Arrival

It has been a week and so much has happened! The internet connection is very limited and we are still waiting to settle in properly as we are having some issues in finding an approrpriate accommodation for three single girls. It is an absolute exception and rarity to see three girls living and working on their own. In India, women are either with their parents or their husbands and it is really frowned upon to see independent women breaking this tradition.

So, let me start. After an 18 hour journey I arrived in Delhi with a group of seven other volunteers. Skillshare International has one country programme officer that is in charge of the ICS programme, Kim. She picked us up from the airport with a short delay due to miscommunication and we started the adventure of India's crazy capital. The first journey on Indian roads was quite remarcable. The way the driver slalomed along the motorway was very impressive. Skillful and out of control at the same time. In India, traffic lights were only introduced a couple of years ago. The system has therefore always worked based on the instinct, skill, concentration and hooping ability of the car, bus, rickshaw, truck, moped and bike drivers and their interaction with pedestrians. At one point our driver hit a man riding a bike. He stopped in the middle of the road, checked to see if everyone was alive and continued driving. He literally crashed into someone, his wheel was bent, he fell off the bike and all the suitcases fell on us passengers. We would have started talking about insurances, whiplash and injuries but nothing majorly serious had happened so life went on and we continued our journey to the hotel. Welcome to India.

Skillshare organised a very comfortable hotel for us and we stayed there for five days while we had our training and got introduced to the challenges of India. On our first day we went to a market where we had to apply our haggling skills to come out with some lovely colourful trousers, burkas and even a drum.  Our second and third days were spent in training which was very intense. We learnt about our specific projects, about Skillshare in India and about personal psycological preparation for the placement. It was very interesting and useful.

India is a country of contrasts; with 1.1 billion citizens, 70% are under the poverty line which means they live with less than $1 a day. On the other side you can find Mukesh Ambani, the fifth richest man in the world, who has built a 27 floor house in the middle of Mumbai overseeing the slums that is worth no less than $2bn... India's economic revolution and fast growth are famous all around the world. People are investing in the country and giving prosperous predictions. This economic progress is nonetheless only reaching a very small percentage of the population. The rest is struck by poverty, starvation and diseases.   Because of the apparent success, people are cutting down on their support for India and governments are also reducing their funds and necessary aid programmes. It is however essential that this general attitude is contained as the majority of the people need the help.

At the training we learnt that we have to empty our glasses (our preconceptions, prejudices and habits) in order to be able to absorb all the things we can learn from a different culture and surroundings and to be capable of contributing to change. We have to push ourselves to get out of our comfort zones. And when we decide we want to get out, a whole new world opens up to you. This is what I am trying to do here in India. The culture shock is real and no matter how much you have read and researched beforehand, it is impossible to imagine what it is like to see this misery and poverty. However, it is important to understand, accept and empathise with their lives and perspectives and not judge or be scared of these alien surroundings. Otherwise it will be impossible for us to create anything productive here and, what is more important, to transfer skills and build something sustainable. 

We also touched upon the different kinds of conflicts and conflict resolution. This was a very delicate issue as people had contrasting opinions surrounding blame. In the West, we have grown up with theories like Darwinism and its "survival of the fittest" and "struggling for existence" or Smith's "self-interest" concept. So we justify selfish behaviour as a "basic instinct" but this argument is only beneficial to the oppressor and does not really comply with any sort of social justice. We have a tendency to blame the people around us for all the wrongs that happen to us. The repressed blame the oppressors and they, in turn, blame the nature of human beings. When it comes to conflict resolution, it is easy to blame the people around you and act as a victim but that does not solve the problem. Ultimately, you are the owner of your own thoughts and feelings so wherever or whoever started the conflict, it is something that is affecting you. Instead of blaming anyone, we should learn to claim and acknowledge the problem and how it affects us. However angry, frustrated or sad you are at the situation, these feeling will hound you until you take responsibility for your part within the conflict. This is the first step towards resolving it because when you know that you are involved in the cause and the resolution of the problem, you will act upon it and change the situation. 

All in all we had a very interesting training. It made us think and reflect upon different concepts and it mentally prepared us for what was expecting us at our respective placements. We did also bond a lot and got to know each other quickly and to a deep level. 

