Wrapping Up Work in Kolkata

The world of social entrepreneurship is constantly evolving and growing, as are both Anudip and iMerit. In the last seven weeks we have worked long hours to determine the ways in which we could be most useful to the organizations and have worked with various supervisors and coworkers to develop our individual research plans. Since each of us has a different project within the Fellowship we have had to develop separate plans and collect separate data, yet we have also spent many hours sharing ideas and providing advice to one another.

Next week will be our last week in India and in the Anudip/iMerit office but our work with the organizations will continue into the fall as we finalize our research projects under the guidance of the GSB team at Santa Clara. As we move towards the end of our trip we thought it would be useful to provide an updated account of what each of us has been working on over the last few weeks:

Monet

The first few weeks were a combination of getting my bearings, meeting different members of the DREAM team and people in the office, visiting different tailoring training centers, typing up observational field notes from my trips to the centers, and working to figure out what exactly I could contribute.  I also spent time researching different potential softwares that could be used to enhance the work of the tailoring cooperatives. After three weeks of learning what I could about the different training centers and working to navigate what I could contribute to the DREAM team, I discovered the DREAM training centers did not have an existing curriculum introducing computers and the use of IT to the women.

After a conversation with three of my overseers, we decided it would be helpful for me to develop such a curriculum. The women cannot utilize any advanced software without this initial first step.  I spent the next few weeks drafting lessons to introduce the women to a computer for the first time. The lessons are simple with lots of pictures, providing step-by-step instructions for basic computer use. I also began returning to a single center to get to know the women and to see the new curriculum begin to be implemented so I can best make edits and in the end deliver a more complete curriculum. Unfortunately, due to some complications and a shortage of computers, the center only received their computer yesterday! As the computer class commences, I will continue to edit and revise the drafted curriculum I have written, observing one or two classes myself and then receiving feedback from the trainer in the coming weeks. I will also make general recommendation about DREAM’s integration of IT and for DREAM in general moving forward.

Rosella

My original research plan was separated into two parts, including a series of qualitative interviews with iMerit Team Leads followed by a mass, anonymous survey of iMerit employees. Despite the difficulties that can arise while working in social entrepreneurship my research plan has remained fairly consistent during my time in India. There have of course been unexpected challenges and necessary edits, but for the most part my research is still separated into two complementary parts that can later be developed into a number of different types of materials for use by iMerit.

For the first five or so weeks in Kolkata I focused almost entirely on learning the business processes of the company and conducting interviews with employees. Although I originally planned to interview just Team Leads, I ended up speaking with employees in number of different positions, which has ultimately provided me with a holistic view of how iMerit functions. Many of the interviews have been very interesting because I have been able to simply sit with employees and hear about their day-to-day lives, educational history, and employment with iMerit. However, some of them have also been very exhausting due to the language barrier.

In the last few weeks I have moved forward with trying to administer the survey to the various iMerit sites. This has been fairly challenging because I have had to create a survey that has a Hindi translation, a survey that has a Bengali translation, and get the survey approved by a number of high ranking iMerit team members. Additionally, Eid proved to be an inopportune time to send out the survey so I have been slightly delayed until the end of this week. Luckily I have now made plans to travel to the Baruipur and Metiabruz centers next week to work with the Team Leads and administer the surveys. As long as the data is collected before I board our plane back home then I will be content!

I’m pleased with how my research and has gone and I’m looking forward to wrapping everything up and working towards a final project that I can present to iMerit. As we head into our last week here I hope I can be really productive while also soaking up all that Kolkata has to offer.

 

Kathryn

My time here has been predominantly devoted to working with the SHINE team (the Anudip Curriculum Team). Over the course of the last few weeks, I have done independent analysis of the Traditional and Virtual MAST curriculums, helped edit new versions of the Anudip Academy curriculum, create workbook activities for a new project on BPO curriculum, and create an assessment tool and detailed breakdown of material for the virtual MAST curriculum. I also had a chance to visit two of the Anudip training centers (Metiabruz and Baruipur) multiple times and observe the English lessons. Last week, I got to sit in on a meeting with the CEO of Zaya, the platform Anudip uses to bring virtual MAST to rural centers, and brainstorm and approve his new implementations to the program. It was great to see the progress virtual MAST has already made and the huge strides it’s making to keep up with the needs of our students. I was also offered the opportunity to teach an English class at the Anudip Academy in Baruipur last week. Hours of preparation and stress reminded me of the work and dedication that each of our Anudip trainers put in every day!

