for instance, is seen as a great leader to those who share her ideals and those who she has helped through her work, but to others she’s seen much less favorably. In India I definitely learned that leadership doesn’t have to always to be loud and at the front of the room taking charge – it can be anyone who makes a difference in someone else’s life over their own personal gain.

I have long been a fan of Mahatma Gandhi. Almost two years ago I got the words “be the change” tattooed onto my ribcage as a reminder to always be working for the world I want to see. I am also a huge believer in change through non-violence. Because of all this, I was very excited to go to Gandhi’s ashram. I took about 30 pictures that day, all of Gandhi’s words. For the last few weeks, my computer background has been one of the pictures I took at the ashram. It reads,

“I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test: Recall the face of the poorest and weakest man you have seen and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to Swaraj for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and yourself melting away.”

To me this epitomizes my mindset since the trip and what really makes a leader. A leader needs to take into account those that they are leading. I think the most important part of this quote is the question “Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny?” In thinking about what was the most effective aid work that we saw in India, it seems to me that the most inspirational stories were those that empowered those who were oppressed. In SEWA, the women were helping themselves, not simply being given lanterns or cookers. In all of the various educational pursuits we saw, the children were empowered to seek a better life through increased knowledge, and as such, increased job capacity. I think that in the United States we (myself included) often think of aid work in the context of what can We do for Them, when in reality, lasting change should be thought of as what can we help each other achieve. Gandhi’s quote summed this up for me really well, and since that realization I have become more critical of how non-profit organizations and NGOs function, particularly ones run by people who are not part of the group people they are attempting to help.

When I first embarked on this journey, I wanted to be inspired. I was at a point in my life where suddenly I wasn’t really sure what my future looked like. I realized I no longer wanted to go directly into graduate school, if at all. A week before we left, I filled out a Teach For America application thinking of it as a long shot, but worth a try. By the time we got back however, Teach For America had become pretty much all I could see myself doing next year. Having seen the difference one teacher or one organization can make on the life of a child, I knew that’s what I wanted to be doing. The last month since we’ve been back, my thoughts have been consumed with how badly I want the opportunity to be the person to make that difference. I have become entirely convinced that education isn’t just where change has to start in countries like India, who are just finding themselves to global stage, but also in the United States where we still have a huge income and education gap. It may not be to the extent if India’s, but it’s there, and it’s a problem. Since I’m graduating in June, people keep asking me what my plans are. Of course, my first choice is Teach For America, and hopefully in two weeks I’ll be able to tell people that is where I’m headed, but I know I need a contingency plan. I haven’t quite worked that out yet, but I’m seriously considering going back to India and finding a job or internship in education there. I don’t know where I’ll end up, but what I learned in India will definitely impact my future. I left for India wanting to learn more about the country and culture I was visiting, but really I ended up learning the most about myself, my values, and where my passion lies.

India - Days 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6!

     Wow. I have been a TERRIBLE blogger and I appologize for that. Not that I actaully expect many people to be waiting eagerly for my posts, but still, I said I would try to post every day, and here we are on day 6 and I haven't posted once. Whoopsies. Anyway, now I will got caught up with all 7 days that I missed! Here goes!

Day 0 (8/27-8/28)

     This was our travel day, so it was pretty uneventful. My flight left Seattle for Paris at about 2:30PM. We arrived in Paris around 10AM and left for Mumbai about an hour later - just enough time to stretch our legs, get some food, and get back on another 9 hour flight. Between Seattle and Paris I only slept about an hour, but between Paris and Mumbai I think I was only awake for about an hour, which was nice. We landed in Mumbai pretty late, got through customs, and took a van to the Fariyas Hotel - our Mumbai home. By the time we got to the hotel, it was about 3am, and we had to be up bright and early for our tour of Mumbai, so we went straight to bed. My roommate for Mumbai, Shannon, was already in bed.

Day 1 (8/29) - Mumbai Magic and Akanksha

     Our first day in Mumbai!! Unfortunately, only about half of our group was with us, due to flights through Newark getting cancelled due to Hurricane Irene. The 12 of us who did make it to India on time met at breakfast and got our introduction from Deepa, the founder of Mumbai Magic tours. After listening to her story for a bit, we loaded the bus and started our tour. We first stopped at the Gateway to India, which is just a couple of blocks from our hotel. We could also see the Taj Mahal Hotel from here. Next up was the Crawford Market, a huge produce market selling any type of vegetable, fruit, or grain you could want. The colors and smells were amazing. We also stopped at the Victoria train station, the a Jain temple, and the Hanging Gardens. We had lunch at a delicious Goan restaurant called Soul Fry, where the food just didn't stop coming.

