Sambhali Trust: March 2010

Dear friends,

March has come to an end, it is 40 degrees celsius at the moment and raising everyday. New leaves have come on the trees and plants and flowers have blossomed. It is very nice but the days are very hot.

At Sambhali Trust, the teachers are doing well. We have 1 year strategy for the organization that we think hopefully would help the way we work and for our better future.

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Some future plans for Sambhali Trust for Sambhali Trust for the next 12 months are to strengthen the program: 2010 - 2011
1. Vision Exercise
This shared visioning exercise provides a useful framework for the team to consider and develop a coherent, shared set of goals, concepts and values for the projects within Sambhali Trust. By providing an opportunity for each team member to articulate and shape hopes and expectations for a project, a shared vision helps to create a culture that values the full and effective participation of all its members, regardless of personal identity, experience or background.

2. Women and Girls Empowerment projects
- An evaluation of ongoing activities (in all the women and girls Empowerment projects – during the 2 year course) with the help of volunteers and partner organisations.
- Outings to the post office, police station, bus stand, railway station, bank etc and see the procedure of these departments; awareness workshops on social economic issues and to see how it all works with the ticketing, police complaints, etc.

3. Sheerni Project – Setrawa village and Priyadarshini Adarsh SHG Government Scheme
- Creation of model Self Help Groups with government collaboration.
- Designing of programme to help self help groups with development of their own businesses

4. Sambhali India
Establishment of a shop to sell crafts done by the Sambhali Trust and partner organisation beneficiaries.

5. F.C.R.A.
Getting approval of F.C.R.A.(Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) certificate

6. Establishment of Local Network of NGOs
To establish a network of local NGOs working on the same issues, including local government administration

7. Publicity
To increase publicity of Sambhali Trust through the media and Tour- and Travel-Operators.

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I would also like to share some pictures with you from the Sheerni project of Self Help Groups in Setrawa, not all but some women are very excited about the work and are learning very well, some one want to take credit to earn living, for example one want to buy grain grinding machine and one want to own a cart of vegetables.

A lot of ladies wished if we could do tie and dye workshop with them, Mrs. Manju Mehta, the administrator of Sheerni project did as require by taking one artist from Jodhpur to train the ladies in Setrawa, he also promised to give future buisness to these ladies of sheerni by providing them raw materials to do tie and dye.

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Recently our Advisory board member Ms. Chloe Hart emailed me and asked me if i knew anybody who would like to have baby clothes, shoes and toys, i said well i have been in touch with a social worker of Jodhpur Ms. Susheela Bohara recently and she is landmark for social causes in Jodhpur and i could always ask her if her organization working with orphans require some help and also in my mind ran the Strategy for next year to help and partner with organizations in Jodhpur and around, our actual strategy for the next financial year start from 1st of April 2010 till 31st March 2011 but i thought i can still visit the Social worker Mrs. Bohara and ask her if she needs any support from Ms. Hart therefore one afternoon with Ms. Franziska our volunteer and Gulab our accountant, i visited some organization in Jodhpur to see their work and experiance and to learn from them. All together it was a wonderful experience to meet people from different levels of life working for making others life little easy.

Netraheen Vikas Sansthan (School for kids unable to hear, talk and See, I felt soo lucky to have what i have and at the same time soo sad to see these kids struggle, but they have made their sorrows and pains their strength to survive).

Navjeevan Sansthan( Lav Kush Shishu Grah)- ( life savior and chance for second life for a little baby to 18 year old girls. Babies are also given for adoption).

Navjeewan Sansthan ( disgusting place for 6 to 18 year old boys with no Home or Parents, Dirty, Stinky etc)
Above projects are run and funded mostly by people of Jain community. The organizations are running for 10 or more years.

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Ms. Franziska has left after almost three months of volunteering at the organisation in Jodhpur women empowerment project and Payal sewing center, Final Report.

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Final Report

Franziska Schmidt

January – March 2010

When I look back at the time as a volunteer at Sambhali Trust, I think about a lot of beautiful and overwhelming moments with the girls and women in the Jodhpur Project and the Payal Sewing Centre, the staff of the Sambhali Trust team and the great people I met in the Guest House. I remember smiling and laughing faces, strong women that cope with their often difficult lives, powerful and brave. I also learnt a lot about the Indian culture and the role of women in it. Sometimes it made me sad to see all those smart girls and women willing to learn, but because of their family situation and the attitude of the men in their families, lag behind their possibilities.

But Sambhali offers the girls a real chance to change their situation, to get an education and to earn their living with the handicrafts they learn to do. In addition to that I realized that it is already empowerment to give the girls the opportunity to spend time without their families and that it makes all the participants so much stronger to be in a group of women without a man around them. They find space where they can talk about their problems and issues without fear and they support each other and also find support through Sambhali if they need it.

