Field Journal: Sustainable Development Practicum Chrystal Vavoulidis Auroville, India— December 17th, 2015 - January 13th, 2016
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December 17th: Arrival in Chennai, India It is my first time in India and I had no idea what to expect. The airport seemed to be modern and just like any other airport I have visited in the US, Canada, and in Europe—minus the thorough, painstakingly slow security lines that are separated in female and male queues. As soon as we all collected our baggage from the carrousel conveyor belt we went outside to meet our drivers for the trip. Jaimuti, the head driver, is really tall and slender. The air is hot and humid but the temperature is bearable (so far) even though I am wearing winter clothes. The airport seems really busy, a lot of people coming and going, in and out of the airport, cars almost constantly honking. We all walk to the big white vans, and our welcome to India is almost ceremonial. After lingering a little Jaimuti and the other driver suddenly appear with medium sized boxes. One contained small bananas, the other one water and the other one some really delicious cookies—peanut cookies. After we are given our little treats we are given jasmine flower necklaces which reminds me of the tradition they have in Hawaii, the Lei (a garland like necklace), the flowers were smaller but smelled so fresh. After getting our bags in the van we drove for quite a while to a restaurant for dinner. We washed our hands first, sat down and waited a short time to be served the food. We were served Dosa, a pancake or crepe like flatbread stuffed with a vegetarian stuffing of mixed vegetables. There were also some sauces on the plate and additional ones on the table, they were all somewhat spicy. We each had our own plate (the portions were generous) and then the waiters (they were male), came around serving rice cakes. An elderly lady was there to clean up, with what looked like a kitchen towel. Thoughts and analysis: Arriving in India made me feel welcome, comfortable and exited to be there. The welcoming was warm, friendly, inviting and unique, something I have never experienced before in my travels. Entering the restaurant at night for dinner was also a welcoming experience as we sat wherever we wanted. The food came almost immediately and the staff was really attentive. First impression of the culture and the people are that they are very welcoming and attentive to their guests. As guests we got offered “gifts”(cookies, water, bananas and Lei) and as restaurant customers we got looked after very well. People in Indian society learn to please others from a very young age according to the chapters in “The Indians: Portrait of a People.” This is going to be easy to adapt to and a pleasant stay and first time in India.
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December 20th: Visiting Organizations Today is another day of visiting organizations we may choose to work/volunteer for. Our first stop was Upasana. A nonprofit promoting and advocating for sustainable fashion. Uma the founder of the organization had us watch a video about her company and its sub-units. After the video ended she took questions and showed us around the Upasana facilities. Uma seems like a very driven woman, with passion for what she does. She admits to have made mistakes and she wished that someone could have told her. But in the end she came on top and her resilience is admirable. WasteLess: Wasteless is a very interesting non-profit whose mission is to educate the public, especially targeting kids, to recycle garbage and waste less. Ribhu, one of the founders is very passionate about his organization, its mission and the outreach programs that have been created to target and educate people on how to throw out their waste properly by educating them, the kids mostly, thorough programs like Garbology 101 and pick it up. Ribs used to work for Shell, the giant oil company but has decided to dedicate his life into making the world a better place. He is very involved in the process of recycling and is an active member of his organization. The organization has about 2-3 employees and they are looking for an intern to help them with communications. After he gave us a nice, thorough, and interesting power point presentation he offered to take us to actual landfills. One of the places was called eco service where material was gathered and was recycled (located in Auroville) and the other two were in Pondicherry. One place was a recycling facility and Ribhu called the guy who runs it “garbage gangster.� We also went to the Pondicherry landfill where it was many meters high in waste, people lived there and ate rom there. The smells were unpleasant and
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of course— according to my Western knowledge—unsanitary. Flies were everywhere. It was surprising to see how many creatures lived in that area that none of us would ever think to close even close by. Thoughts and analysis: The founders of the organizations I visited today were very passionate about what they do. They started the organizations because they wanted to resolve an issue in the world. These issues do not only affect them personally but they are issues that many of us face even in the first world. They know their work will have a greater impact in the world and it is not only satisfying to them but they also take pride in what they do. They are dedicated and despite the obstacles they have faced they have not given up. They keep trying, experimenting with new methods and messages to get across, but their mission remain the same. A selfless contribution to sustainable development for their region and country and maybe for the world. If I have learned anything today is that in development one has to put goals but not get discouraged and give up if those goals fail to materialize. When there is a will there is a way to find a method of communication.
