There are some factors that depend on age and by picking young people under 25 we are trying to pick a homogeneous group. Some of the factors that we believe are dependent on age are:

• Our selection of organizations and projects
• Fellow’s expectations from the program
• Fellow’s experience and expertise

We categorically want to convey that we believe young people above 25 are also open to new experiences and change. Also they can contribute significantly to solve some of the pressing social problems. Keeping this in mind we are launching a different program for people above 25 or working professionals. We should be able to launch the application and handbook for the same in March.If you are above 25 or can’t commit for a month we request you to wait for another month.

Thanks for understanding and together, we are looking forward to some exciting times this summer.

• The duration of the program is extended to 30 days
• It is an individual application instead of a team application

The application is up and the journey has begun. The handbook has details of the program at length. Please continue with the same love and support you have showed us in the previous year. If you are eligible, do apply. Please pass the message to people who you think would be interested to apply.

This year we are accepting applications in two phases to encourage people to apply early. First round of evaluations will start by 1st Feb, 2010, selected fellows will be intimated by the 15th Feb 2010.The second and final phase of applications will end on 1st March, 2010.

If there are any queries drop in a comment or mail us at apply@grassroutes.in .

who question status-quo,
who dare to dream different,
who follow their passion irrespective of the support they got,
who have great energy to achieve their goal,
who are inquisitive to learn, experiment and experience.

This is ideal or natural state of youth and something most of us lose out on as we grow old and hence this is something I term as Youth Factor. I think that is what matters now, to preserve and nurture that youth factor in every young person.

Post is inspired by the e-book put together by Seth Godin answering the above question . What is your answer?

Despite the fact that pine forests are very pretty, the truth is they are an ecological disaster.  During our meetings with the Kumaoni people, they were quite vehement about the nuisance these trees were.  Some wanted to set fire to the forests, the others cut them down, and a small minority pull them out with their bare hands! Pine is easily combustible and the increase in forest fires in the states has been attributed to this. Ironically, the people are not allowed to use pinewood as fuel because most pine forests are in the government reserve forests - which are roughly 65% of the forested area in Uttarakhand - which in turn is two-thirds the total area of the state. They run the risk of being jailed if caught, but many are left with no choice.

We saw lots of trees like this because of the use of branches as firewood. The lower branches are within arms reach and chopped for fuel. As the trees grow, their conical shape becomes a spindle. Much of the deforestation is for  firewood , but the rapid growth of tourism and retirees’ bungalows is a looming threat to the forests.

Along the roads were numerous bales of pine needles the the local had collected. Being acidic in nature, pine needles alter the pH of the soil, preventing the undergrowth from florishing. For the same reason it cannot be used as compost or mulch. The goats and cattle won’t eat, so its useless as fodder. We tried sitting on them, but they’re really sharp!

However, Grassroots has achieved some success in using it as fertiliser after mixing it with manure.

The use of pine resin for the manufacture of  turpentine is a Rs. 200 crore business annually. However, as Anita Paul told us, when turpentine can be made artifically in a factory at a much cheaper cost, there’s no justification for continuing with this practice. Especially when the cost of the damage is far more!

Pine cones are hardy and responsible for the invasiveness of the species. They spread rapidly and easily, often preventing the growth of other trees. Pine trees do not check the flow of rainwater down the slope, and thus play no role in recharging the groundwater, something crucial in a region having no water-security for as much as six months a year.

Oaks, Deodar and Sal are the traditional species here. Oak is a source of charcoal, and vast  forests have been denuded for this. Deodar and Sal are sources of commercial wood. Interestingly, one of the ladies at the Naula in Majkhali told us that the roots of the deodar trees keep the  water cool, something we tasted firsthand there!

This song explains more or less the philosophy we believe in - helping everyone discover the changemaker in them, helping people find their cause.

Some times answers or solutions are just that simple. 

Out of the blue he asked me if I was interested in a trip in an ambulance.

He was referring to the 108 service that the EMRI (Emergency Medicine Research Institute) (www.emri.in) runs across 10 states in India. “The impact they’ve had in Uttarakhand is huge”, he said. He happened to know the person in Dehradun overseeing the state operations, and after a couple of calls things were arranged. I’d be able to go with ambulance on one of its trips.

I reached Almora on Tuesday morning and promptly went to the district Government Hospital where the ambulance was based. I exchanged numbers with the driver and asked him to give me ring when they went for their next case.

