For background, please refer to Priya Ranjan & Karunesh Pandey's report on the Jahanabad visit and other previous HBP reports for background on BGVS structure & a Map of Bihar.

Stage 1: Getting there:

Getting from Dehradun in Uttaranchal (where my family lives) to Begusarai, Bihar could have been simpler and more straightforward but

1. our insistence on taking a train
2. and the fact that train schedules had recently changed on April 1st and the Timetables and the local experts on the train station did not have the new schedule made the trip much more discontinuous and eventful.

My sister Anuradha Roy, who has worked extensively with local artisans and other grassroots organizations that work with literacy, education and self-employment in Rajasthan, accompanied me on the trip.

In case you were curious how we got there:

We drove from Dehradun to Delhi (approx 6 ½ hours)

Missed our Rajdhani express to Barauni since the actual time from the train had moved up from 5 p.m. (published time) to 2 p.m.

So, we looked for alternatives.  We caught a train to Patna which after we got on the train were told only goes to Patna on Mondays and Fridays, so we got off at the closest station in the middle of the night at about 3 a.m.

From there we finally got a train that actually took us to Patna in the morning.

Since there were no trains from Patna to Barauni until later in the afternoon and the local police, railway station officials and curious bystanders all recommended that we avoid the buses (which we later found out would have been the best option) we carried on the following route:

• Patna to Hajipur    (45 min ride on a three wheeler passing now potholed Mahatma Gandhi Setu (still collecting toll))
• Hajipur to Barauni (passenger train- 4 hours)
• Barauni to Begusarai (BGVS member Sashiji picked us up in Barauni, about 1 hr)

Translation:  We reached Begusarai four hours late, about 1 p.m. rather than the 9 a.m. that was planned.  We missed one Panchayat meeting and a village visit because of this delay so were a bit disappointed.

We met some very interesting people traveling from Delhi to Barauni so hindsight, though the trip was not very efficient, it was filled with engaging conversations, discussions and speculations about why we were traveling unescorted (students in a discovery of rural India, trainers, educators, reporters etc. etc.).

Stage 2: In Begusarai:

Our contact was  Mr. S.N. Azaad:

• Mr. Azaad is the state president of BGVS in Bihar and also runs the Begusarai office.
• During our train ride from Hajipur to Barauni, the passenger sitting across from us seemed to know a lot about Mr. Azaad and his activism beginning from his stint as the Student Union leader.

1. The HQ Meeting in Beusarai: 1:30 - 2:30 pm. April 11, 2002.

From the train station in Barauni, we went straight to the BGVS (Bhartiya Gyan Vigyan Samiti i.e. AIPSN ) headquarters in Begusarai.  We were picked up and escorted by Sashiji, Secretary, Finance and member BGVS Begusarai, who started to give us a better understanding about Begusarai and BGVS.

The office was upstairs in a market place.  The office occupies three or four rooms at this time and was adorned with a large poster of Bhagat Singh and artwork and murals on the walls inside the office. 

Meeting with S.N. Azaad, Usha Devi and other BGVS members in the Begusarai Office

• As soon as we got there, we started with a meeting with local members.  We all sat on a dari as Mr. Azaad told us how the group got started in Bihar and how they really mobilized in 1993-94, in response to the riots that were going on all over India after the Babri Masjid incident.  They mobilized with the message of communal harmony and were able to raise thousands and lakhs of rupees and form a presence that is even now existing is in over thirty Districts in Bihar.

• Mr. Azaad also discussed BGVS's reluctance to take foreign funds until now and how slowly it was being relaxed but only for partnerships like HBP and organizations that share BGVS's philosophy of mobilizing communities (like A.I.D.)

• It also became clear that no one in that office (including Mr. Azaad) new much about HBP other than that it was some health related plan and a block had to be chosen and women's group mobilized.  (Before leaving, I gave them a copy of the HBP proposal /details from the AIPSN website late that evening).