I’m hoping to finish up my final days here on a high note and finalize the details of the product I plan to deliver in the fall for the enterprise. It will be so hard to say goodbye to my SHINE teammates, but they have all taught me so much about what it takes to deliver quality education to those in underdeveloped communities.

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In addition to our long days in the office we have also found some time to travel a bit around India. Last weekend we were able to visit Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur – also known as the “Golden Triangle!” It has been wonderful to experience the modern, business side of India as well as learn about the history and culture of this vast and diverse country.

Sightseeing and Cultural Adjustments – by Rosella Chapman

We have now completed four full weeks of work in Kolkata and have settled into our various roles within the company. In order to achieve a good work-life balance we have tried to make the most of our nights and weekends, finding new places to explore and fun places to sightsee. Here are a couple of highlights from our adventures around the city!

A Visit to Edu Leaf

A week or so ago one of our Anudip coworkers, Mehuli, invited us to visit the NGO that she and her husband created and have been running for several years. The organization is called Edu Leaf and works to enrich the lives of Kolkata children by working in government schools providing art, music and dance classes. Edu Leaf supplies the teachers and art supplies, working solely in government schools that lack adequate resources. Mehuli took us to one of the schools in which they work and we got to visit the classrooms and spend some time with the kids. They didn’t speak very much English but we could still communicate with them a little bit and enjoyed practicing our Bengali.

Mehuli had told us on our way to the school that the government education system is quite inadequate and that any family who can afford to send their children to private school will definitely do so. The school we went to was a primary school and all the children had been given uniforms by the government. It was pretty shocking to see the conditions of the school – it was a large concrete structure with three floors and about seven classrooms. There were practically no pictures or decorations and lunch consisted of a rice dish served from a large pot. The children sat at tables and benches and were drawing on paper with crayons that had both been provided by Edu Leaf. Despite the rough conditions of the school the children were in good spirits and seemed excited to have visitors to shake up their normal routine. Whenever I interact with children here it reminds me just how similar they are to American children – they are silly, chatty, and interested in many things. It saddens me to know that they will never have the opportunities that many children have but it was encouraging to see that Edu Leaf is making steps towards providing them with things that the government cannot.

The three of us with Mehuli, our coworker and one of the creators of Edu Leaf.

Mother Teresa House

One of the most well known sights in Kolkata is the Mother Teresa House, which is the residence and charity in which she lived and worked for most of her adult life. Soon after arriving in Kolkata I learned that there are actually multiple Mother Teresa “locations” through out the city, including the main charity house, the home for the Dying and Destitute, and a home specifically for orphans, among several others. The day after visiting Edu Leaf we visited the main Mother Teresa house, which consists of a small museum, her living quarters, her tomb, and the current Missionaries of Charity. I’m not religious so I had a hard time following the idea of a Mission and the formation of different Catholic organizations but I greatly enjoyed the historical aspect of the visit. It was a very relaxing place to be and also a humbling experience.

A few pictures of the Missionaries of Charity, the headquarters of Mother Teresa’s charity work.

Belur Math Temple

On Friday we had the opportunity to visit Belur Math Temple with Radha, Dipak, and two fellow Anudip/iMerit interns. We went in the evening after work to observe the “aarti” ceremony and the visit was by far one of the best experiences that I have had in India. As I mentioned above I am not religious and I usually feel out of place at religious ceremonies or in churches, synagogues, mosques, et cetera. However, I loved the spiritual ceremony that we observed at Belur Math and am very glad we got to visit.
Belur Math is the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, a unique branch of Hinduism that focuses on peace between all religions and self-actualization. The ceremony itself lasted approximately 45 minutes and took place inside the main temple in the Belur Math complex. We all sat on the ground and were silent for the duration of the ceremony, observing the monks as they performed various rituals and prayers. I loved the non-denominational feel of the temple and the ceremony and I was able to reflect on a number of personal issues and thoughts. It was a beautiful place to visit and I am grateful that Radha and Dipak invited us to experience the aarti with them.

Personal cameras are not allowed inside Belur Math but this wonderful picture from Google captures the beauty of the main temple.

