Karina Weinstein

Mexico's social development

2009-03-01T12:29:00.000-08:00

Mexico´s slow yet solid democratic transition coupled with unprecedented economic growth did not ameliorate the high level of poverty and social inequality.

So what are the poverty and social inequality indicators?

Poverty: (CONEVAL 2007)

In a country of 107 million people:

13.2% of the population lives in extreme poverty, which means that they do not have sufficient resources to obtain a basic food basket.

20.7% of the population lives in poverty of capacities which means that they can afford to buy a basic food basket but do not have sufficient resources to invest in health or education.

42.6% of the population lives in general poverty, which means that they have access to a basic food basket, education and health but do not have a minimally aceptable standard of living such as adequate clothing and transport for all members of the household.

Social inequality: (CONEVAL 2007)

Mexico has the highest income inequality out of all countries in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The médium income of the poorest 10% of the population is 1,000 dollars which is lowest than in any other developed country.

10% of the richest population holds 39.3% of nation´s wealth

The poverty and social inequality statistics are stark and difficult to process. How can a country with the richest man in the world have such high levels of marginalization, poverty and inequality? How can a country slowly emerging out of a soft dictatorship tackle these challenges? How can Mexico´s government transform its public institutions to meet the development challenges? What role do civil society organizations and social enterpreneurs play to tackle these challenges? These are just some of the questions that are on my mind.

Welcome to Mexico!

2009-03-01T12:11:00.000-08:00

México Lindo y Querido (Ana Gabriel)

México Lindo y Querido
si muero lejos de ti
que digan que estoy dormido
y que me traigan aquí

Que digan que estoy dormido
y que me traigan aquí
México, lindo y querido
Si muero lejos de ti

Voz de la guitarra mía,
al despertar la mañana
quiere cantar su alegría
a mi tierra mexicana

Yo le canto a sus volcanes
a sus praderas y flores
que son como talismanes
del amor de mis amores

México Lindo y Querido
si muero lejos de ti
que digan que estoy dormido
y que me traigan aquí

Que digan que estoy dormido
y que me traigan aquí
México Lindo y Querido
si muero lejos de ti

I chose to move to Mexico to work for a capacity building non-profit because I wanted to contribute and learn from the incipient but growing non-profit sector in a country undergoing democratic consolidation. I wanted to explore the diversity of civil society organizations and explore the role of social entrepreneurs in breaking away from the norm to create systemic change.

In my humble exposure to Mexico through my one week consulting experience for a local government and one semester research project about social entrepreneurs in the arena of education and health, I knew that there is much more to Mexico than the sensational news headlines: illegal immigration, drug trafficking and constant kidnappings!

As I celebrate my six month anniversary of living in Mexico, I decided to revive my blog and share some reflections on my experiences thus far.

#1 Even though I have never been to Cancun or Playa de Carmen, there is a perception in the US that Mexico are its beaches and nothing else. I had travelled a few times in Mexico and had gotten a small glimpse of Mexico's geographic diversity:mountains, beaches, forests, colonial cities, megametropolis, etc. But living here has opened up my eyes even more to the immense cultural diversity of this country. Many Mexicans will tell you that they feel that there are many Mexicos due to the vast cultural differences. Interviewing Judith Santoprieto, founder of Revista Iguanazul which promote indigenous languages, I was amazed by the existence and use of 64 different languages and over 300 linguistic variations, within Mexico. Mexico is immensely diverse in culture and history and I feel that I can learn something new every day.

#2 In comparison to other places where i have spent significant amount of time, Chile, India, Bolivia, I feel very at home in Mexico. I do not feel like an outsider here.

#3 While the increase in drug related violence is noticeable and is part of the headlines in the news, I feel that the much less talked about issue is delinquency and petty crimes, which affect every day lives of ordinary people much more than narcoviolence. When someone really close to me was violently attacked and the aggressors went free due to corruption, I felt outraged at the lack of justice.

#4 Having spent a lot of time in South America where most people perceive the US as a distant paradise with money growing on trees, I am still getting used to the close relationship between US and Mexico. Every Mexican has a relative or knows someone who lives in the US which makes it less likely that they idealize the United States. The proximity of the border, free trade agreement, and history create a unique relationship between Mexico and the US.

#5 In this economic crisis where Americans are suffering in the decline of their standard of living, Mexicans constantly comment how they are used to living in economic crises. One friend said, We know how to be happy, in spite of what is happening since we have survived two major crises thus far.

Travels in Bolivia

2008-07-24T08:19:00.000-07:00

I spent a week and a half travelling all over Bolivia- an amazingly diverse country! Initially I travelled with Edith and Roberto and met a lot of their family members which is always a great way to get know a country from the inside. After 5 days of travelling with them, I travelled on my own for another 5 days! I spent many hours on unpaved rural roads in Bolivia along with farmers who would travel to different cities to sell their crops. . Here are some of my memorable moments during the trip.

1. Meeting the Prefecto de Santa Cruz, Ruben Costa, and celebrating Camiri´s founding. Although I am not a big fan of his, it was still exciting to meet the man who is at the center of autonomy debate in Bolivia.

2. Going through the mountains where Che fought!

3. Visiting Sucre, Bolivia´s ONLY capital, as the tour guide in a museum told me

4. Visting mine Morena en Cerro Rico in Potosi (mining has to be one of the most depressing and harsh professions)

5. Visting the largest salt flats in the world, Salar de Uyuni (I have never seen this much salt before)

6. and of course Tarija, where Ceci´s family is from: a beautiful little town where everyone knows each other!!!!

Diverse perspectives on informal economy

2008-07-22T15:03:00.000-07:00

Ceci, Berno and I were privileged to have interviewed some key officials on their perspectives on their informal economy. These interviews revealed a really diverse array of views on the informal economy and added significant depth to our research. The most polemic topic that emerged from the interviews was microcredit.

Javier Hurtado-El ministro de Producción y la Microempresa
The minister of production and microbusinesses is a socialist and made a statement which I will never forget. He said that Bolivia’s lack of development is a blessing because it provides an opportunity for development which maximizes national resources and does not create dependency on developed countries. Javier has a really interesting past. He was a Schwab social enterpreneur for being the founder and general manage of Irupana, which works with 1700 indigenous families to train them in organic farming and to empower them by providing real ownership of the company. (http://www.schwabfound.org/schwabentrepreneurs_sp.htm?schwabid=715) He didn’t address street vendors specifically but talked about general measures that the government is taking to stimulate productivity among microentepreneurs such as breadmakers or tailors who make uniforms. He talked about helping farmers with no interest loans. Javier made a powerful statement about microfinance: He believes it is immoral because microfinance institutions started out as NGos dependent on donations and now have become private property, whose profits depend on poor people, charging exhorbitant interest rates.

Juan del Granado-Mayor of La Paz
The eloquent mayor of La Paz spoke candidly about the city’s efforts to improve the lives of street vendors. The main municipal policy he mentioned was reordenamiento: relocation of street vendors from the street to official markets. He did admit that the relocation wasn´t always successful. Even though the city constructed a beutiful and clean market in Marina Nunez, Pacenos didn´t want to go there. He admitted that one problem is that Pacenos are used to getting what they need on the street when they walk to work and do not want to make an effort to go to a market. He also mentioned an attempt at providing social protection which failed. He recounted an anecdote, how unión leaders march on the streets demanding his death and he always tells them when they meet with him, why they make his poor mother worry so much. The main conclusión I took away from this interview was that the main municipal policy towards street vendors is relocation to markets, even though they have dubious success. (In the meantime, all street vendors are registered with the Unidad de Mercados en Via Publica and are constantly monitored for their work schedule, the product they are selling and the size of their stall.)

Rosa Talavera-oficial Mayor de Promoción Económica
Rosa was the least receptive to the idea of street vendors and expressed her doubts about our research trying to put a human face to the problem. I can tell that she felt that we were viewing the street vendors through a rose colored lens instead of in practical terms. She recounted all of the measures that her office has taken to convert street vendors into other professions such as gardners but felt frustrated when no street vendor signed up for the gardening course. She spoke a lot about the diversity of street vendors and the importance of dividing street vendors into different categories in order to put in place effective policies. She did admit that the municipality lacked a pro active policy for economic growth and that she felt overwhelmed by the constantly growing problem of street vendors (and she does view them as a problem) She felt frustrated at the fact that street vendors seem resistant to training courses and seem adamant about remaining on the streets.

Julio Patino-Dirigente de Agrupacion de gremiales
This street vendor unión leader painted a story of how street vendors are a solution to safety on the streets: if they were not selling on the streets, they would be delinquents. He talked about how he represents thousandths of street vendors in La Paz and how they constantly pressure the government to provide social protection and legal protection for street vendors. Interesting fact: he has never been a street vendor. Another interesting fact: more than half of all street vendors are women but all of the unión leaders are men. He talked about how companeras live indebted and work only to pay the bank since plethora of microfinance institutions come to offer loans to them. He made a really solid point: how can street vendors take out loans when they have no job security. Until they can have job security, they should not be taking out such huge loans which lead them to live indebted. He also talked about the payment that street vendors make to the municipality to be able to sell and how this year all of the 45,000 street vendors will be officially registered with the municipality.

Kurt Koeningfest-Gerente General de Banco Sol
This was my favorite interview because Kurt is incredibly eloquent and persuasive and his institution is the center of debate in all of the other interviews. The key points that I took away from this interview were that the success of microfinance and the insane growth of microfinance institutions shows the true dimensión of the informal economy, which noone has been able to accurately measure. The other main point Kurt made was that everyone blames the bank when a poor person cannot make the payments and his property is confiscated but noone looks at the other side of the story. When peple dont pay their loans, they are hurting those who deposited their money with the bank since that is where the resources for loans origínate. He talked about how it is much easier to sell the story of a bad banker who robs the poor than a person who actively solicited a loan, made a bad investment and then has no money to pay back.

The main feature of working in the informal economy is the lack of social protection, social security and health insurance. Sra. Julia stated adamantly in her interviews that she would be willing to contribute for social protection. It seems that neither municipality nor federal government seem to want to take on the challenge. Yes, Juan mentioned it and Javier mentioned different health care options which would be affordable to the poor. But there are no concrete projects in place and it did not seem like a priority. (or something that could become reality within the next few years.)

Human face of the informal economy

2008-07-22T12:26:00.000-07:00

The objective of the research that Ceci, Bernardo and I embarked on is to show the human face of the informal economy.

There are many statistics about the informal economy:
-Informal employment comprises one half to three quarters of non-agricultural employment in developing countries. In Latin America, 51%!
-In developing countries, self employment comprises a greater share of informal employment outside of agriculture than wage employment. In Latin America, within that 51%, 60% are self employed.
-Home based workers and street vendors are two of the largest subgroups of informal workfroce: more home based workers but street vendors are more visible.
-Informal economy is a larger source of employment for women than men. In Latin America, 58 per cent of women workers are in informal economy in comparison to 48 per cent of men.

Bolivian context: Bolivia has the highest urban population employed in the informal economy , 59.5% according to Economic Commission for Latin America. There are 45,000 street vendors in La Paz, according to the Municipality which has devised a system that registers street vendors who pay for a license to sell on a clearly defined part of the side walk, for 40 bolivianos (approximately USD 6) per year

But statistics do not convey the complexities of the informal economy. Statistics are a great way to understand the immense dimension of this phenomenon but not enough to provide a deep understanding of the reality of the informal economy. So we wanted to show the human face of the informal economy, which doesn't mean looking at the reality through an idealistic lens. The goal of our research was not to show the suffering of street vendors in La Paz so we can feel collective pity for these workers. But the real goal is to show that the informal economy does not revolve only around the street vendor but we are all connected to it: as consumers, pedestrians, local and global citizens. We also wanted to show the full dimension of the lives of street vendors that go beyond their economic activity: where they live, how they live, what their families are like, how they interact with their neighbors. By looking at these street vendors not solely as economic agents who are evading taxes or blocking our streets, but as human beings with all of the problems that human beings face universally, we can begin to move away from the typical debate about formalizing the informal economy and into much more complex but sustainable cross sectoral solutions which go to the heart of the problem.

Ceci, Bernardo and I lived with three different women with completely different stories and conflicts. The diversity of experiences and daily realities among Sra Nancy, Sra Hortensia and Sra Julia reflect the true diversity of the informal economy. While their lives diverge on many points, they also share commonalities such as lack of social protection such as access to health care and pension funds. I will write really briefly the main conflict of each street vendor and then share some of the pertinent themes that emerged.

Sra. Julia:
-became a street vendor after the 1985 crisis, which was caused by "fall of the international prices of minerals in 1985, especially tin, pushing the government to the implementation of an austerity program which led to an estimated unemployment rate of 21.5 percent by 1987. The social impact of these reforms was the configuration of a “new” class of informal labor called “relocalizados”, a new army of unemployed or underemployed citizens. "(Cecilia Barja Chamas, Bolivian Trend) She is a single mother of two children from two different fathers and often refers to her stall as her husband, because the stall provides food for her to eat and resources to survive.
-She often says "Si no salgo a vender, no tengo que comer." (If I don't go to sell one day, I dont have anything to eat." This statement is a powerful reminder of how vulnerable street vendors are and how they lack cushion that formal employment offers. She has no savings, no financial safety net. She needs this money to feed herself and also help her children and grandchildren.
-The main conflict right now in her life is rebuilding her house with a loan of 100,000 Bolivianos (approx 14,000 USD) which means monthly payments of $425 USD.
-She owns a three story house which was in really bad shape so she demolished most of it and is now rebuilding. She borrowed this huge loan to rebuild her house at an interest rate of 21%. The mistake she made was to borrow a commercial loan instead of a housing loan.
-She owns two stalls that are right next to each other and has legal papers from the municipality to sell (patente). One of the stalls has stationary items such as cds, disks, folders, etc. The other stall which is much more demanded sells sweets, soda, water and cookies.