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December 21st: Visiting Organizations Today we visited multiple organizations with an array of great projects. The first one is the Auroville Action Group (AVAG). They started in 1983 as charitable work. They worked with small villages in Auroville. In the early 90s they expanded and worked with 5000 women and 1000 men—vilage leaders. Issues they address are: poor communication, stress, depression, patriarchal society, domestic abuse, caste system etc. They use women self-help groups to help the women in need, they also try to help with understanding between the caste groups, they leave it for the community to figure out, and they try to make everyone work to improve their local infrastructure and many more. In their future plans they are looking into environmental health initiatives, a legal support and counseling center among other things. They need: ❖ short video ❖ promotion materials ❖ catalog with tailoring and catalog products ❖ marketing Auroville Institute of Applied Technology (AIAT); The vocational training institute It is a nonprofit that works to empower youth with skills for a better livelihood. It serves the disadvantaged families by giving out scholarships. Only 5% of the population undergoes vocational training in India because University education is sought after as it has prestige attached to it. One of their challenges is to teach people to also value hard manual labor and work. They need: ❖ web page more attractive ❖ presence in social media ❖ brochure for industry ❖ brochure for donors ❖ Film to motivate youth to go for vocational training EcoFemme It is a social enterprise enterprise selling and marketing pads. Their products include re-usable, washable cloth pads and menstrual cups. They also work to educate women about the menstruation process and healthy and environmentally friendly practices. They need: ❖ marketing ❖ video (short) targeting village women ❖ to develop a story line Naturellement A social enterprise that help to empower women from lower classes and casts. It started as a community garden selling natural products such as jams and syrups and over the last few
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years has added a restaurant for the women to work in. The owner Martina only imports olives and olive oil. Her focus is to stay local. They need: ❖ poster ❖ brochure (using information on the website) ❖ Bettering the Cafe part of the website Reach for the Stars Provides scholarships to village kids, especially the first generation getting an education. Boys and girls are supported in this program and it started in 2010. Empowering their students is very important to them. They have individual sponsors. 98% of the money is spent on students and they operate strictly on volunteers. They have 90 students. They need: ❖ crowd funding website ❖ fundraising event (Well Cafe Space) Shristi Village Equal rights equal opportunity for children with disabilities, intellectual disabilities, and an orphanage. The founder, Bartic, has always believed in their skills but nobody attempts to invest in them. So he founded his organization. It is a vocational school for their livelihood. They produce several items to sell to the public but he noticed that people buy for charity and not for the product itself. He needs: ❖ documentary ❖ crowd funding ❖ update of website ❖ looking for partners ❖ fundraising Thoughts and analysis: Firstly, all the above organizations represent or are working toward or have as their mission some of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in some way, shape or form. For instance Goal#5 states, “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.” The organizations that strive to make a change in women's lives from the above NGOs are: AVAG, AIAT, EcoFemme, Naturellement and Reach for the Stars. All these organizations may have different approaches thought education, job training, skill training or empowerment, but their mission is one, to make the woman an equal participant in society. What is amazing to me and admirable at the same time is that they do not only tackle one issue or goal, but many simultaneously. For instance, I believe EcoFemme also promotes goal #12, “ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns” but also goal #15 “protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems…” to a certain extent by educating the women about the impact a disposable sanitary pad may have to the environment. Naturellement, for example, also works toward goal #8 “…sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment…” for the women that work there. Shristi Village and AIAT
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work toward bettering their community by giving them quality education for decent work and economic growth that may reduce inequalities (goals #4, #8, #10). The combinations are many and I have noticed that almost all the organization we have visited so far have multiple missions to help for the betterment of their communities and their country. I also may remark that the people working and creating these organizations have passion for what they do. Many of them have failed many times but never given up on their goal, their mission, and their passion. They keep putting in effort, hope and dedication toward what they love to do. AVAG for example has been making a difference since 1983. That is almost 33 years ago.
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December 29th: Volunteering at Auroville Outreach Media Today, around 10:30 am, I met with Elaine (Fabienne was out of the office today) from Auroville Outreach Media. I emailed them yesterday notifying them I would like to take on the catalog project. I hadn't received an email with their response yet, by 10 am, so I called them on the phone. I met with Elaine at the Outreach Media Office and she was really friendly and welcoming. As we sat down I initially started explaining why I thought I would be good candidate for the task (without her asking me) and treating it as if it were a job hiring me. I guess I am too trained that way. She was very relaxed, her attitude was kind and she offered to go have some tea or coffee at Morgan’s Cafe and talk more about the project. Our “meeting” at Morgan’s lasted about 15 minutes, it was very informal, relaxed and casual. I was given the task. I was told they are looking to make a catalog that lists organizations in Auroville and the bioregion. They had no specific idea of what the catalog should look like, they just wanted some of the NGOs basic info, with a short description of no more than 10 sentences and a preface to what sustainable means. I was also told that this job is working mostly independently, taking to people and doing lots of research. I had no other guidance, I was given a lot of freedom in this project. So who is Outreach Media and what do they do? According to the Auroville site: “When you want to visit Auroville for filming, writing or photographic purposes, you will have to get in touch with Auroville's OutreachMedia, the Auroville service in charge of facilitating visits of journalists and film/video makers. Their particular aim is to ensure that all journalists and filmmakers get correct, up-to-date information or relevant/representative footage from the best sources so that generally their visit is a fruitful and constructive one. This includes intermediating with authorities in order to obtain permission to film (especially relevant to foreign film crews); collaborating on tentative scenarios and film schedules beforehand so that when a