     Next up was the Akanksha Foundation, which is the non-profit that Mumbai Magic is partnered with. Akanksha runs a network of schools and centers for children from low-income areas. The centers are after school programs, and as a whole the foundation focuses on leadership development, English, and math skills. We met with Shaheen Mistra, who founded Akanksha and a few years ago left it to help establish Teach for India, which is essentially Teach for America in India, and is in it's third year. Shaheen was very inspiring and has clearly made a huge impact in her education-based efforts throughout India. We also talked to Poorvi Shah, who runs Akanksha's Learning to Lead leadership development program; Shweta, an Akanksha student; and a Teach for India fellow who just started his first year teaching here. Overall, the visit was really great, and I would have loved to spend more time talking to all of the people there.

     By the time we got back to the hotel, it was about 6:30PM. A group of us then got mindi (henna) done, which was awesome. The woman who did it did an amazing job, and it was only like $2 for each of us. Mine looked like an elephant, with an eye at the bottom corner and going up as a trunk to my fingertip. I'll have pictures posted later, and I think we're going to try to get it done again when we come back to Mumbai, since what I have now is already faded. By the time we finished with that, we were all exhausted, and went to bed. My first impressions of Mumbai were that it was very rainy (yay monsoon season!), full of color,  and extraordinarily diverse (even in a diverse number of ways). 

Day 2 (8/30) - ICICI and Swadhaar

     Tuesday! We woke up, got dressed in our business formal clothes and left for ICICI Bank. Once there, we listened to a woman whose name I forgot speak about how ICICI approaches diversity and women in the workplace. ICICI in particular is an interesting place to discuss these issues, because after the economic reforms in the early 90s, ICICI was a small bank that didn't pay as much as other banks, so a lot of men didn't want to work there. Because of this, they hired a lot of women who worked their way up in the company and became top executives at both ICICI and across the backing industry. This has made it so that banking industry here is run by tons of women. The presentation from them was a little strange - they were VERY adamant that they don't see gender or treat women any differently or anything. It just seemed like they were trying very hard to convince us that they had solved all sexism within their company and that no men were resentful about women having so much power. Overall it does seem like their company is better than most as far as flexible maternity leave (and paternity leave!), among other things. I'm not particularly interested in the banking industry so it wasn't my favorite visit so far, but it was interesting. We ate lunch with ICICI from a conference room on the top floor of their building that overlooked a slum, which was an interesting contrast.

     We has some time between ICICI and our next visit, so we stopped a market and did our first bit of shopping. I bought a necklace with an elephant on it for 125 rupees (about $2.75). My first bartering experience! Other people bought way more stuff, but I took it easy.

     Next was Swadhaar - an urban microfinance company. This visit was really interesting; applying a system that has worked so well in rural areas to urban areas causes all sorts of unique challenges that Swadhaar is working to resolve. Swadhaar is actually a for-profit organization, which I found interesting. Their whole deal is that companies should just exist and then incorporate social responsibility as an after thought, but rather all companies should have a responsible basis. Unfortunately, this visit was in a hotel conference room that was freezing cold, so it was a little hard to focus. After their presentation, we had some snacks (they feed us EVERYWHERE here) and then had a discussion about our day's visits. We then headed back to the hotel, and I think some people went out shopping on the causeway but I went to bed.

Day 3 (8/31) - Spencer Stuart, Mall, and Networking

     I woke up a little sick on this morning. I got downstairs for breakfast, had a couple bites, and then threw up soon after, which made me slightly terrified I was going to be sick all day. Fortunately, the day went uphill from there and I was fine for the rest of the day.

     Our day started with Spencer Stuart, a corporate recruiting agency. The woman who led the meeting actually originally studied engineering, then moved to non-profit work, and somehow ended up working where she does now. This visit was pretty fun because the India Spencer Stuart office employs many more women than men, so we met with a few women and actually got into a hilarious conversation about how they had to teach one of the men in their office how to make sandwiches (jokes ensued).

     After Spencer Stuart, we went to the Phoenix Mills mall for a while, which was like half South Coast Plaza and half Buena Park Mall (sorry non-OC friends, this won't really make sense). I bought a tunic-type shirt and a store called Pantaloons (which is fun to say) and had lunch with Pam, our co-leader. Other than that I just kind of wandered around the mall and enjoyed the AC.