Sra Hortensia:
-is married with a husband who is a professional and has three children, who all have higher education and are working professionals
-she owns a plot of land in Caranavi where she produces oranges and other fruits so she considers herself not as a gremial but as a productora.
-she sells oranges and bananas along with 5 other people in a very popular spot near the General Cementary
-owns her house
-she employs: owns an additional stall in a different location where she hires someone to work all day
-manages her debt that it doesn't negatively impact her business
-her main conflict is that she does not have legal papers from the municipality to sell all week which creates many problems for her when municipal authorities come to do the routine checks on street vendors

Sra. Nancy ( you can read much more about her in my last blog entry)
-has a husband who works in a furniture workshop and has 7 children
-sells hats in Villa Fatima, with very little demand for hats and thus minimal profit
-has legal papers from the municipality to sell hats
-does not have any debt
-one of her main conflicts is the lack of profitability of her economic activity
-another main conflict is lack of papers documenting property ownership of her house which prevents her from expanding her house and causing her to live in substandard conditions

In examining the daily realities of these three street vendors, the following themes emerged:

1. Relationship between street vendor and municipality:
Does having legal right to sell on the street guarantee a better standard of living? Is there a correlation between legal right to sell and more profitable economic activity, thus leading to a higher standard of living?

2. Relationship between street vendor and microfinance
Does microfinance provide the badly needed access to credit or does it condemn street vendors to a life of debt, working solely for the bank?

3. Relationship between street vendor and their union leaders.
Do street vendor union leaders represent the needs and demands of street vendors or do they take advantage of this critical mass to propel their political careers?

4. General public policies towards informal economy and street vendors:
-conversion from commercial to productive activity
-relocation of street vendors from the street to official markets
-social protection policies to cover informal economy workers

Life of a street vendor

2008-06-30T06:32:00.000-07:00

A friend asked me if there was anything that surprised me about the life of a street vendor and whether it fit with the image I had prior to beginning my research. Having spent one week living with a street vendor, Sra. Nancy, and her family, I know that I barely scratched the surface of what her life is really like. Crossing boundaries across cultures, countries and social classes is more difficult than it seems . Even though I think I have a “noble” goal, to really understand the life of a street vendor from the inside, Sra. Nancy wasn’t so convinced. Initially I seemed like a strange foreigner imposing on her life. Even though she tried to understand why I was doing this research, it still seemed a bit odd to her. Social immersion is a powerful research tool for a privileged educated outsider but it is both intrusive and imposing. My presence offered no concrete benefit or hope for improvement to Sra. Nancy and her family. I was definitely getting more out of this experience than Sra. Nancy. Of course my goal is to find small measures that Sra. Nancy can take to improve her sales and also her standard of living. But until then, I am grateful to Sra. Nancy and her beautiful family for putting up with me for a week.

Sra. Nancy sells mainly hats, intermingled with gloves, scarves and household slippers. She travels to the center of La Paz twice a week to buy hats from a wholesale supplier who sells hats by the dozen. She usually buys two or three kinds of hats in threes since she cannot afford to buy a full dozen. She would love to buy all the merchandise in one trip but she cannot afford it. She tells me that it drives people away when there is scarce merchandise at her stand. Sra. Nancy’s day starts around 7 and she is home by about 4 or 5, depending on the sale and her health. Even though she has been selling in the same spot for more than ten years and around the same women street vendors, she usually keeps to herself and limits her interaction with other street vendors. She told me that there are lots of conflicts between street vendors and she prefers to keep to herself. Even though she shares food with some of her immediate neighbors and even helps them, she doesn’t fully trust them. She was very self conscious that my presence was attracting unnecessary attention and wanted me to keep as low profile as possible. She knew everyone would notice the presence of an outsider and start asking nosy questions. Since it is the end of the month, sales were slow and Sra. Nancy would spend hours sitting at her stand without any customers. Since she is in a place that doesn’t get any sun, it is always very cold and eventually she became very sick which caused her to stay at home for two days.

Sra. Nancy is married and has 7 children and lives in a humble house that is owned by her parents. Since she lacks official papers documenting property ownership, she has constant battles with her neighbors who infringe on her land and expand their houses at Sra. Nancy’s expense. The humble house has 5 small rooms distributed unevenly among Sra. Nancy´s family as well as her mother and three syblings. Sra. Nancy and her husband share a tiny room with their three daughters while the three boys share a separate room. After going on all soup diet for a few months, they finally saved enough money to build a tiny kitchen which fits a table and one chair. The rest of the family members sit on small benches while eating dinner. I spent many hours in the kitchen watching the daughters tirelessly cook and clean every day for the family. To my defense, they wouldn´t let me help them. Every time Sra. Nancy sat down in the kitchen, she would knit sweaters for her children. After Sra. Nancy would go to sleep, I would stay up with the girls giggling, chatting, telling ghost stories and all our supersticious beliefs. It was incredible to have so many sisters and brothers for one week. The four youngest kids I spent the most time with: Doris (19), Rolo (16), Lucy (14) and Ingrid (11) were the most curious and studious kids i have ever met. I gave them endless math problems and english words and they always wanted more. They also taught me about Bolivian culture and even went out of their way to prepare some really familiar meals such as Russian salad and some traditional meals such as Sahta. (spicy chicken, with dehydrated potatoes)

After watching Sra. Nancy sit in the cold for hours with very little hope of earning enough to cover her daily expenses, I thought a lot about why she decides to go sell hats. Between the cost of lunch, bus fare to buy merchandise, weekly dues to night guard and to the street vendor union, she doesn´t sell enough to cover her costs. She maybe earns $1 a day, maybe on better days she earns a few dollars. She was a housewife until she was 37 and then decided to start working to help cover the family´s expenses. If I think about entering the labor force at 37 without any prior experience or formal education, it seems incredibly daunting. Even though she is timid and didn´t share much with me, I get a sense that she wants to have a part of her life that is her own. Even though she may not have the closest relationships with fellow street vendors, the market is hers, the stall is hers and she gets to decide what merchandise she buys and how she sells it. I get a sense that she doesn´t have much agency over her life except as a street vendor. In the process of selling hats, she gets to socialize with others, be in the middle of a busy market and contribute, even if in a minute way, to the household.

My two friends who lived with different street vendors had a completely different experience. One street vendor, Dona Julia, who sells in the center is very outgoing and personable. She sells all sorts of sweets, soda, water and phone calls. She depends heavily on loans to finance both her business and construction of her house. The other street vendor, Dona Hortensia, has a pretty high standard of living which comes from two businesses, producing oranges and bananas in a small village on a plot of land she owns and the other is sellings those fruits in a busy market. Dona Hortensia and Dona Julia are going to be stars of the documentary, a Day in the Life of a Street vendor, due to their willingness to share with complete strangers their lives as independent enterpreneurs.

Entre lo nuevo y lo conocido/Between the new and the known

2008-06-21T19:35:00.000-07:00

This advertising slogan for Entel seems appropriate to describe my first week in La Paz. I found this slogan ironically appropriate for an advertisement for a phone service behind a huge Coca-Cola banner during the Ayamara New Year celebration in Tiwanaku, one of the most important precursors to the Inca Empire, flourishing as capital of a major state power for almost five hundred years. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiwanaku)

Adjusting both to the altitude and to the cold (no indoor heating(, my first week in La Paz seems a bit blurry. As much as I want to deny that being 4,000 meters above sea level doesn't affect me, my constant shortness of breath indicates otherwise. Even though I may not have any profound conclusions to share, I will share a few memorable snapshots.

1. The known: warmness and openness of Latin American families
The hospitality that I have received from my friend Cecilia's family has been so incredible that it only reinforces my already very positive experiences in Chile. It is humbling to have someone open their home and their family to you without having done anything to deserve it. It is inspirational to share moments with a family who is both very willing to share about their culture as well as incredibly curious about yours. Ceci's family not only welcomed into their home but also went out of their way to make sure that I explore as many new things as I can: meet new people, explore sights in La Paz, and understand Bolivian traditions and customs. Having Ceci's family shower me with so much attention and generosity definitely makes a city like La Paz feel more like home, rather than a transit point in my travels. It is their immense kindness and openness that will leave a lasting imprint on me.

Exploring La Paz with Cecilia is already a privilege since she spent 7 years in local politics and knows in depth all the issues facing this rapidly developing metropolis. I felt privileged to sit in on discussions with Cecilia and her old co workers about national and local politics and especially about street vendors, the focus of our research. Understanding the perspective of local government towards street vendors is critical in order to fully understand the root causes of this typically antagonistic relationship. I do not think I have ever understood the extent to which local government makes a difference and the immense obstacles involved in working in a developing city such as La Paz, where the municipality has responsibility over every detail of the functioning of the city, without proper resources. I will admit that it is also very cool to walk around La Paz with Ceci, since regular people recognize and remember her from her days in politics.

2. The new: Power of music to transform a remote village Urubicha in the edge of Amazon basin
in the north easy Bolivia.
I had never heard of Urubicha before: Urubichá is a village of 4500 inhabitants who belong to an indigenous group called Guaraya. I had the privilege to meet William, the orchestra director and Juan Carlos, the assistant director through Ceci's father, who had contracted this unique orchestra to perform for 50th celebration of Caritas. William, the young Chilean born director of Bolivian parents, who had studied and performed abroad, recounted how he struggles to communicate with the orchestra in spanish and requires the help of someone to translate to Guaraya. He also told me how for the performances abroad he had to make sure that all of the orchestra integrants had shoes since in Urubicha most people do not own shoes. As the orchestra director, he is proud when the orchestra performs abroad and shows that an indigenous community in a remote village can deliver such a quality performance that they receive endless media attention and are constantly solicited for international performances. Most of these young people who perform in the orchestra had never been to Santa Cruz, the nearest city, so the opportunity to perform in Germany and Spain can really transform their lives. It was incredible to hear Juan Carlos speak in Guaraya and learn about his musically talented family. I was inspired by these young men whose passion and dedication to music is making a real difference.

There is a really great article about the power of music in transforming this remote village: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2002/jun/01/culturaltrips.bolivia.guardiansaturdaytravelsection?page=1

You can watch a clip of their rehearsal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGoX7Z8KPpo&mode=related&search=

3. the new: High level of civic engagement?
What I would call a high level of civic engagement, my Bolivian friends will call endless manifestations and protests that lead nowhere. What I would call a very high level of political awareness, my Bolivian friends would call politicization of every day life to such an extent that it divides the country. Politics are everywhere in La Paz: from a two year old chanting Autonomia for her state Tarija to a taxi driver complaining about Evo's absolute preference for indigenous campesinos and complete neglect of the middle class, who had voted for him. With a nearing referendum for the state of Tarija, which would determine whether the state becomes autonomous, everyone is talking about politics. Every day the streets of La Paz are filled with people marching and protesting against some government policy. While I find it inspiring to watch people take so much initiative, the reality is that these marches do not lead to concrete changes due to lack of political will as well as lack of capacity on behalf of government to institute some of the desired changes.

Evo is definitely a polemic figure who inspires both love and hatred. When Evo flew in on his helicopter to the Ayamara new year ceremony, I heard one woman curse him out while another man profusely repeated how much he loved and supported him. But whatever your opinion is of Evo and his policies, the reality is that they will affect you. One of the managers of Banco Sol, a world renowned Bolivian microfinance institution, proudly recounted how Bolivia is becoming a model in microfinance and how much the Bank is solicited by international organizations and individuals for microfinance training. He gleamed when he said that Banco Sol is shifting the paradigm that the South has to learn from the North when Banco Sol is transferring its knowledge and expertise to more developed countries. His only concern was the political situation and Evo's policies; one of which is regarding zero interest loans to indigenous farmers and can completely destroy the existing microfinance institutions. (Banco Sol charges the lowest interest of all microfinance institutions, between 17-21%)

4. the known: Informal commerce
La Paz is full of commerce, formal and informal. At times it feels like the entire city is one big market. The women street vendors we met with this week were genuine enterpreneurs who adapt to the market needs. One of the women street vendors who will be part of our study had some interesting anecdotes about hosting a french student in her house who only ate food out of cans and about her own personal experience with social immersion when she lived with rural farners. Another woman street vendor who sells hats told us about how difficult it is to maintain 7 children with her earnings. One of her daughters is exceptionally bright and wants to study medicine, but her dreams aren't likely to come true due to harsh financial realities. I am fascinated by how they maintain their Aymara dress and customs. I am excited to embark on the social immersion in order to understand how they provide for their families with their meager earnings selling trinkets on the street.

5. The new: Ayamara New Year 5016-winter solstice
It was amazing to watch an enormous multitude of people, young and old, raise their hands to receive energy from the first rays of sun strike Puerta de Sol (Gateway to Sun) to mark a beginning of a new agricultural cycle (a new year) in Tiwanaku, ancient Pre Inca ruins above La Paz. It was a unique experience having spent all night in Tiwanaku the night before to go up to Puerta de Sol around 5am and then to patiently wait for the sun to rise, trying not to think about how cold it was. I lifted my hands to receive energy but I couldn;t take my gloves off!

Check out this website to learn more about Ayamara new year: http://www.newyearsagain.com/nyFiles/b/bolivia-aymara/bolivia-aymara.htm

Journey to La Paz

2008-06-14T23:20:00.000-07:00

I am leaving for Bolivia tomorrow with a Bolivian classmate to embark on a new journey. We are going to immerse ourselves into the world of women street vendors, gremiales, in La Paz in order to collaborate with them to propose and implement effective ways to improve their lives. I am really excited to return to South America, even in spite of the fact that I will be spending two months in winter. I am eager to learn both from my Bolivian partner as well as from the street vendors. I understand the limitations of a 6 week research project but I hope it serves as a beginning to a sustainable and collaborative effort to improve their business practices and standard of living. In the four days I spent in La Paz eight years ago, I remember being awed by women street vendors in their traditional clothes, who seemed to combine being businesswomen and mothers with great ease.

