The most amazing NGO. Ever.

This past week I went to Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. While there, I was in what SIT calls "workshop" where I got to know an NGO on a deeper level by spending an entire week investigating and researching their practices. The research included conducting interviews, getting debriefs from unit directors and also observation.

The 27 people in my program were (for the first time) split between four different workshops. Everyone was able to attend their first choice workshop and I chose to go to Varanasi and research the Kiran Center; the most amazing NGO ever.

To explain the NGO in a nutshell ... Kiran is an empowerment program for the differently abled and underprivileged. Kiran educates, rehabilitates, and trains "young" people and their parents to increase their quality of life and their integration into society.

The website doesn't do this organization justice, but you can check it out at http://kiranvillage.org

Because you can't get a great picture of the awesomeness of Kiran from the website, I am going to try to relay a portion of the vast amounts of information that I gathered this past week. Because Kiran is just too cool, I don't think this is going to be a short post ... just consider yourself warned.

All Kiran buses are maintained by the automotive unit.

They are cleaned twice a day and all mechanical fixing

takes place within the NGO by the vocational

trainees/teachers.

To start off each day, we (the four other girls and an SIT staff member - who is actually from Varanasi - and I) boarded Kiran buses in town to take us the 45minutes to the Kiran Village. Along the way we picked up countless students and everyone crowded in. There were three buses for students and one for teachers. Each bus for students had a driver and a male aid. If when picking up a child from their "stop" s/he was physically handicapped (60% of the students at Kiran are disabled in some way, and the majority have physical impairments), the aid would elegantly whisk the child from the street, up the steep stairs of the bus, and put them into a seat. In the US, these children would be on "the short bus" with seat belts or restraints; in India, these children were squished on to normal school bus seats and were perfectly fine and happy.

One of the other girls (Miyena) and I rode a bus together one morning. The kids were super fun (as you can see by her face) and we loved interacting in Hinglish.

I couldn't resist putting this cutie on here.
There were so many adorable children!

When we arrived at Kiran each morning, there was an enormous "welcoming" squad of teachers, aids, and students to help all the kids off the bus and into their wheelchairs, walkers or off and running to morning "prayers".

"Prayers" were less religious and more spiritual. They had some quite meditation, some food for thought by famous people (e.g. Gandhiji) and the school moto. This was student led and everyone at the school attended.

There are five main departments of the Kiran Village which I visited during the week: Integrated Education, Special Education, Vocation and Skills Training, Rehabilitation, and Human Resource Training Center.

The doorway into the Lower Kindergarden classroom.
Eye-spy: extremely motivated and studious girl in the
back in a special seat made (on site) for her condition.

Kiran's philosophy is that students of all abilities should learn together - integrated education. There are two main units within the education department, Integrated Education and Special Education. In Integrated Education, all of the "normal" students (which must be below the poverty line) are taught with "differently abled" students. Most of the "different" students have physical impairments. All students are placed based off of skill and not on age. However, there are no 13 year olds in the first grade; most students are within a year of a typical school/grade age. Right now the school only educates up to 7th standard, but plans to increase to 8th next year. After 8th standard, the goal is to have students capable of attending further education outside of the NGO.

The special education department consists of five sections: Academic, Functional Juniors, Functional Seniors, Self Care, and Hearing Impaired.
In the Academic section, special needs students learn academic information at a slower pace and with special needs based methods. In the Functional Junior/Senior (groupings based on age) students learn some academic information but skills are also concentrated on personal skills and social skills. The Self Care section (which serves the most sever cases) teaches personal skills like going to the bathroom, brushing ones own teeth, or feeding oneself.
The Hearing Impaired section has two levels, and trains students to lipread Hindi. The students have their own style of sign language that they all use to communicate with each other and with staff (if the staff lets them use it), but because the goal of Kiran is to train students to integrate and succeed in society, they learn how to lip read and speak (there is an onsite speech therapist along with the teachers).

The methods that Kiran uses are wonderful. I was able to observe four different levels and saw discussions, songs, activities, one on one help, and a simulation.

Physically challenged women in the Art and Design unit
paining a silk scarf which was designed by a MR artist.