film crew or reporter arrives no loss of time occurs; setting up interviews with appropriate people; escorting crews around the township; and helping book accommodation and arrange transport, as well as possibly helping with the final product where 'finishing touches' may be required. A financial contribution may be asked for the above services including administrative charges/fees.” Thoughts and analysis: My first impression of my organization is that I really like it and I made a good choice. Elaine and the other two interns seemed really nice and friendly. But I don't know how to take the fact that the people I will be working for are entrusting me to do a project that is important to them, with little guidance and detail. I have some direction as to where I am going but I feel not that much (I am used to having more guidance generally). I am free to be creative but I am hesitant. I don't know if this freedom is good or not good. The office culture seems relaxed and informal. I learned they work from 9:30 am until 2 pm but most of the time they all leave the office by 1:30. Which brings me to my next point. How are they or I contributing to sustainable development in Auroville? After some thought, research and reading their page on the Auroville website I am thinking that their role is to be the facilitator of the promotion of Auroville in a positive light. They are the people who help with the
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overall communication aspect of development. They communicate the mission of Auroville, what it has achieved so far and where it might be going. They may not be working with individual groups or communities but they are part of a bigger picture. The project I was given will be a starting point, a tool for the mass media to use in order to learn more about the city of Auroville. The catalog will be used as a starting point for journalistic, filmmaker and photographer’s research. Outreach Media the “middle man” helping out in the process making sure both sides are happy in the process. In a way they create awareness of what Auroville has to offer looking at everyones interest at the same time. I am not directly contributing to development with my project like some of my classmates who go to the field and interact with informants but indirectly it is a means or helping in the communication process of development. Contributing a small piece. I am finding out that development does not only mean actual field work like some UN NCOs go in crisis situation where actual people are needed on the ground. Development can be done by anyone who believes they can contribute in any sort of way.
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January 4th: A Day at My “Office”— La Terrace It has been almost a week since I started working for Outreach Media. I finally feel better about my project. After meeting with Elaine and Fabienne this morning I felt better and I was told I was making good progress, they were happy. Our meeting, again, was pleasant casual and informal at Morgan’s Cafe over some iced tea and milk coffee. I showed them the layout and they were happy. I am getting a sense by now that Aurovillians are laid back, flexible and informal kind of people. I usually work, do my research, reading and writing from the cafe La Terrace. I come early in the morning and spend my days here until it starts to get dark. The place is almost always filled with people of all ages. I think the people who come here are mostly either Aurovilians, or “guests” a term Aurovillians use for tourists visiting their city. I see european families, mixed families (one Indian parent and another parent of another ethnicity), students and of course the locals. This place attracts a variety of people and ages and its menu offers variety of foods. It has some Indian foods such as Dosai on the menu and Lassi (a milkshake fruity like drink), whole natural fruit juices among many things. The menu also consists of what I will call “western food,” the type of food I am familiar with such as omelettes, croissants, salads etc. I noticed that the kitchen is operated by only women and the ones handling the customers are men. The men know or seem to do only the “front” operations, serving coffee, juices, making coffee, giving customers ice cream and pastries. The women handle the “back” operations and only cook. They seem to have different tasks, cleaning dishes, cooking the food chopping the food etc. They never interact with the clients in the restaurant. Plus they speak their native tongue all the time, in contrary to the men that switch back and forth. The customers, most of them at least are here to enjoy family time, eat a meal, maybe use the internet, but somehow this place gives me the feeling that it is not like a Starbucks in the US. In contract to Auroville, the US Starbucks’s are mostly a spot of “connectivity” to the World Wide Web. At La Terrace the atmosphere feels different. People use the hot spot but it does not absorb them. Human interaction is more common that connecting to the virtual world. Most people are enjoying their time at La Terrace rather than bringing their laptop and working away it makes me think of the methods of communication we choose to interact and communicate in our everyday routines. Thoughts and analysis: Some themes I observed today make me think of the methods of communication used in Auroville and how affective they may be. I am trying to connect this to the overall communications development concept. Even though I am working independently and don't need to “clock in” or “out” of my organization or work from the office location, my task still needs internet connectivity. But it could be done the traditional way to. Of driving to each organization, introducing myself, making an appointment to follow up etc. However, it would be time consuming and tedious. But how many places retail, guesthouses and restaurants have reliable internet or even use their internet besides work? The people coming to La Terrace are coming here to eat and interact with each other, meet with each other, talk to each other. The trend I see in the US where a table of people are
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all simultaneously looking at their smartphones is a not common phenomenon here in Auroville. It also struck me and it is staring to make sense why most organizations we visited needed an array of different media (video, brochure, website, catalog etc.) to communicate the message they were trying to share. The more media used the more people can be reached. According to one of the class readings even though it seems that radio is dying in developed countries it is still the number one preference of information consumption in the developing countries. In my observation today I have connected the fact that different communities around the world might not have the same access to information or may not consume their information the same way. That is why the organizations asked for help with many media project from a variety of mediums. In a developing country the transfer of information through any means of communication may be a challenge in by itself. So the NGOs have figured out that investing or promoting through various media at the same time has more chances of reaching audiences whether it is through technology or word of mouth (I am thinking posters). Communication is highly important to achieve especially it is a two way communication (the NGO trying to reach the community and the community trying to reach the NGO).
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