The government offices are all Raj-era colonial buildings

Most North Indian towns have a clock tower

I had some time to kill, so I walked along the two km long “pedestrian-only cobbled Lalal Bazaar, lined with intricately carved and painted traditional wooden shop facades.”

The wooden facades along the Lalal Bazaar

The only change I have to make to Lonely Planet’s description is that it’s not cobbled anymore. Dr Sushil (from Aarohi) told me that for some reason the cobblestones were replaced with stone. It was still really fascinating!

The Lalal Bazaar

I called the 108 guys at two in the afternoon. “No case yet”. Then again at three. “Still no case”. At four - the guy’s laughing now - “we usually would have had three or four cases by now”.

I’d given up hope when my phone rang at six. “There’s a case now. Are you coming?”

“I’ll be there in two minutes”, I said.

Finally!

I met Sanjay the ambulance driver, and Dhirendra and Rashmi, the two emergency medicine technicians (EMTs), who were already in the ambulance, waiting for me.

Our patient was a nine month pregnant lady from a village called Someshwar, around 40km away. The Auxillary Nurse and Midwife (ANM) had called saying “I can’t manage this case. You’ll need to take over”. The patient and her family had already left the village in a jeep.

After half-an-hour of hair-rising driving (at 70km/hr on those winding roads!) we met the jeep midway. She was a 20- year old woman who was expecting her first child. She seemed quite calm, almost apathetic. She was in early stages of labour. She wasn’t sure exactly how many months pregnant she was. “Nearly nine”, she said. “The baby’s due in two weeks time”. Forget an ultrasound scan, she’d not seen a doctor before, hadn’t taken any iron or calcium supplements, nor had she been immunized against tetanus. Her husband was working in Punjab, and had come home for the delivery. She claimed the baby wasn’t moving as much as before, something which made my heart sink.We reached the Almora District Hospital in half an hour. The patient was taken to the labour room where the obstetrician examined her. My fears had come true. She couldn’t hear the baby’s heartbeat clearly. She’d need to do an ultrasound scan to confirm.

I left the hospital, feeling a curious mix of anger and despair. The child, if it survived, would probably be underweight, the mother unprepared to face pregnancy. Imagine running the 100m in the Olympics barefoot, with ankle weights and with no prior training. This is a story being repeated all over the country day in and day out.

Quality antenatal care is cheap and easy to provide. Rural health programmes revolving around village health workers and the trained dais (birth attendants) are doing wonders all over the country. But a lot more needs to be done. According to 2005 WHO data for India, four hundred and seventy women die in childbirth for every 1,00,000 babies born (its 1 in Ireland and 58 in Sri Lanka) ; 57 of every thousand children born do not see their first birthday (the corresponding figures are 2 in Iceland and 11 in Sri Lanka). Think about it.

Back to the ambulance. I’ve no idea what happened to mother –to-be or her baby. It’s unlikely the child survived.

Before the service started, people had a really bad time. The villages in Uttarakhand are far apart, and the terrain does not allow one to cover more than 40 km in an hour. In case of an emergency, they’d have to arrange for a taxi - which would cost nearly Rs. 2000-3000. At night things would be worse, compounded by the fact that most of the males in the family were usually away working, and the women would have to go on their own. It is a really long walk from their villages to the road. Most often they would reach the hospital too late. Sanjay told me nearly five out of ten patients used to die on the way.

Now things are much better. The ambulance services villages in a radius of 30km. Once they receive the call they rush to the village. After a quick assessment the EMTs call the doctors who are based in Dehradun, who give them further instructions on what to do next. Except in really bad cases, the patient usually reaches the hospital alive, where the doctors take over. A good number of patients are referred to the bigger towns (for a number of reasons - the chief being a lack of facilities), which are often an hour or two away. So not only do they have to take the patients there, but they can’t attend to other emergencies in the meanwhile. Their 12 hour shifts often get stretched to 16 or even 18 hours for the same reason.

The ambulance service is good, but it’s got a long way to go. The EMTs are learning a lot on the job, and as one of them confessed, they’d feel a lot more comfortable if there was a doctor with them.

Healthcare in India is facing a huge crisis. The 108 service is making a big difference, but a lot more needs to be done.

I spent more than 2 nauseating hours in the back of three different jeeps to get there, but it was worth it. Kausani is a small quiet town with a narrow street lined by shops, many hotels and loads of greenery. I was staying in a nice comfortable room with a lovely view of the hills. The hotel was on the slope of the hill surrounded by a thick forest of pines with a lovely view of the valley in front. I went around for a walk, but had to return soon because of the first showers of the monsoons, two weeks late.

