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A dose of real India

Nitin Jugran Bahuguna

Martin had conjured up an image of India as a land symbolising the rich heritage and mystique of the Orient. He got a first-hand experience of how things really work when he started living in a village community in Haryana.

Village Nagina had little to offer either by way of heritage or mystique. It suffered from waterlogging during the monsoons, degradation of land and the inhabitants have little idea about education, health or sanitation.

Martin spent about three-and-a-half months as a member of the local community at the village located in the backward Mewat area of Haryana.

Martin, who identifies himself as one of the villagers, says he has gained much insight into human needs and behaviour during this short period.

Working side by side with the villagers, he dug drainage pits for rainwater, planted trees as part of environmental regeneration efforts and offered counselling pertaining to basic services like education, health, sanitation and hygiene.

The hardest chore though, he says in a lighter vein, related to the drainage inside his own stomach.

"The food is so spicy, that the first few days were very difficult for me," he says, laughing.

Martin and seven other Canadians are part of a youth exchange programme undertaken by the Delhi-based NGO, the Society for Promotion of Youth and Masses, in collaboration with Canada World Youth, a Canadian NGO.

The first such exchange, it offered the participants an opportunity to learn about community development at the grass-root level.

"They have experienced different customs and lifestyles and will take these experiences back to their communities," says Dr Rajesh Kumar of SPYM.

Participants consist of eight girls and eight boys, with four boys and four girls each from Canada and India. In this phase, each Indian participant was paired with a Canadian counterpart and they stayed together with a host family in the village.

According to Michelle Lamarche, project supervisor of the Canadian team, adapting and integrating into Indian culture and village customs was both a challenge and an enriching experience.

She was enthusiastic about the resource booklet the team had put together for self-help groups in the village. It highlights social, economic and health issues pertinent to the area. The exchange students initiated the process by sharing information relating to health, hygiene, sanitation and education.

"The SHG members took the information in a positive way and we helped them accomplish their goals. Some of us dug pits for drainage, some planted trees and some helped the local health authorities immunise children against polio," says Michelle.

Individual group members also took up teaching assignments in local schools hoping to motivate the students towards learning. Richard Brindle, nicknamed 'Richard Gere' because of his passing resemblance to the popular American actor, was one of the favourites among the children and had started coaching some of them in French.

Living as the adopted daughter of an Indian family and observing the same rules as the daughters of the household was both a novel and sometimes difficult experience for Audrey Lamothe.

"What is striking is that the gender roles here are so clearly defined," she says.

Earlier, in the first phase of the project, the Indian students were given a taste of Canadian culture and customs during the three-month programme. Smriti Kishore of Assam did voluntary work at a local hospital near Kingston in Ontario.

"I learnt a lot about hospital care and drug abuse. I hope to be able to use my experiences in the northeast where drug abuse and AIDS is such a critical issue," she says.

The youth exchange programme is part of SPYM's Mewat Area Development Project (Mewat is situated in the southern part of Gurgaon and Faridabad). Though it isn't very far from the national capital, the residents aren't well-versed in developmental activities and the condition of women is very bad.

"We are working in two blocks -- Hathin and Nagina -- with a series of programmes focusing on functional literacy, awareness generation, gender sensitisation and skill empowerment'', says Dr Rajesh.

UNI

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