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Setrawa project
Ms. Karine Tchakerian and Ms. Elisa Warner
Report 2
These last weeks have been absolutely amazing. The girls have really opened up to us. We feel that we have now gained the trust of the people in the village. We've gotten a lot more comfortable and have found our rhythm. Occasionally, after a particularly demanding day we still find ourselves eating Parle Gs and shaking our heads in stupefied silence.Luckily, this has been happening less and less as time goes on - the shaking of our heads, not the eating of Parle Gs (which we do quite often).
During this last month we have experienced a steady drop in attendance with the crafts class and the 2 o'clock class. It's possible that all of the weddings occurring in the village have had something to do with this. It appears that the entire village is involved with the weddings. This being wedding season it is not uncommon for some students who are related to the bride or groom to miss class for a week or longer to join in the festivities. However, during our last week we welcomed about ten new students to the afternoon English class, as well as one more young woman to the morning crafts class.
Now we realize that some of the students that had stopped coming to Karine's morning class are going to school as we saw one of them walking in her school uniform. This is very good news if these children are going to school. The children in the morning class are very bright and would benefit from attending school. We have asked our translator Rekha why these girls are not going to school. Her answer is that they don't want to. We don't know if it is that simple and we feel that this may have more to do with the failure of the parents to properly care for these children. We do know that the fathers of these children are alcoholics. We had learned this from the previous volunteers as well as one of the girls herself. This six year old girl casually remarked to Govind that all their fathers do is sit at home and drink alcohol all day. However, we have been confronted more and more with the answer given by our translator. It seems as if the children make their own decisions and the parents allow it. We have observed this in the case of one of our students, a seven year old named Muly, who showed up to class with a very bad wound on her heel. When we asked her parents why she had not seen a doctor they told us that she refused to go. Our student is only seven years old and it would appear that it would be up to her parents to ensure she receives proper care. However, we have realized that often these parents either lack the knowledge to judge the gravity of a situation or they are struggling to care for all of their children. We've noticed that in the latter case it is left up to the older children to care for their younger siblings. In Muly’s case, her slightly older brother was left in charge of administering her medication. Due to the language barrier we decided to keep the medicine with us and then give it to her in order to make sure that she received the proper dosage. She is at risk of infection because the wound is on her foot and it is common practice for the children in this village to run around barefoot through the sewage and drainage that runs throughout.
This experience with Muly has inspired us to give a seminar in basic aid. All three of us are trained in CPR and first aid. We told the girls that if they have a health problem that their family is unable to care for they must come to us and we will help them receive proper treatment. We feel that it is important that our students know that Sambhali is not just a center for learning but lso a refuge or place they can come for help.
A week after we began to care for Muly, we went to her home to check up on her and saw that her mother and aunt were weeping outside her home. We could not determine what had happened due to our communication barrier, so we brought Rekha to the family and we learned that Muly's uncle had fallen out of a moving jeep and had to be taken to hospital. Muly's mother asked if we could go to the hospital to help pay for the medical expense. We rang Govind and he suggested that we go to the hospital to see how badly the man was hurt and to ask the doctor how much the cost would be. The doctor said that he had not suffered any major injuries, and there would only be a small cost for medication. Then Muly's father approached the hospital as we were leaving and asked Rekha if we would be able to help pay for the medicine. Govind suggested we contribute a few hundred rupees, but then we considered the concern that this may set a precedent for other families. We have made it clear that we will help the girls in our school but if we help an outside individual we may be expected to help everyone in the village. Sambhali is a small and minimally financed organization so this would be logistically impossible. However, we did want to help this man. Our initial solution was to pay for his medical expenses with the family's clear understanding that it is a personal gift from us and is completely separate from Sambhali. When we returned to his home we were told to give the money to the family rather than pay the doctor directly. We told them that we would pay the doctor fees but they told us that they had already been paid. We felt that it would be unwise to simply hand out cash so we decided it would be best not to give money. These are situations that we face often. It is important to look at the bigger picture when facing these decisions. However, it can be very difficult and oftentimes heartbreaking. For example, a woman with a child has been coming to the gate asking for money and food. Our first instinct was to go get her something from the kitchen. However, we know that if we were to do this even once we may inspire her and others to continue coming for handouts. Giving in this way is not sustainable and may be problematic for the Sambhali School. Instead we told the woman that we would be happy to admit her as one of our students so that she could come to the crafts class and have use of the supplies and equipment.
We would like to have more parental involvement. As of yet it has been very limited. This may be partly our fault as we have set boundaries with the students by refusing to go to their homes for dinner. However, the new volunteer Karelia has been inspired to have a parents' night hosted by Govind. The aim of this night would be to reaffirm the goals and philosophy of Sambhali School in order to encourage the parents to continue sending their children to the School.
In the crafts class we have continued to work on the bedsheet. It has been the main focus for some of the girls while others have chosen to pursue their own sewing projects, such as clothes or bags. After an embroidery workshop with Tamanna from the Jodhpur project, the Setrawa girls were requested to make embroidered bracelets for several overseas orders, so for about three days in the middle of February they took a break from the bedsheet and worked on stitching bracelets. They seem to be much more comfortable with embroidering or painting designs rather than drawing them, which leads me to think that they like projects based around color combinations.