The road after it rained all night

It rained all night, so when I went for a walk in the morning things were much cooler than usual. After a yummy breakfast I set off to the Kausani tea estate. I reached the Uttaranchal Tea Development board office after about an hours walk. I couldn’t see any tea plants, so I went up and asked a person around if they were still growing tea on the estates.

Taken aback and slightly offended, he replied that of course they were still growing tea. “The estate is further down the road”, he told me. Half an hour later I was there.

And more?!?!

There was a tea processing plant with some stuff I wasn’t taught in medical college painted on the walls. I went in and was told the same stuff I’d been taught about tea processing in school. Still couldn’t understand it.

Yesh, very aggresshive marketing!

Someone pointed out a shorter route back to my hotel, so I thought I’d try it out. It was around forty minutes of a steep uphill climb, but it wouldn’ve taken me two hours if I was to return the way I came. I was drenched in sweat when I reached the top!

A government school I passed on my climb up

In the evening I set out to see the Anasakti Ashram, but on the way I saw an additional Primary Health Centre (PHC). Curious, I went in. It was a nice colonial era complex of one-storey buildings with a hospital, doctors quarters, and rooms for the other staff. Very pretty It was in really good shape, I must add, though there were a couple of cows grazing there too!

This PHC was built in 1952!

The chief medical officer was a doctor called Harish who’d been working there since nine months. He was quite happy to show me around the hospital, which had been started in 1952. They had an outpatient department, a ward, a small theatre for minor surgeries, and a labour room for delivering babies. It was well staffed too, with a pharmacist, a midwife, nurses and other support staff. As in all PHCs, the chief medical officer was also the CEO. He was in charge of the day-to-day running of the PHC, ordering medicines and equipment and paying salaries.

Dr Harish - the man with the plan!

Dr Harish said there not much was being done in the PHC when he’d joined last year. He’d worked hard, making himself available around the clock and doing the best he could with what he had. From around 10 patients a day, the daily OPD load was now around 50-60 per day. He’d slowly started asking the government for more medicines and newer equipment, and soon things started coming. One of the biggest challenges was motivating his staff, but he felt he’d manage to do that too, although he’d had to learn to turn a blind eye to their skipping work every now and then.

“Everything depends on you”. He told me this again, and again and again! He emphasized that the government was willing to supply drugs and equipment, but the doctors had to ask. He said there were 900 posts vacant in the state, and if I was interested I should apply!

Very tempting!

I was quite impressed with what I saw. It was very well stocked - all the basic medicines a PHC ought to have, and more. Higher end antibiotics, plenty of dressing material, sutures, autoclaving machines, a suction machine, vaccine with a freezer for storage. He was planning on getting a ventilator too! The only thing he didn’t have was a laboratory for investigations, something I thought was quite necessary since there were no diagnostic labs in the town.

I thought Harish was doing an amazing job. By doing his work well, he was getting the Government to give him more. He was quite clear as to what he could handle, and what he couldn’t. He wasn’t interested in changing people’s attitudes, and did not see any point in being idealistic. He’s got a very realistic view of how the world works. We really need more people like him in the system.

Anasakti Ashram

I took a quick look at the Anasakti Ashram, where Gandhiji had written the Anasakti Yoga, a translation of the Bhagwad Gita. There were was a small museum dedicated to him with a prayer session going on inside. I clicked a few snaps and then headed back, ate, and slept!

]]> http://grassroutes.in/2009/08/11/kausani/feed/ http://grassroutes.in/2009/07/19/day-6/ http://grassroutes.in/2009/07/19/day-6/#comments Sun, 19 Jul 2009 23:22:44 +0000 shruti http://grassroutes.in/?p=1040 I was finally back from Calcutta ! The heat had taken its toll on me - throat infection,fever. So, the day started with me meeting these guys at the Baruipur station.This was my second field trip and I was visibly excited. I had missed on the other 2 because of my illness :(.  We were to go to Mograhat, to cover the “Adarini” project. This project is one year old and is aimed at eradicating child marriages from this block which consists of 14 Gram Panchayats in next 5 years.We will make a video to be used for sponsorship purposes by NISHTHA.