• We were briefly introduced to other members, who didn't say much during the meeting, they included playwrights, artists (painters and actors), directors, writers, poets along with other literacy activists:

• Usha Devi from Bakari  (District secretary for BGVS and newly elected Vice-chairman of the District Council (won in Panchayat elections)
• Parvez (Environmental focus - Drama Director)
• Setaram (Vikalp) Artist, painted the murals in the office
• Ramkumar Updhyay
• Promod Kumar
• Sudhaker
• Ranjit (Publication)
• Vishwanath (Child Development Coordinator)
• Rampreet Sharma (Organizer)
• Kundan (Leads Women's Organization)

2. Facts about Begusarai:

• 18 Blocks in this District
• Very high in vaccination of children though (100%)
• Lady doctors are too few, only 2 when should be 18
• Heath education is non-existing
• Some of the health related issues that were highlighted:
• Superstitions with some religions practices
• Not covering drinking water
• Animals and children drinking the water around the Hand pump
• Lack of bathrooms in villages (even in many affluent household)
• 70-80% of pregnant women are anemic - don't realize that in addition to vitamins they can get iron and minerals from certain local vegetables and fruits and don't care for the iron capsules that are handed out free of cost at the health centers. The workers complained that they just throw it away !
• Locals react more to short-term fixes and results (medicine etc) rather than education, so the approach is to balance
• Development and health - near-term advantage focus
• Education - long-term results
• Women cooking in front of the mud-stove and fire and breathing in the smoke day/night causes health problems as well
• BGVS claimed to have a good relationship with local doctors and PHCs
• 600 Savings group (micro-credit), 10-12,000 members (total cash, in the office communicated 21 Lakh and in the field 50-60 Lakh - Need to verify)
• BGVS would like to collect more data and do surveys but not enough money and resources for this
• BGVS ensures that villagers contribute as well so that they feel vested, even though majority of the donors are quite poor, they often help with
• Feeding and/or housing local workshop attendees and volunteers
• Mostly give food donations
• Some well off villagers sponsor meetings or meals for workshop

3. HBP Block - Dandari: 3:00 - 4:30 pm, April 11, 2002

From the headquarters office we drove to one of the villages in Dandari block.  We were told that Dandari was chosen for HBP because BGVS felt that this block could use the most help in health care and mobilization. 

On our way we saw one of the wheat fields up in flames, apparently because of the dry heat and workers being careless with their beedis.  There was no water to stop the fire so the best that the farmers could do was to cut the paddy around the fire so that it could be contained.

When we arrived, the villagers had been waiting for us for some time.  We had a meeting on the verandah of the building where the block has a one-room office space.  The meeting was attended by literary volunteers from the villages, Sashiji, Usha Devi , BDO etc. (See- Attachment at the end of the report for complete list of attendees.)

Reviewing a Block report in Dandari at the Block office

• Stats about Dandari
• 8 Panchayat (were 10 before and 2 have gone to other villages)
• 60,000 population
• 30 villages
• 25% population is Schedule Caste
• Majority of the population is under poverty line
• About half of low income are small or for-hire farmers
• Another 50% are laborers
• Quite behind in literacy
• 37.68 % literacy rate overall
• 28% literacy rate for women
• No other NGO (other than BGVS ) is really active in this area
• Poor transportation options - Access to many of the villages is limited

Meeting with the volunteers from Dandari on the verandah in front of the Block office

• State of Health Care in Dandari
• Transportation problems in accessing doctors/health centers - especially during rainy season and for more so for pregnant women
• No MBBS doctor
• Poor state of PHC
• 1 PHC has infrastructure but its roof is falling off
• 9 others are run in Panchayat Bhavan
• they run low on medicine or not available
• 75% of the population doesn't have regular access to medicine
• Focus on children's health only during birth
• When its weighed
• When its vaccinated
• Jeevan Raksha Toli
• a group was starting to inform villagers about nutrition and other health related practices
• worked with PHC to help staff vaccination booths
• some success in dispersing Vitamin A and the Pulse Polio program

