What I have been up to…
I spent another week or so in the village of Mala Banas. I
spent my time between Mala Banas and Kimsar which is nearby where I am doing my
first survey work. This time no one was in the NGO office, so I really got to
know the village people who work for the NGO. For example, I stayed two nights
with Yashoda Devi and her husband in Kimsar. She took me to all three water
sources in Kimsar, helped me carry grass on my head, and took me to fetch
water. Her family, although they don’t have much money, is pretty well off
because they have great land. Her farm is just outside her front door, and she
has sufficient land. This means that she does not have to go to the jungle to
cut wood or grass. It saves a lot of time and freed her up to take me around to
do more interviews in Kimsar.
In Kimsar, I visited all three schools, the hospital, homes,
and with the local government. It allowed me to start my village level and
household level survey. The schools in Kimsar are unique in that they go up to
grade 12. In all the surrounding villages, the schools only go up to grade 5.
The students therefore walk from surrounding villages everyday to go to class.
In the intercollege (junior/high school), there are about 350 students and only
5 teachers. It seems that the teachers at the school are actually pretty good,
highly educated, and care about their teaching. However, there just aren’t
enough of them. This school receives some government funding but doesn’t have
enough to hire more teachers. However, all the girls at this school attend for
free, and grades 6-8 receive free lunch meals daily. The primary school,
although the teacher was a very nice man who explained that teaching was his
passion, is considered a time pass in the village. Basically, the kids just go
there to run around and play. There are about 30-40 students and two teachers.
When I visited, there was only one teacher there, and the kids were just
running around outside. Interestingly, none of the schools have drinking water.
At the primary school, the meal mothers collect water for drinking, making
food, and washing dishes. At the intercollege, the water is brought by the
ninth graders every day. It takes them about an hour to do this activity.
Many of the households I met with in Kimsar gave me the same
story. They were not satisfied with the student-teacher ratio in the schools,
they spend too much time collecting water, and the walk to the water source is
very steep. When I first began, I was thinking that everyone just needs to have
water tapped to their houses. However, after going to fetch water a few times,
I am not so sure how this should work. Don’t get me wrong, fetching water from
the source is very inconvenient, and going multiple times daily takes a lot of
time. However, I think that there is this strong sense of community that
results from going and meeting your neighbors at the water source. While you
are waiting your turn (because there is only one spout through which the water
comes), you chat with your neighbors. You find out what is going on in their
lives. I used to think that sharing your room with all your family was a lack
of privacy that I could not get over. However, I think that in these villages,
everything is your house. The whole community is either related or knows each
other, so you can eat almost anywhere. You can walk around, drink chai, chat,
sit down, go get water, collect fodder from the jungle, etc. You may not have a
front yard, but you have a field, and a lot of open space. This is not the case
at all in the cities. There you are living on top of each other. There may be a
park in your neighborhood, but you don’t have any freedom to walk around or
have that sense of community that is so vibrant in the villages.
I really enjoyed staying with Yashoda and her husband. They
were so sweet to me, and Yashoda talks a lot. Therefore, I quickly became
comfortable with her. I was able to ask her questions that I wouldn’t feel
comfortable asking just anyone. She also got to understand my survey better and
was able to rephrase questions when my interviewees did not understand what I
was asking. Here is a summary of some of the things we talked about which I
found especially interesting:
·
Not surprisingly, there is a strong prejudice
against Muslims in this community. There are no Muslims living here, so I think
that is the main reason.
·
The caste system is alive and well here. Yashoda
explained that because she is of Brahmin caste (the highest) she cannot eat at
all her neighbors’ houses. She explained why I was able to eat and drink at
certain houses but not at others. Apparently, the heavy labor and farm work was
formerly done by these low castes, so it isn’t proper to eat at their houses.
Now, these families have no land and are getting by on government rations and
employment schemes. Unfortunately, they have not learned how to save their
money and use it well, so hunger can be a problem among these families.
·
Yashoda explained how all the work falls on the
women here, and that men don’t do much of anything. She is lucky because her
husband will actually collect some water and firewood. In addition, he does
some of the farm work as well. However, many of the men sit around playing
cards and wasting time. They even find it hard to pick up a pot and make chai.
(Some do move out of the village to work and on occasion send money home to
their families.) The women, on the other hand, are busy from morning to night
with household chores. Yashoda had three boys and no girls, so she had to do
all the work – washing clothes, making food, cleaning, farming, collecting
water, fodder, and wood. This makes at least one girl valuable in the family,
but for some reason, boys are still prized. (Many people are surprised when I
tell them that there are two girls in my family and no boys.)
·
We had a lot of conversation about the quality
of the food in this area. People are eating wholesome meals of vegetables, lentils,
beans, rice, roti, and chai. The roti is incredible! It’s made of this black
millet called manwa. Almost all of the food comes from the farms – including
the milk for the chai. Even the oil is made from mustard seed from the farms.
The only things that have to be bought from the market are chai and sugar.
Extra spices may be bought from the market to supplement or for special
occasions. However, they grow ginger, cumin, turmeric, chili, etc. Everything
that is needed comes from the organic farms made from their own hands.
I think that’s a sufficient summary of my work in the
villages. I came to visit the farm at Navdanya on Saturday to be with Emily.
It’s been really nice to see my friends from the Navdanya staff! I love
speaking Hindi with them and actually find it a bit hard to speak so much
English. I really enjoy speaking Hindi and have been using it as my only
language because Garhwali is still too hard for me.
Best wishes to everyone at home!
Love,
Margaret
P.S. This is impressive. I got 4 pictures to upload!!
We had much better weather in Kimsar. Here I am with Yashoda Devi on her porch over looking her farm.
Here I am interviewing and having fun in Kimsar!
Beautifully written been to this place ..loved it
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