Gray is my new favorite color!

2008-06-14T22:14:00.000-07:00

After an entire week after my graduation from my masters program in public policy, I am proud to say that I remember vividly both commencement speakers’ addresses. (I must confess that I watched one of them on youtube while sitting in my parent’s living room only a few days ago.) Even though on the surface Africa's first elected female head of state and the most popular children’s book writer may not have much in common, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and J.K. Rowling share many traits such their resilience, perseverance and creativity. I am still not quite sure that both of their messages have completely settled within me. It is easy to listen to their words while sitting in Harvard yard surrounded by friends and family but it is much more difficult to transform their words into action. The most powerful message I take away from both of their speeches is: the enormous responsibility that comes along with our degrees to be proactive and engaged with the world. Rebuilding a post war country with no infrastructure or rule of law or helping political prisoners and victims of gross human rights violations requires courage, imagination and unwavering dedication. I feel awed and inspired by these two strong women who pursued their passions in spite of the risks involved.

Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf reminisced about her moments at the Kennedy School and shared some of the challenges she has faced in rebuilding Liberia such as creating sustainable infrastructure from scratch and helping to prosecute the former dictator Charles Taylor. Even though she has a soft motherly appearance, she is known as the Iron Lady because of her iron spirit in the face of many obstacles.

J.K. Rowling spoke about the importance of failure in catalyzing personal growth and shared with us how after a failed marriage, she rebuilt her life by dedicating herself to her true passion-writing! Her speech is worth watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L445BmUEXH4.

Her speech made me think about a reading I was assigned in Prof. Ganz’s community organizing class about learning from failure. I remember my own shock at discovering that there was an entire body of literature written about failure which seemed not only to explicitly acknowledge its existence but delineate its benefits. So does this mean that failure is inevitable?

In the weeks leading up to graduation, I spent a lot of time reflecting on people and relationships. My community consists of not only my immediate and extended family dispersed over many countries but also really close family friends who served as a support network during difficult moments in our immigration experience; humble families from a shantytown in Santiago who taught me about the power of community and solidarity; educators I worked with in India who put their passion into action; humble families in the US who have bestowed upon me the privilege of receiving a scholarship from their foundations in honor their lost loved ones. In recognizing the power of this kind of community, I do not fear failure because I know that I can draw strength and courage from the individuals who have made such an imprint on my life.

I learned many things at the Kennedy School. I learned how to run regressions and how to determine elasticity of the supply curve. Ask any of my classmates about the eureka moments of mastering statistics and economics! But beneath these very cliché take aways, the biggest lesson that the Kennedy school imparted on me is the inevitable existence of many shades of gray. Even though I always prided myself on being very liberal and open minded, upon entering the Kennedy school I realized just how black and white my thinking was. After working solely in the non-profit sector, I viewed anyone in the private sector as a money hungry capitalist without a heart. After spending a significant amount of time in an impoverished community in Chile, I embraced the classist mentality and I mistrusted anyone who came from a place of socio economic privilege from Latin America. I had many preconceived notions of what Harvard would be like and the kinds of people I would find there. Luckily the world was not as black and white as I thought!

In my two years at the Kennedy School, I continuously discovered the endless shades of gray. My classmates did not fit my stereotypes of Harvard students: rich and spoiled overachievers. I learned many lessons from my humble and passionate classmates whose unique personal and professional paths informed so much of who they are. My classmates came from diverse backgrounds: being the first in their family to attend college, having dealt with grief over death of loved ones, and defying traditional norms and expectations to pursue their dreams. Whether working with 88,000 homeless people living in Skid Row in Los Angeles, helping to prosecute war criminals after Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge regime, leading platoons in Iraq or promoting food security in Senegal, I felt privileged to have lived and learned with such individuals for two years.

Most of us found much in common: a desire to acquire policy skills, a craving for a sense of community, and lack of trust funds to sponsor our graduate education. During our many study groups for exams and group projects, I discovered that our personal narratives are critical in order to work together not as efficient consultants on finite projects but rather as committed individuals whose stories of self coalesce into a collective narrative, a story of us.

I learned that while the non profit sector was one path to creating social change by addressing unmet needs, systemic change requires a collaboration of individuals who think beyond the confines of sectors. My friends who helped design business plan competitions in different parts of Africa made a real difference in promoting small and medium enterprises, a critical component to economic growth. My friends who spent time working in Washington DC helped shape social policies that have the incredible power to improve people’s lives. My friends who started their own social enterprises combined entrepreneurial spirit and social mission to empower communities. Even though it still slightly pains me that a significant portion of my class will go to work for established consulting companies this fall, I now know that they hold immense power to make a difference through these institutions.

The many impressive individuals who have passed through the Kennedy School taught me to have courage to carve your own path to create the kind of change you want to see in the world. I was especially impacted by Newark’s mayor, Cory Booker who spoke about the contradictions in our democracy and the power of local politics to change people’s lives; Millard Fuller whose faith prompted him to build homes for people which led to establishment of one of the most renowned organizations, Habitat for Humanity; Queen Rania of Jordan who demonstrates how an inherited place of privilege can be harnessed for social change; 6 articulate youths from a USAID funded youth group in Palestine who revealed the exasperation of being educated without outlets for your talents; DeKlerk who spoke frankly about the legacies of apartheid in South Africa.

After an intense two years, gray is my new favorite color!

Pain vs. Pain

2008-04-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

This week is the 60th anniversary of the state of Israel and also the 60th anniversary of Nakba (Catastrophe)as Palestinians refer to the events of 1948. In a school with both Palestinian and Israeli students, this week is incredibly tense as one side celebrates with music and other side releases black baloons into the sky as symbol of mourning for the lives lost and present occupation. Ever since the Israel trip organized by my classmates, it seems like there is more dialogue than I have ever seen before between both sides and dialogue is a great beginning. But the pain on both sides persists and it makes me schitzophrenic to think about the polar opposites emotions of incredible joy and immense grief being felt simultaneously by people I know and care about.

I attended a moving panel discussion with three individuals in the Palestinian diaspora whose families were displaced out of Palestine in 1948 and they were forced to find new homes in Lebanon and eventually in the United States. As they were talking about Jerusalem, Haifa, Jaffa, I remembered my two visits to the land of Israel where I rejoiced in my spiritual homeland and especially enjoyed visiting my grandparents and cousins. I never imagined (or let myself really imagine) that the places I visited were homes to people who are currently dispossessed and nationless. Even though I am aware about the historical and political dimensions of the conflict, it is not something that is easy to accept emotionally. As the three speakers were speaking today about their personal stories, it made the usually polarizing and political issue very personal and real.

There was one speaker who especially touched me: my friend Naseem Khuri's grandmother, Vera Khouri. She spoke about the pain of having to leave her home and of choosing to live a happy life in Lebanon and make the best of the situation. She recounted how she lived peacefully and harmoniously with Jews and Christians before 1948. She emphasized how the wound of 1948 will forever be in her heart. As I watched Naseem sit next to his grandmother, I pictured my own grandmother, Polina, who fled bombs in her home country, Moldova, and found refuge in Israel, where three years later she died peacefully.

I yearned to see my grandmother one more time and to feel connected to my own past. I thought about my grandmother's pain of having to hide her identity as a Jew most of her life living through brutal Soviet times, of being evacuated during World War II with her young children, of working until very old age to support her family and of being devoted to a country that ultimately betrayed her. I thought about the pain and suffering that my grandmother must have felt when she had to live in a basement with bombs flying over her house during an ethnic conflict that she wasn't part of-Russians and Moldovans fighting each other in the post-Soviet mayhem. If the Soviet Union, didn't recognize Jews as citizens, surely tensions between ethnic Moldovans and Russians didn't leave much space for co-existence with Jews. The only reason my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins survived was because of a Jewish agency that transported them from a war zone to Israel. My grandparents helped their children and grandchildren start new lives in Israel with opportunities and possibilities that wouldn't be limited by their religion.

If Israel hadn't offered refuge to my grandmother and the rest of my extended family, they would probably be dead. I have to celebrate the existence of Israel because I am personally and emotionally involved. As I sit and listen to Vera, (which means hope in Russian), whose facial expressions, accent and powerful manner of speaking, reminds me so much of my own grandmother. My grandmother's face always revealed that the pain she experienced in her life made her resilient but her wounds would forever be with her.

Attention or lack there of.....

2008-03-09T13:42:00.000-07:00

As I did reading for my leadership class about the importance of attention to our lives (from a book entitled Good Society)-and pondered on the correlation of personal and professional success and attention that a child receives from his parents or the fact that married people have a longer life span than single people due to the on going attention they receive-I couldn't help thinking about one year anniversary of my uncle's death.

A day and a year ago my uncle, a person who was handed a very difficult deck of cards in his life-was found dead on the floor of his living room where he lived alone. His home attendant found him lying lifeless when she walked in the morning for her usual routine. My uncle had some health problems and had lived alone for the past few years, even though two of his sons and syblings (one of whom is my dad) were not too far away. My uncle lived through many trying moments: professional success taken away by corrupt system, unjust imprisonment, immigration, violent attacks, endless hard work.

I remember vividly when my Dad called me last year on March 8th when I was sitting in the Kennedy School's forum about to attend a talk about women's rights. My Dad, holding back his own tears, told me that my uncle's home attendant found him dead on the floor in the morning and the funeral would be the next day. The cause of death was unknown. The image of dying alone on a cold floor has never left me. Since then I have been grappling with this unsettling conclusion that this has to be one of the most cruel ways to die: ALONE.

So what is it about our society that leads people to die alone? Why can't we pay attention to those around us and are we ready to deal with the consequences of lack of attention? Our lives are consumed with meeting the demands of every day life, whether material or spiritual and our attention only falls on those things or people that are directly correlated to our own individual needs.

The act of focused attention-defined as more than a friendly occasional visits-on others around us, to determine their feelings and needs is an urgent matter. Without it, i am not sure any one of us could be spared my uncle's fate.

Hindustan Times-Akanksha

2007-09-19T05:10:00.000-07:00

Chile video

2007-09-13T23:28:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to a short film on my project in Chile:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dRVUF7--yuM

My favorite photos from travelling

2007-09-08T02:05:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my favorite photos...hopefully they will give you a sense of the people in the places that we visited!

Jaipur:

Agra:

Ladakh:

Highlights from my travels in India

2007-09-08T01:19:00.000-07:00

After I finished my internship, I traveled through India for a few weeks. My friends Myra and Nicole, who had spent their summer interning in Bihar with Nari Gunja an NGO working with girls and women from the lowest caste, came to visit me in Mumbai at the end of my internship and we spent about two weeks exploring India. We visited Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Ladakh! I enjoyed travelling with Myra and Nicole because we got to exchange our stories and experiences from the summer. It was eye opening for me to learn about another side of India: rural poverty! The stories they told me of child marriage, flimsy mud huts, meager wages for incredibly long work days startled me. As uncomfortable as it may be living in a slum, at least the houses are made of concrete. None of my Akanksha kids faced forced marriages at age 12 or 13. My own living conditions were luxurious compared to their living situation. Living in Mumbai, a very busy and happening metropolis, it is easy to forget that life in the rest of India is very different. Exchanging our impressions during our travels enriched my own India experience I was able to experience a totally different side of India through their stories.

I will spare you the details of every moment of my travels. I will highlight some of the memories that stick out in my mind even weeks after my trip. Travelling is eye opening and exhilirating: the sights you see, the people you meet along the way and the culture and way of life that you get to experience. Travelling also gives you time to reflect and to look at yourself from a distance.(especially when you have long train rides or lay overs) And one of the best things about travelling is coming home and sharing stories and new experiences with family and friends.

1. Taj Mahal-I had heard about theh Taj Mahal and I had seen it in many photographs. I remember watching the Namesake and being awed by its beauty. But seeing the Taj Mahal in person is nothing compared to photographs and films. It is significantly more majestic and awe inspiring and also humbling. There is something about the simplicity of the white marble thats very striking. And of course knowing that it was built out of love makes the entire experience more special. When we went through the gates around 6.30am, I just stood there, with my mouth open, struck by its beauty. There is a very serene and peaceful energy radiating from Taj Mahal!

2. 14th Dalai Lama
In our second day in Leh, Ladakh when we were supposed to be resting to adjust to the altitude, we went to a teaching conducted by 14th Dalai Lama who was in Ladakh for the week. It was odd to see a foreigner section so close to the stage while the thousands of Tibetans who had gathered for this occasion sat much farther from the stage. It was just another example of special treatment of foreigners in India. I was amazed at the diversity of Tibetans who had gathered-thousandts of young and old people, many young children running around as their parents secured their seats on the ground. After months in Mumbai surrounded by Hindu temples, it felt surreal to be immersed in Buddhism. It felt like another country and not the India I had experienced all summer. I admire the 14th Dalai Lama for his courage and it was very special to see him up close. It was especially memorable to be able to see the entire Tibetan community come together for this special occasion. He started off his speech with a joke about bread and tea which only locals understood. He seemed so energetic and ready to connect with the masses of people in front of him. In the foreigner section we got some translation of his speech.

3. Indus Valley: Sham Trek and Nubra Valley
I had a great time exploring the Indus Valley and doing mild treks in the middle of this immense desert.

