Gist : Introduction - The Visit - Analysis and Suggestions - On the
projects initiated and coordinated by volunteers from abroad - Contact
 

 Introduction :
   In this report, we will first look at the achievements of Jyotirgamaya as seen
during my April 2001 visit, suggestions and things to do in the days to come.
The unique nature of this project, as being initiated and coordinated successfully
by Ravi Verma (an Asha-USA volunteer) has prompted me to consider, in the
accompanying Appendix projects initiated by volunteers abroad in general. Such
an exercise is also to encourage more volunteers to take up the challenge like
Ravi Verma.

  Following some hard-hitting messages (on Mar 25th 2001) by Ravi Verma
that key Asha volunteers in India are negligent of their responsibility towards
the Katihar(*) initiative, Asha India team resolved to make quick amends. My visit
to Katihar was part of this.

 Jyotirgamaya is a fresh initiative to address the educational needs of children
in Katihar. Currently, there are two evening centres run by Jyotirgamaya for a
total of about 70 children. The plan is to work in collaboration with the
government teachers and officials as well as with active local NGOs like Bal
Mahila Kalyan.

* Katihar is the district headquarters of Katihar district, which is one of the
easternmost districts of Bihar  and borders West Bengal.

 The Visit :

 Vinaybhai (of Asha Ballia) and I were on a Bihar tour to visit NGOs which had
submitted proposals to Lucknow chapter. Unfortunately, Vinaybhai had to return
to Ballia to take care of wheat harvesting in his farmland so I proceeded alone from
Patna to Katihar. This was an overnight train journey in an over-crowded
unreserved compartment. I reached Katihar early in the morning.
 

 First I held discussions with Rajeev Kumar, the project coordinator of Jyotirgamaya
at Katihar, at his home and with coordinators of BMK(Bal Mahila Kalyan), a local
NGO, dedicated to empowering adolescent girls, which has been of some help to the
project, in their office. Then I visited some nearby tolas(*) and later I visited the Oraon
Tola and Yadav Tola, where Jyotirgamaya runs its educational centres. After seeing
the classes run by Rajeev, meeting the children and the parents I left Katihar back to
Patna by an overnight train.

* tola is part of a larger administrative village, usually a closely-knit geographic or ethnic unit.

 Discussion with Rajeev Kumar :

 Rajeev Kumar is the eldest son of his family which looks forward to him to take good
care of it. He has done M.Sc(Chemistry) in 1994 and B.Ed in 1996. He is preparing for
competitive examination in the hope of getting a government job. Since 1997 he has
been giving private coaching for 7th to 10th Std students to earn a supplemental income
for his family. He charges about Rs.100 per student for classes everyday from 2:30 pm
to 3:30 pm and this earns him about Rs. 1500 per month.

 In 2001, Ravi Verma  started the Jyotirgamaya project for underprivileged children and
from the inception of the project Rajeev has been running two motivational study centres.
He runs the Oraon tola centre( 4 pm to 5 pm) for about 50 children of adivasi community
and the Yadav tola centre (5 pm to 6 pm) for 20 children of Yadav community. These
centres are located in each of the community areas to facilitate greater attendance of
children rather than in one place. The centres are not regular school but motivational
centres, as most of the children are enrolled in  government schools. In the morning from
7 am to 11 am he visits the tolas to make sure children go to school. He sometimes goes to
children's homes, wakes them up and takes  them to school.

 The motivational centres are run to make children interested in studies by giving basic
literacy and also by story telling and game playing. Small kids(1st Std or Kintergarden)
are taught to count upto 100 and also stories (from books published by Eklavya) are  read
out. For 2nd and 3rd Std students mathematics (addition,  subtraction) and language
(reading and writing) becomes the focus. General awareness about health and cleanliness
is also given.

 Rajeev regularly(twice or thrice a week) visits BMK office to get advice from Anila Devi
and Naveen Rai.
 Every Saturday there is a parents meeting in which parents, Rajeev Kumar and sometimes
Anila Devi of BMK meet and have a discussion. The parents are encouraged to monitor the
child's development. Usually the parents complaint about the non-functioning of
government school.

 The Oraon Tola Primary school has no building and is run on temple premises. Poonam
Devi, Arula Poddar and Ganesh Jha are government teachers in the primary school. The
three teachers were busy with census 2001 work from Jan to March 2001 and the school has
been shut down for these months. Since then, Ganesh Jha has become busy with Panchayat
elections during April 2001 and could not take his classes.