     Next up was a networking event organized by a man who grew up in India, graduated from UW and 1961, and has lived and worked in India since. There were a bunch of businessy people there that I didn't really talk to, since I spent most of time talking to Poorvi (from Akanksha) about education. There was, of course, food there, and my conversation with Poorvi, Pam, and a couple other group members was really great. We mainly talked about methods for decreasing the huge education gap.

     The day pretty much ended there; we went back to the hotel, briefly explored the causeway (market), and I went to bed. I am pretty sure this was the night I discovered CSI plays on the hotel room TV. Score.

Day 4 (9/1) - Ganesh Day!

   We got this day completely off, since it was the first day of the 10 day long celebration of the god Ganesh's birthday. What to do with a free day in Mumbai? Shopping! We headed to the causeway at about 11, and I did a ton of shopping. I bought some stuff for myself, but mostly gifts. A group of us found a little restaurant where we got some lunch, and then headed back to the hotel for a nap. After the nap, we walked down to the Gateway of India, which was PACKED. We went into the Taj Mahal hotel, which was gorgeous, and bought some postcards there. Then we were going to venture towards the Prince of Wales museum, but got distracted by a cafe, and ended up spending about 2 hours there and then headed back to the hotel. Not too much happened this day, since it wasn't packed full of visits like most of our days. It was cool to see people celebrating Ganesh, and we say a few different shrines set up for the god.

Day 5 (9/2) - Laughter Yoga and TEDxNarimanPoint

    This post is copy and pasted from our group blog.

                Hello once again from Mumbai! Yesterday (Thursday, Sept 2), we got up bright and early to leave for laughter yoga at 6:45am. We walked down to the Gateway of India and got started. The session lasted about 20-30 minutes and involved stretching various body parts (eyes, neck, shoulders, etc), and then practiced different laughs from India and around the world. The American laugh involved knee-slapping, the Danish laugh had us covering our mouth, and the Mexican laugh consisted of high-pitched tongue roll. The laughter was definitely contagious and we had quite a crowd gathered around us, and one Indian man even joined us in the exercises.

                After yoga, we came back to the hotel to eat breakfast and get ready for the rest of the day. Most of the group went to Film City for the day, but Pam and I stayed back so that we could to go to the TEDx talk on transforming education. We didn’t have to leave until the afternoon, so I had the morning to myself. I ventured out for lunch, to a little restaurant a couple blocks from the hotel. I had butter chicken and butter cheese naan, which was delicious. TEDx was absolutely amazing, and I am so grateful that Poorvi from the Akanksha Foundation gave Pam and me the opportunity to attend the event. There were some really amazing speakers there, and a group of students from Akanksha performed a skit about perceptions of slum kids versus their realities. The whole event really inspired me and solidified my belief that education is one of the most important starting points for decreasing the gap between rich and poor, both here in India and in the United States.

                I jotted down some quotes that I felt were inspiring:

-“I had to learn not to feel guilty or conflicted about the differences between my world and theirs” –Anjali Sabnain, Akanksha teacher

-“Never set a bar for yourself, because when you achieve it, you stop pushing. You stagnate.” – Jyoti Reddy, Akanksha student

-“I feel no less than a kid from privileged background, so why do people expect less?” – Jyoti Reddy, Akanksha student

-“To know your mind for the sake of knowing your mind… is that really the journey?” – Nandita Das, Children’s Film Society of India

-“Discrimination from strangers is unfortunate, but when it comes from within, it is painful.” – Akanksha student performance

Day 6 (9/3) - Dharavi Slum Tour

     I'm finally caught up to today! The Dharavi slum tour. This slum is the largest in Asia, housing over a million Mumbai residents (it's also where Slumdog Millionaire took place). These "slum-dwellers" live in tightly packed conditions, often with onlyt a 10ft x 10ft home for a family of 4. What really surprised me about the slum is rather than it just being a ton of people living in poverty, it was a huge group of people living as basically their own city within a city. The mass amount of commerce that takes place there really impressed me. There are recycling plants, that take plastic from bottles and other materials, wash them, melt them down, dye them, and shape them into the pellets that are then molded into a huge variety of plastic products. There are leather shops, that treat the animal hides from start to finish and export products all over the world. There was pottery, aluminum recycling, schools, a mosque, and government. I wasn't really shocked by the living conditions, but rather by how the residents are able to live despite their living conditions. I was really surprised to learn that even once people have flats (given to them by the government as part of the slum rehabilitation program) they choose to continue living in the slums because that's where their community and history is. Overall the slum tour was better than I thought it would be - I went into it with pretty negative expectations, because I felt like paying to walk around someone's neighborhood is probably exploitative. I still haven't fully abandoned those feelings, but they aren't as strong as they were before the tour. The tour company we went through actually uses their profits to run a school in the slums.