• State of Education in Dandari

• Child labor is quite prevalent
• Most villages have school structures but very few teachers
• One of the villages has growing enrollment but only 1 teacher
• Close to 50% of enrolled are girls (grades 1-5)
• Numbers drop drastically after basic education (grades 6 on)
• Programs started to increase school attendance (esp. grade 1-5)
• A program was started to give 1 Rupee per day per child - applied for 20 days a month for going to school
• This program is always behind in giving money, as the grants are always late in being distributed at district level.
• There was another program that gave wheat in school.
• Some villagers present at the meeting wanted to have food for children at school instead of the wheat.
• 35% more children have enrolled in school in 2001 than 1999, after the programs were implemented.
• Limitation of these programs are that they appeal to the adult more than the child - does not help with nutrition (as wheat can't be consumed without processing and the quality is quite poor) and Rs. 20  a month is a lot less than what children can earn.

Two Active literacy workers from villages in Dandari block (through the car window) who insisted on getting my number and calling me  to let me know about the status of education in their village (they thought I was visiting from Delhi).

• Summary and Recommendations from the Group

1. The group wanted more information on HBP
2. They anted to get a format for data collection and reporting so that they would know what is expected of them from HBP
3. Want to focus more on education and mobilization
4. How to improve the local Health Care Infrastructure?
5. Wanted to serve food for children at school instead of handing out wheat or giving 1 Rupee.
6. Wanted to make sure that any health care training would be regionally tailored so it can address real issues
7. More bathrooms need to be constructed with increased focus on sanitation
1. BGVS is communicating a  government/local plan that helps construct a very low cost bathroom (provides design etc.)

4. Panchayat Meeting in Baank: 4:45 - 7:00 pm, April 11, 2002.

From the district discussions we drove to Baank.  It was already between 4-5 p.m. and we were told at this point that the other village and Panchayat visit that was planned for us would have to be canceled.  This was disappointing for us but realized that the villagers had waited for us already and trying to squeeze all these visits in a day was overly ambitious in our part.

The Panchayat meeting with the villagers, Sarpanch and BGVS members

Who was there?
We were taken to their Panchayat Bhavan, a whitewashed brick building close to the entrance to the village.  The Sarpanch or Mukhiya of the village was present there with about 15-20 men from the village and four women.  We were told that meetings earlier in the day or the afternoon have higher attendance from women.   Due to the late hour and because many of the women were just now returning from harvesting the fields and had yet to go home, clean and cook, it was difficult to get more women to the meeting.  One of the activists, Poonam Devi, though took it upon herself to bring more people and by the time we were done with the meeting, the count of women present was close if not more than the men.

More women joined us at the Panchayat meeting as it went on.  The woman (front-center in 2nd pic) in the pink and white sari is Poonam Devi.

What came up during discussions?

