Field Trip, part 2

As I said in the earlier blog post, the people in the first “Hollywood” slum seemed to be optimistic, and united against the common enemy. However, in the other places that we visited, the same cannot be said.

After a traditional Gujarati lunch, we took a 30 minute rickshaw ride to the very edge of Ahmedabad. Because I was so full from the lunch, I closed my eyes for a short time in the rickshaw. One moment we were in the city, where everything smells like spice, with a small amount of exhaust. When I opened my eyes, I smelled chemicals. It felt like we had completely left the city. There were warehouses, and smokestacks that rose into the sky.

The rickshaws took a turn off the main road, and there was row after row of warehouses, with not a person in sight. Then, huge gray concrete angular buildings appeared out of nowhere. Honestly, I felt that it was a bit futuristic, in a bad way. The buildings looked modern and functional, but the society was not as advanced as the buildings seemed to be. The buildings were very imposing, and seemed to be the complete opposite of the community we had visited a mere 2 hours ago.

When we got there, people began to crowd around us, much like the earlier community. Small trundle-like beds were brought out for us to sit on, while on lookers crowded around us to listen to the conversation Beena Mam was starting. The whole conversation was in Gujarati, so the interns only understood what was being translated for us. We heard them talking about how they got uprooted from their homes on the riverfront, and the community that they belonged to. Many of them did domestic work in homes nearby. But because of their relocation and where they are now, the cost of going back into the city for work is more than what they would actually be making. This forces them to work in the factories, which are very dangerous, and they do not know how to navigate. Their water is extremely dangerous, and makes them sick. It was a lot to take in as an outsider, and as someone who is not in the powerful position to help them.

As a team, we all felt that there was some miscommunication to the people on what our role there was. While we were just visiting, the people may have misinterpreted “foreigners” with “help”. While they were telling us about all their hardships, we felt as though there was nothing that we could actually do. Debriefing with the team this morning, I think we all felt better discussing the point of the field trip, which was not to feel pitiful about how we can’t immediately help them, but savor the fact that ultimately, the more people that know about their hardships and spread the word is better than none. 

Field Trip!

Today was quite a day, and I am still in the process of thinking about it. I will try to paint a clear picture to all of you.

           

We got up, and went to St. Xavier’s College to meet up with the rest of the ITSA team. We met up with Bina Mam, who helps slum dwellers fight for their land and rights. The government is constantly trying to destroy the slums, and relocate the dwellers, but she tries to get legal aid to those living in the slums, so that they can take the government to court.

The first stop on the trip was the “Hollywood” slum, as they are called because the women that live there are especially beautiful, and their amazing jewelry (nose rings, toe rings, anklets, bracelets; you name it, they were wearing it). They told us the history of how they came to be on that spot of land, and their struggles with the government. Many of their houses have been torn down, but they just keep rebuilding. They don’t actually know who owns the land that they are living on, and the government still hasn’t told them. But they are the seventh generation of people in that slum! They also said that they were known for being very honest people, which has helped them in the eyes of the law.

They have upcoming trials, which they have been preparing for. We wish them the best!

They were all so amazingly warm and kind. They were very open about the struggles they have faced, but they still were optimistic about the future. Compared to some of the communities that we saw later today, and which I will talk about in a different post, these people were very united. They acknowledged that there are several different denominations within one slum, but they all agree to come together and join forces against the government who is trying to destroy all of their homes. This was a sharp juxtaposition with other internally displaced people that we also visited later in the day. 

Their trade is to make Ganesh idols, and other Hindu gods. The city needs them to do this, but they just want to get rid of their "ugly" homes. 

Slums do look ugly from the outside, but once you are inside, you can see that it is a lively thriving community. People were happy to show us their homes, and allowed me to take pictures of them. I will leave you with some of the best from the day!

The Two-Week-Iversary

Hello readers, I am a new addition to the ITSA travellog! My name is Sadie, and I am a rising senior at Bard High School Early College. I'm excited to be working with ITSA this summer!

Today is the two week anniversary of arriving in India! It is crazy to think that it has only been two weeks—it feels like it has been so much longer. My first impression of India is that it is a vibrant culture, with the old traditions mixed right in with the new. This was exemplified when I went to the Ghandi ashram and saw business men walking around Ghandi’s house, talking on their cellphones. Or to see some women dressed in shorts, while others are wearing full saris. Also, as an outsider, you simply have to surrender to the culture of India. An example of this has been eating with no utensils. At first, I was a bit squeamish about eating with my hands. It wasn’t that I was grossed out by it, but I was just a bit confused. Will I pick up my cup with my dirty hand, or with the clean one? Can I lick my fingers, or is that rude? During my first real Indian tiffen meal, I finally just gave up on trying to keep my fingers somewhat clean. I surrendered into eating with my hands, and now enjoy stuffing my mouth with delicious pahi pouris in one huge bite!