 Rajeev expressed interest in knowing more about Asha. He wanted to get more printed
material about Asha, its goals, its activities,etc. He also wanted funds for buying learning
material for the centres and a honorarium for his work as of my visit date he has not been
getting any funds for the project. Rajeev also wanted to get some teachers training and also
interact with groups doing similar work.

 Rajeev has kept a meticulous record of all his Jyotirgamaya activities from day one. This
is an impressive habit he has. In the record one can see on each day what he did, where he
went, whom he met, how many children attended the classes, what he taught in the
class, etc. In addition to this I suggested him to keep also a record of lesson he has learnt,
new ideas that he gets, minutes of meeting with others and success and failure in his
attempts.

  Before we left from Rajeev's home, Ravi Verma called up from USA( he got news about
my surprise visit through Rajeev) and I talked with him for a few minutes. Ravi wanted me
to meet with the parents of children to get their feedback on the educational centres.

Meeting with BMK coordinators:

Rajeev cancelled his private coaching classes and we visited the BMK premises by
afternoon. BMK focuses on young women and adolescent girls. The idea is to provide basic
literacy and vocational skills for economic empowerment. BMK works with dalit and
adivasi tolas. Anila Devi and Naveen Rai of BMK showed me how they make jute products
by  making the thread, dyeing, making a design, weaving,etc. After the initial training, the
women become the experts and do all the work.

I asked Anila Devi if they can make some jute product with 'Asha'  written on it. Later, she
sent by post two jute doormats as gifts to me which I have presented to Richa  and Jayashree.
I am sure, with 'Asha' written on it, they are not being used as doormats !

Some girls were having a embroidery class and I briefly talked to them. Most of them were
very shy. There were two girls in this group whose age cannot be more than 20 who were
deserted by their husbands. One of them was a Muslim girl. They now look forward to a
lifetime alone and the vocational skills they get here will be key in ensuring economic
indepedence and hopefully exploitation given their vulnerableness. The trainer in this class
herself was trained in BMK and explained to me that she too was shy and  closed when
she first came in.

Then we visited the nearby tolas. The community here was busy with making a great variety
of traditional hand-made products including brooms, brushes, flutes other musical
instruments. The community complained that they are going out of business because of
flooding of plastic products in the market. Some innovative change in the products they
make and materials they use can help them remain in the market. Anila Devi seems to have
good relation with the community.

We were already late for the Oraon Tola classes and we hurried to the tola and found the
children waiting for Rajeev.

Oraon Tola Educational Centre :

The tola as maintained a rural ambience, even as one can see concrete buildings surrounding
it.  About 40 children were seated in the open on plastic sheets. Rajeev sat in the centre and
began teaching the children. Because of the presence of BMK staff and me gradually the
villagers started crowding around. I tried to talk to some of the children but found it
difficult to communicate as they could not understand Hindi. But the children did try to
recite some poems and read out some passages from their book.

As more parents arrived, we made them sit down on the side and began a discussion with
them. A couple of members from the village education committee - Shanka Prasad Yadav
and Lalmuni Devi - were also present. The villagers, taking me to be a government official,
complained to me that there is no electricity and water from tubewells is unreliable. I
changed topic to ask them about the motivational centre. They said they are all very  happy
with what Rajeev is doing. I asked them if they can't provide a small shed where the
children can sit comfortably. The village head promised me that he will follow up. He said
he'll collect Rs.25 from each family and build a small shed in the village common land for
the motivational centre. This needs to be followed up.

I then asked the villagers about how the government school is functioning. At this Lalmuni
Devi said the school is running well and it just needs infrastructure as the classes are held in
front of a mandir (Hindu Temple). However, other village women disagreed with Lalmuni
and said
 - unlike Rajeev, the government teachers drive away small children
 - often the teachers keep chatting amongst themselves ignoring the children
 - often go to drink tea
 - keep beating the children for maintaining silence
 - dont show things by writing on slate which is how Rajeev teaches

However, some women added that, "but not all mistake is made by teachers. Guardians (they
use a distorted Hindi-ised garjians) dont send children to school. Even Rajeev has to come
and collect the children for the evening class."

Later, I discussed with Naveen Rai why Lalmuni gave a clean chit to the teachers. He felt
that among the residents of the tola she comes from a slightly better off family and feels
she must protect the image of the teachers in their absence who she thinks belong to a higher
class than the villagers.

After the meeting, the women sang some songs for us. BMK works in this tola organising
the women into self-help groups.We then went to the Yadav tola where Rajeev had already
left for starting the class on time.