• 40% population is Harijan
• Challenges facing healthcare - economic & lack of awareness
• Poor nutrition
• Difficulty in getting clean drinking water
• Lack of education
• Lack of sanitation and cleanliness
• The Sarpanch talked about his efforts to clean the village and how the villagers didn't help on the day he had designated to clean the streets and the garbage and hired a truck to collect all that.  He only got 3 volunteers and since it was quite hot, he decided it will not accomplish much and called it off.
• When asked once the streets were clean, what was the Sarpanch's plan to keep the village clean (designate a place for garbage, compost etc.), he commented that he hadn't thought of that.
• Proper child rearing
• Gender Dynamics:
• The men at the meeting kept repeating how it was the women's responsibility to make sure the children, the husbands and the women themselves were healthy.
• They gave numerous examples of what mistakes women make due to superstition or lack of education that puts them in danger including being too shy to share private health details with male physicians or nurses.
• There appeared to be a lack of sensitivity when it came to the issues that women face and a lack of responsibility on the local men's part to be partners in the solution (not surprising- but women did became really quiet once the men made these statements).  We got into an interesting discussion on why men thought that it was purely women's responsibility to make all these decisions or implement the changes.
• Poonam Devi, the most vocal activist during the meeting, was asked to be more like Mother Teresa than Jhansi ki Rani (her idol).  This was interesting as the men named Bhagat Singh as their idol.  We commented that it is good to look up to historical figures and leaders but what we were asking individuals to do here didn't require them to be Mother Teresa, Jhansi ki Rani or Bhagat Singh.
• Nearest PHC is 8 Kms in Baliya
• Panchayat office is supposed to have a health center with one female and one male Nurse
• No one comes regularly
• Only shows up one or two days a week, if that, but the villagers don't know when and by the time they hear of their coming and make it out there, they are usually gone
• Mostly focus on dispensing iron pills and vaccination
• Some villagers appeared understanding since the health care providers have to travel from near by towns.  It was agreed that this is a problem and that the Sarpanch will talk to the health center employees to come regularly to the village and the villagers will make an effort in utilizing their service.
• Lack of much needed medicine
• Too expensive to travel and get medicine in the market
• We were asked for if we were carrying any medicine and would be passing out pills after the meeting.  We had to disappoint them and say that we just wanted to talk to them to see how they could mobilize their community and work with the PHCs to improve response on health care and improve local practices.
• Use of bathrooms is not prevalent (not considered important)
• Most Prevalent health problems
•  Diarrhea, Pneumonia, Malaria, T.B.
• Women often don't know they are sick, they feel weak but don't know what is wrong
• Difficulty in discussing private diseases (that also have social stigma) including gonorrhea is also an issue in this area.
• Alcohol and gambling is a problem with local men
• Local women complained about abuse by their husbands after they get intoxicated.
• Some of the women literacy workers also detailed harassment from their community but their continuing commitment despite all the challenges was inspiring.  Poonam Devi made references to being framed in a case during our village tour (we didn't have time to get more details from her or BGVS - details seemed a bit vague)

Village Tour: 7:00  - 7:45 pm, April 11, 2002

The tour was very endearing as a very large group of women surrounded us in the dark and insisted that we visit all their homes.  We thought it was best to walk through the village and observe what we could and may be speak with a few others who didn't have the opportunity to come to the meetings.

• There were open nalis (sewer lines) right next to the Hand pump used for drinking water
• No electricity in the village, limited water
• We saw a teacher tutoring/teaching a few boys in a makeshift school in the evening (for children who work)
• We briefly spoke with a village lady (22/23) who practices Aurvedic medicine.  Wish we had a bit more time to speak with her but we were rushed out of her house since one of the BGVS members had to attend a District meeting and it was getting quite late.
• Met local RNP who dispenses medicine to the villagers
• His stock included liquid food supplement, expectant, fever reducer, diarrhea medicine
• He said he tries to refer really sick villagers to town
• He does not charge fees but only charges for medicine that he recommends (appeared to be slight conflict of interest but still a good way for villagers to have access to basic medication).

A village boy bringing his buffalo home in the evening

With the Baank Villagers during our village tour in the dark

5. Debriefing in Begusarai: 8:45 - 10:00 pm, April 11, 2002.

After the village tour we drove back to Begusarai's office.  We had a debriefing meeting with Mr. Azaad and our escorts throughout the field trip (Usha Devi, Sashiji, Ramkumar Upadhyay) and  other members from BGVS.  Everyone was quite exhausted by now and we were excited to get what we could out of the trip but two days with hardly any sleep was catching up with us.

Begusarai office has use of a generator until 10 p.m. or so since the electricity is quite unreliable.  During our meeting the lights went out a couple times and we continued in the dark.

HBP Info & Email:  Later in the evening, I went downstairs (BGVS uses the STD booth and is planning to use this Internet Café for email use) with Sashiji and showed him how to view the AIPSN site and get the latest information.  I printed copies of the latest proposal since no one in the office had any details on HBP. 

He also set an email address for Begusarai that night and gave it to me.  I have been able to successfully communicate via email since then (for immediate attention, follow-up with a phone call is necessary).

Compensating the Volunteers:  We had a discussion on whether village volunteers should be compensated and whether this interferes in their work.  The members there felt that at least an honorarium must be given to the village level volunteers as well.