The Vocation and Skills Training department has ten sections: Woodworking and IQ Toys, Horticulture, Tailoring, Orthotics, Physiotherapy, Art and Design, Saksham Grihini (capable housewife), Food Preservation, Bakery, and finally Learn and Earn. Participants of the department are 16-30 years old and have varying degrees of mental and physical ability.

It would take forever to go into detail here about each program, but in general: each program has between 1-3 years of training and some  also have an internship for a year after training. The goals of the Training department are to integrate people of different abilities into society and also be able to contribute to society. Once a trainee graduates, they are qualified to take out an interest free micro loan from Kiran to start their own business.
The different units of the Training department all create different products which are sold in the Kiran Center in town (and online). Everything made in the units are made or designed by someone of differing abilities.
Also, Kiran is amazingly sustainable. For example, the basic weaving that the MR (mentally retarded) students make in the Learn and Earn unit, are then used as a fabric for the Art and Design unit to make purses.

The fourth department, Rehabilitation, has eight different units: Orthotic Workshop, Outreach Service,  Mother's Training, Physiotherapy, Parent and Child Care Unit, Community Based Rehabilitation, Dispensary, and Hostel for Outreach.
I won't go into much detail on each of these but I do want to highlight three of them briefly.

As I mentioned above, the majority of students (and many staff members) have physical impairments. To be maximally functional, different "appliances" are needed. Because they are needed, Kiran has a workshop on site that addresses this need and provides them free of charge for everyone. At the workshop (which is staffed by professionals and Kiran trained persons) they make custom orthoses, custom protheses, custom spinal braces and jackets, hand splints, custom gaiters, shoe modifications, wheelchair repairs and modifications, and also repair any other appliances.

The main room (of two) for the Orthotic Workshop.

The second unit I want to touch on is the Physiotherapy Unit. Each student in the school (total of 240) that have a physical impairment, receive physical therapy. Depending on their need and their potential to improve, each child is given an individualized therapy schedule. There are trained and licensed physical therapists, occupational therapists and also trained assistants. One assistant in particular is deaf, and she was a student at the school and went through training with the Vocation and Skills Training department and now works with physically handicapped students.

The main Physiotherapy room. There are also other facilities: a therapeutic playground, a trampoline, a horse for therapy, and a therapeutic pool.

A third unit of the Rehabilitation Unit is the Parent and Child Care Unit (PCCU). Here there is a team of a special educator, occupational therapist, speech therapist, phycologist, and neurologist.  Each day, parents from the village and community bring in their disabled child (up to 25 years old) to the Kiran campus and the team assesses each child. They work on home-therapy plans, medical plans, and possible enrollment in the Education Department or the Vocation and Skills Training department.

The fifth and final department is the Human Resource Training Center (HRTC). One of the main themes that we noticed from all of our interviews with department heads and Sister Sangeeta (the Swiss nun who founded Kiran) was that Kiran's focus is on quality and not quantity - and after 20 years, they have now stopped expanding and only want to make their services as wonderful as possible. Because they aren't going to expand themselves, they decided to have some way to create expansion. That is what the HRTC is for. The HRTC hosts a college accredited program to train people to become special educators. The program is two years long, only accepts 25 people a year and preferences handicapped and poor applicants.

Wow, that was a lot of info, yet I feel like I only got to scratch the surface with this post.

I would like to add one last thing. A plug.
As you can imagine, running all of these programs plus so many other aspects that I didn't have room to mention (like daily lunches for all 400something members of campus, or hostel units) all requires money. I would never ordinarily ask people to give money to anything. However, I feel like I have to make an exception. If this post has intrigued you at all, please look into Kiran more on their website, ask me questions, and if you can, donate to this AMAZING NGO!

The City of Varanasi

First Impressions:

• pungent smell
• hot
• tons of flies
• very different than the India I have experienced thus far.

Although those adjectives could be considered negative, I really don't mean them to be. For the oldest city on earth, she isn't doin' too horribly I suppose. The people are very nice, I can find chocolate, and the tourists are differently obnoxious than in other parts of India.

However, there is literally trash everywhere; there is so much pollution that it can be hard to breathe; and the city itself doesn't feel as spiritual as you'd think it would be or have heard it is.