We visited three out of 14 day care centers where the girls (8-17 years old, dropouts /never been to school) were taught/ given vocational training. We were told that South 24 Paraganas in Bengal is infamous for child marriages and child trafficking. This village has a very high Muslim population where avg. no of kids per family is 8 and the avg. monthly income is Rs. 900.The boys in the village mostly attend “Madarsas”. NISHTHA operates day care centres where  they try to mainstream the younger girls  where as the older ones focus on vocational training. The idea is to keep them busy till they are 18.A nominal fee of Rs 25 per month is charged so that these kids take their education seriously and attend classes. They are also provided with lunch at the centers.

We met a family where a 10 year old girl was recently mainstreamed. When asked, whether he’ll get her married early like her sisters , her father said that he earns Rs. 900/month and had 8 kids. He will try teaching her as long as he can afford it. On asking that Government schools are free, he said that the school doesn’t suffice, the kid would soon need coaching classes to pass in school exams. Coaching classes are costly affair ! We met the older sisters of the girl - 16 and 17 years old, married and with 1 and 2 kids respectively.

We were told that child marriages is rampant in the villages because the amount of dowry involved is inversely proportional to the age of the bride. The younger the bride, the lesser the dowry ! So, as soon as the girl hits puberty, she is married off.

We met a 16 year old who after her marriage, found out that her husband already had a wife from a previous marriage. She  is now staying with her parents. She attends the day care center and doesn’t want to get married again.

We met another 16 year old girl who was forced to marry against her choice. She has never attended school and was (is) in love with somebody else.She was forced into this marriage because her husband was her cousin, and intra- family marriages in Muslims means lesser dowry, “money stays within the family.” She was unhappy at her in-law’s house. Not being able to bear the everyday  domestic fights at home, she returned back to her parent’s house. She hopes to marry the guy she loves very soon. She wanted a month long crash course in tailoring at the day care centre so as to support the guy she loved, who was a tailor. We were stunned ! We were witnessing  uneducation right in front of our eyes - Marriage was the end of the world for this girl!  We could her entering another vicious cycle soon, when her new in-laws would find that she was already married once ! Yeah, she plans to keep it a secret from them !

We were told that it is not always that parents want to marry their kids early. Many a times, adolescent boys and girls influenced by movies force their parents to marry them or worse still, filmy style, they run and marry on their own ! We were like-  Whoa !

We were to meet another family where a 13 year old girl was trafficked to Pune by a neighbour some 25 days ago ! Well, when you have 8 kids and an income of Rs. 800/month; we were told that you feel grateful to the neighbour who wants to take your kids to the zoo in Calcutta.

We then met the Head (I have forgotten the technical term) of one of the Gram Panchayats. She was an uneducated 30 year old lady. Her ministers asked us - “What is NISHTHA doing about kids who have to drop out because they cannot afford text books and coaching classes?”  I was so pissed at the question, I replied - “What is Government doing about it ?”

With that, our day at Mograhat ended. We headed back to Baruipur to visit the Night Shelter Home finally !!!!!

First came the youth group. It has a bunch of youngsters who are educated and try to spread awareness amongst the villagers wrt issues such as health rights, child marraige, education etc. They perform plays and each person who has undergone training is responsible for educating at least 10 others. One of the boys had been inspired by the communist ideology and so became part of this group. They sang us some songs in their language. Even called a kid who sang Himmesh Reshammiya for us..made me sing too

One of the guys at Youth Group

Youth Group

Then there were the grannies who had been abandoned by their children, some of whom were even beaten by them, and were trying to live their last few years peacefully. They all crowded around us hoping we’d bring in funds I think and started narrating their tales. The brutality of the conditions they live in was heart rendering. Only Bengali was difficult to understand so Tapoti di translated the gist to us all the time. I sat on a swing made of rope and spoke to them

After this the mahila mandal, which is a powerful organization of women spoke to us. I was really impressed by their leader. She was extremely animated and a really strong woman with a sparkle in her eyes. From her came stories of injustice to women and how the mandal protested, talked to the authorities, tried to empower the females using the power of a group. We even visited her house. Some young children came in and performed a folk dance for us :). We visited a place, where they were doing zari work on the sarees ( that was the prime occupation in that village.) I tried my hand at making designs on saris and sucked at it big time 

There was another house we went to where all the houseware was under one bed! The per month income of a family is approximately Rs.1000 including the goods they get ‘in kind’. They live a really hard life. But what touches you is that they still offer you moodi and coconut because you are guests in their home.
Well all in all it was an interesting day. Lots of rural bengali culture, their troubles, their lives..
By the time we got back it was quite late and we ate and we crashed…Shruti was to join us back the next day

All this is under her bed!