Yadav Tola Educational Centre :

The Yadav tola classes are held in a small tent-like structure(with tatched roof at 5 feet
height) in front of a home whose residents have lent it. There were about 15 children in this
centre. In addition were present a 30 year-old man and a lame boy of 20. I asked the
boy what he was doing here and he said, "I am here to learn to read and write. I had polio
when I was young and had to drop out of school. Now Rajeev is allowing me to learn what I
missed out." Even as we discussed about the centres in the verandah, some passersby joined
our discussion or dropped a word of praise for the motivational centre.

Analysis and Suggestions

 The centres :

The two centres are functioning regularly with the twin goal of providing basic literacy and
motivating the children towards education. The relationship with the parents of the children
is very good. Average attendance is above 80 % which is commendable for non-formal
centres.

 The centres should work towards a better quality of education going beyond literacy.

 The timing of the classes needs 10  to 20 minutes interval to give time for the teacher to go
from one tola to another.

Resources :

 Rajeev has been working voluntarily for Jyotirgamaya which is commendable. However,
given  his family situation he needs to be given a honorarium to sustain the good work.

 Jyotirgamaya reports and website(*) indicate that there are four to five Asha Stars in this
project. However, as of the date of my visit no funds have been given to the local team. Asha
Stars should commit financially to help the project and must work towards swift transfer of
funds.

 Material resources for better quality of learning are needed. The children would benefit if
the project provides slates, notebooks, pencils,etc. in addition to books and other learning
materials.

 There is a need to identify a good place to run the centres. Particularly, the Oraon tola
classes need immediate attention. A centre can be constructed by funds from both Asha and
the villagers.

* Asha Katihar website  http://www.katihar.org/jyotirgamaya (sometimes inaccesible)

Jyotirgamaya Team :

 Except for good will and advice, Rajeev is the only working member of Jyotirgamaya on
the  ground. He must be strongly encouraged to build a team of volunteers who can share the
work. This will help in extending the work to other tolas, exchange of ideas and also prevent
his burnout.

Primary Schools :

 The evening classes should be seen as motivating children to attend regular primary school
and not as their substitute. A relationship with school teachers and Jyotirgamaya need to be
established. The government authorities must be urged to construct primary school building.
The demand for building and regular classes by the teachers needs to come from the villagers.
For this constant sensitisation and awareness sessions are necessary. Particularly, the village
education committee needs to have vigilant members, unlike the current situation of
complacent ones.
 

 Jyotirgamaya and Asha :

 Jyotirgamaya is an Asha initiative. It needs to be connected well to the larger Asha
community. Firstly, financial support that it needs should reach. Further it must be
connected to Asha groups in India. Particularly, with Asha Ballia. Rajeev and future
Jyotirgamaya team must participate in Asha India semi-annual meetings and other active
volunteers meetings.
 

 Jyotirgamaya and BMK :

 The postive relation established with BMK, has helped Jyotirgamaya gain acceptance
with the people. Greater concrete collaboration with BMK  needs to be explored. BMK
can be asked to step in to give regular inputs to improve the  quality of education.

Jyotirgamaya and other groups:

 Rajeev needs regular input on improving his teaching methodologies. Exposure visits
to good groups and possibly training for Rajeev need to be arranged.  Some groups like
Swanirvar (West Bengal), Eklavya(M.P) are already known. I've also recently come to
know of a good group Anandalaya (in Jharkhand). Groups closer to Katihar need to be
identified too.

Asha and BMK :

 As BMK is a good group, Asha can explore collaboration with this group, particularly
on giving vocational training for young women and adolescent girls. Asha can also take
up  marketing of products(like jute products) made by BMK. The doormats mentioned
earlier are sold at Rs.25 in the local market. Asha can increase both the sales as well as
the sales  price of such products thus providing livelihood for the girls.
 Volunteers interested can talk to Richa or Jayashree to get an idea of the kind and
quality  of the products.

Appendix : On the projects in India initiated and coordinated by volunteers from abroad

 Jyotirgamaya belongs to a special class of Asha projects. As of date we have only two of
them, the other being Project Pride(*). They are both initiated and sustained by the efforts of
Asha-USA volunteers. It is no wonder for us to see projects initiated and coordinated by
Asha India volunteers, as this is similar to other NGO or grassroots work. Howeve,
projects initiated by projecpeople from abroad is of a different kind and needs closer
attention and  appreciation.