This is an example of the trash/animal life on the streets here. Eye-spy: 4  scrawny chickens

That is not to say that the city isn't cool to walk around and see. Above is a pic of a fruit and veggie stand. Like the rest of India, there are people selling all sorts of things on the streets.

When you're in Varanasi, you can't not walk along the Ganges.

It is said that if anything were to be constructed on the other bank of the river, the city would no longer be holy. So, everything is crowded onto the one bank.

We went to the Ganga Aarti the first night, which was a very "I'm visiting Varanasi" thing to do. It was entertaining, but because one of the girls I was with was having a hard time breathing with all of the pollution and incense, we decided to leave after about 30 minutes.

All in all? This is a fine city. I don't think it is wonderful, but I'm glad I'm getting to see it.

Side note: Despite the "sight-seeing" quality to this post, I really am here to conduct research and observations on an (AMAZING) NGO called Kiran. More on that later ...

Indian Bathrooms!

I am about to head off to Varanasi for a week of research with an NGO, but before I go, I thought I should post a little something.

If you know me, you know that bathrooms are very important to me. I judge places by their bathrooms. 

Before coming to India I was very nervous about the idea of using an "Eastern Latrine." But now, I much prefer the Eastern toilet to the Western, and will even wait in line to use the Eastern before using the Western. The eastern is so much more hygienic!

Here are some pics of the restroom facilities I've been using and also a wonderful little video tutorial.

This is the bathroom at my home here in New Delhi. It is very nice. I can flush the toilet paper (which we keep on the counter because there is no paper holder), we have a working shower (no bucket showers for us), and the hot water geyser (which you can see in the corner of the mirror) heats up within 20 minutes.

If you notice though, there is no shower curtain. This is not unusual. In India, there are drains in the floor, and because I live in a posh place, there is a floor squeegee that we use to remove the water.

Also take note of the little hose next to the toilet. That will be explained below.

This is a medium quality Eastern style restroom at a market here in Delhi. There is a trashcan for toilet paper or other papery products; there is a flush button and running water to fill the mug (the pink thing to the right).

Here is the most Indian toilet ever. This is the toilet on the train!

See that hole? Well that hole is directly open to the tracks down below (it was night when I took the picture so you can't see the tracks). There are directions to not use it while the train is stopped because you would be doing your business at a station and people would see everything dropping from the train car. This wouldn't be extremely unusual to see, but I guess it is the Indian train system's attempt at being more civilized. 

It is actually set up very well. There is a handle to steady you while you are squatting/rocking with the fast movement of the train, and there is very strong soap and Indian water available to wash your hands pre-handsanitizer.

Finally, here is the video that we first watched to learn how to use the Eastern Latrine, which we now have learned is "very very clean."

Whenever I watch this with Indians, they laugh hysterically at the South Indian doing the tutorial, but we found it quite educational.

Enjoy.

Excursion to Rajasthan

This past week we took an excursion to the state of Rajasthan. We learned about some state and traditional medical programs and also NGOs. We also did a ton of fun sightseeing and activities.

Our little group in the sleeper compartment on our 12 hour overnight trip from Delhi to Rajasthan.

The view from my hotel while in Udaipur.

While in Udaipur, we got to ride an elephant through the streets! She took a little (3 gallon) pee break in the middle.

In Udaipur, we went to a hospital that had a pediatric malnutrition clinic. Here, mothers are paid "wages lost" each day (IR130, about 2.75USD) to take care of their children under the doctor's directions. Here they get medication and food.

Next to the hospital in Udaipur, there was a breast milk donation center (brand new NGO) and also a place where babies can be abandoned. The picture above is the crib that has a censor with a two minute delayed alarm. Someone can drop off the unwanted child and walk away before the alarm goes off for an NGO worker to collect the child. This is an effort to reduce the number of children who are abandoned out in the desert of Rajasthan.

We visited two different villages in Rajasthan, one in Udaipur and one in Devgarh. We saw how a government funded NGO runs a mobile clinic, and also how a privately funded NGO runs Balwadies, which are similar to the function of the Anganwadies.

On our final afternoon in Rajasthan, we visited the Chittorgarth Fort.

There were multiple locations to the Fort and this one reminded me exactly of the monkey secene of the Jungle Book. Including the carvings and structures ...

... and all the 100s of MONKEYS!!!