4. Making momos with a Tibetan family
In my 11 days in Ladakh, I made a good friend Tinzen! His family belongs to an old famous clan from Tibet. He spent 8 years in Delhi studying and working and now decided to join his family in running their stores in Leh. I bought a few souvenirs in his shop and we chatted and became friends. Besides going to a fun Tibetan dance party with Tenzin, I also went to his house and learned how to make momos. His brother had a friend visiting from France so the two foreigners set to work. Making momos was no easy task. Tenzin's sister in law and father patiently showed me how to mold the dough so the momos come out perfect. After many sad momos, I made a few decent looking ones. The momos were steamed and I was expected to eat about 15 momos, when my capacity was only 6! It was a great experience to meet this family and learn about their family history and also the lives of Tibetan refugees in India. Tibetan youth speak Hindi and consider themselves Indian. But they have huge maps of Tibet in their shops and they incorporate Buddism into their every day lives.

Community Research Presentation

2007-09-01T08:39:00.000-07:00

On August 6, 2007 the Learning to Lead 2 students presented the community research project to a room full of Akanksha staff, teachers and children from other centers. Many interesting people came to watch the presentation such as a Hindustan times journalist, a British woman working for IVolunteer, Sudi, Kaushal and Nishant from Hungama(who had made the 4mn presentation video). (Advertising the event on facebook and yahoo expat group worked!) The kids seemed excited that so many people had to come to watch them discuss their project. I was incredibly proud of my kids who truly shone on stage. They were prepared, articulate and composed! Even when a few of them forgot some parts of their speeches, they remained completely composed as they tried to piece back together what they had planned to say. They seemed so mature on stage discussing issues such as garbage, sewage, smoking, education and bullying. It was apparent that they had put a lot of work into this project and they were thrilled to share their findings with others.

As usual, in any high stress situation, everything that could go wrong did. Precisely on this day the staff of Bombay International School (where Learning to Lead meets every day) decided to replace the air conditioners which requires turning off the electricity. Even after they had apparently fixed it, every time I plugged in the projector for the video, the power went out. I hopped from classroom to classroom hoping that somewhere the lights would stay on. Then the laptop we were using didn't work since the battery wasn't charged. I had used the few minutes of charge that was left on it to test the Akanksha video and discovered that the sound on the video was flawed. I desperately called Sudi, Kaushal and Nana and begged for them to bring me a new file. So let's recap: there is no electricity, the video's sound is flawed and i have no working laptop. Can you imagine how stressed out I was? My kids had worked so hard and I wanted so much for the presentation to go smoothly. My friends from Hungama had spent hours on this 4 minute video and it was important to show it. The crowd was getting impatient and my kids were ready. Someone had brought in a new laptop and the power was working and i got a new file of the presentation. I prayed that miraculously things would work out.

The presentation was a testament to how when the heart is in the right place, everything goes smoothly. The kids were so eager to present and they had worked so hard on their projects. They took pride in their work and wanted to share it with others. Everything went off without a glitch-all the tecnical things worked out and my kids were able to demonstrate the work they had done and the learnings they gained. After the presentation, a reporter from the Hindustan times interviewed two kids, who had received a prize from me. The kids were so sweet and gave me a beautiful handmade card. The LTL teachers gave me a beautiful present. I felt so happy and fulfilled in that moment. All the hours of hard work really paid off-in that moment i thought back to the day I was throwing up all day while waiting to take my kids to visit an NGO or the thirty odd hours we spent an internet cafe while the kids typed their reports with one hand. I knew that every second of energy invested into these kids yielded thousand times the return. It was a great moment because I felt so hopeful-i was watching young agents of change sharpen their tools, gain knowledge and confidence as they go out and make change in themselves, their communities and the world.

Hungama: Akanksha kids make a video

2007-08-05T06:17:00.000-07:00

I was blessed to have made three good friends who work for Hungama (www.hungama.com), a digital marketing company whose clients include Bollywood. They design covers, make websites and do all sorts of digital animations. Kaushal, my friend who also came to Day of Action in Mariamma Nagar community a few weeks ago, asked the CEO of Hungama whether Akanksha children could come to Hungama office to make a presentation about their community research project. In order to come to Hungama, Akanksha children had to write why they wanted to come. A selected group of seven students came twice to Hungama to prepare a video presentation about the process they went through during community research project. The presentation is an amalgamation of video footage shot in their communities and photographs.

During the first visit to Hungama last Sunday, the kids made an outline of the presentation. They wanted an Akanksha child going up a staircase and stop at different levels. Each level represents each step of their process. Step1: observe their communities and pick a serious problem; Step2: Interview people in communities; Step3: Research in library and over the internet; Step4: Visit NGOs working on these issues and Step5: Take Action. Arif also designed a CD cover and CD sticker which represents all of their projects. It was incredible to watch them work well as a team. They shared their ideas and reached consensus easily. They also learned about Hungama's work and saw some of the animations the creative team works on. Most importantly they had a great time!

During the second visit to Hungama, the kids wrote a narration for each section and recorded their voices. They had a hard task to pick a few but impacting words to describe the images on the screen. Each of them worked diligently on their section and then recorded their voices in the computer. The kids learned about the process of making a presentation and all of the details involved.

As usual, my kids impress me with their maturity. I love watching how others respond to them and how much respect they invoke. They were very inquisitive about Hungama's work. They were so enthusiastic and eager to learn from Kaushal and Sudi and they were thankful to them for their help with the presentation.

Making this 5mn presentation was an incredibly long and tedious process involving creating the animation, importing videos and photos, matching sound to the images, etc. I am not sure if I have enough words to thank the two people, Kaushal and Sudi, who made it happen. They gave up sleep(for two nights), they put other pending work aside and most of all they had incredible patience for my demands and requests. Whenever I panicked that somehow it wouldn't get finished in time, they reassured me that when they put their heads and hearts into something it gets done very well. The final product is amazing and moving! Kaushal and Sudi are not only two of the most creative people I have ever met but also incredibly patient and diligent. They put an immense amount of energy and time into this presentation and I am very grateful to them for their invaluable contribution. I hope they understand how much this presentation will mean to the Akanksha children, who will have proof that if they put their minds to something, they can accomplish it!

Learnings and recommendations

2007-08-05T05:59:00.000-07:00

I have been immersed in this community research project. The students have been exploring issues like garbage, violence, education, sewage and smoking. They are finishing up their reports and getting ready for the presentation tomorrow. I am impressed with their reflections and their ideas. I think policymakers should ask these children for some suggestions. Let me share some of their learnings and recommendations with you!

LEARNINGS:

Azim wrote: By observing my community I learned that there are many more problems, which people have to face. When we see the community from out side it seems that people don’t have any problems, but when we learn more about community we can see serious problems which affect people that much that they die.

Zameer wrote: Before interviewing people in my community I was felling hesitant to ask them question, but after asking I felt confident and I was able to communicate well with them. By interacting with my community people I also got to know more about my community.

Deepa wrote: By observing my community I learned that people are aware of the problems they face but still don’t want to work on it . By doing research at cyber café I learned that people still think that there is no use in making girls literate.

Vanita wrote: I learned many things while doing this project. By observing my community I learned that the people who smoke are not really aware of the dangers from smoking. By doing research at cyber café and library, I learned that the percentage of deaths is the highest by smoking or chewing tobacco. By interviewing people in my community I learned that they are so addicted to smoking that they don’t want to leave it. While sticking posters I learned that people in my community are not happy with it. While presenting my project to NGOs I visited, I learned that people are interested about this topic.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Eshwari(Education): I think that in my community females should also work and go learn. When I tried to do some thing I learned that I can also share my knowledge with some one. i.e when I was teaching some children in Deepa’s community. I was successful to do my work. Some problems I faced that officers were not allowing children to play games and to do some thing that is related to studying. I can take help of NGO’s and other L.T.L students who are working on this project. My action plan would be that I can talk to some of these women who are not educated and when ever I am free I can teach them.

Renuka (education): I think that the children of my community should learn if they have the urge to earn money, they can stay in school and then work after school.

Krishna Murthy (Bullying): Based on my research I suggest that whenever someone bullies others, we should go and ask them questions and then they will feel guilty and for some day they won’t bully and some people are rude with us if we question them. I think everyone should get a mentor or we should give partner and we should tell the partner that if you see your partner bullying others you should go and tell their parents in my community, parents are very strict they do not bear if their children are hitting someone or getting hit by someone there should be consequence which will pinch them but it should not be violent.

Zameer (garbage/sewage): I hope to see a lot of changes in my community in 1-2 years because of what I am doing for the community. In the future people will help me and others will join with me to make my community more clean and solve the sewage problem. I also want to see a dustbin in everybody’s house and a garbage bin which is very big at the entrance to the lane in which every person from community could throw their garbage. I want to see the garbage collecting truck coming daily to pick up the garbage.

Akanksha children speak out MON AUG 6 AT 6PM

2007-08-01T02:13:00.000-07:00

PLEASE JOIN THE AKANKSHA LEARNING TO LEAD STUDENTS
ON MONDAY AUGUST 6TH AT 6PM

COMMUNITY RESEARCH PROJECT PRESENTATION

LEARN ABOUT CRITICAL ISSUES THESE CHILDREN ARE FACING

SUCH AS GARBAGE, SEWAGE, SMOKING, BULLYING AND LACK OF EDUCATION

BOMBAY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
ACROSS FROM BABULNATH TEMPLE, NEAR CHOWPATTY BEACH

CALL ME (KARINA) 9967878424 FOR DIRECTIONS AND MORE INFORMATION

SUPPORT THESE SHAKERS AND MOVERS WHO HAVE NOT ONLY RESEARCHED THESE TOPICS BUT HAVE TAKEN CONCRETE STEPS TO AMELIORATE THESE PROBLEMS. THESE GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS WANT TO SHARE THEIR LEARNINGS WITH YOU!

Eureka!

2007-07-26T21:06:00.000-07:00

Eureka! Those words are ingrained in my head from the three summers I spent participating in a sports/math/science summer program for inner city girls. The name of the program was supposed to impart on us a confident and empowered attitude-I can do it. Every time we mastered a difficult task-whether creating a computer animation or learning how to dive-we yelled Eureka (I got it!) That is what I felt like shouting on Tuesday during my session about the community research project. For almost six weeks I have been trying to get them to think deeper and to participate in class. They respond to questions but rarely do they get passionate about the topics we have been discussing. This session, we talked about grassroots actions versus policy change to solve the problems they have been researching in their communities. For the first time, the entire class participated and passionately debated about this issue. Some of the children said that it was more effective for government to change policies since individuals cannot make big changes. There are certain problems that only the government can solve such cleaning an open gutter. Other children think that only individuals can create change because government is slow and inefficient. These are the kinds of debates we often have at the Kennedy School. I urged them to think of the root causes of a problem when trying to think of a potential solution. They had an impassioned debate about whether it is the low quality of formal schooling or values imparted from home that makes children drop out of school.

Mehboob, who has done minimal work and is always disruptive, felt adamantly that children drop out of school because they don’t see the value in education. They see people around them working as maids and taxi drivers and they think that they will do the same, no matter how much schooling they will have. They feel stuck in the environment that surrounds them and they don’t think education can actually improve their lives. He was so passionate about his view that it made me wonder if this explained his own behavior-missing school on a regular basis and not doing any work in LTL-I think he was speaking for himself. He feels that education will not change his life because all the people around him are struggling to survive and he will do the same regardless of how much schooling he has. It is incredibly sad to watch this young man, who is exceptionally bright, squander precious time at Akanksha and disregard his formal school. If we can only get him to believe that education can change his life, if he lets it-if he only makes an effort, he can get high marks, get accepted into a good university and become a professional. But the mentality is hard to change and his environment has an enormous influence on him. It’s inspiring to see how much the Akanksha teachers are doing to keep him in this program even though his behavior and track record are very poor. My kids in Chile faced similar problems-their environment told them that education has little value since they will become construction workers and maids regardless of whether they finish 5th grade or 9th grade.

After a long discussion, where everyone participated, they decided that you need both, grassroots action and policy change. Azim who is researching sewage said that if people don’t throw garbage and plastic into the gutter, then it wouldn’t become dirty and overflow. But only the government can actually clean the gutter and ensure that people do not live around open gutters. Arif spoke about the different efforts he learned about in his research to convert garbage into useful things such as tar for roads. People need to become empowered to create change but government also has to respond with policy changes. I would love to have these kids in my Kennedy School classes to add some perspective to our debates.

We visited Doorsteps, an NGO founded by an idealistic woman Bina, which works to combat illiteracy among children in slums. Doorsteps has a similar trajectory to Akanksha-one person saw a problem that bothered her and did something about it! Doorsteps has 50 centers with 50 children each and they work with children who are illiterate. They work in a large community, Cuffe Parade, where many of my kids live. It was interesting to watch them visit an NGO that works in their community. Two staff members took out time from their busy schedules and explained in details the mission of the organization. Two young men, who had gone through Doorsteps, and are now leading centers also spoke to the kids. I was proud to watch kids who don’t usually participate that much become emboldened and ask great questions. Yogesh listened intently and then asked many questions about their approach to combat the problem of education. I have watched Yogesh transform from a disruptive child who didn’t seem to care to a really thoughtful and inquisitive researcher. Yogesh is very soft spoken and quiet. The best moment was when he was asking for signatures for the letter to BMC and he spoke with such confidence. It was so rewarding to watch his face shine as he got a positive response from the person who signed the letter. It’s been rewarding to watch Yogesh become more passionate about his topic, lack of education and to think deeply about the value of education.

Photos from Day of Action

2007-07-25T01:16:00.000-07:00

photos from Shivaji Nagar slum

2007-07-25T01:00:00.000-07:00

Day of Action

2007-07-23T00:13:00.000-07:00

This past week was amazing as the community research project is in full force. My kids have been meeting with NGOs, doing library research and changing their communities. As usual, I learn a lot more from them then they do from me. Everywhere we go, people are very impressed by Akanksha kids because they are incredibly mature and inquisitive. The best part is watching them create change and inspire others. The best thing Akanksha teaches them is to empower themselves-not to wait for charity or for others to help them but to create the kind of change they want to see in their communities and in the world. Just because they were born in slums does not mean they are powerless. And power does not come with money or material things but power comes from the ability to rally people together to create lasting change. Akanksha kids are empowered to tackle big problems such as lack of education, sanitation problems, smoking and addiction. They have the research skills, communication skills and they have the drive to create change.

