My Personal Experience with
SAS (Jana Jagaran)
From November 2005 to June 2006
29 June 2006

Be careful when you go to India, you will get a cultural shock?

This sentence and many similar ones have been told to me before I left Luxembourg. This message is also given in numerous books by Western Authors who have come to visit a third world country.
Anyway, until this day, there has been no such a shock therapy for me. I can only say I was shocked in a very positive way by the friendliness of people and little shocked to realize how poor we people from the west are, from a cultural point of view.

Before coming I knew that poverty would exist in different dimensions from what I
experienced in Europe. As I said, I had the knowledge of it, but not yet lived it.
In the first weeks and even months, I had to face a couple of challenges: language for instance. But the moment I stopped trying to understand the meaning of everything and trusted the people, another level of communication was possible.

Like one girl in Makelmaradi village, who cannot talk nor hear, I suppose I also had my own way of communication, mainly with sign language and lots of laughter. After these six months I have picked up little Kannada and Hindi, which has given me a lot of pleasure.

So many new languages, religions, habits and of course people I have had the chance to relish. Naturally, I was attracted to all these new things and saw the beauty in everything.

India is a country of diversity in all its means. Just look at all the different religions. What God do I believe in? Where is my place in all this bazaar? Such questions were coming to my mind until I just accepted all the different names that people give to god , as one. It doesnt matter which God you pray upon, unless this God is making you a good person, respecting all living beings.
I also had to adapt to social behaviour. Here, I was not to walk in the streets like in Europe.Especially in the villages, women are very decent and rather shy. So I learned how to sit, eat and dress properly according to their style.

Furthermore, I had to realize quickly about the status of women in Indian society and about their hard and though lives. I highly respect their strength, every women in Europe would complain dawn to duck and would fall sick when she had to get up at 5.00 Oclock in the morning to cook, wash, collect firewood and at the same time looking after the children. I do not want to point out that men are lazy, but it is certainly the woman who keeps the household and family running. In addition, drinking and violent husbands are rather common here. The women have to be very courageous to continue with their lives. The surprise is that
hardly anybody complains; they accept their lives and try to make the best out of it.

Its astonishing how happy women are (I am referring to Makelmaradi village) when they come to work and they have all reason to be proud of themselves.
Personally, I also like the close relationship in between families. In Europe, we all tend to become individualists, leaving our family home as soon as possible and trying to become independent, whereas here the parents are worshipped and looked after by the children.

The sense of community is very strong, whether in family life, hostel life or religious life. This is one of the most beautiful things I could experience. Whether I was with the brothers and fathers or with the village people, I never felt alone or missed my family badly.Life is tough here. I think nobody can deny this. India is also a country of big contrasts. Look at the prosperity in the cities and the primitivism and poverty of village life. Differences are tremendous! And politics are not likely to change this situation in the near future. Like in so many other parts of the world, the rich only become richer and the poor remain poor. There
will always be people who dominate others and those who are dominated by others.

Fortunately, many good-hearted people devote their lives and time to the ones who are in need. Jana Jagaran is a very good example for such work. JJ is focusing on the people who are living on the borders of our social system, people who live below poverty line; especially women. I have never seen people work so hard for the well being of the poor. A lot of determination, patience and courage is required. I am very touched by this behaviour.

Awakening of the masses. That is exactly what is happening here. Shramik™s staff are making the marginalized aware of their situation helping them in developing their personality and giving them the opportunity to be active and creative.
It is simple and very effective. More and more people from outside, foreigners and local people are getting interested in the work of SAS.

I can only encourage other young people like me, to come for an experience with SAS. For me, it was a once in a life time opportunity to get this experience of social work at a grass root level. I am very thankful for that and to all the people that I could stay with.

Your work has certainly inspired me. And it is unimaginable how much affection the village people are able to give. They filled my heart with so much joy and love without even being aware of it. This has been the greatest gift: simply being with all of you! Now I can say that I know what friendship, love and affection is. Before, I also thought I knew. But what I knew has been transformed. I am very happy about this and will carry this with me wherever I may go.
If I was to give advice on how to prepare for such an experience, I find it essential to be open for everything new and be ready to leave everything you learned and has been taught to you behind you, even the things and values you considered important.

STORY OF SUSHILA

An Ecological Approach to Development

 
I am Sushila. My husband’s name is Baswane. I am 30 and he is 35 years old. We got married 15 years ago. We have four children, two girls and two boys. Kavita is my eldest daughter she is 13 years and studies in 7^th Std. Laxmi comes next. She is 11 and goes to 5^th Std. Our sons Ashok and Harish are aged 5 and 3 years and they go to the kindergarten in the village.

We belong to the tribal community called Naik. Our tribe is also known under the names Berad and Valmiki. During the British colonial period our tribe was listed as a criminal tribe. When there were cases of cattle lifting, illicit liquor making or dacoity our men folks were rounded up and harassed by the police. I felt sad about it. It is said that the sage Valmiki who wrote the world famous epic Ramayana was from our tribe. I feel proud to hear that.

When my parents told me that I was to be given in marriage to Kattanbhavi village I was scared. I thought that I was condemned to misery for life. I was told that Kattanbhavi village had no easy access to drinking water. Women had to walk 1.5 km down the valley to fetch water. Getting firewood for cooking was another major issue. Jungles close to the village had vanished. It meant a long trek over the barren hills in search of firewood. I did not have a say in the matter of my marriage. I just had to nod to what was already settled by the elders. I considered myself lucky, when I learnt that my husband had a small job in Gogte Mills in Belgaum and some land.

