We've been in the village area since Friday May 20th. As I write this it is Wednesday May 25th in the evening in India. It has been a bit of a whirlwind, as always, but it's been fun. I just want to give a quick update. Due to the short nature of the trip and all the work that is to be done, most of the information will be posted here after we get back to the US. Here we go.
We have visited three microcredit groups, or self-help groups (SHGs), in Kukrela, Barwara, and Berki, and have had fun and interesting conversations therein. We have had a chance to see how the groups operate and how the members interact with Rohitash and Gopal, LSS's field workers. For the microcredit groups, we have seen how they set the rules and regulations for their groups, eg how much money is contributed per month per member, the length of the loan, etc. All of this information will be posted on the proper website that should be online this summer.
We have also visited the youth leadership and technology groups (YLTGs) in the two villages in which they are currently set up, Mohan Gujar ki Dani and Barwara. The other three will be set up shortly. At Mohan Gujar ki Dani we were pleasantly surprised that at first the group was set up with boys due to cultural issues, but then the parents sent the girls too, so that now the group is roughly half boys and half girls! This is an unbelievable success in and of itself, as I thought we would have to work quite hard in order to get the parents to allow the girls out to be parts of our group. I think it is a testament to the hunger there is for learning computers, as there is knowledge that the future will lie increasing technical advancement and aptitude is necessary. There really is such opportunity here, as before the group started none of the group members had used a computer at all, a situation that is surely repeated throughout India and the developing world. I know we will have to do a lot of work to make sure this bears fruit, but the first signs are very encouraging.
Below I have posted some photos of what the students have learned to do. Recall that none of them knew anything before this week. After a week or two of instruction and scrupulous notetaking on their part, the students have learned how to find the program they need by first clicking the "start" tab on windows and finding the appropriated program. They have also learned how to open files, save files, undo changes, close programs and files, type a little, and use paint. We started with paint because it is intuitive and fun for the first-time user. We will soon move onto MS Word. Perhaps after that we can do Excel and Powerpoint, and if there is further desire, I would love to see some technical software used. We'll get to that soon enough. I hope this is enough to sate your interest in our work thus far. There's been lots of useful conversation about the philosophy and operation of the NGO that I don't have time to post now, but which will go on a future blog post or website. Suffice it to say, I think the opportunities for positive social change here are enormous and I'm excited to a part of it. All the best from India!
The notebook of one student, where they've written all the parts of the computer. There were thorough notes for about ten pages writing about the different parts of the computer and the different commands that are of immediate use. Impressively detailed.
A female student working on a drawing of a house. She seemed slightly more capable than the male student whose work is shown below. Just a little faster and efficient.
The work of a male student. It is a flagpole with the Indian flag. He also typed some words, such as "Great India". Nice.
The students listening as I explain why I think the work of the group is important and why we have chosen to undertake this activity. We also fielded their questions as to why they thought the group was important. At my right are Gopal Singh, an LSS fieldworker, and the computer teacher for the groups.
A picture showing the group members. Note that there are basically an equal number of males and females, which is a feat and something unexpected. This has been a great boost to start with.
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