Last week, I took Vanita, Eshwari, Deepa and Renuka to meet with Salaam Bombay, an NGO that focuses on advocacy and awareness about addiction and tobacco use. The kids took extensive notes as three staff members explained the programs. They had a great exchange and all four of them asked questions. The NGO was very impressed with these kids because they told them to come back anytime. They gave them their phone numbers and also asked Vanita to send her report because it may be useful to them. They took a photo with the kids as well. I was very impressed how each and every one of them asked questions and got involved in the discussions, the maturity with which they handled themselves and their desire to get involved with the work of the NGO. The kids asked about volunteer opportunities with Salaam Bombay. It was so great to watch the staff answer their questions and engage them in a great discussion.

On Saturday, I took Zameer and Vanita to meet with Apnalay, an NGO that works to improve slum conditions in a few peripheral slum communities. Even though it was a very long bus ride to the community, the kids were patient. The assistant director of the NGO met with the kids and explained the mission of Apnalay and the work they do. He said that he usually doesn’t have free time but because he knows Lopa and respects Akanksha, he took the time out for Zameer and Vanita. Zameer and Vanita were very professional, listened attentively, and asked good questions. Manoj, assistant director, explained how Apnalay focuses on training leaders to pressure BMC to take care of the basic needs for the slum dwellers. They write letters to pressure BMC to clean up the sewage, pick up trash, etc. Zameer and Vanita learned something new: not only do individuals need to do something in their communities but policies need to change. Manoj emphasized how the NGO focuses on what slum dwellers need and they do not impose their own ideas. Manoj was also impressed with Zameer and Vanita and invited them to come back another day. Then we went to another small office of Apnalay in this same community and the kids sat in on an orientation for social workers. We also got a tour of this destitute community where people are literally living on top of trash. The kids seemed shocked by the level of poverty we saw.

The community where Apnalay works is Shivaji Nagar, on the periphery of the city. If I had to envision hell, that’s what it would look like. I have never seen such poverty and appalling living conditions. It’s a very big community, divided into authorized and unauthorized section. The authorized(legal) section has solid shacks and paved streets. Even though the streets are full of trash, it is still decent compared to the unauthorized section. The unauthorized section is literally a huge garbage dump with small shacks, whose roofs are made of t shirts and jackets. Visually that was most striking sight-to see half naked children playing happily in this garbage dump that is their home. I cannot even describe in words how destitute this community. I was shocked, I cannot believe that in 21st century with the abundance of resources that we have, people live in such appalling conditions. All of the communities where my Akanksha kids live seem like mansions compared to this community. I felt so impotent and so powerless at seeing such poverty. Something has to be done-we cannot allow people to live in such conditions.

On Sunday, the entire LTL2 class(Santosh, Krishna Murthy, Jamal, Yogesh, Vanita, Renuka, Deepa, Zameer, Arif, Azim) plus a few guests (Kanhaia, Raju, Farida) met in front of Nehru planetarium for our day of action. The kids working on sanitation issues worked together to draft a letter to BMC and their goal was getting 50 signatures. The other kids worked on making posters about education. Zameer told them about what he learned the day before at Apnalaya and Arif took on the task of writing the letter as the rest of the team worked on the wording of the letter. Kanhaia was very helpful and got the LTl2 team to work well. He helped them write the letter. Raju(who graduated from slp) helped the other kids make posters and for the rest of the day helped me keep kids like Santosh, Krishna Murthy and Jamal under control. They really look up to him and want to emulate him. I was very impressed by his leadership qualities and the way people reacted to him in the community. Then we spent the rest of the day in Mariaman Nagar picking up garbage and asking people to write the letter. It was amazing to see how much the kids got into it-boys who constantly misbehave were serious and took pride in making their community cleaner. Raju made a suggestion that we go into small lanes and pick up trash in front of people’s houses and ask them to sign the letter to BMC. It was so great to watch kids like Krishna Murthy or Yogesh introduce themselves, explain what they are doing and ask community members for their signatures. Also, the kids became really passionate about picking up trash and felt pride when we threw out 6 full trash bags at the end of the day. People responded so well to them and were impressed by the work they are doing. The three most mischievous boys, Krishna Murthy, Jamal and Santosh, behaved well, spoke to many people and took pride in seeing a small change in their community. I was very proud of them for putting in action those words imprinted on their t shirts. My personal favorite moment was watching Yogesh, a tiny soft spoken twelve year old, ask people to sign the letter and explain the project. For that one moment, he seemed to grow tall and confident. All of the kids said that initially they felt nervous to come up to people and ask them for signatures but then they gained confidence. They also learned that the community wants to see change because sanitation problems affect everyone.

I want to highlight the huge contribution of my friend Kaushal who spent the entire day with us in the community. Kaushal is a young entrepreneur, web designer, with a socially conscious mind. He wanted to meet the kids I always talk about and to contribute in some way. He enjoyed spending the day in the community with the kids and helping them get signatures for the letter to BMC. He even ran into a security guard from his old job who lives in the community. I was grateful to have help for the day and I was impressed by how open minded he was. How many young professional spend their Sunday in a slum?

I arrived to my house physically drained from the entire weekend with my kids but emotionally recharged. My kids exhibit through their actions that there is hope-that individuals are responsible for making things better. Akanksha kids show that if you take time and arm them with the necessary tools such as communication skills and knowledge, they can do many great things. The poverty these kids are born into does not define them or inhibit them-in fact it serves as a jumping point for action.

Be the Change

2007-07-15T21:03:00.000-07:00

Those words are imprinted on Akanksha t shirts and the children know that they need to be the agents of change. In all of the centers, Akanksha tries to empower the children to be proactive about their lives and to reach for their dreams. In the community research project that my kids are doing they are researching seemingly insurmountable problems that their country hasn’t figured out the answer to. In my last session with the kids, I tried to encourage them to think of something small they can do to ameliorate the problem. It doesn’t have to be a huge thing, a small action that engages others in their community to begin to solve the problem. Some of the ideas my kids came up with was picking up trash with their friends and encouraging others to throw trash into garbage cans, talking to people about violence and helping victims of bullying, and teaching children who do not attend school to read. I gave them the task of doing this small action over the weekend and tell me about it the following week. The children seemed daunted by the task but I encouraged them to involve others so they are not doing it alone. We had an interesting discussion because when I asked them to think about solutions, their immediate responses involved what other people should do: government, NGOs, etc but they never mentioned themselves as agents of change. I wrote up a skit for them to act out in class which mentioned that Shaheen, the founder of Akanksha, is one person who made a significant difference in their lives. After the skit, we had a discussion about the power of one individual and they realized that they can do the same. Towards the end of our session, their brains warmed up to the idea that they can do something too. Even though they cannot completely solve problems such as lack of education and prevalence of violence, they can make small changes with help from others. Arif said that they will be proud to make a difference in their community and that others will be influenced by their actions and will want to help too. Zameer said that if they don’t do anything then others probably won’t either. The session went well because I felt like they changed their approach to these problems from seemingly hopeless to proactive and empowered stance.

One of the constructive criticisms that I have gotten is that I am too soft with the kids and that I need to be strict in order for them to respect me. I incorporated this criticism into my session and when the children misbehaved in class, I raised my voice and told them that they were free to leave. I also told them that noone was forcing them to do this project-they are free to make the decision to do the research project. The children seemed shocked that I raised my voice and that I was scolding them. Even the worst boys, who misbehave the most, quieted down and listened to me. I asked the kids for feedback, for ways to make my sessions more interesting and they gave me some great suggestions-to include some artistic expression and to play more games. After my session, Jamal and Krishna Murthy, two of the most mischievous boys, came up to me and apologized for misbehaving. It took so much energy to yell at the kids that I was drained by the end of the session. I told them that I don’t want to yell at them, I want to smile. I was watching their faces during my rant and they seemed shocked that I had raised my voice. They seemed relieved when I said that I want to see them do well and they need to put in the effort. I finally had a breakthrough with my kids-it’s too bad that I had to scold them to achieve that.

Saturday was an inspiring day where I saw my children embodying the Be the Change words on their T shirts. I saw the spark in their eyes when they realized that their actions actually made a difference and inspired others. I spent about 8 hours with 4 of my kids in their community: Navy Nagar. Vanita, Eshwari, Deepa and Ganesh met me around 10am at the bus stop. This community is in the southern end of Colaba and it is the home for naval officers. The mothers of these children are maid servants in their houses. The way the community is arranged is that they are tall apartment buildings where naval officers live on one side of the building and the maids on the other. The maids have an intercome in their houses and the navy officers can buzz them any time of the day or night to go make them food or clean up. The community itself is very clean and green. The buildings have tight security and I had to sign in to get a one hour pass in order to go inside. All of the maids and their families have identity cards with their photos and the card says Domestic Help. My kids need to have that card with them all the time in order to enter. These communities are a far cry from slums that most of the other kids live in. They are clean, quiet and very peaceful. The apartments are just one room, small kitchen, bathroom and a small balcony. Even though they are small, they are palaces compared to other communities I visited. We started off at Vanita’s house. Vanita is a very diligent and motivated girl. She always does top quality work and contributes a lot to class discussions. Vanita is researching children smoking in her community so she spent a few hours interviewing children and adults about this. She interviewed a six year old child who admitted to smoking regularly and he told her that he gets his cigarettes from a ten year old boy. She interviewed a shop keeper who spends all day in the community and he admitted that it’s a huge problem but he feels helpless. He said that when you tell children, they shouldn’t smoke, they respond that they are spending their own money. The most interesting thing about watching Vanita interview people was watching their reactions. At first the adults seemed hesitant to take their time out to talk to a child. But then when Vanita introduced herself, mentioned Akanksha and the community research project, they became serious and answered at length. People responded well and gave her long interviews about their opinions. She learned that family affects a child’s decision to smoke and that peer pressure was also influential. She told me about her own sister smoking and how the only way she quit was after her parents stopped talking to her for 6 months. Vanita is a bit shy and it was very helpful that she had three friends around who also asked questions. I can see Vanita become more confident as people responded to her and she took great notes on the interview. Then we wentt to Eshwari’s house, she lives in a similar community about 15 minutes from Vanita. Eshwari is the most inquisitive child I have ever met-she is thoughtful, curious and very energetic. I can see the spark in her eyes when she learns something new or when she is grappling with something complex. She interviewed women in her community about education-none of them had attended school and most were illiterate. Eshwari probed the women on their decision not to study and she learned new things such as that some schools were dangerous for women which caused them to drop out. One woman told her how rapings occurred so she was too scared to attend school. Other women told her that their parents said it was useless for a girl to go to school since she will work in the home anyway. Others said they had to go to work so they did not have time. There was one woman who responded very openly to Eshwari and then looked straight at me and spoke passionately in Hindi. She told me that she works as a maid in the officer’s house, she makes 200 rupees a day and she has to be there any time he wants. If she complains, her boss will say pack your bags and leave. She told me about discrimination that she faces: people think she is not human just because she is their servant. It was such a strange moment because I had a strong déjà vu-the many hours I spent with people in the Toma in Chile and their experiences of being treated as inferior because they come from the shantytown and because they clean someone;’s house. Eshwari interviewed many women and she learned about how much their lives are affected by their lack of formal schooling.

I learned a great deal from spending the day with my kids in their communities. First of all, it was great to watch them become researchers and probe deeper into issues that affect them. I saw their confidence go up as people took them seriously and responded to their questions. Ganesh, who is not even in my class, enjoyed interviewing and said that now he is ready to start his own community research project. I also realized just how much of a difference Akanksha is making in these kids’ lives: the adults around them are illiterate and not education and they are enslaved to their bosses for meager wages. This will not happen to Akanksha kids because not only are they educated but they are also confident and critical thinkers. I was aghast by the fact that Eshwari’s and Vanita’s mothers are illiterate and cannot sign their names. These girls are so bright and sharp and I always assumed that they must get help from home. I cannot even fathom the idea that your parents cannot help you with homework or read to you. These kids are reading top notch literature, are asked to write reports and think about tough issues in current events. Their parents cannot help them with any of their schoolwork. When that woman was passionately recounting how she is mistreated by her boss and the discrimination she faces, it hit me how much Akanksha is giving these kids-it is giving them the freedom to choose their path, the qualifications to achieve their goals –so they will not be maid servants for 200rs per month enslaved to their bosses without the ability to stand up for themselves.

After the interviews, the children felt the urge to do something! Vanita suggested making posters and putting them around her community. The kids made anti smoking posters and put them up by the bus stop. As they were doing that, two high school kids approached them and asked them about it. They seemed impressed by the posters and said they would do the same in their communities. I saw a spark in my kids’ eyes and they said, Didi, people are affected by our posters. We are making a difference, We want to do more. I was about to return to my house, after 7 hrs with them, but they seemd so into it so I decided to stay and help them. I stayed for another two hours! So after putting up three posters, they went to a store and bought more paper and made more posters. We were about to use a space near a church to make the posters, when the church keeper came out and was about to scold us. Then the kids explained what they were doing and he joined and made a poster too. I have never seen my kids more excited and eager to do something-they were buzzing with excitement that people had responded to their action and they had the urge to do more. They put up these other posters by another bus stop and answered questions that passer bys had for them. They also started interviewing people on the street and by the bus stop. I basked in the pleasure of watching them embody the words on their t shirts and of mastering the key lesson I was trying to impart on them the whole time. I was about to go home and the kids told me that they are going to a nearby community, where one of the girls lives, and they are going to teach small children a few English words. They phoned home to inform that they will be arriving late and they eagerly set out on their way. I left them but then I called to see how it went and I heard enthusiastic stories about how they taught 7 children colors and numbers in English through games. The most important thing they told me was that they will do more and that they will get others to help them. I was so happy and fulfilled and I knew that my kids got it: they understood that they are not powerless, that they have the power to make change. It was so incredible to watch them transform ideas and thoughts into action. They were buzzing with excitement and said that this was the best day they had. I thought of Marshall Ganz and my community organizing class and I was proud of my kids and their community organizing projects.