Lessons Learned as a Tourist/Foreigner

Being in India for 8 weeks means that we are neither tourists nor locals. We know our way around and we know how much things are supposed to cost, yet we still find ourselves being treated like clueless foreigners. We have become acutely aware of our skin color as well as our general presence. Yesterday I ventured out on a solo sightseeing trip and became very agitated as people kept coming up and asking to take pictures with me (this happened on five different occasions – I started a tally). One man even asked for my autograph and I tried to explain that I am not a celebrity nor special in any way.

I did not allow people to take pictures with me or of me and I found it very frustrating that this was such a huge issue. I am constantly checking myself to make sure that I act in a politically correct manner but there seem to be large cultural differences surrounding such types of things. Although it frustrates me to be seen as a spectacle I try to remind myself that countries and cultures vary greatly on ideas about personal space, communication, and social norms, so in the big picture it is probably not worth the frustration. Overall my goal is to treat each person with respect and do my best to blend in, learning from cultural differences and appreciating Indian culture in every way possible. There are some things that cannot be learned in a classroom or an office and I hope to soak up as much as I can while I’m here!

Working “Remotely” – by Kathryn Hackett

As we dive deeper into our research projects and get more comfortable navigating the transportation in this city, Rosella, Monet, and I found ourselves in the field twice this week. On Tuesday Rosella and I went into Metiabruz while Monet was developing her work in Diamond Harbor. We’ve heard so much about the remote village, Metiabruz, over the last few months, between the fellows from last year, the press releases from iMerit, and co workers’ observations. I decided I needed to go back more to really experience what all of this hype was about! While Rosella conducted interviews with some of the Team Leads for iMerit I had a chance to sit in on the English class for the Anudip students. I really enjoy the girls in the class- they are energetic, willing to learn, and have similar aspirations. After hearing stories about the outside community that they went home to after class in the Anudip Training center, I was under the impression that these women would be shy, lack confidence, and feel little capacity for bettering their lives due to their backgrounds and the society in which they were brought up. But as I sat there listening to them fumble through the awfully difficult quirks of the English language, they giggled, joked, and even shared with me their passions for becoming independent. I heard a few of the girls state that their sisters had been through Anudip and gotten jobs at the iMerit center in Metiabruz. This really encouraged them to keep coming back and working hard on their studies, both in Anudip and in many of their college classes.

After the class was over, I sat with the trainer for a while and had an informal interview with her. It was fascinating to hear that she was not from Metiabruz and often had difficulty connecting the lessons, especially for workplace readiness, with the cultural differences she sometimes felt unequipped to address. Baishakhi said the NGO that they worked with was a great help for those points of tension or confusion. Since SWAYAM, the NGO, has been an integral part of the community for so long, she often uses them as a resource to connect the importance of the lessons with the differences in cultural understandings. The trainer was so insightful and showed so much respect and care for the young women that she taught, it was really encouraging and I got a great glimpse of what the iMerit center was doing for this community.

Yesterday, (Wednesday) all three of us went out to Baruipur. We took the train far south and Monet and I worked remotely from the center while Rosella conducted more interviews. It was great to have the independence and ability to go to the field on our own and work with the employees and students, seeking answers to our research questions and even our own personal inquiries. Starting to build these relationships with the other centers has been invaluable and a huge learning experience in itself.

Field Visits – by Monet Gonnerman

I have now visited three tailoring training centers and one established beauty salon. The DREAM program has helped individual men and women, such as Salipha, a beauty salon owner whom I had the pleasure of meeting, start their own small businesses. Now the DREAM program is focusing on starting group-based cooperatives strictly for women in the categories of tailoring, beautician work, and food processing. Each experience is a new set of adventures and encounters for me. The journeys have been long and not entirely smooth. On the last trip, the bus we were to take to the town was not running at the time it was supposed to because it was under repair. Instead, we took three different trains to finally reach a northern village called Mankar. On the way back, one of the buses, in our series of bus hopping, blew a flat tire! We were left to talk our way onto another, already full bus in order to not sit waiting in the dark for an indefinite amount of time for the tire to be fixed! Despite our luck of getting onto another bus, I did not get back to our Guest House until almost 13 hours after I had left it in the morning.

