Jan 27 Writing the Paper

The most difficult part is writing the paper. I have a ton of information and insight, but it is always difficult to start, especially when I must still decide precisely how to approach the information at hand. I've been doing research for hours, trying to find general information on NGOs in India and specific information on the role that women play in grassroots organizations. This has been difficult because Wofford does not carry much information on this topic. After searching I found nothing too helpful which is available here, but have a list of books to find elsewhere. I believe most can be found at Barnes and Noble or the public library so I am going to take trips there to look through some of these books for the information I need.
I am trying to organize my thoughts about the specific three organizations that I studied while in India. I feel that I learned a lot about the internal workings of each, but must decide what is most important and how to present it.
At the moment I am thinking of writing the first portion about NGOs in India in general, specifically details such as: the biggest problems in India, how NGOs have (or have not) addressed these issues, how the presence of NGOs has effected India, the complexity of issues like poverty and women's rights in India, the limitations of NGOs, and the trend for NGOs to be grassroots organizations run by women. The second portion will deal with the complexity of the interworkings of NGOs. This deals with the character itself of NGOs. Here I will use the 3 organizations that I looked into as case studies.

I'd also like to note that I read the first chapter of Edward Luce's In Spite of the Gods, and found it very interesting and relevant. The first chapter deals with the economic system and changes that India has undergone since independence which shed light on how so many have been left behind in the modernization movement. Unlike China, where the development has been labor intensive, India's growth has been capital intensive because of the tight laws and restrictions on businesses in India. Because of this, development is not creating more jobs which is what India really needs. He also mentioned how many, because of the legacy of Gandhi, are convinced that the villages are the key to India. This, unfortuantely, is not plausible anymore because the population continues to grow and plots of land are getting smaller. Many villagers must migrate to cities or travel there for odd jobs to feed their families because farming cannot provide for them anymore. So few in India are a part of this growth, yet even a small percentage of the population is equivalent to millions of people, and therefore, makes India look strong. It is interesting that we are considering the rise of India as a world power when the majority of the country is illiterate! The role that NGOs play in filling in the needs that are left behind by the government is important, but ultimately change with government leadership is vitally important.