Travelling in West Bengal and Sikkim

2007-07-12T23:01:00.000-07:00

I took a week off from my internship to travel to Kolkata(Calcutta) in order to attend a Bengali wedding in Bangladesh. My friend Ejaj’s best friend was getting married and I didn’t want to miss a chance to attend a wedding. Since Indian weddings happen mainly in December or January, I figured this would be close enough to an Indian wedding. I planned to get a visa in one day and take an overnight bus to Dhaka but of course I didn’t do proper research and my assumptions about transportation were not true. I spent the first day in Kolkata figuring out how to make my way to Dhaka and my two options were to take a day bus to Dhaka which would make me miss the wedding ceremony(the buses only go every other day and during the day) or book an expensive plane ticket. I weighed my options and decided that I couldn’t afford the plane ticket to be in Dhaka for a few days. I was very upset because I had been looking forward to going to this wedding for a long time. I spent the weekend in Kolkata with my friend Bidisha’s family, who were so kind and hospitable. Her auntie taught me how to eat rice with my hands and gave me a beautiful saree as a gift. She told me, “Bidisha is like my daughter. And you are my daughter’s friend so you are like my daughter too.” She made sure I ate well and that I was happy. She is very proud of her two sons: one is a filmmaker and the other getting a phD in architecture on a full scholarship at MIT. Kanti, the young filmmaker, took me around Kolkata with his friends and I got to see the city from the inside.

We sat on the sidewalk and drank chai, we went to a local bar and played mafia, and we went to a play as part of Odeon theater festival. Kanti has his own company and they have a big job to produce a film as part of a bid to UNESCO to make Kolkata a literature city. Kanti and his partner will travel to Edinborough to present their film as the submission gets made. Kanti is only 21 but he is very talented and successful. It was great to be in a city of literature with such a guide, who produces films and plays as well as acts. His friends were really interesting since they all used to act together. Kolkata is a much slower city than Mumbai and has a much calmer feel. The sight of human pulled rickshaws is hard to take in-small frail looking elderly men pushing young people on the rickshaws. I know they need to earn a living but it is hard to imagine that in the 21st century we still have human powered transportation. I was told that during monsoon they make a lot of money since they are the only ones who can get around the city. Kolkata is a great city-with lots of trees, great markets, old British buildings, temples, and theaters. I know that I would need to spend more time there to really get the feel of the city but it was great to get a glimpse. West Bengal is home to many poets and writers and is considered a very intellectual state. As a foreigner it was hard to walk around Kolkata without being approached by a vendor trying to sell you something or take you to their store. So when I made my decision not to go to Dhaka, I needed to figure out where I can travel to instead so I browsed through my lonely planet guide and decided to go to Darjeeling and then to Sikkim.

I took an overnight train from Kolkata to Darjeeling and it was an unforgettable experience. I arrived to the train station around 8 because I knew there was a ten pm train. The train station was crowded with people, some who are traveling and some who consider the station their home. There was a large group of women and small babies sprawled all over the entire floor as soon as you step into the station. I wasn;t sure where to buy the ticket so I got in line. The men in line gave me funny looks until I realized it was a men only line. As I was about to switch ticket lines, some guy approached me and said in English, you have to go to reservation desk. When I got to reservation desk, I got the royal treatment and got a ticket without a problem. I figured, I got one task successfully accomplished. The next task was to find the platform and figure out which car I needed to get into. I got three different answers to the correct platform and after confirming the answer with numerous people, I figured out the correct platform. I drew a good number of stares as the only foreigner on the platform. I looked around at the people around me: there were young couples, there were families with endless luggage, there were businessmen. When the train arrived, there was a mad rush to board the train and it seemed like everyone knew exactly where to go while I frantically asked for B1, my car number. I saw porters post some lists on the outside of the cars and I tried finding my name but to no avail. I decided to get on anyway and find my seat. Once I got on the train, I watched the sea of people enter and I marveled at how crowded the train was-where are all these people going? I was nervous about spending the night on the train. The people in my car were really nice and showed me how to make my seat turn into a bed. As the train pulled away, I just hoped that I would be able to fall asleep considering that time passes so slowly when everyone else is asleep and you are awake. Luckily, I love to sleep and I fell soundly asleep, hugging my purse. I woke up around 6am when a child was crawling in my bed. The woman who slept on the top bunk had woken up and was sitting on my bed playing with her child. I decided to wake up and greet my new friends. Sahil, the two year old, was great-we both stared out the window in fascination. I wanted to get on his good side by giving him a chocolate but he is very picky and didn’t like my offering. Eventually he warmed up to me and we even took a picture together. I arrived in NJP/Siliguri and needed to find my way to Darjeeling.

The minute I stepped out of the train station, I was surrounded by taxi drivers and rickshaw drivers to take me to my next destination. Luckily I saw the shared jeeps with signs for Darjeeling and I waited patiently for almost two hours while the jeep filled up with people. In the mean time, I made new friends who bought me lemon juice and seemed eager to welcome a foreigner in their country.

When I arrived to Darjeeling, I climbed many hills to find a hostel and eventually settled on one, with a hot bucket of water delivered at 8am. Darjeeling is known for its tea and the many monasteries near by. Tiger hills, a hill station about 11km from Darjeeling, provides views of Mt everest and Kotcheodonga. The first day I walked around and researched what things I can do. In the evening, I found a bar with lots of foreigners and met some interesting people-jew who converted to buddism, dutch guy teaching English in a monastery, two aussies traveling by bikes from the south to the north. It was nice to be surrounded by foreigners exchanging travel stories. I also met a monk that evening in a bar who had come out with his French friend who is teaching English in his monastery. The monk said I should visit him the next day in the monastery. I woke up at 3.30am the next day and slowly found my way to the jeeps going to Tiger Hills. I lucked out completely and had a clear day with an amazing view of the mountains. I watched the sunrise at Tiger Hills and admired the incredible view.

Then I walked down from Tiger Hills to Darjeeling for the next four hours with a German and a Dutch guy and we visited many gompas, monasteries. We actually accidentally walked into the monastery where that monk that I had met the night before lived. He greeted us warmly and gave us a nice tour of the monastery. We even had tea with the monks in their cafeteria. We saw the school and the young monks eyes glistened with curiousity about these foreigners. What impressed me the most about the monasteries are how beautiful and colorful they are and how the young monks seem really vivacious and energetic, even when they are praying and studying. By the time I arrived back to Darjeeling, I had a few hours to enjoy Indian beaurocracy and run to two government offices to get permit for Sikkim. I caught the last jeep going to Gangtok and arrived to Gangtok by the evening. The next day my German friend and I walked around all day-we went on Damovar ropeway, a cable car that has nice views, visited the zoo with wild animals, and visited more monasteries. The next day we went to Chongo Lake, which is supposed to have amazing views but instead it was cloudy so we didn’t see anything. I went on a yak for the first time-I decided my new favorite mode of transportation.

In the afternoon, we parted for Phodong, another village in Sikkim with amazing views and more monasteries. Phodong was a quiet little village without much to do except meander around and climb the hills to visit monasteries. I was walking around when a young monk approached me and asked me where I was going. He was returning to his monastery with other monks and gave me a tour and explained about the wheel of life and the paintings that hang in the prayer room. The next day, I wandered around the village some more and then decided to migrate to another village, even more remote, Mangan. In Mangan, I realized just how much I like big cities and how remote places make me anxious. The roads that I was traveling on were very narrow and curvy and at every turn the driver had to honk just in case there were cars approaching from other way.

The most striking sight was seeing men and women working on side of the road-many times carrying bricks and other heavy objects on a basket that they hung over their heads or crushing large stones with hammers. It seemed like such cruel and intense labor for meager wages in a state that is relatively well of. In Mangan, I walked around and stumbled upon a boarding school. I spoke to teachers and students and learned that this was a reputable private school, English medium. The children came from wealthy families and were very happy living in the hostel with their friends. I spoke to one exceptional young girl, Anusha, at length and she confided how her mother abandoned her so her father enrolled her in this school. She said the principal of the school likes her and wants to adopt her but her father won’t let her. She seemed proud of her singing talent and told me how she won competitions. She seemed so sad when talking about her mother who appeared at the school drunk once demanding to see her. She said she doesn’t hate her mother but she doesn’t want anything to do with her. Anusha is only sixteen but she has been through some trying moments. I was impressed by her maturity, ability to confide i others and a resilience to overcome obstacles.

After Mangan, I went to Kurseong and walked around in the small town and visited a tea plantation. On my way to Kurseong, I met an interesting character, Chemee Yungdrung, the elected president of the Tibetan Democratic Front, which is fighting for freedom for Tibet as well as to promote democracy in Tibetan culture. He seemed very passionate about the cause. Sikkim is an interesting state: it has Nepalis, Tibetans, native Lepche people. Since the state borders Bhutan, China and Nepal, the border police vigilantly patrol the entire state. I arrived back to NJP/Siliguri and took an overnight train to Kolkata where I spent one day wandering around, watching as the pavement dwellers were starting their days, showering and getting ready for the day. On Sunday evening, I boarded my flight to Mumbai and arrived safely and happily. Mumbai never felt so great-I was very happy to be home, in the midst of the usual insanity but an insanity I had become used to and whose madness didn’t bother me anymore.

Week4

2007-06-29T12:39:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe I spent almost a month in Mumbai. Time flies! Life here is full of contrasts and contradictions and I feel like it would take years to really adjust to them. I just spent a great evening with Akanksha co workers in a beautiful spacious house and then took a short car ride through a slum area passing by the pavement dwellers. I cannot understand how two such contrasts can coinhabit the same space. I always think back to my civil rights innovations course which talked about randomization of life chances. Prof Williams talked about how a black child has a predetermined lower quality of life(access to opportunities, education level, etc) than a white child and the goal is the randomization of life chances, to make everyone have an equal chance of getting educated and having access to basic rights. I think about this a lot--we do not control the circumstances we are born into. We control, to some extent, our own lives and decisions. The fact that my co worker's children were born into a wealthy family that can afford to send them to private school and Shamina's family lives in a small cramped room and sleep on the floor are random. Neither of those children had anything to do with their current lives yet their current lives will have everything to do with the kind of future ahead of them.

This week I worked on the community research project. I led a session about NGOs and i also took kids to do internet and library research. The kids were really active and participated a lot. I had some interesting interactions with the kids. Rubina started off researching kids smoking and after conducting interviews realized that there are other problems such as drinking and drugs. She will now focus on public health for her community research project. The majority of the class is focusing on garbage and sewage which is indicative of how serious these problems are.

Week 3: community research project

2007-06-24T23:16:00.001-07:00

This week the kids I work with finalized their topics for the community research project. I really probed them to articulate why they chose those topics. Here are some of the things they wrote: Zameer wrote “I picked the topic of sewage because every time it overflows, mosquitoes bite us, diseases are spread and there are lots of rats who come to our house.” Eschwari wrote “I picked the topic of no education because poor people’s children are not getting education. Without education nothing is possible. We can’t get jobs if we are not educated.” Santosh wrote ”Everybody throws garbage anywhere in front of anyone’s house. There is a dustbin and they don’t throw garbage in dustbins.” I had a really interesting few classes with them this week where I got to see how passionately they felt about the topics they choose. The majority chose the problem of sewage and garbage in their communities. I asked them to think deeper and maybe pick a problem that is more unique to their communities and not so common in all of poor communities. They told me genuinely that garbage and sewage are some of the biggest problems in their communities. They said that when I will go to their communities, I will see how much of a problem they are. The other topics include lack of education, bullying, and children smoking. We worked to identify root causes of some of these problems and to identify people they may want to interview, both within the community and from outside. Even in a few sessions it was amazing to see the transformation in them. When we first announced this project, they seemed daunted by the word research and struggled to find a topic. And now they were really articulate in why they chose the topic and what are some of the factors that contribute to this problem. I asked them to create an action of plan, of how they will go about doing their research. They said they will do interviews, do internet and library research. We worked on making questions for the interviews.

On Saturday, I went to three different communities and worked with six children on their projects. Deepa and Yogesh live in a small and very clean community right behind the World Trade Center. They are both researching why there is lack of education among the children in their community. Deepa (13 years old) and Yogesh (12 yrs old) were the first children in their community to attend school and then other children decided to attend school too. Their mother tutors children on Saturdays and their father helps illiterate parents handle the red tape involved in getting their children enrolled. Deepa is one of the most graceful and thoughtful children I have ever met. She had already done some interviews before Saturday and she had specific questions for different people she planned to interview. She videotaped things that were important to her topic such as children reading, and children playing instead of going to school. Yogesh also had a chance to videotape his community and interview children on why they were not going to school. It was very inspiring to see these two children become researchers and ask probing questions. They really got into the project and will interview more people on their own. The children they interviewed said that they want to go to school but their parents did not have the proper paperwork. The adults they interviewed said that they cannot afford to send their children to school or that they cannot find the necessary paperwork. Many families go back to the villages for summer vacation and then either don’t return or return too late to enroll their children in a school. A birth certificate is required to enroll a child into a new school. I was very inspired by deepa’s and Yogesh’s family-they are very kind, very educated, role models for the community. Their older brother is also an Akanksha participant who is in the social leadership project, where he renovated a cultural center in a small village and led HIV awareness workshops for community members. It’s so beautiful to see that these children will go really far in life-not only because of what Akanksha is teaching them but also because of their supportive families. I am convinced that in many cases that is what will make or break these kids: the kinds of examples their families set and the kind of reinforcement they receive to study and become educated.