 We will first consider the commonalities between the two projects, then the key
differences and see in the end if we can say something about such projects in general.

* Project Pride works with the mission of making Besant Nagar beach a pride of Chennai
by  August 15th, 2002 and holds withing its scope the education and employment of the
fisherfolk community living in the beaches.

Commonalities of Project Pride and Jyotirgamaya :

Project Pride was conceived and initiated by D.P.Prakash (Asha Vermont) and
Jyotirgamaya by Ravi Verma (Asha Sacramento). Both projects began in Jan-Feb 2001.
Both volunteers campaigned intensely during their India visits meeting key officials,
NGOs and local community.  This has given them a good idea of the ground situation.
They have both identified one reliable action-oriented volunteer on the ground (Vimal
in Project Pride and  Rajeev in  Jyotirgamaya). Identifying the key volunteer has been
the most important step towards their success. Both projects work for well-defined
communities. However, after they left India, they have been in touch and remained
involved from long distance. Both  projects have received positive encouragement
from Asha community.

 Inspite of regular local activity, the initiating USA volunteers are expected to play key
roles and both the projects are still struggling to build a local team of volunteers. As
these projects are less than six months old, we can be confident that they'll both build a
local team as well as start functioning independently in coming years.

These projects should help volunteers based abroad rethink about the  best ways they can contribute. Despondent cliches like 'what can I do sitting here'
must go out of the volunteers vocabulary.

Differences between Project Pride and Jyotirgamaya :

Project Pride, based in Chennai, a metropolitan city whereas Jyotirgamaya is based in a
remote district of Bihar. Thus Project Pride has gotten widespread attention with a large
Asha volunteer support (particularly of those with affinities in Chennai).  Jyotirgamaya
because of its remote location has a tougher challenge in building support and has
consequently moved slower. Project Pride has a broad agenda of social change with
education as one of many means, whereas Jyotirgamaya is a focused project on providing
better schooling. Jyotirgamaya, if it retains its focus, can expand its reach to more
villages even as Project Pride sharpens its focus in the coming years.

General comments :

 We can look at such projects as evolving through many phases. Volunteers who want to
initiate similar projects do not necessarily have to proceed in this manner. It is given here
to serve a broad guide.

 The inital phase includes an intense campaign of visits, meeting and brainstorming
with all concerned, building an attractive vision and convincing others of the viability
of the venture. Identifying an action-oriented reliable volunteer on the ground before
leaving the ground is the toughest challenge. Finding one, during a single visit may be
the exception than the rule. Thus it would be ideal if the volunteer initiates a project
at a place where s/he is likely to visit often.

 Building support base abroad  comes soon after. Once again the vision and the viability
of the venture are put under scrutiny from a support group perspective.

 Next come the phase where a local team comes in place that takes the work beyond what
one or two key volunteers can alone accomplish. Only when the project gets past this stage
can we be sure that it has stabilised beyond the whims of individuals.

 With a stable team working both locally and a world-wide team supporting it, the
priorities have to revisited and major changes in mission are likely. (As an aside, if we
view 'volunteer abroad' as a metaphor for volunteerism, Asha has a whole can be said to
be located in this stage.)

 Next, the volunteer from abroad has to devise ways to get this local team to work
independently. As the initiating volunteer is now far from the ground (else the project
wouldn't fall in this special class) his decisions as well as priorities may not be fully
informed.  As Sun Tzu says(*), one of the three ways in which a ruler can bring
misfortune upon his army is "by commanding the army to advance or to retreat, being
ignorant of the fact that it cannot obey. This is called hobbling the army." Indeed a good
ruler lets his generals take all decisions on the battlefield only setting broad campaign
goals. Though we no longer live in a world like that of Sun Tzu, what  he says deserves
attention. The local team must learn to make sound decisions without expecting to be
guided at every step by the initiating volunteer who is now abroad as much as he makes
an effort to let the team make decisions and be responsible for them. The initiating
volunteer can however retain his role of keeping the project aligned with its vision and
core principles.

 For this, a broadening of the communication and support base will be a useful strategy.

 The entire local team (not just one member of the team) and the entire support team(not
just the iniating volunteer) should be able to communicate regularly with each other. For
this all methods and ways of communication has to be explored. Visits to the project by
many others should be encouraged. This will continue to give a fresh perspectives about
the project which may differ from that of the local and as well as remote support team.
 Local support groups for the local team should be built. The local team should be
encouraged to build liaisons with nearby groups which can complement its work.

* Chapter 3, The Art of War, Sun Tzu

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