Becoming a Pro in India

Yesterday (Saturday) some friends and I decided to get out and explore. It's also my friend's 21st birthday today, so we decided to go out to dinner since we will be on an overnight train to Udaipur tonight.

What struck me the most about yesterday was how integrated and comfortable I felt.

The girls and me (minus Priyanka who took the picture) on the platform before entering the mosque.

We decided to venture out to Old Delhi again to visit Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India.

A month ago, the idea of going to Old Delhi was a trek - two different Metro lines and then navigating the craziness of the area. Now, it was no sweat. The jostling and pushing to make it on to the metro was practically normal.

We then walked out to the main street, and because we didn't know exactly where the mosque was, we decided to take rickshaws. I am very conflicted on my feelings towards rickshaw walas, but I do know for sure that white-tax is in full swing, so I have no problem negotiating-down a price. Sarah decided to take the lead on this particular negotiation and was awesome.

She asked how much to Jama Masjid, and the wala said "100 Rupees." (outrageous)

"Bahoot Bahoot! [too much!] 40 Rupees."

The wala replied "No. 50 madam, Indian price." Ha!

"We live here, that is not Indian price. 40 Rupees."

"Ok ok [with the added Indian head shake/nod]."

So, we then got on the rickshaws and went for a ride through the crowded streets of Old Delhi.

It was quite the ride including going down some steps and riding through a crowed market (which was kinda awkward).

Part of the market leading up to the mosque. See the Red Fort in the background?

As we waited for one of our friends to join us, we hung out on the steps to the mosque. There, little girls begged for food and money. Weeks ago I would have really struggled with what to do as they were tapping or pulling on my arms. Now though, we calmly said, "Nahee Nahee" (no no), and they eventually went away for a bit (and returned relentlessly).

They were pretty well off little beggars. They were getting plenty of free food from the stands and the leader of their little pack, who also was the smallest, had a huge wad of cash hidden away under her kurta.

There was a tourist woman sitting on the steps waiting for the evening prayer to be over and was shaking her head at the girls. In the Western world, a shake of the head means "no." But in India, a shake means "yes." Julia and I went over to her to give her some advice, and it turns out that she was a  very nice French woman here on vacation. We had a quick covo after shooing the girls away, and then went back to our friends.

The wall of the Jama Masjid

Once prayer was over, we removed our shoes to go into the mosque. However there was another Indian scheme to get money from "tourists." 300 Rupees for anyone who had a cell phone or a camera. Now, there are more cell phones in India than toilets (fact), so every Indian going into the mosque most likely had a cell phone, but no Indian was stopped. However, all white/foreigners were stopped for a bag check and forced to buy a ticket.

This seemed absolutely ridiculous to us, so we schemed right back. We split up the group, and half of us went in at a time and the other half watched the stuff. Before I went in, the "guards" didn't believe me that I didn't have anything. I showed them I had no bag, so where would I have a phone? He made me promise that I was telling the truth, and then I was allowed in.

It was quite cool. Very big, but also looked a lot like the Red Fort. The most amazing part of it was thinking that this marble and sandstone has been here since 1656. We walked barefoot around for a while (trying to avoid the great amounts of bird poop everywhere), and then went back out.

I must have looked like an authority of the place because as we were waiting for the other half of our group a British woman came up to me to ask my advice about the price to get in. She also wasn't dressed appropriately (her arms were showing) so she was forced to put a hospital gown type thing on to cover up (haha).

The buildings of the city surrounding the mosque

Once we were done looking around. We decided to walk though the market and the crowded city streets back to the Metro station. On our way back we saw a white woman alone, looking a bit confused and holding an India guide book. I called out to her to see if she needed help.

We made it back to the Metro station with no problems and hopped on. I had to go to Lajpat Nagar to pick up my new spectacles (as they call them here, see the pic to the right) and also some more hand sanitizer before the trip to Udaipur, so I stayed on the Metro a bit longer. I ran my errands and then an hour later navigated to Khan Market to meet up with the girls for the birthday dinner.

It was an easy and fun day. A month ago I probably looked as overwhelmed as the woman on the street with the guide book, and now I casually walk down the streets and can offer help to other people! Its amazing what has happened in only a month.

I am loving India.