We reviewed our trip, plans for the next day and Begusarai was going to work on determining the candidates for HBP now that they had a little better understanding of the projects.

10:00 - 11:00 pm, April 11, 2002:
The BGVS volunteers were wonderful hosts all day.  We were quite beat by this time and so they took us to a hotel and we finally ate our meal of the day.  It tasted wonderful.  The hotel was very nice and two of the volunteers joined us for dinner.  We paid for our stay at hotel and the dinner, BGVS covered the cost of taxi all throughout the day and the next day for our trip to Newada.

Other Observations and Profiles from Begusarai:

Politics

q            Some of the BGVS literacy workers (at this time they have decided to limit this to women members only) stood in local elections.  Several were elected in Begusarai district.  This is creating an interesting dynamic within the organization.

q            Recently elected BGVS members in Panchayat elections:

o       District Council Vice-chairman   - Usha Devi

o       District Parshad (Matihani)  - Anita Devi

o       Prakhand Pramukh (Regional/Block Chief)

§         Begusarai  - Vina Devi

§         Garhpura   - Raj Kumari Devi

§         Samho       - Renu Devi

o       Prakhand Up-pramukh (Regional/Block Deputy Chief)

§         Barauni     - Meena Devi

§         Virpur       - Reena Devi

§         Samho       - Lakshmi Devi

§         Dandari     - Indu Devi

§         Bachhawadha - Sunita Devi

o       Mukhiya

§         Rahuaa        - Pramila Devi

§         Raghunath  - Meena Devi

§         Bariyarpur  - Shanti Devi

Caste Issues

Many of the literacy workers go by their first name to avoid caste issues when they are working with villagers or within the group.  All villages are divided into tolas (caste based).  Most literacy workers don't face too many caste issues during their work but it became an issue when they ran for Panchayat elections (since elections in these areas are often polarized around castes).  Honestly speaking though, I wasn't there long enough to observe much on this issue.

Medium of the Message

q            Using Plays and acting them out with new volunteers and local villagers has been a powerful tool to spread the message of literacy and also to bring women activists out of their house and empower them and the villagers.

q            Another mode is folk songs (geet) that are written by the volunteers and sung during BGVS and village meetings.  Subjects range from literacy, education for girls, communal harmony, issues with superstitions etc.  There are volumes of these geet that have been printed out in large numbers

Profiles

q            Usha Devi, Sashiji,  etc.  (MORE to Come....)

IV. In Newada - April 12, 2002

We left Begusarai for Newada (3-4 hr drive) in a hired ambassador at 7:00 a.m. The office in Begusarai miscommunicated the time to the Newada office as 8:00 a.m. causing us to miss an organized field trip.  We made the most of it by getting into discussions with all the BGVS activists gathered in Newada and visiting a village on our way back.

Sashiji escorted us to Newada and looked after us quite well including stopping for the famous liey ladoos on the way.  The roads between Begusarai and Newada were quite good and other than the heat, the trip was quite smooth.  It also gave us a chance to ask Sashiji more questions and understand a bit more about the operational and organizational challenges in BGVS.

1. The Plan

The plan was to meet some Newada office bearers in the city and catch up with the conference/workshop attendees on their field trip.  The workshop had over 50 or so BGVS attendees from all over the State, including a large delegation of women volunteers (part of the effort to mobilize women's participation headed by Pushpaji, a delegate to AIPSN (national) from Bihar).  We were very excited about meeting so many delegates from all over Bihar and getting a view of the differences across the state.

What Really Happened!

Since the Begusarai office told the delegates in Newada that we left an hour later than we actually did, we got there an hour before expected and no one was at the office (they had left for a short errand).  The confusion arose as there was no note or information left about the whereabouts of the delegates or whether they intended to come back to the office.  So, we were directed to the area where the conference was taking place (due to poor roads it took us 1 - 1 ½ hour to get there).

2. The workshop in Kauaakole: April 11 - 17, 2002.

We reached the Conference location, Gram Nirman Mandal Sarvodaya Ashram in Kauaakole (Newada), where Jaiprakash Narayan had hosted a memorable conference in the past, only to find that the field trip team had already left.  If we had met the delegates in Newada city, we were to directly go to one of the villages.