The most impactful experience I have had with the women so far was in a town called Baruipara. There are sixteen women in the class there and they have been quickly and eagerly learning how to make different garments for the last two weeks since the class first began. More powerful than their beautiful smiles, their hard work, their requests for my name written in their notebooks, or even their small but thoughtful gifts, were their requests. First, they asked me to sing for them! Let me tell you, I am not a good singer! Yet they wanted to hear and record my voice singing any song I could come up with! It was a little rattling thinking that where I was born and the color of my skin somehow made me overwhelmingly special and important to these women. And then they asked my advice about the development of India. What do I suggest the women do to help their country? I was left speechless. I am a young college student from the other side of the world. What authority do I have to provide advice on their home nation? I feel like I have so much more to learn from them than what I can contribute.

Salipha, beauty salon owner

The lovely women in Baruipara

A blessing to share time with these women

Experiencing Beautiful Kolkata – by Kathryn Hackett

As we ease into the month of July, we are really starting to get our bearings in this unique city.  Most of our days are spent in the Anudip/iMerit office, which can easily blend into feeling like any other Silicon Valley office complex (besides the Bengali and Hindi jokes spoken in the background). But we have already had some opportunities to go into the field and visit the centers. Last week, Rosella and I went into Metiabruz on Tuesday as she mentioned, and then all 3 of us went into Baruipur on Thursday. Monet has gotten plenty of field experience in the short time we’ve been here and is becoming our own public transportation expert. Baruipur was a very different experience than Metiabruz. Baruipur is iMerit’s newest center location and is in a spacious building with dividers between the iMerit center and the new and promising Anudip Academy center. I spent most of my time observing and speaking with the Anudip Academy students and trainers. The Academy is an extension of the MAST program which provides its students with advanced IT skills and training targeted at passing the Microsoft certifications. Graduates of the Academy would receive three different certifications by the end, Anudip’s MAST program, and 2 international Microsoft certifications that they can add to their resume to help them find advanced career opportunities with higher wages and room for promotions. The pilot Academy was comprised of mostly men, in comparison to the Metiabruz center we visited on Tuesday. The trainers and the trainees were all male, with the exception of 4 female students. The computer work they were doing was more advanced than I could understand as they prepared for their first round of Microsoft tests quickly approaching. The only reason I was remotely aware of the work they were doing was because I have had the opportunity to review the curriculum for the traditional MAST, virtual MAST, and Anudip Academy since I’ve arrived. This has given me a better grasp on my own research of assessing the curriculum and points of strength and places for improvement.

Students of Anudip Academy

 

Although we have spent plenty of time in the office and have gotten to advance our research in the field, we have also taken advantage of the time out of the office to explore Kolkata. This weekend we got to be tourists and saw the Victoria Memorial. After getting lost in the art and history of the British colonization, we walked around the downtown area and came upon a huge outdoor marketplace, like nothing I have ever seen before. It must have gone on for a mile and half at least down the sidewalk of an average street side. We wandered between the merchants trying to sell everything from clothes to electronics. It was the first moment I saw the true beauty behind Kolkata’s chaos.

The Victoria Memorial

Monday night, Monet’s family friend invited us over for our first home-cooked meal! It was quite the experience to have a full feast of different authentic Indian cuisine to test. Her husband and her were incredibly gracious, even taking us for a drive to see their favorite Kolkata gems. It’s exciting to see more of the south part of the city as we prepare to move down to Tollygunge on Monday. Before we move though, we will be attending a real Indian wedding in Mumbai this weekend! It is somewhat of a dream come true for all of us to get invited to an Indian wedding, which we have been teasing coworkers and friends about since Day 1. We look forward to the excitement of Mumbai, the wedding, and moving over the course of the next few days.

A Visit to Metiabruz and a Visit from the U.S. Consul General – by Rosella Chapman

We’ve now been in India for one whole week and are definitely getting acclimated to the weather, the food, the office culture, and the various modes of transportation. Most of our time in the office has consisted of getting to know both Anudip and iMerit employees, learning about all of the different facets of the two organizations, and meeting with various mentors and coworkers to discuss our different research projects.

On Tuesday Monet visited a second DREAM cooperative site while Kathryn and I had the opportunity to visit Metiabruz, an Anudip/iMerit fieldsite located approximately 45 minutes west of Kolkata. We went to Metiabruz with our coworker, Alyssa, who works in curriculum development and provides ongoing training to the women in the Metiabruz center.