Then I went to Jamal’s community, Worli Seaface, right by the water. Jamal looks like he is about 9 but he is actually 12. He seemed shy to have me walk around with him in his community. Right before I came there was a big fight so he seemed a bit nervous to be on the streets. We worked to put together questions to interview people but he said that he would rather do the interviews on his own. So I gave him the video camera and he walked around taping images that are important for his topic: garbage. There was certainly no lack of garbage in the community. In fact I think I finally understood why my kids were so adamant about this topic-that really is the biggest most immediate problem. I don’t think there was one empty inch of space in his community that was not covered with trash. Jamal became more animated as we walked around and was thoughtful about the kind of things he wanted to videotape. When he walked me out of the community, he thanked me for helping him with his project. Then I went to Mariamm Nagar and walked around with 3 of my kids who videotaped garbage and sewage. We were lucky to see BMC workers taking the trash out so the kids even got to ask them questions. One of the boys is researching bullying so he got two of his friends to fake fight so he can videotape them. (The point of the video taping is that we will make a short video about this project of the images they kids taped.) It was interesting to watch these three rowdy and mischievous boys become researchers. They were careful about the images they chose and they seemed excited to show me all of the garbage. People around us were intrigued: white girl, video camera, three little boys video taping garbage and sewage-probably not the most typical thing people videotape. The smell of the garbage and sewage is intense and I wonder how people live there. I cannot believe that these kids grow up surrounded by this. It does seem to bother them a lot since they chose these topics. At the end of our project, we will brainstorm on what they can do about these problems. These three boys, Santosh, Krishna Murthy and Azim are very mischievous and have a hard time concentrating or being serious. It was interesting to give them the camera and give them the responsibility of choosing what images to videotape. Even if just for a half an hour, they become inquisitive researchers. They were pretty proud to watch what they had videotaped. They said that people will not answer their questions honestly since I am there so they said they will interview people on their own.

This was my first visit to slums without social workers. I had an amazing day in Mumbai-this is why I came here! It was pretty eye opening to have my kids take me around their communities and to see it through their eyes. It will be interesting to see what kind of final projects they come up with after doing this research. I hope that they will learn critical research and writing skills in the process.

Mumbai-week 2

2007-06-15T00:37:00.000-07:00

June 13, 2007
Today was the first day I wasn’t sweating non stop-since it rained yesterday, it actually cooled down a bit and I was able to breathe and enjoy the city. I like how every day I return home with a smile because I feel more and more at home in this overwhelming city. My senses are getting desensitized to the insanity-the smell and noise don’t bother me as much as they did in the first few days. But visually, I am still startled by what I see: half naked children crawling on the sidewalk, a passed out man in the middle of a crowded platform during rush hour, women washing clothes on the sidewalk. It’s hard not to feel at home in a city where so many people go out of their way to help me and make sure that I am comfortable and safe: Whether my classmate’s relatives who invite me over for a delicious south and north Indian meal and keep me company during a one hour cab ride to and from their house or youth who live in squalid conditions treat me to puri and take the train with me to my stop to make sure that I get home ok. With my non existent Hindi I have been able to get everywhere I have ever needed to go without any problem. In the trains, people are very patient and helpful. I know that I am feeling relaxed since I fell asleep on the train the other day without worrying about missing my stop.
My days are so rich and satiating that its hard to capture in words. Usually in a span of a day, I go through so many emotions and reactions to the places, people and sights that I am truly overwhelmed.

Akanksha: I am working on a community research project with a group of eleven and twelve year old kids who are in Leaning to Lead, program for exceptionally bright children. I led the first session yesterday where I asked them to brainstorm about different problems they see in their communities. They listed issues such as violence, garbage, sewage problems, alcoholism and child labor. I probed them to think of the root causes of these problems and to identify people they would speak to in order to investigate further. They were pretty frank about the issues facing their communities: sewage, excessive garbage on the streets, child labor, alcoholism. The oldest group of Learning to Lead did the community research project a few years back and they shared their experiences with the younger kids. It was impressive to hear how articulate they were about the key learnings from that experience. The group of eleven and twelve year olds I am working with is exceptionally bright and they are full of ideas of how to improve their communities.

Today, on short notice, I filled in for another teacher with the oldest group. And it was a complete disaster. I suddenly had a vivid memory of one of the readings assigned in my community organizing class that talked about how failure is important in the learning process and how small failures are actually more important than huge successes. I also remember that the first comment I made in my community organizing class was how that reading startled me because I realized that the possibility of failure in my community organizing project actually existed. Since it was short notice, I didn’t have a lesson plan ready so I winged it. Except that these are very bright sixteen and seventeen year olds who are craving to be challenged. We started off talking about the quota system for the lower caste in India and I related it to affirmative action in the US. Then we talked about education and I asked them to brainstorm about what they would do to improve the education in India. They listed things such as that it should be completely free, lower student teacher ratio, teachers should be evaluated constantly, improve facilities such as desks. It was interesting to get their perspective on this issue since they articulated that they are in Akanksha because of the poor public school educational system. One of the boys told me how he loves going to school because in school he learns new things and he is challenged. He hates vacations because he doesn’t do anything that makes him grow as a person. To hear this from a sixteen year old is impressive. (Thanks to Akanksha, he goes to an English medium private school) Then I told the group about Chile and my experience in working in the slums. They seemed interested in learning about situations similar to theirs but in another country. I asked them what they would do to improve living conditions in their communities. They are incredibly articulate and expressed their views passionately-they said that the government should meet people’s basic needs first and make sure that they have a clean and safe space to live in. After about an hour of a good discussion, they got restless and I struggled to keep their attention for the next two hours. I learned a lesson: always have a lesson plan or activities up my sleeve for unplanned situations!

June 14, 2007
Crossing the street in Mumbai is an experience-it usually takes me about half an hour while twenty other people have already crossed and reached home. I try to look in all directions, very unsure still of exactly where cars will be coming from. But it’s not only cars: it’s rickshaws, motorcycles carrying families, buses, and sometimes cows. The non stop honking renders it useless since it no longer serves as a signal for anything. I watch people wade through traffic at great ease and I admire them. Every time I cross the street, I fiercely pray that I will make it alive to the other side. Usually I try to wait until someone else is crossing so I can follow them because I don’t trust my estimation of how far or close cars are. I can only imagine what I look like from the side to others. So imagine my reaction when a cute little girl with two pigtails and a school uniform, comes up to me as I am about to embark on this street crossing adventure in the middle of Mumbai, smiles, says something in Hindi(or Maratchi or Urdu or Kutchi or any of the other languages in India) and takes my hand. So now I am responsible for two lives instead of just one. I looked all ways, many times, and bravely crossed the street and prayed even more fiercely than usual that no cars or motorcycles come speeding out of somewhere without warning. As we safely made it to the other side, the little girl said something in Hindi and ran away. I smiled to myself: a subtle sign from the divine that I am meant to be here.

I have spent some time in different slums in Mumbai and what strikes me the most are the facial expressions of the children meandering around their communities. If you look around, you will see children gazing far away, sitting calmly in front of their house, or silently playing with the most mundane object. I don’t know the reality of the slums in sufficient depth to accurately gage what these children may be thinking. All I know is that these distant looks and calm expressions contrast sharply with the bright smiles and glowing eyes of Akanksha children. One of the most memorable first impressions I have of Akanksha children is how their faces light up with their huge smiles as soon as a teacher or a volunteer is nearby. I would even call it an Akanksha smile! While walking around with the Akanksha social workers, we run into many Akanksha kids who smile instantly and seem genuinely happy. I keep those smiles in my mind during my daily commute when I am constantly approached by street children, with blood shot eyes, who stick out their hand to ask for a coin. I watched how one little boy approached every woman in the car and everyone ignored him or told him to go away. He sat down on the floor next to where I was standing and tapped on my leg. He looked up at me with blood shot eyes and a desperate look. I gave him a coin and looked away-mainly because I felt ashamed that I live in a society, which accepts as immutable reality that children live on railroad tracks. I am so fortunate to work with Akanksha because I keep reverting to those smiles, to those glistening eyes as they master a new concept or learn how to articulate their ideas and thoughts. Akanksha kids will go so far in life because of what Akanksha is offering them—which is not much more than the quality of education they deserve and a belief that they possess the power to make their lives better.

The hard proof that Akanksha is making a difference can be seen by the present lives of the alumni. I met about 10 alumni who gathered for an information session about an impact study Akanksha will be conducting to measure its impact on the lives of children. All of them were in universities or in professional jobs. Three are social workers with Akanksha and a few others are in the Akanksha Teaching fellowship program, where they are being trained to become Akanksha center teachers. I have interacted with two alumni extensively and I am humbled and utterly impressed by their desire to give back to their community. On Sundays, Akanksha runs social leadership project (SLP) which aims to empower youth to become agents of social change by encouraging them to engage in community service. The first part of the session was led by a young man, Neel, who helped the participants, who are not much younger than him, set up the ground rules for the session. He shared his own experience in SLP and how he was afraid to speak up initially but then became very active. I was impressed by his ability to engage the participants and I chatted with him for a while after the session. He lives in a slum Cuffe Parade, in a small room with his parents and siblings. He joined Akanksha when he was young and then discovered that he wanted to be a teacher. While participating in SLP, he did two internships: one with Make a Wish foundation and one with Akanksha summer camp. His internship with Make a wish foundation left a lasting mark on him as he decided with other Akanksha classmates to start an NGO to entertain sick children in hospitals. He saw that many children were bored and depressed while hospitalized and he decided that it was important to have fun diversion for them so they can take their minds off their illnesses. He, along with other classmates, founded Pragati(which means progress in Hindi), an Ngo that goes to Bombay hospital every Sunday and brings games and songs into hospital rooms. Neel is working on securing more funding for the Ngo as well as securing more committed volunteers. I joined Pragati this past Sunday and was blown away by how Akanksha youth engaged these sick children with songs, games and activities. If you really think about it, its so humbling-Akanksha kids have so many needs of their own and live very difficult lives but yet they are concerned with other children.

I will leave you with a quote that I have been thinking about. It was the center of discussion in the center where I work-it’s from some book the kids are reading(I have yet to find out the name of it) but the quote is food for thought: Life is complicated with duties that sometimes collide with each other.”

India-First week

2007-06-09T00:36:00.000-07:00

My first week in India is over. I am proud to say that I am adjusting to the heat because I have been able to sleep through the night without the ac. It’s been interesting to watch myself adjust and how every day has gotten significantly better. Mumbai is an intense place-a friend of mine once said, ‘Mumbai is an assault to the senses’. When you walk through the streets, you never know if your ear drums will suddenly pop from the endless honking, or your nose will be overwhelmed by a pungent smell of rotten garbage, or your eyes will be shocked to see a naked baby crawling in his home, the sidewalk. The visual intensity of Mumbai is slowly starting to hit me as the jetlag wears off. I constantly see people sitting on the sidewalks and a big part of me expects them to be selling something but if you look closely, the sidewalk is their home. I have never seen people hanging off the side of the trains as the train is in full motion or sitting on top of the trains. It feels like there is an endless movement of people and animals on the streets, even into late hours of the night.

I started my work with Akanksha this week. Akanksha has 33 centers in Mumbai(and 22 in Pune) as well as a myriad of other programs for the children in their centers. I visited a number of their centers and I was so impressed by how much they do with so little. Akanksha runs an after school center for children from slums and they have designed a unique English based curriculum to fill in gaps in formal education and to develop the unique potential of every child. Since the children come from Hindi, Urdu or Marathi(language in the state of Maharshta) based schools, learning English is a challenge but is key to their success. I expected centers to be permanent physical spaces that are used solely by Akanksha. But instead centers are under utilized spaces that are donated to Akanksha-office buildings, Nehru Planetarium, an actress’ home, municipal schools. Its amazing how little physical or material things Akanksha needs to stimulate their children: they take out their straw mats, sit on the floot, use a scrap piece of paper and the children’s eyes light up with curiosity. When some of these spaces are closed, Akanksha will hold their programs in halls or even outside. I am impressed by the teachers whose passion and dedication to the children emanates from them as they challenge the children to think deeper, to dream more and to learn as much as they can. In one center I visited, the children were writing a poem about an emotion they felt and they had to associate a color with it. One girl said anger is like a gray sky and the teacher probed her to be more descriptive.

By looking at the children in the centers, I would never guess the communities they come from. Their eyes are glistening and their smiles are overwhelming. I was able to visit one community with two social workers this week and I was shocked by what I saw. This specific community is right behind the planetarium, which is used as a center, and is very close to a very posh mall. I have never seen such poverty-each house was one small room, with many family members sleeping on the floor. The narrow passageways, the quantity of people residing there, and the amount of garbage make it unbearable. As we were walking from house to house, I suddenly recognized a boy from the Learning to Lead program(an Akanksha center for gifted children) and I couldn’t believe that the child who is writing poems and essays lives in such poverty. It is hard to describe the living conditions and to depict this kind of poverty. It is difficult to make sense of the existence of such insanity, in a world that is overabundant with material things. As various Akanksha children recognized the social worker, they came up and gave her a hug and flashed their beautiful smiles.

Yesterday I knew for certain that I would feel at home in Mumbai. After working in Learning to Lead(gifted program), I took the train with 2 girls from that program. These eleven year old girls take three trains every day in order to attend Akanksha. One of them said “Didi(elder sister), you were a stranger to us and we were strangers to you. But now you are our Didi and we will take care of you.” And they did-when we boarded the incredibly packed train, they made sure to explain which stop I had to get off at and before they got off, they even asked a woman to tell me my stop. I asked the girls what they were going to do at home. One of them said she was going to fetch water because even though there is a water tap in her house, the tanks are still being cleaned. The girls told me how they used to live in a hut on the sidewalk but then the government demolished it and gave them houses in buildings. I asked them which they liked better: they said that they liked the huts better because they had a lot of friends to play with.