We decided to regroup and met some of the office bearers including Galibji (the only other delegate to national committee (AIPSN) from Bihar), who sang a beautiful song for us while the local workers shared their lunch with all of us (there was no arrangement for food there since everyone was expected to be out.)  We got a chance to get some background information on the organization as well.

The purpose of the workshop was to review BGVS's direction and have specific discussions relating to micro-credit (savings groups), girl's education, state of elections and literacy etc.  A huge emphasis was put on mobilizing and addressing women in the communities.

** MORE to come: In the Attachment - I am translating a few documents including copies of registers that they were given to maintain for HBP or related projects. 

3. Field Trip:

Since my flight to Atlanta left Delhi the next day (April 13th), I couldn't extend my stay in Newada and so requested if we could still catch up with the other volunteers in the field trip and visit a few villages on our way back to Newada

Car Trip with Nareshji

We proceeded on our search and on the way had an opportunity to speak to Mr. Naresh Chandra Sharma, head of the Newada office and a long time BGVS volunteer and member.  He was very direct and upfront about a lot of issues and concerns and speaking with him was very informative and enjoyable.

q            He promptly informed me that he didn't like my getting mixed up with the Workshop and he would have preferred my visiting the HBP block and its villages instead.

q            Newada does not have a lot of funding and has to be creative in keeping its work going.

q            Women on Cycles:   In 1995, they hosted a training for women to learn to ride cycles which would be followed by a race/rally all over town.  It was a bit scandalous when first started and girls/women would come for the training and one day or the other, one of their family members would come to fetch them when they heard about all the attention being given to it.  In spite of all this, some women completed the training and the rally was held with a lot of curious and supportive by-standers coming to watch the show.  Now, many women volunteers go to villages in their cycles and now women are seen riding cars, motorcycles and scooters in town.

q            Primary Education Project: The local BJP government discontinued funding of this project after 1 year (had promised 5 year funding).  It was 20 lakh per year for 30 centers and 90 teachers (with 30 children per center).  This was to bring primary education to the villages that do not have schools (which includes several villages in this District.)  Nareshji was to provide me details on this project so that we could see whether we could work on at least a part of it or send it to Asha for Education.

q            Unique Issues for Nevada:

o       Fluoride content in water is too high-  more of an issue here compared to other districts

§         Excessive fluoride can have a deleterious effect on bone growth and cause premature joint and ligament aging. The visible damage to tooth surfaces results in mottled, brittle teeth that are prone to fracture.  Excessive fluoride may also increase chances of bone cancer and few other types of  cancer.

o       Communal Harmony:  I didn't get a good idea of this.  Everyone said things were fine and calm (with what is going on in Gujarat, the main focus is to avoid violence).  Muslim population is quite high in the area (with some villages being close to 50% Muslim).  Some RSS/BJP activity in what is taught was mentioned including that history books are being distorted, so it is important who educates the children. 

o       Naxal Belt : this causes most problems for the poorer section

§         Naxals live in Jungles surrounding the villages and survive by collecting from the wealthier members of the villages (in return of not causing them harm) and by making/selling Mahua/liquor

§         BGVS volunteers haven't had problems with them so far.  The villagers warn the volunteers if the Naxals are in town and the meeting or workshop is rescheduled.

§         Rajawli Block (HBP) has high Naxal activity.

q            Favorite Quotes from Nareshji:

o       "Itihas usi ko dosh deta hai, jo kam janta hai per kam nahi karta".  Translation: History only blames those who know what needs to done, yet do nothing.

o       Communal Issues:

§         "I don't understand why people fight and get all excited.  We are all brothers and sisters anyway.  It's not like the invaders brought a whole lot of new people who were Muslim and spread them around.  We all come from the same place."