We’ve been exploring the city as much as possible. We went on the beautiful Heritage Walk through the old city of Ahmedabad. I thought that it was a wandering walk through a beautiful neighborhood that otherwise would have gone unseen by those who are interested. We’ve gone shopping, getting some beautiful pants with crazy prints. We’ve been eating ice cream (I highly recommend Almond Carnival at Havmur), and enough lychees to feed a village. We’ve been watching hilarious Bollywood movies that are over 3 hours long. We have funny, and sometimes exasperating, rickshaw stories to tell. Now, we have more than enough inside jokes to keep us laughing for a looong time.

It’s been great to go through training with the other ITSA interns, and getting to know each other. Personally, it was comforting to go through some aspects of a Bard Thinking & Writing Workshop. The free writes are a time to just let the mind wander, and it really helps me organize my thoughts and to get them down on paper. Once they are there, it makes it so much easier to sift through them. I associate these free writes so closely to BHSEC, and to home, it felt like I brought a part of by daily New York City right into India. Also I highlight for me was getting an in depth lecture on the Indian education system. Honestly, I had no idea how it worked. After getting a lecture from an English teacher from Anand Niketan Silaj school, I had a much better perspective on what ITSA was trying to change, and had a betunderstood the kind of pressure students my age are under to perform well on the Board Exams.

Some of the best moments that have happened these past two weeks were during the discussions that have happened when the whole group was together. We got into some deep topics like violence, safety, and a multitude of others that I can’t remember anymore. It was gratifying to be in a space where everyone is bright, and excited to talk about social issues. The discussions were a great pre-cursor to starting the workshops, and brainstorming ideas to talk about with the students. I feel like everyone is happy to be here, and pumped to facilitate with the students.

Now it is time to get down to business! Putting training to the test, the workshop leaders are beginning to develop their curriculum. It’s going well, and from what I am eavesdropping from the meetings going on around me, they will be thought provoking, inspiring, and fun! There are some field trips in the works, and some mural painting as well. We can’t wait to meet the students this Friday!

ITSA Goes to Latin America!

New team member Isabel Sacks blogs about working with ITSA and her project in the Dominican Republic.

Before starting my freshman year at Swarthmore, where I am now a sophomore, I took a gap year and spent four months living and teaching at a beautiful, bright blue school nestled among the sugarcane fields of rural Dominican Republic called Santa Maria del Batey. Founded in 2000 by Augusto Casasnovas and run by several nuns, the school serves the children of Dominican subsistence farmers and Haitian sugarcane workers, who live in housing clusters called bateyes (hence the school’s name). SMB is the only high school in the immediate area and provides its students not only a quality education from grades K-12, but daily breakfast and lunch and health care. From August to December 2010, I designed and taught my own English curriculum to the third and fourth grades and served as an assistant teacher to the school’s full-time foreign language teacher for the fifth through twelfth grades.

The school’s logo, painted on an outside wall.

In December, I was lucky to be awarded a Lang Opportunity Scholarship work with ITSA to spread its methods quite literally across the globe, from Ahmedabad to Hato Mayor. The Lang Opportunity Scholarship, which also supports ITSA, is awarded annually to six sophomores at Swarthmore College. It provides funding and resources for Scholars to “conceive, design and carry out an Opportunity Project that creates a needed social resource and/or effects a significant social change or improved condition of a community in the United States or abroad” (http://www.swarthmore.edu/lang-center-for-civic-and-social-responsibility/lang-opportunity-scholarship.xml). This summer I will be working with the ITSA workshops, in particular the new Faculty Fellowship Program, and then implementing the method at Santa Maria del Batey in the summer of 2014. The ITSA Faculty Fellowship Program, currently under construction, will incorporate teachers directly into the ITSA model; they will work side by side with ITSA interns to conduct the workshops.

In my mind, the ITSA method is really important in any school or community, anywhere in the world, for two reasons. First, it raises awareness of social justice issues—blatant or invisible, across the world, next door, or in our own lives—and what we can do to address these issues. Second, the development of critical thinking skills through participation in the ITSA workshops makes learning more interesting, empowering, and useful for students. Although I believe that any school could benefit from ITSA workshops, they are particularly applicable to Santa Maria del Batey because of the school’s context (based on my observations and interactions during my four-month stay and three shorter trips). Many students face poverty, malnutrition, violence, abuse, and/or gender discrimination. Religion and Haiti/DR relations cause tension in the community. Electricity and running water are unreliable and most of the students’ parents are illiterate. Despite hardship, though, about 20 teachers and 400 students of all ages travel daily to the school on foot or by motorcycle, sometimes from several miles away, and make learning happen. The students are highly driven to succeed, while the teachers are committed to their students’ academic and personal well-being and the state of education in the DR on the whole.

I have enormous respect for the teachers of Santa Maria del Batey, most of whom have been teaching at the school since its founding, and I will therefore be partnering with them to replicate ITSA at the school. Their dedication and knowledge of the students, school, and community will facilitate the success of the project. I can’t wait to work with ITSA this summer and then return to my home away from home at Santa Maria del Batey!

The fourth grade class in 2010, with me and four of the elementary school teachers.

Me and several girls from the eleventh grade class in 2010, in front of the school.

The eleventh grade class in 2010, with me and several of their teachers.

The class of 2012 (eleventh graders in 2010, as pictured before) at their graduation last June.