Mahila Mandals

Mahila Mandal representatives meeting at the CORD center

One of the largest programs at CORD is the organization of groups called Mahila Mandals. Mahila Mandals are groups that consist of women from rural villages. The society here is a male dominated society, and the goal of these mandals are to empower women.

Many men in rural India suffer from alcohol abuse, and in turn end up abusing their wives. The Mahila Mandals give an opportunity for these village women to speak up and fight against injustices that would otherwise be overlooked. I did not personally get to participate in a Mahila Mandal meeting, as I was spending most of my time in the farm sector; however, I did get an opportunity to meet a large number of the women who participate in these groups and from I have seen, they seem to be strong, independent women.

The Mahila Mandals provide a forum where local women can come together and talk about their problems, and get advice from their peers on how best to handle these issues. There are approximately 3,000 members of these mandals in Kangra district, if I remember correctly. Overall these mandals are a great way to promote women empowerment, and under the direction of our Dr. Didi, they have been very successful .

SRI Experience (The Sequel)



Planting rice in the SRI method

Our job in the Farm and Allied Sector of CORD is to raise awareness about the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). The goal is to tell the farmers that switching to this system of growing rice (which surprisingly uses the same seeds) will not only use less water and help the soil, but will also give the farmers more rice yield per plant. (more on SRI in previous posts)



Farmer Saaket

Today the entire farm sector (including me) went to a village where we held a meeting. The farm sector did a good job advertising it, and in return many villagers attended the meeting. There we gave the villagers an overview of what SRI is, and how it will help them. After the meeting we gave a demonstration on SRI, and the steps used to properly implement it. This included planting the rice, and that was when I got my chance to get in the paddies again. I went into the paddies with some other workers, and showed how exactly the rice should be planted (this is one of the key differences between the traditional method and SRI).

Once again, the farmers and villagers were incredibly hospitable. They basically take care of you as if you were a family member. They would always offer me tea, water, snacks, and even lunch!

Overall the meeting was successful, as many farmers showed up and seemed to be impressed by SRI. Hopefully they will implement SRI this growing season, as it will help both the environment, and their income. Hopefully we can give more demonstrations, as I would sure like to get into the rice paddies again!

Giving a demonstration on SRI

The Dalai Lama

Dharamsala (and Mcleodganj) is the place where the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government moved to in April 1959 after they went into exile following the Chinese invasion of Tibet. There is such a huge Tibetan and Chinese population here that they outnumber the Indian population greatly. When you walk into Mcleodganj near the Dalai Lama's palace, you really feel as if you are in Tibet.


A painting for Tibetan Independence

 Since much of the population is Tibetan, they naturally have a feeling of resentment towards the Chinese Government. In almost every shop one can find a picture of the Dalai Lama, as well as "Free Tibet" stickers and signs in the windows. Additionally, most of the shirts sold have "Tibet will be free" or something similar to "Freedom for Tibet" or a slogan fighting against injustices. In fact, I ended up buying a t-shirt with the Tibetan flag and the words "Free Tibet". The bookstores there have many books devoted to Tibetan culture, and I gained an insight into the brutality the Chinese Government has shown to the people of Tibet. Conversely, there are shelves of books by the Dalai Lama, which include how to find happiness in today's troubled world, how to become a better person, and many other topics. I actually bought the book Freedom in Exile, which is an autobiography of HH The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet (aka the current one).



The Tibetan Martyrs Memorial



One event that exemplifies Chinese brutality towards Tibetans is the kidnapping of the Panchen Lama. The Panshen Lama is the second most important figure in Tibetan Buddhism, after the Dalai Lama himself. Fifteen years ago the Dalai Lama officially named the next Panchen Lama, a six year old boy living in Tibet. Once the Chinese Government heard of this, they kidnapped the child as a political prisoner. As of now the Panchen Lama is still missing, and no one knows if he is dead or alive. The Chinese have not acknowledged or denied that they have him in captivity, but all Tibetans know that if he is still alive, he is sitting in a China jail, deprived of his religion, freedom, and family. Something must be done to help free the youngest political prisoner in the world.



Delicious Tibetan Street Momos



One of my favorite things about Mcleodganj is the food, especially the Tibetan food. My two favorite Tibetan dishes are Momo and Thupka. Momo is like a Chinese dumpling with an amazing filling, while Thupka is a type of noodle soup with a spicy flavor. The cool thing about walking around the city is that all street vendors sell Tibetan dishes that taste amazing! I will go so far as to admit that even the vegetarian Tibetan Dishes are pretty good! (however, as a tourist I would recommend caution when eating street food or else you'll be pretty sick the next day!)



A Tibetan monastery at Mcleodganj





The interesting thing about this "mini-Tibet" is that since it is high up in the mountains, it looks like Tibet also. The temperature up there is much cooler up there than the rest of India, and that is probably why the Dalai Lama chose to move there after the invasion of Tibet. There are traditional Tibetan flags hanging from buildings, and many signs are written in Tibetan script. It is a beautiful place, and is the closest you will get to seeing the real Tibet without actually going to China. I am going to miss all the Tibetan culture here, however something tells me I will back soon...