§         "Social change is an organic reaction"

Meeting with Women Delegates

We finally found the women delegates returning from their field trip and had a makeshift meeting under a shed by the road.  There were at least 20-30 women being led by Pushpaji (Pushpa is also on the National committee of BGVS and is working to develop women's membership and group in BGVS). 

We met for only 20-30 minutes, not enough time to get much detail.  Most of the time was spent in introductions but the women were very excited to see us and there was a general crowd gathering around all of us from the commotion.  They wanted me to address them and I did the best I could without anything being prepared.  It was very inspiring meeting them and I could tell that each one of the women had an interesting story of how she got here and why she was doing what she was doing.

Profile of Activists:  I requested some information and a list of names from Pushpa and asked if they could gather some profiles on some of the activists, especially the ones who have faced and face resistance in their work. This could inspire others to come forward as well as familiarize us with the volunteers.

I tried to get some information that would be unique in the various districts but was told that it would be sent to me later.

Again, there was a vague understanding of HBP (not much at all) by the group and they had never heard of A.I.D. (except Pushpa of course) and thought I had come down from Delhi to see their work.

Women Activists (workshop attendees) from all over Bihar

Pachamba (Roh Block) -Village Visit

After taking with the workshop attendees we drove to Pachamba.  This village was quite a contrast from the villages we visited or drove around in Begusarai.

q            Mud streets, open nali (sewer lines), garbage piled in the middle of the street, chicken pecking into all that and children playing in and around this.

q            250 homes and 2 units, each caste has its own tola

q            Over 50% of the population in the village is Muslim and there were prayers going on in the Masjid in the village during our visit.

q            5 savings group, Rs 1600 in 1 year (12 women so far) - just getting started, mostly divided by caste (there appeared to be a lot of mistrust and friction though).

Open sewer lines from a brick house in Pachamba, Newada

q            Another part of the village where we met with the locals had brick streets.  We just pulled a cot in front of one of the houses.  The women would not come forward or sit in front of the men so I was taken to the side in order to talk to them.

q            They were a lot of heated discussions (with finger pointing, blaming each other) for the problems in the village - cleanliness, lack of schools, health issues etc.

q            They wanted to know what I was planning to do fix all these issues since the villagers don't listen to each other.  We continued to talk about whether outsiders can help without some interest or effort from the villagers themselves and why would an outsider be motivated to do that.  They assured me that they will try to hold meetings where they will let each other speak and be supportive (this community requires a lot of work and intervention).

q            Education: The Sarpanch/Mukhiya was a bit miffed at us since we didn't stop by his house.  He was quite soft-spoken and just informed us that there was no school in the village except the Urdu School.  The Urdu school is mostly attended by local Muslim boys.  The nearest Hindi school is a 1-2 hours walk from the village.  The centers that Newada was trying to run with government's funding were the only alternative but as mentioned earlier they have been closed due to lack of funding.

q            Health care:

o       No medicine, doctor or nurse available locally.

o       No PHC center nearby - the closest place is Kadirganj, Nevada

o       Every month some health care workers come for polio vaccination, that is it.

After visiting Pachamba, we headed to the train station. We wanted to catch a train to Gaya (we had reserved seats from Gaya to Delhi so felt relieved).  Apparently, the roads between Gaya and Newada are quite bad and a trip that should take an hour or so ends up taking 3-4 hours on a good day and is also considered unsafe at night.

It was about 6 p.m. by now and we barely caught the train.  We jumped from our side of the platform, walked over the tracks and the train took off as soon as we got inside.  We left in such a hurry that we didn't even get a chance to thank or say bye to many of the other members.  We were glad that we caught the train though as Sashiji's entire day had been consumed escorting us.

The train we got in was a Passenger train and the TT never came in to check tickets.  There was no electricity in the train, which was filled to the max.  There was no electricity in any of the stations or mid-way where our train stopped.  The snack-seller with his makeshift lamp was the only source of light so if we dropped anything or needed to lookup anything, we called him for some light and of course the channa and murhi.

The rest of the ride was uneventful and we caught our train in Gaya (which was delayed by 2-3 hours because a tree had fallen on the railway lines due to a storm.)  The train made up the time and we reached Delhi on schedule.