Am I there yet?

2007-05-31T21:44:00.000-07:00

I am leaving for India tomorrow evening and I have a long trip before I arrive to Mumbai on sunday morning. I will spending some time in Kuwait catching up on reading and learning about all of the potential travel destinations in India from my Lonely Planet guide. I already feel like a child on a long road trip, anxious to get to my destination. I have been looking forward to this experience all year and I am pretty excited to embark on this intense and challenging adventure. My supervisor recommended that I either get help taking the trains or take a cab to work the first day because of how intense Mumbai rush hour train experience is--it is humbling to think that I will be vulnerable and I will have to learn a whole new system/culture/way of life. My 'independent- i can do anything' attitude will have to be put on hold as I adjust to a new city with its own vibe and idiosyncracies.

I have spoken to many people about India and I have gotten some funny and informative comments. The most frequent comment was DO NOT DRINK TAP WATER. I get the sense that India is full of contrasts and contradictions and that is what makes it so exciting. I am also very inspired by the social movements in Mumbai, especially around the issues of slum and land ownership. I am very excited to meet some of these grassroots leaders. I am also incredibly excited to meet the kids and youth that I will work with. If they are anything like my children in Chile, I know that I will be constantly challenged by their wisdom and inspired by their resilience.

In all honesty, I am incredibly nervous-how will I manage the hectic commute to work? will I survive the heat? Will I be able to communicate well with the children? Will I be able to make an impact in one summer? But besides being nervous, I am also thrilled to have this opportunity-traveling opens up so many of my senses and makes me much more open to people, ideas, and places. The chance to be vulnerable is a catalyst for great learning. Given my deep connection to the shantytown in Chile, I am curious to gain a whole new insight into slums and the creative ways that slum dwellers find to survive.

I hope you will join me on this adventure, keep me company through the amazing and rough moments and leave your own impressions and comments.

Chile thoughts from my last trip in December 2006

2007-05-12T23:17:00.000-07:00

La Toma…

It was definitely strange to return to the Toma, to see most of it covered by trees and trash. The quietness and calmness of the toma, with only 300 families left, shocked me. On a regular Sunday afternoon, the toma would be bustling with women buying groceries, cleaning, kids playing in the streets and men fixing and repairing their houses. This time the toma was a ghost town, with very few people in the streets. When I showed the film Era de Hielo 2, it really surprised me how hard it was to find kids to watch the movie. That was the first time that it really hit me that the toma of now is not the same community I have known for the past six years and have given all of myself to. I was pleased to see many of my families in their own houses, one big step up from the shantytown. Even with the horror stories of the moving process, of being rushed to pack up their things and being moved by military trucks, arriving to their new homes, with many illusions, only to see unfinished houses, without a wall, without a solid floor and many times not even ready to be moved into, even with all these stories, now almost a year later each family is fixing their house given their resources and are happy to become property owners in a booming comuna de Penalolen. Their stories about moving from toma to their houses reinforced what I already knew about Chile and Chilean politics: poor people didn’t deserve the same dignified treatment as others did. It’s ok to give poor people houses that are not inhabitable and asking them to invest limited resources only to finish the most basic parts of the house. Overall, having an address, paved streets and owning property will definitely let them climb the social ladder. The families that are hard working and responsible will succeed without a doubt. The families with drug and alcohol habits and with constant unemployment will struggle just as much as they did in the toma. Even though there were kids playing in the streets of the new community, and many stores appeared the same as before, there was a different vibe. Each family was only out for itself, each family worried about itself and noone else. Even as I walked home every day, I looked ahead and didn’t say hello to the neighbors, most of whom I didn’t know. But in the shantytown, on a walk home, I would have run into many people and chatted with each and every one. The people who remained in the toma regret not having chosen to receive the houses, especially as they visit their old neighbors in solid houses. They now live as prisoners, surrounded by barbed wire and 24 hours police vigilance. The violence inflicted by the police on the shantytown dwellers is repulsive. The stories of constant searching, constant questioning by the permanent police presence is exhausting and denigrating. It made me profoundly sad to see many of my kids still in the toma because I felt like they remained stagnant while their peers moved on. As I was leaving the toma the day before returning to the United States, after having said good bye to Lorena and a few other families, I stopped at the porton(main entrance), closely watched by the cops and I looked around, I really looked around.

Suddenly vivid images of a vibrant and passionate community of allegados who decided to take their fate into their own hands flooded me. I remembered the endless nightly meetings about fighting for their basic human right, casa digna. I remember Alexis Parada’s, the main leader of the toma, ideological speeches about their common struggle for a more dignified existence and how only through unity and solidarity can they achieve that goal. I remember the fogatas, campfires, on almost every corner in the shantytown and the sopaipillas stands. I remember being overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of really humble people, whose most valuable possession was sense of family. I remember the plethora of children playing, riding bikes, flying kites, and playing hopscotch. All these memories suddenly came back to me as I was looking at piles of trash and newly planted trees. The contrast between the past and the present reminded me of how fast things change and the importance of valuing the past while embracing the present. I remembered how I had the same feeling when I visited my grandmother’s house in Moldova. The contrast between how it was in my childhood memories, and the staleness of how it was 11 years later was stark. The lesson, a seemingly simple and plain one, is that things change, places change and it is up to us to value the memories while projecting towards the future. As I stood in the porton of the toma, I felt a chapter of my life closing, it was a short chapter that shaped me and influenced me in the most profound of ways. In the time I spent in the toma, I gave all of myself to the children and made some really profound connections to many families. I had many unforgettable beautiful moments and I also faced many obstacles and had many harsh moments. My experience in the toma was in many ways, an experience of stark contrasts—a reflection of Chile in the general, and a valuable life lesson. I am not sure when I will be back to Chile and even when I come back, it will be different.

My trip reinforced how rich I am: the fact that I know such kind and generous people and that I have maintained contacts with many people over a long time. The fact that Sra. Rosa’s house felt like home(a Mapuche family I have known for many years and who hosted me for one month) and I didn’t want to sleep anywhere else reveals how comfortable I felt. It is amazing to have such a close connection to a family. During the despedida in Kassandra’s house(one of the scholarship recipients), I looked around and I felt really blessed to have met these people, learned from them, having being able to help them in a small way and being fortunate to receive their love and friendship.

Is courage the answer?

2007-05-12T22:33:00.000-07:00

On friday, I found very useful piece of advice from a very unlikely source. I was never a big fan of Tupac or rap music in general but I was curious to hear his mother speak. Afeni Shakur, mother of the famous American rapper Tupac Shakur and an important member of the Black Panther Party, urged the audience (high school students and a few Kennedy school students) to have courage. She urged us to have courage to act, to do something about the world we live in, no matter how bad we think the situation is. Initially I dismissed her words because courage doesn't seem all that relevant. Besides courage, one needs resources and power to be able to change the things we don't like about our lives and our society.

I volunteer with Central American immigrants who as adults are learning how to read and write: a really admirable endeavor given how vulnerable you have to make yourself to learn something so basic. Today, I was correcting a paragraph one woman had written about moving to the United States because in El Salvador she lived in poverty and how this forced her to separate from her family and children until she could bring them to the US. As we were correcting her writing, she said how other students in the class were afraid to write down their stories because of the grammatical errors they make, that they use the wrong letter and write down words too close together. Even though I had worked with this group of students for a few months, I did not fully grasp the fear and hesitance they felt in making simple spelling or grammatical mistakes. So suddenly Afeni Shakur's words came to life. I should have urged the students in this literacy class to have courage: courage to make mistakes and to make themselves vulnerable.

Afeni Shakur left an impression on me. She was very critical of herself and was honest about her mistakes and short comings. She urged the audience to care for the weakest in society: the children and the elderly. She talked about how anger and vengeance ruled her life for a long time until she realized that they were more destructive than constructive. She recounted how she calmly sat in front of the killer of her son during a deposition and felt no overt hatred towards him. She emphasized how it was easy to urge others to change but much more difficult to create change within herself. And that is the most important starting point.

I know that I need to have courage to stay true to my essence and to follow my gut feeling when I make critical life decisions.

Communism-reason to celebrate?

2007-05-06T20:18:00.000-07:00

So there I was at a Communist party, surrounded by Lenin, Fidel, Che and many other communist historical figures. A piece of the Berlin Wall stands out as the most creative costume. I definitely did a double take to make sure that Gorbachev wasn't really next to me.

As one of the few people there who actually lived under real communism, I had a strange sensation looking around the room full of drunk and jolly graduate students. For most people there, communism is a fascinating ideology and way of life that was the epitome of evil for many years. For most of my classmates, getting communist attire involved buying a shirt with sickle and hammer at Urban Outfitters in Harvard Square. I thought it was great to be able to drink and party in a communist theme party-i loved everyone's unique renditions of communist heroes, from Cuba, Yugoslavia, Vietnam, China. I even found out that a few of my classmates were fellow pioneers during their childhoods in former communist states.

I have struggled to reconcile with the difference between communist ideology and communist reality for a long time. I was a pioneer and a staunch believer in communist ideology-i wanted to be loyal to my country. Lenin was my hero and inspiration. During my first few years in the US, I had a really difficult time reconciling hypocrisy of the Soviet government. I couldn't understand how a government that promised so much to its citizens for their unwavering loyalty and support, could betray them in so many profound ways. Soviet citizens were not given a choice to be passive observers of their government-they toiled the land (picked potatoes), built schools, served in the military, and perpetuated communist ideology within the home and outside. Yet an honest look at the trajectory of the Soviet government leaves much to be desired: labor camps, repression of ideas, thoughts and actions, repression of any religion, and overt discrimination against Jews, Chernobyl disaster, etc.

For all of my classmates, who have never lived under communism, I recommend watching the Lives of Others (http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/thelivesofothers/) This film is the closest one can ever come to understand the psychology behind communist propaganda-just how much it permeates every second of your existence and the power that it has over every relationship in your life. It is difficult to fathom just how communist propaganda strips you of your humanity when it forces you to give up everything and everyone for the sake of the communist party. I also recommend reading When Night Falls by Reinaldo Arenas, who shows how Fidel's Cuba excluded gays from its ideology of equality and justice.

But I feel strongly that there is no reason to think of communism and get depressed. The cold war is over and communist ideology can serve to inspire. It can definitely serve as a basis for a great party!

Tufts Distinguished Service Award

2007-04-30T06:44:00.000-07:00

This past saturday I attended the Tufts Distinguished Service Award dinner. I got invited through the Tisch college and my inactive membership to active citizenship alumni group. (yes, i know it's ironic) But I am not one to miss out on catered meals and moving speeches. The alumni being honored ranged from film makers to dentists and each had a unique inspirational story. You can read about all of them here: http://www.tufts.edu/alumni/07-n-archive/n-dsawinners07.html I'll highlight four recipients that really stood out!

The one that really stood out in my mind was this incredibly tall man, Daniel J. Doherty, III, H03. (Founder and principal of Eastern Development, LLC. Strong advocate for many youth causes, and avid supporter and board member of numerous charitable and academic concerns.) You read his bio and you picture this successful wealthy man who has run his own real estate business for many years. But his story was inspirational-he is from Medford and started Tufts many years ago but couldn't afford to stay more than one year. He became involved in a fraternity and remain involved even after leaving Tufts and attending U Mass. He didn't feel challenged by his classes there and a professor gave him a word of advice: Either you challenge yourself academically or go out into the world. So Daniel did that-he began to work in real estate and the buildings and land he develops is worth billions of dollars. Tufts gave him an honorary degree in 2003. So when Daniel got up there to give his acceptance speech, he choked up. I am not used to seeing men choke up. He defies what one stereotypes about Tufts, or any private north eastern university-that everyone is well off and has it easy. Not only did Daniel make it with much struggle and sacrifice but he has contributed significantly to Tufts community and Medford community through the many youth causes he is involved in. So when you think of public service or community development, it doesn't have to be helping a small village in Africa or educating street kids. Real community development means helping those that are right around you and need the extra help. I came up to Daniel after the dinner and told him how inspirational his story was and how his voice needs to be heard more often. He seemed really humbled by all of the attention he got that evening.

My other favorite recipient was Bernard E. Maney, M.D., A49, M53, J81P. He is the former president of the Falmouth Free Clinic, which provides medical services for the uninsured of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It was moving to watch this elderly man talk about realizing how many uninsured people were visting the emergency room because that was the only way they would get free help. He talked about the struggles of expanding a free community clinic from 5 volunteer doctors to 75. The problem of the ininsured in America deserves to get much more attention.

I was also incredibly inspired by two twin sisters Tufts alumni who are athletes and film makers. Nancy Stern and Lisa Lax produced a film about a disabled athlete in Ghana who galvanizes the entire nation around the issue of disability. Besides being an inspiring and moving film, it serves as a testament that policy change can come from many channels, not just politics. The president of Ghana, after seeing all the attention this young man received abroad, decided that maybe he had something to say. He invited the young man to talk about these issues which resulted in the disability act passing in Ghana, a truly revolutionary change. (I should mention that through contacts with EPIIC, the sisters let me screen the film last year in NY for a fundraiser for the Esperanza Scholarship Fund!!!!) At my table, we were discussing how in the old days you had to be involved in politics to create social change. Now you can make films, make art work, or write a blog!

The dinner was a great reminder of how broad public service is-how it is not confined to the developed world helping developing world paradigm. (To really get this point read about Lorenzo Lepore, D.M.D., A74 who founded the ONLY system for sterilizing wind instruments.)