After learning many new stitches the girls began an embroidered border around the edge of the sheet. Then, towards the end of February we took another break from the bedsheet to try Aboriginal dot painting. I showed them some pictures of this traditional Australian artwork and explained to them that dot painting has been practiced for many years by the first people of Australia. I had done a painting beforehand, and made it clear that it was only an example, and that they should not copy it. I was so pleased when they created their own designs and took the time to make their work detailed and neat. They created some beautiful paintings and perhaps now that they have seen what they can achieve when they take their time, they will be less hasty.
The last week they began to stitch some flowers where there was some leftover space around the painting. The attendance in this class also improved during the last week. This class has a unique, casual atmosphere. The women really enjoy talking and laughing together, and we’ve had fun singing songs, listening to different kinds of music, and sometimes the girls ask me to teach them how to play a chord or two on the guitar. These women need this sanctuary to relax and have fun.
On February 10th, Govind came to Setrawa with many sapling trees ready for planting and new signboards identifying the Setrawa Project. He brought a photographer to take pictures of us handing the trees to our students who planted them at their homes. Several more were planted near the school. A week later we visited the students’ homes to check up on their trees. We were happy to see that they all looked very healthy, and were protected from goats and had obviously been watered each day. The girls seemed to be very proud of their trees, and happy to nurture them. Unfortunately the trees near the school had not been protected enough and the goats ate all of their leaves!
Two signboards were put in the village, and two were put on the main highway. They look very professional and bold, so hopefully they will attract passing tourists which will in turn spread awareness about the Setrawa Project and Sambhali.
Govind has been working hard networking and establishing relationships with other NGOs.
One weekend in Jodhpur we met Lillian and Alex from the Foundation for Sustainable Development. We told them about the aims of Sambhali and what it’s like to volunteer in Setrawa, and in turn they told us about their organization which trains volunteers and places them in projects around the world. Our conversation with them was very positive, and perhaps we will partner with them in order to recruit potential volunteers. Prior to this we met Joan Gurry who works for the Global Foundation for Humanity (Veerni Project) in Jodhpur. She had visited Setrawa and seemed pleased with the progress made there.
Towards the end of our stay in the village we have become concerned that Govind needs to have a stronger presence at the Setrawa Project. The Jodhpur Project is flourishing partly because it is based in Jodhpur meaning that Govind as well as others involved in the Sambhali Trust are a constant presence. As the Setrawa Project is based 110 kilometers away from the home of the Sambhali Trust, whoever is volunteering is in charge of the Project, a true privilege in many ways. However, since the volunteers change every few months, we feel that there has to be some sort of consistent force to sustain the momentum and focus of the Setrawa Project.
Many students have been asking us when Govind would be coming after he had been away from the project for a period of time. Although we are aware that Govind has many projects to keep track of, we explained to Govind that the Setrawa girls want to get to know him better, and want to feel a strong stable force keeping the project focused. Govind was very appreciative to hear our concerns, and decided that he would come to Setrawa every fourteen days.
Another concern has been our translator, Rekha. While her presence is essential in the afternoon class, we feel that if there was someone with a higher level of English available, that person should take her place. Even more of a concern is how on numerous occasions we have asked her to translate something to the class, and she has misunderstood, but pretends to know what we have said by smiling and saying “Okay”. If she simply asked us to reword the question it would be easier to deal with our communication barrier. At other times, she has corrected some girls when they were actually doing the right thing. We suggested to Govind that if there is no better candidate for the job, it is essential to keep Rekha for basic translations. However, if someone else with more advanced English would take the job, she should replace Rekha.
Two weeks before our leaving we were joined by a new volunteer, Karelia. She is a lovely, kind hearted Finnish woman, and we formed a wonderful friendship with her during these past weeks. She brought her dog Shila as well, who has unfortunately caused a few problems. We have been very concerned about the dog’s presence there, as Shila has a tendency to be fearful and reactive around those she is unfamiliar with including the students.
Karine and I had been worried that something bad would happen with the children, as she has been allowed to stay off her leash in the yard during the day. The girls tend to come to the School at irregular times, and sometimes when there is no class. One day, Muly, the girl we had been caring for, came to class early and Shila chased her from the gate and nipped her unwounded heel. The bite broke the skin very lightly, but we were still afraid that it would jeopardize her parents’ trust in us. Fortunately they still let us care for her, but we still were concerned that this feeling of unsafety at the school would ruin the sanctuary-like quality it has for the students. We voiced our concerns with Karelia, who was also concerned for the safety of the students. We all agreed it would be best to keep her on a long rope at all times. At this time of our departure, we hope that things are as resolved as much as they can be.
As our time here comes to an end we feel a deep sense of sadness. We feel that these girls, both in Setrawa and in Jodhpur, are our family - our mothers, our sisters, our daughters. We had no idea how difficult it would be to leave. We had no idea how special these women and children are. We are so lucky to have had this time with them. We have learned so much. Thank you.
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