VI. Other Observations:

My comments and observations are throughout the report.  The following items were either not stated earlier or I feel need to be highlighted again:

1. The districts/blocks didn't have much details about the HBP plan or the structure. They had a lot of questions.  They also don't know much about A.I.D.
2. It is most productive to contact the respective Districts rather than the state office in Patna.  Also, appears that the funds are at the District level so Patna runs low on funds (a bit difficult for them to return LD and especially International calls during peak time).
3. They also requested a standard format for data collection.  Since we have different chapters involved with different districts, it would be useful for us to be clear with our expectation on reports.  It would be good to provide a format  and example for data collection- that marks the beginning stats for the chosen blocks.
4. There should be more active communication across blocks so that they know what is and what is not working in different places, especially if a creative approach is used to address an issue.
5. The Districts in Bihar should be encouraged to use email accounts to transfer information.
6. BGVS in Bihar should also increase their documentation of their activities, challenges and accomplishments and can translate or we can work with them to translate it.  This would allow them to more effectively communicate and share their work.
7. A.I.D. in the US can learn more about incorporating the arts when sharing information about certain areas.  Incorporating songs, plays, writings etc. can be increased.
8. A.I.D. members should coordinate visits to the blocks and make sure that they have the background from previous visits and know what to expect.  I could have benefited from more background.
9. PHCs role appears unclear to me. 
1. What are we planning to do with HBP especially in areas that don't have access to PHCs or centers that are setup with resources?
2. How will HBP supplement/encourage PHCs to be accessible and have resources available?
10. Look forward to more visits from other members and my subsequent visit to see the progress with HBP and other BGVS projects.
11. The volunteers and members of BGVS appear very committed, motivated and knowledgeable and I think we have a great opportunity to learn a lot while working with them.

Contact:

If you have any questions about the content of this report or would like more information or clarification, feel free to contact me at:

alka.roy@indiatimes.com

or

call at 404-358-2935

VII. Summary:

Categories for Bihar HBP Districts (per BGVS):

1. Strongest - has a strong literacy program and a solid organization
1. Saharsa
2. Begusarai
3. Supaul
4. Madhepura
5. Dhanbad
6. Darbhanga
7. Bhabua
2. Medium - organization is strong but is not spread throughout the block
1. Nawada
2. Jahanabad
3. Gaya
3. Weak - no current projects or much of an organization
1. Rohtas
2. Purnia

Information on BGVS in Bihar

q            Present in 32 Districts

q            2670 Bunyadi Sabha (local village units with 10-30 committee members)

q            65,000 Members

q            The way they define a Block for HBP (to keep it manageable)

1 Block = 6000 households  (equiv to 60 villages where each village is artificially defined to have 100 houses/households i.e. if a village had over 200 houses BGVS would define it as 2 villages for HBP.)

q            Structure

1 Block = 10 Bunyadi Sabha (at least) => Rep for Districts (3 Block Councils) => State Council (total 200)

q            17 Office Bearers, every two year office bearers change

q            Patna is the State HQ but most of the staff is distributed in the Districts - for communication, it is best to contact the respective District

q            BGVS covers Bihar and Jharkhand right now but they are discussing about breaking this up into the two states due to differences in politics, culture etc.

q            BGVS would like to increase the use of email by its district and state office.

q            Working on spending more time in documenting all the accomplishments and challenges that BGVS faces in Bihar.  So far, a lot more effort spent on organization and negligent in documentation.

q            June 15-17 2002, State Level Meeting in Bihar 

** More to come-  one of the documents is being translated from Hindi and will be attached later with more details...

Attachments

** Coming soon (translating/scanning).... 

1. List of attendees (Dandari Block Meeting)
2. A detailed report prepared by local activists in Dandari (Stats and Past Activities)
3. Summary of State Activities
4. Samples of Charts/Register sheets
5. Songs
6. Copy of International Women's Day Pamphlet
7. Summary of Activities by AWARD (Association of Women for Awareness and Rural Development)