Kangra Paintings

One of the Kangra paintings

  One of the many programs CORD offers is a workshop for a special type of paintings called Kangra Paintings. What's interesting about Kangra paintings at CORD is that they are exclusively done by deaf and mute village adolescents.



Some of the Kangra painters hard at work

 Last week Dr. Didi (what we call our CORD founder and Director) came back from a trip to Canada. When she went there she took a villager who draws Kangra Paintings to see a Kangra art exhibition, along with one of his interpreters. He seemed to have enjoyed the trip a lot, (I think it was his first time outside the country) and his interpreter and he showed us a power point in the general assembly of the trip they took to Canada

I personally think this is one of the best CORD programs, as it takes villagers who normally wouldn't be cared about and gives them empowerment in the form of making a living through painting. Dr. Didi really wants these kids to realize that they can improve their lives and make a living, and so far it has been a success in my opinion.


Me and some of the deaf Kangra painters



Exploring Himachal Pradesh

Karmapa Temple

Since today was my day off from work, I decided to have a look at what Himachal Pradesh has to offer. I didn't go to Dharamsala or Mcleodganj unfortunately, but I did go around the state to see Jwalamukhi Temple, Kangra Fort, and Karmapa Temple.



Jwalamukhi

 Jwalamukhi is a Hindu temple approximately an hour away that has an eternal natural flame. Many people come to see it every day (including pickpocketers) and it is always very crowded. We had to take our shoes off at the bottom of the hill, and climb to the top without shoes. The bad part was that it had just rained so it was very muddy, and the crowds didn't help either. After standing in line for an hour while getting past line ditchers and fake rishis, we finally got to enter the part of the temple that contained the enternal flame. It was fairly interesting, but when one of my friends tried to take a picture, a police officer smashed his camera to the ground (that's why it's always good to be able to read signs in Hindi).

Kangra Fort was a fort built around 1006 AD which the Sikhs later used to defend against Muslim invaders. It reminded me of Sinha Gadh near Pune in Maharashtra, which is also high up in the mountains. There were many great views from the top of the fort, and it was fun to climb to the top.

Karmapa Temple is in Yol, nearby the CORD center , and is the place where the second most important Lama, after the Dalai Lama, has his residence. It is a magnificent temple with many resident areas for students learning the ways of Budhism. The view when the sky is clear is one of the best I've ever seen.


Me from a window at Kangra Fort



Gettin' Down and Dirty with SRI

Marking the fields for the rice seedlings

So as I had mentioned earlier, System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is simply a method of growing that allows for more rice yield from less seeds while using less water than the traditional method. The seed is the same, but just the technique can have a big difference.

The rice paddies we worked on

We went to a farmers house in a village to help him plant his rice (the season is just now starting), and help him improve his SRI technique. I was kind of uneasy at first about getting into the mud to plant the rice, but I eventually yielded to pressure (it was probably one of the best decisions ever). The farmers and villagers were all really nice and very inquisitive about how life is in America. The farmer who we worked with had actually served in the Indian Army for 38 years until he recently retired!! It was very interesting to ask him about his experiences during all the Indo-Pak wars. Probably the newest thing to me was how everyone served chai everytime you came to one's house. I had three cups today before lunch ended!

Once I got into the mud, it was actually pretty fun markng spots and planting the seeds (the mud is actually much deeper than it looks!). Unfortunately, we didnt finish planting everything because the monsoons came and we were forced to run from the fields back to the house. Hopefully I will get to plant some more next week!

The Vermi Compost Experience!

As I had mentioned earlier in a blog post, Vermi Compost is compost made from cow droppings, leaves, and other organic sources, that is enhanced by earthworms. The villagers use it as fertilizer on their crops, but many times they have excess compost left over.



One of the compost pits we checked out



Our job in the Agricultural Livelihood Department is to find a way to properly market the excess compost to someone who is willing to buy it. We have visited nurseries and hotels to find buyers, and have had some success. Today, instead, we went to many villages to "inspect" their compost and check the quality level (we dont want to send out a bunch of junk to our buyers). Many of the villagers' pits were not of high quality, as they didn't vary the compost contents, or they just had a bunch of trash in them. On the other hand there were quite a few that actually made compost of high quality and were making it properly. It was a tiring day, as we went to many villages to check thier compost pits, all the while walking through blistering heat or intense monsoons. In the end though, it was worth it, due to the fact that we gained much useful information.

After seeing some pits in poor condition, we came to the conclusion that this may be because many farmers dont know how to properly make Vermi Compost pits. Many times the government gives them money to build the pit, but doesnt really care about what the farmers do next (more on Indian gov't beauracracy and corruption in a future blog post). Anyways my job now is to research how exactly to make a pit in detail. We need to know exactly the proportions of each ingredients, and each step used to make the pits. We can then make a manual to train the farmers on how to make a proper pit. Then we will have better quality compost that we can successfully market for the them.