Jan 21

I am completely amazed right now that I am in India. What an interesting time to be here! With all of the talk about the rise of India to the world stage it is fascinating to be here seeing this country. Its confusing and complex. As Edward Luce who writes for Fiinancial Times wrote in his book In Spite of the Gods; “No visitor to India can fail to notice the juxtapostition of great human deprivation with its deeply religious culture.” Many are hypnotized by the spiritual elements of India, but these exist among the reality that suffering exists all over. For a country with a high economic growth rate there are so many people who have been left behind in all of the changes. The wealth gap is growing. There are many very wealthy people in India, but a large majority of the population lives in terrible conditions…only around 50% of the women are literate and in many cases this only means that they can write their name. There is a vast business of child prostitution. The vast majority of the population lives in poverty. Many children do not go to school because they simply see no value in it; they have to work alongside their parents to feed the family. India is in need of reforms. India is also beautiful and neat and has traditions which go back beyond much of Western civilization.


RESEARCH

I feel pretty good about my project now. I have spoken with numerous people about NGOs and the role that they play in society. Yesterday I talked to people from Pappan Kalan (a slum where Vidya has a project), Mala (the vice-chairperson of Vidya), and Bella (the director of CCS India and co-founder). Today I met with Daniel again to talk some more about Vidya and specifically Pappan Kalan. Tomorrow I will meet with someone from the YMCA and then Saturday I will meet with someone from Mobile Creches.
In the conversations I’ve had already I have asked each person how they think that the surge of NGOs in Delhi has affected the city. Since independence NGOs have sprung up in India, but over the years there has been lots of growth. People responded to the question differently, but it is clear that most people in the city he encountered an NGO and would recognize this term, even if they do not know much about what NGOs are. NGOs ha definitely had a positive effect in the community. The vast majority are grassroots organizations, because as Mala said, Indians know best what problems are in their community. For instance, Mobile Creches started when a woman saw children playing at a construction site where their parents were working, doing nothing constructive. She had the idea to open centers to care for children and feed them while their parents work so that they will be cared for and be doing something useful which can open opportunities for them. Likewise the founder of Vidya saw several young girls in her neighborhood playing outside each day and not going to school. She started teaching them on their porch in the mornings and this led to her opening schools for children in the slums.
NGOs do a vast number of things in India, but schooling is a big issue. Government schools can only take so many children and many children from lower classes do not have the money to buy school supplies or bus fare to get to school. Many children from the slums do not go to school because in their mind they do not see the benefit for doing so. Organizations like Vidya send social workers out to teach parents and children of the lowest caste the importance of education for providing new opportunities beyond their current environment. They have programs to get children back in school and to teach them at the standards of the government schooling. Someone told me of a book which talks about this parallel education which has arisen in India from private schools and NGOs.
Womens issues are also very important and there are various NGOs which work towards women’s empowerment in a country where women still are seen as lesser citizens by many. Interestingly in the upper castes, women are seen much of the time as equals to men and have powerful jobs in government and in businesses. There is a woman president in India right now and there have been several women prime ministers. Among the lower castes though women are greatly oppressed. This comes from a lack of education. Many men do not want their wife to become literate. If she can sign her own name she gains power apart from him. There has been a lot of progress in women’s rights (the constitution has seen them as equals from the beginning) but there is still much to be done.

Additionally there are many other NGOs which do things from promoting eco-friendly policies to battling AIDS and working with handicapped people. NGOs have provided many services that the government cannot provide or chooses not to. We had a speaker come to talk to us today about the economy of India and he told us that the reason that many of the problems in India exist are because the government is so corrupt. Only 3% of the population pay taxes for instance, and much of the money collected goes into the pockets of officials rather than to the government. There again comes this gap- India has developed nuclear weapons, yet most of the country works in unskilled labor. Three people fill a job which should take only one worker. There are not enough jobs to go around, yet India brags of its large labor force as a strength. There are many problems which are being ignored rather than solved, making the role of NGOs important in India.
Still, it is illogical to claim that the impact of NGOs has been only good. At times NGOs create dependency. Daniel talked to me about Vidya today and pointed out that many of the microskills programs which teach people a skill such as sewing to enable them to create goods that they can sell for profit, create dependency on the NGO rather than the independence that they claim to provide. This is because the NGO will teach people then give them a market to sell to, and instead of encouraging them to create their own entrepreneurial co-ops or to find their own markets, they will take the comfortable route and continue to produce for the NGO. The NGO then becomes a business and profits from the people it has trained who cannot sell their goods apart from it. Also, some businesses create NGOs only so that they will get certain benefits from this status. NGOs must empower people and then after a necessary period of time leave them to do things on their own. Many NGOs have good intentions but actually stunt the growth of the people that they wish to empower. The impact of NGOs has mostly been positive, but of course there are always drawbacks.
Looking into Vidya and working with Mobile Creches has given me insight into how incredible these organizations can be, but also has taught me of the politics that goes into it. People working see things very differently. Those in charge paint a pretty picture of the organization and those who get their hands dirty tend to reveal the shortcomings and limitations of the organization. It is good to see both sides because it enhances understanding about the organization. In most cases the organization really does have good intentions and wishes to address whatever issue is at hand, but obviously with any group execution of a project will have its limitations and weak points.