    After the slum tour, we took the train back to the area where we're staying and had a delicious tali-style lunch (again, SO much food). We also all got these amazing deserts at a bakery/ice cream shop next to the restaurant. Since then, we've just been hanging out at the hotel. I did some laundry, and am now watching some Bollywood music videos while I write this. I need to start packing, since tomorrow morning at 5 we leave for Ahmedebad! Tomorrow we see Gandhi's Ashram and have our first meeting with SEWA.

Well that's all for now! I'm not sure how much I'll be able to post throughout the rest of the trip, but I at least got the first week done. Good night!

India - Day -1

            Tomorrow, I leave for India! My suitcase is (mostly) packed, I’m checked-in for my flight, and at 11am I leave for the airport. I am going to try to keep this blog up throughout my trip, but I am not bringing my computer with me and won’t always have reliable Internet access. I think my plan is to write out entries in a notebook each day, and when I get a chance, typing them up and posting them. I’ll have my phone with me, but it won’t be on often. I’ll be able to receive as many text messages as I get, but can only send 100 for the duration of my trip. I’ll also check my email as often as possible, but for the most part count on not being in too much contact with me for the next four weeks. Also, as an FYI, Mumbai is 12 and 1/2 hours ahead of the west coast. Our group is also keeping a blog, with each of us responsible for one day of the trip. My day is Wednesday, 8/31, which is the day we are doing Laughter Yoga, meeting with Anjai Bansai from Spencer Stuart, and attending a High Tea hosted by Hemant Sonawala, the CEO and Founder of Hinditron, along with leading female entrepreneurs including Paula Sonawala, Poorvi Chothani, Ritu Advani, and Dr. Durga Parikh, among other Mumbai businesspeople.

            Here is the at-a-glance schedule of our trip; my posts throughout the trip will go into detail about what we do each day:

(click to enlarge)

            Unfortunately, our whole group will not be there at the beginning of the trip due to the hurricane on the east coast. Many people ere flying through Newark, and flights to and from there have been cancelled for the next two days. I am so glad I don’t have to deal with that, but it really sucks that a lot of our group has to rearrange flights right now and won’t make it into Mumbai until Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. I just hope that everyone gets to India safe and soon so we can begin our adventure together.

            Originally this post was going to talk about my goals for the trip, what I’m really looking forward too, what I’m most worried about, etc, but I’ve been up since 8, I moved today, I still have packing to do, and I am exhausted. Maybe I will have time for that in the morning, but if not, next time I post it will be from Mumbai!

My job is really hard sometimes and that's ok

Warning: gonna be hella vague this post

          Yesterday was not a good activist day. It was one of those days where I look at what I’m doing and what my goals are for the year I have left here and it just seemed like the gap was so huge and insurmountable that nothing I can do will even make a dent. I was thinking and talking about how I can get through to the people I want to get through to, and all I could do was think that nothing will work. Our presentations are typically about an hour long, and yesterday we were discussing what the main things we want to get across in that hour are, and for me it basically came to it’s just not enough time. There’s just no way to do it. We have our volunteers and they’re awesome and I love them so much, but outside of the people who already care, it’s so difficult to get people to care.

          There are so many people out there who I just look at and think how can you think like that? How can you treat other people like that? And then there are even more people who I look at and when I see them or hear their story I just want to give them a hug and tell them it will be alright but I can’t do that because I don’t know that it will be alright.

          The end of last week was exactly the opposite of this. On Friday, I was so excited and ready for next year – we had just made our final hiring decisions and it was the day after our last volunteer training. That last training was this awesome culmination of everything we’ve been working on with the volunteers this year. I gave them our presentation (which is in jeopardy format) and they all answered to questions in teams. Seeing them get so excited about this stuff that I am so passionate about was amazing for me. I just wish I could get the average person to care a tenth of what our volunteers care.

          I know that this work is hard. I know that I will have days like yesterday and I will have days like Friday. And I know that sometimes it will be awesome and sometimes it will suck, but I think yesterday was my first really bad day where I just felt like nothing I could ever do could ever matter. And that really got to me. I didn’t really know what to say about it or how to put my thoughts into words and it made me shut down in a way that I haven’t for a few years now. We talk a lot about self care when doing activist/social justice work and I’m totally a huge proponent of it, but then when it came to the point where I needed to take care of myself I didn’t really know what to do to get myself out of that funk, which scares me.

          Anyway, this was super ramble-y but it helped I think.