But Delhi was more than introspective reflection and training. We got to catch the HOHO bus, which is a sightseeing bus that drives around the capital and in one day we managed to get a grasp of wild Delhi. I have uploaded some of the pictures so that you can see a bit of this amazing city. We also managed to go out at night and dance to some Bollywood music whilst bonding with the locals, which was brilliant.

Vibhuti, Ashley and I have now arrived in Koraput where we will be spending 11 weeks helping out with SOVA. I will touch upon that in the next post.

Namaste

BACKGROUND

Three days left and I find myself preparing extensively for this journey. Tampons (apparently not very common in India), mosquito repellent, all sorts of vitamins and tablets, first aid kit... My backpack feels like a portable pharmacy! I have read like a thousand books and my lonely planet already feels like it has been to and come back from India. The days I was applying to the ICS programme seem like a lifetime away and I cannot believe I am finally leaving on Tuesday. 

I am going volunteering in Koraput, a small town in Southern Orissa, India, as part of the International Citizen Service (ICS) Programme. It is an initiative by the British Government that aims

• to give volunteers an understanding of international development
• to have a positive development impact on communities around the world
• to develop volunteers' skills including learning how to live and work in another culture and country
• and to engage volunteers as active global citizens on their return

There are six organisations participating in this programme; VSO, Restless Development, Progressio, International Service, Skillshare International and THET. I heard about the project through a conference I attended at my university, which invited professionals to share their experiences about "making a difference". One of the speakers was part of Skillshare International and he mentioned the ICS programme as a pilot study that was meant to be launched two weeks after the conference. I was then on my final year at university and trying to focus on my professional future whilst coping with academic stress. As I have studied International Business, I thought I would suit the private business world. However, the more I worked in it and found out about the system with a critical eye, the more I believed that things could change. My dissertation about the current financial crisis also made me aware of some of the flaws of the economic system which could, in my opinion, change and be improved. I have become passionate about these issues and decided to completely change my career path into international economic development. The "Make a Difference" conference happened right at the time whilst I was having this mental dilemma and it just felt like fate to take part in the ICS programme. I applied two weeks later and here I am, waiting to depart in three days.

What appealed to me from Skillshare International is that it aims to match peoples' skills with the specific needs of the local communities. It operates in Africa and Asia with local NGOs in order to "reduce poverty, injustice, inequality and to further economic and social development". Instead of imposing a system or structure or just sending economic aid, it aims to create sustainable progress by workinig with the locals and not only teaching but also learning from them. This is why I felt like I was finally going to be able to make a difference not only as an enriching experience for me but also by giving a small contribution to the community.

When I heard that I was going to India, I could not have been more delighted! I have been obsessed with the Indian culture and people since I moved to the UK and was firstly exposed to it in Birmingham. It is also a very interesting country from an economic perspective as it is extraordinarily fast-growing and although it has a very large skilled workforce, it is also known for its widespread poverty. The Hindu caste system assigns a social position to each person in a very stric hierarchy and, although it is now illegal to discriminate against people based on this system it is still very present and socially acceptable. This creates distinctions and discrimination that promotes inequality and justifies racist activities and exploitation.

SOVA (South Orissa Voluntary Action) is an organisation that was created in 1993 to help the tribal people that had to move from their natural habitat due to the construction of a dam. As a consequence, tribes that had been living peacefully and with enough resources for centuries had to establish themselves in an unknown area that lacked the necessary resources for agriculture. Their structures fell apart and SOVA stepped in to help them fight for their rights and rebuild their lives. Since, the organisation has grown to help people in need around the whole of Southern Orissa. 

Their objectives are:

• To ensure tribal children (especially girls) enroll an complete their school education by 2020.
• To promote preventative and curative health by 2020.
• To increase the income level of the community by 50% and bring it above the poverty line by 2020.
• To increase the participation of the community in self-government institutions and make these institutions self-reliant in true spirit by 2020.
• To develop the marginalized peoples' skills in advocacy and lobbying.

I will be supporting the SOVA health programme through fundraising, promotion and documentation. We are staying in Delhi for a week of "in-country training" with all the volunteers that are going to different placements in India and after that I will be travelling to Orissa with my team of three :)

I started a blog as I thought it would be a simple way to publish thoughts and share my Indian experiences. I will try to update it regularly and upload pictures. Feel free to post comments to exchange opinions! Enjoyyyy!