During the time I was volunteering I taught Basic English in both centers and prepared and took a few workshops. However after two months teaching, Nora, Natalie and I decided, that it doesn’t make much sense to teach English through volunteers, because most of the volunteers don’t speak Hindi and teaching a foreign language which you can’t explain in a proper way is difficult and doesn’t give the benefit to the girls it should have. In addition to that, we noticed that we didn’t get enough time to prepare and create the workshops, because we needed a lot of time to prepare the lessons. So we decided that we would suggest Govind Singh Rathore, to try and find a local English teacher , immediate actions were taken and Ms. Simmi Singh was employed as the new English teacher of Sambhali Trust. Almost immediately she had a great connection to the girls and they learnt more in the first week than I was able to teach them in two months!

So in the last month my duties and responsibilities changed. I was doing more writing, like preparing a folder for the next volunteers including the workshops we did, material for English lessons and a list with pictures of all the participants. Together with the teachers and Govind we worked new timetables out to give a little more structure into both projects.

By writing the statements of a few girls in the Payal Sewing Centre I learnt more about their lives, their hopes and dreams. I also started teaching the beginners in the Payal Sewing Centre, whilst Semmi taught the advanced girls that I taught before. It was great to see the progress the women and girls made. In the beginning they were not able to write the ABC but they loved writing and every time I came in they sat there with the pencils in their hands eager to learn. I tried to learn Hindi while they tried to learn English and we always had a lot of fun by joking and learning. In the end they were able to write their name and to introduce themselves and it was so nice to see how proud and satisfied they were.

To say good bye is hard and I know I will miss all the great people I met a lot. I will never forget the girls and women, the teachers, Govind, Mukta, their son Ayush, Corinne and the staff at Durag Niwas. I learnt more than I could imagine before about India, this amazing, colorful country and the people that live here – and also about myself.

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Ms. Nora volunteer at Setrawa village project also left after two months volunteering with us. Ms. Nora and Ms. Franziska left together to travel a little bit together before going back to Germany.

Ms. Nora final report

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A review Sambhali Trust

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Nora Dilling, 21 years old, volunteering for two months (February & March 2010) in Setrawa

Introduction:
The land of colorful saris, many of the gods, the extreme kitsch of Bollywood, the elephants, probably never sleeping cities and villages of timeless: India. During my first visit in 2008 I was fascinated by the contrast of this multifaceted land.
As I came again in 2010 to India, it was this time something else, it should be become something far away from all tourist paths. I didn’t want to move on as a Traveler from place to place, look for sights and try to understand with my little knowledge the country and the mentality of the people. Rather, I was interested in the daily lives of Indians.

Thus, the small, familial NGO Sambhali Trust was exactly the right address:
Sambhali Trust: Sambhali Trust:
India is dominated by a patriarchal structure and the strict belief of a God-given hiercharchie. Casteless particularly women and girls or those from a lower caste, are on the edge of society.
The NGO founded by Govind Rathore, gives girls and women from this very low caste or untouchables, space for meetings and learning. In Sambhali Trust they find trusted contact persons and get English, Hindi, and "Art and Craft" - classes. Here they can meet friends, talk, laugh and play. The education and care experienced in Sambhali Trust, is the foundation, for these woman and girls, for a self and independent life in the Indian society.
By learning and being together with volunteers, many of these women and girls can exercise their own position in society and reflect it. Volunteers bring fresh ideas in the curriculum. With workshops about "Women's Rights", "Sex Education", "hygiene" "Geography" "behavior" etc., we offer these people a space of more liberal and self-thinking.
The starting point of the NGO) is the desert city, Jodhpur in Rajasthan (northern India). One of the poorest and most conservative states in

India

. In Jodhpur are acting different projects. For example, in the beautiful blue Guest House (which is management of Govind's wife) and in the Payal Sewing Center, the women and girls meet daily to learn and play daily.
In the middle of the desert, 110 kilometers west lies the small village of 3000 inhabitants, Setrawa. The Sambhali Trust school here, offering young girls from all castes, Rooms to meet and learn.

Living in Setrawa:
It is an intense and extreme experience to live in a small village, in the middle of nowhere, with a local Indian family. It takes a little time to get used to the still very simple standard of living and to the different way of life.
In this process I realized how little is my knowledge about this culture. Life in the family and working in the school manifested my theoretical knowledge about the country and mentality and I began to really understand.
In Rajasthan, it means "the guest is God". That this is taken so literally, I didn’t initially expect. Everbody and especially my host family was super caring and spoil me with Indian delicacies. For some palates perhaps somewhat one-sided: Breakfast-Riceflakes with chilli and tomatoes, Luch- Chapatti vegetables, chapatti, Dinner- chapatti with vegetables. In between some chai. I loved it!
The biggest Difficulty was the language barrier. My host family spoke almost no English. But on my part with a bit of Hindi, English and a bit more body language, we could communicate a little.
Over time I found my place in the family and they got used to my confused acting Requirements of a Western woman. Initially, it was for my family completely incomprehensible that every day I also took time for me alone. The Indian is a family- and group person and in this construct, he takes its place and finds its identity.. The urge to privacy and "be alone" is completely foreign to the Indians.
Life in Setrawa is simple and modest. But yet I found everything what I needed. On the market you find everything from the banana to the soap. There are even little shopping. I acquired there kitschy Anklets with pink, black hearts and they were the absolute eye catcher.
The villagers of Setrawa are all friendly. I always met smile faces and prying eyes.
Sambhali School Sambhali School
For me it was a very special and formative experience to work as a teacher. I attended only 2 years before my graduation and never acted before in such a position. To be a Teacher in Setrawa you need a high degree of independence and creativity. The school does have a laid down schedule and a cupboard full of teaching and textbooks, games and colors. Nevertheless, there is no fixed structure or a senior curriculum.
I always tried to teach English in a playful way. The keys to success in learning, have fun while lerning, laughing, working with all the senses, to repeat, repeat, and a lot of patience on my part.
Overall, I put my focus on pedagogical teaching methods that are based on the following objectives:

The interest in learning to awaken
Building group dynamics
The trust and understanding each other better
Independent thinking and Encourage Work
Making decisions to develop
Sharpen the sense
The own position at home and in society recognize and reflect
Emotions act out, talk about feelings
Own forces to find and awaken

(For more detailed descriptions and information take a look in the folder in Jodhpur)
Teaching English in order to truly sustainable and to convey a feeling for grammar, you need more time and continuity and mastered the local language.

The most of the pupils were highly motivated and enthusiastic in the matter. Often, some sat with their books and pencils before school begins in the classroom and just waiting to start out.

Leitmotif for the next Volunteers:

You will find the timetable depends in Jodhpur in the office, as well as in Setrawa in school.
It makes sense to share the class in beginner and advanced students. Ideal would be to share it in 3 classes. This is naturally only possible with more Volunteers
Every Monday, we opened the week with a seating circle, where each girl should say something to about her feeling on this day. (how are you, how was your weekend?).
Each girl has a "Wordcardbox" where they collect their vocabulary sheet. This box can be taken home.
Tests; The girls love tests.
A great game on top of each lesson is a vocabulary contest. Indian words are shown and who knows at first the English word, gets the point. Anyone who has collected the most points allowed aspiring to the next round of the manual.
All themes and most of the workshops, which I have conducted, are written down and in a folder in Jodhpur
Every Friday is “gameday”.
The next Volunteer should take the time to sift through the bookcase and the large silver box.

Resume
With a laughing and crying eye, I will leave my cherished Setrawa village and the Sambhali Trust Organization. On the whole it was a brilliant time with al lot of unique nobles, pictures and experiences.

I go with a good feeling and with the feeling to have done a good job. Also I'm very happy to be allowed to take personal experience and continue my trip to India, with an expanded view of the effects for the country and culture.

Thank you for reading from us. Take care of yourselves, do not hesitate and let me know how can i be of assistance to you and what else may i inform yourself. Our team meetings have been regular and much helpful for the running and developing of the organisation, if you ever care to join the team meeting, it is every alternate Saturday of the month(please inquire) and join in the meeting to learn more about the trust and its activities.

Govind Singh Rathore

Ps: Europe trip from 5th June 2010 till 22nd June 2010.

Switzerland, Austria and Germany ( few presentations with the help of our dear friends) more updates on the matter available soon.

Hello my dear Readers,

I hope you all are doing well!!

Mid of March 2010 has been full of guest, meetings, seminars, etc, it was nice meeting soo many interesting people from all the corners of the world from different working back grounds, it was also nice to meet friends who came back like Mrs. Ernestine Badegruber, Alison and Kieth.
I have some pictures from Sambhali trust that i would like to share with all of yourself.

Tamanna teaching art and craft in her theory class

Girls coloring their English Alphabet wall(Jodhpur empowerment project)

Girls sketching in Setrawa project

Class room in Setrawa

On the 6th of March, Mr and Mrs Hugh Jervis came to visit the organization and joined us for the staff meeting, every 15 days all the staff related to Sambhali trust sit together and have a staff meeting for evaluating our work, discussions and the projects.

On 6th of March 2010, we were invited by Mrs. Susheela Bohra of Sambal Sansthan, a landmark of women empowerment, Mrs. Bohra has given a lot for the Empowerment of women, the day was celebraated to provide materials related to the women of Sambal Sansthan for their income generating program, I would like to share some pictures with our supporters from this day.

On the 8th of March 2010, we were invited by the Women and Child Development Department of the District at a women empowerment get together for the international women day, our Advisory board member Mrs. Ernestine Badegruber of Linz in Austria was one of the chief guest, I was also given Honor to speak about the women in Indian Society and the situation of women in Indian society today. We all staff went to attend the seminar. It was a good learning experiance for all.

9th of March 2010, Dragoman Group visited with 15 guest and 2 crew members, we welcomed them at the Jodhpur project, guest had lunch with our girls, we had soo much fun dancing, singing, playing sports together, we dance for them and guest also performed dance for us,it was a nice day full of fun, our girls and we felt honored and thankful for this cultural exchange.

On the 12th of this month, i received a phone call followed by a letter from one organization called Apurva Society, they were hosting a conference to bring women together to support the women reservation bill of the government, we were also invited, i thought why dont we take all the Sambhali Jodhpur project participants and decided we shall go and support the reservation bill conference as women empowerment rally. it was nice experiance for our girls, we were welcomed by some very honorable ladies of the city, Soniya and Monica spoke about their life and their experiance as Dalits and girls in the society.