We were very eager to visit Metiabruz because we had heard many good things about the center from past fellows and coworkers. It was a very unique experience and allowed us to get a better idea of both the Anudip classes as well as the iMerit projects. Kathryn and I sat in on an Anudip class that was being held that afternoon, which also happened to be the first class for that specific group of women. We introduced ourselves and then participated in both icebreakers and English language skills activities. Most of the girls were very shy but we were impressed with their English skills and their willingness to learn. The instructor was wonderful and did a very good job of encouraging the girls to participate while making sure that they were comfortable. Visiting Metiabruz was both heartening and sobering because it made quite obvious the many differences that exist between the three of us and the women in the center. We are looking forward to traveling back as much as possible so that we can get to know the women and girls on a deeper level and hopefully contribute to their ongoing education and up-skilling.

On Wednesday we returned to the office and settled in to work on our individual research projects. We had a productive morning but were then stranded at lunch due to street flooding! After a bit of time we found a bike rickshaw that was willing to transport us back to the office and we came back practically unscathed. After lunch there was a great deal of hubbub in the office because the U.S. Consul General to Kolkata and Eastern India, Helen LaFave, was coming to visit and learn about Anudip and iMerit. It was a very exciting afternoon and each of us had a few brief words with her during the visit. I think she probably met over 100 people and she seemed to greatly enjoy learning about each part of the organizations and the various projects that the iMerit employees are working on. The day was even more exciting because it was Monet’s 21^st birthday! Who else can say they met a Consul General on their 21^st birthday? Overall the last few days have been informative, enriching, and exciting.

 

       

One of several displays used to help present iMerit to the U.S. Consul General; Kolkata street flooding.

The First Few Days – by Monet Gonnerman

A layover in Seattle, six hours in Dubai, a few hours of sleep, and two days later, we finally arrived in Kolkata on Wednesday morning.  We were picked up at the airport by our coworker, Sheela, who brought us to our Guest House, helped us buy some Indian clothes, and showed us to the Anudip/iMerit office.  After a whirlwind day of new sights and sounds, settling into our Guest House rooms, navigating transportation on our own, shopping for food and necessities, going in to the office for our first full days, and meeting coworkers, I set out for my first field visit.

The DREAM program begins with 3 months of training before a cooperative is officially incubated and launched.  For my initiation in the field, we visited an orphanage that houses 250 girls, boys, and women.  The journey to get there included several auto rickshaws (or “autos”), a crowded train, and a ferryboat across a river! We often take the autos to get to work, the mall, or meeting spots.  They are cheap and easy to hail on the streets.  The train seemed like something from a movie. People pushed their way on to get a spot on the crowded benches.  Vendors jostled up and down the car selling fruits, nuts, or hair clips.  Rain whipped in from the windows and fellow travelers sat solemnly and stared at me.  After a rushed exit from the train at our station and some walking, we reached a river where people were bathing and washing their clothes.  Along with a few other passengers and a motorcycle, we boarded a rickety craft and puttered our way across the water.

There are 25 girls in the orphanage who expressed interest in the co-op program and have opted to take the DREAM training class.  The class is held five days a week from 1:00 to 6:00pm.  A qualified seamstress is teaching the girls to sew blouses and dresses and also to embroider.  The orphanage, Prabartak Seva Niketan, is home to not just children, but also to disabled women, especially the deaf or mute.  Several of the women showed me around the floors of the home with excited grunts and gestures.  One woman proudly gave me a keychain she had made and insisted I put it in my purse.

Upon returning to the room where the class is taught, I was offered a chair.  The girls in the class seem to be between fifteen to eighteen years old.  They all introduced themselves by name, but since I cannot speak Bengali, the communication between us stopped there.  Slightly frustrated, all I could do was watch the class as the girls worked away, tracing patterns, cutting strips, or sewing at a sewing machine.  My guide and fellow Anudip coworker, Raghumoni, and I were given food and shown around a hospital being constructed next door.  As we left at the end of the afternoon, a crowd of waving girls, boys, and women bid us farewell with cries of “goodbye!”  After the two-hour journey back, I was finally reunited with Kathryn and Rosella who were out to dinner with some coworkers and two of the other interns from the office for an end to a long day!