Life in Kattanbhvi was tough. With great difficulty we eked out a living from the little land we had and from the wages my husband brought home. I took care of the children, made numerous difficult and tiring trips for water and firewood, did all the cooking, washing and house cleaning and also worked on our land during rainy season and went for wage labour at other times. I used to be up by 5 am and could go to sleep only by 10 pm.

rom the year 1992 I saw a lot of changes taking place in our village. Fr. Joe, a Jesuit priest and social workers from his organization Jana Jagaran, were frequent visitors to our village. Jana Jagaran conducted night schools for the school dropouts and the illiterates. They motivated the elders to undertake a watershed programme. From 1993 Jana Jagaran along with the people of the village initiated many works in the village for rainwater harvesting. We understood that rainwater harvesting was the only solution to our drinking water problem and deteriorating environment. We learnt about the importance of counter trenching, land levelling, terracing, gully plugs, check dam, mud dam and a-forestation. We got regular work with wages under this project.

Slowly the face of the village began to change. The watershed project helped in recharging the ground water table. The problem of drinking water is fully solved. We have now many more trees in the village. The barren hills look greener. The yield from agriculture has increased three folds. There is plenty of fodder and grass for the animals. Many young people who migrated to cities in search of work returned to Kattanbhavi.

Jana Jagaran had told us about the usefulness of biogas plants cum toilets. But due to lack of water in the village only a few families came forward initially to build biogas. But when the water problem was solved many more families built biogas plants. Many families bought milk animals.

Once Fr. Joe, Director of Jana Jagaran came to my house. He asked me, ‘Sushila, on what do people in the village normally cook?’ I replied, ‘On fire wood, on kerosene, and some on petroleum gas’. Joe did not agree! He laughed and said, ‘Nobody cooks on firewood, kerosene or gas, but everybody cooks on FIRE and fire is holy and sacred. It is the great purifier. When gas is lit there is no more gas but only fire and it is on fire that everybody cooks’. Joe took me to my neighbour Karevva’s kitchen for a demonstration. He opened the gas tap but did not light the stove. The place stunk of rotten egg. Joe said, ‘This is the smell of biogas and I don’t like this stink’. Then he closed the tap. The foul smell disappeared. Joe held a lit matchstick over the stove and opened the tap again. There was a beautiful blue flame over the stove but no foul smell. Joe said, ‘What you see now is not gas but fire, and we cook on fire’.

• I have easy access to efficient cooking fuel

• I do not have to make cow-dung cakes, dry and store them for fuel

• I am saved from the hellish smoke in the kitchen

• I do not have to scrub the cooking vessels to remove the soot

• I have a modern gas stove for cooking

• My greatest problem, finding privacy for toilet needs, is solved

• I have access to a large quantity of organic manure

• My land has become more productive

• Now there are trees on the field bunds and on the hills around

• There is better sanitation and hygiene in the family and village

It is no exaggeration to say that biogas cum toilet units brought about a mini-revolution in my village. It has effectively arrested the deterioration of ecology by putting an end to cutting of trees and helping us to plant more trees. The increased availability of organic manure made our land fertile again. The increase in fodder and crop residues encouraged us to have more milk animals. More milk, more water, more crops, more trees, more job opportunities - my village is becoming richer. I am happy that I am in Kattanbhavi.

Allow me to tell you a little more about my village Kattanbhavi. It has a population of 1344, male 600 and female 744. Yes, there are more females than males in my village. Jana Jagaran contributed a lot in improving the status of women in our village! There are 157 houses in the village, out of which 135 houses installed biogas plants and 80 houses attached toilets to their biogas plants. There are another 15 families in the queue waiting their turn to get a biogas cum toilet unit built.

I talked of the mini-revolution brought about by biogas plants in my village. But it is not limited to my village. It has spread to hundreds of other villages. When I go for festivals and weddings I keep my eyes open and look for biogas plants and I find them everywhere. When Joe and Ishwar visited us recently, I asked Ishwar, the co-ordinator of Jana Jagaran Biogas Project, ‘How many biogas plants have you constructed?’ Ishwar replied, ‘Jana Jagaran has to its credit 7000 biogas plants in the villages of Belgaum District.’ He added, ‘During the last decade Belgaum District constructed and commissioned more than 52000 Biogas Plants. Belgaum was declared again and again the 1st district of the country in the promotion of Biogas Plants.’ Ishwar gave me the information that Belgaum District was assessed to have the potential for the construction of over 834,000 family based biogas plants.

This information tickled my curiosity. So I asked Ishwar again, ‘What would be our national potential ? Ishwar said, ‘Sorry, I have no idea, but let us ask Fr. Joe.’ Joe had the answer ready. He said, ‘The Advisory Board on Energy in its report, Toward a Perspective on Energy Demand and Supply in India in 2004/5, has estimated the Indian potential for family-based biogas plants at 16 to 22 million. These plants can deliver the energy equivalent of 13.4 million tonnes of kerosene oil and fertilizer equivalent of 4.4 million tones.’ I was amazed with Joe’s answer. I said to myself, ‘We have a bright future,biogas plant is the answer to some of our pressing problems!’

When Joe and Ishwar were relishing the tea I made on my biogas stove I thanked God for their friendly intervention in helping me to have my own biogas cum toilet unit and I dreamt of the day when millions of houses like mine would have, in their backyard, a small gas and manure factory with a toilet attached.

Fr. Joe Chenakala S.J.

PS: Kattanbhavi watershed has become a dream come true thanks to the generous help from Mossionsprokur and Mr. Rudolf Schleicher of Munchen