July 21, 2006
At some point, no matter how exotic and exciting the place you are living in seems compared to where you come from, you start to get settled into a routine. That is my current status. The television in my hotel room does me a disservice in some ways. I get home from work tired, sometimes missing home, so I have ended up watching way more dumb Hallmark Channel Specials than is good for me. It sounds stupid, I know. Go all the way to India to sit in a hotel room and watch the Hallmark Channel, of all things. But it is a bit of a security blanket, a way of connecting to home when I am alone without even Rock around. And I do it too often these days. Thus my dearth of blog entries. True confessions. Of course, what was before “exotic” and new is now more familiar, so I find comfort in other things as well. Which means it is time to turn off the TV.
Routine does not need to become “rut,” though, and I am determined not to have that happen.
Yesterday I went to a press conference for my organization because they had won a transparency award from CGAP. It was a neat experience. Five women who were members / clients accepted the award. These women were hilarious. I had some time to “chat” with them after the ceremony. It was a rather comical chat because I speak no Telagu and they speak no English, and even one of my colleagues from Delhi who speaks Hindi couldn't communicate with them because they speak no Hindi and she speaks no Telagu. Luckily, several of the organization's employees who speak both languages were around, so when we got stuck (every sentence), we could get someone to help us out. We laughed a lot. Mostly they laughed at me trying to remember and correctly pronounce everyone's names. I finally got it. But I then asked them to name a group of American colleagues in the room, and we all burst into laughter when they had as hard of a time doing it as I had had with their names. They invited me to come visit their shops and homes in their villages. I doubt I will be able to, but we had a good time.
I did finally do a field visit a couple of weeks ago, and it was a neat experience. It was a very rural town, two hours away from Hyderabad, and we had to drive over difficult muddy roads with holes in them to get there. During Monsoon season those same roads must be close to impassable. In some ways, I felt like I was back in rural Guatemala or rural Peru (except more-so), but instead of seeing a Catholic church in the center of town and pictures of Christ and the various Catholic saints in shops and homes, it was a Hindu temple and the Hindu gods--Vishnu, Gamesh, etc. I don't remember seeing a school. Seventy percent of India's population and three-fourths of its poor live in rural areas.
The town was tiny, smaller than most I've visited anywhere. The closest I can think of is maybe the town I once visited further above Patacancha in Peru. I think they said total population was 1200. It was raining when we arrived, so the meeting was held in someone's house. 50-ish women crowded into this home while the loan officer conducted the meeting. Each group of 5 women had a leader who would report on that group's status, how the businesses were going, etc. Payments on existing loans were made as required, and I even saw a loan disbursed – both the leader of the group of 5 and the leader of the overall group of 50 had to sign off on it. The leader of the group of 50 was probably in her 50's and had a neat presence and great confidence.
Afterwards, we all introduced ourselves and then mulled around the back yard. With permission, I took pictures with our digital camera. I had a kick being able to show the pictures to the women right away. We had a good time. After that, we walked the muddy paths of the village, visiting several of the homes / businesses of the women and their families. Several had invested in shops, some in crops, some in Water Buffalo. I thought one of the Water Buffalo (which resembled a bull) was charging me at one point until I realized he was just thirsty and I was standing in front of the water. These women's husbands were usually home too, and they too were excited to show us the family business. Family income often increases substantially upon access to finance.
And I thought, how neat that these women can feel like they are making significant contributions to helping their families realize their dreams. In a land where an estimated 7000+ brides in 2005 were burned because of dowry issues, what a quietly revolutionary way of empowering women. Many microfinance organizations focus on women not necessarily with the primary aim of empowering them – it just makes business and long-term socio-economic sense. Experience has shown that women are a better credit risk / more likely to repay and are more likely to spend profits on the family (education, food, health, etc.). But the empowerment, confidence and knowledge that “I am able to make fulfilling choices that are creating a better life for myself and my family, I am needed and valued” is a side effect. You could see it in their eyes.
And therein lies the power.
When the routine starts to settle in and the work begins to feel a little tedious in the head office, these are good memories to turn to.
At some point, no matter how exotic and exciting the place you are living in seems compared to where you come from, you start to get settled into a routine. That is my current status. The television in my hotel room does me a disservice in some ways. I get home from work tired, sometimes missing home, so I have ended up watching way more dumb Hallmark Channel Specials than is good for me. It sounds stupid, I know. Go all the way to India to sit in a hotel room and watch the Hallmark Channel, of all things. But it is a bit of a security blanket, a way of connecting to home when I am alone without even Rock around. And I do it too often these days. Thus my dearth of blog entries. True confessions. Of course, what was before “exotic” and new is now more familiar, so I find comfort in other things as well. Which means it is time to turn off the TV.
Routine does not need to become “rut,” though, and I am determined not to have that happen.
Yesterday I went to a press conference for my organization because they had won a transparency award from CGAP. It was a neat experience. Five women who were members / clients accepted the award. These women were hilarious. I had some time to “chat” with them after the ceremony. It was a rather comical chat because I speak no Telagu and they speak no English, and even one of my colleagues from Delhi who speaks Hindi couldn't communicate with them because they speak no Hindi and she speaks no Telagu. Luckily, several of the organization's employees who speak both languages were around, so when we got stuck (every sentence), we could get someone to help us out. We laughed a lot. Mostly they laughed at me trying to remember and correctly pronounce everyone's names. I finally got it. But I then asked them to name a group of American colleagues in the room, and we all burst into laughter when they had as hard of a time doing it as I had had with their names. They invited me to come visit their shops and homes in their villages. I doubt I will be able to, but we had a good time.
I did finally do a field visit a couple of weeks ago, and it was a neat experience. It was a very rural town, two hours away from Hyderabad, and we had to drive over difficult muddy roads with holes in them to get there. During Monsoon season those same roads must be close to impassable. In some ways, I felt like I was back in rural Guatemala or rural Peru (except more-so), but instead of seeing a Catholic church in the center of town and pictures of Christ and the various Catholic saints in shops and homes, it was a Hindu temple and the Hindu gods--Vishnu, Gamesh, etc. I don't remember seeing a school. Seventy percent of India's population and three-fourths of its poor live in rural areas.
The town was tiny, smaller than most I've visited anywhere. The closest I can think of is maybe the town I once visited further above Patacancha in Peru. I think they said total population was 1200. It was raining when we arrived, so the meeting was held in someone's house. 50-ish women crowded into this home while the loan officer conducted the meeting. Each group of 5 women had a leader who would report on that group's status, how the businesses were going, etc. Payments on existing loans were made as required, and I even saw a loan disbursed – both the leader of the group of 5 and the leader of the overall group of 50 had to sign off on it. The leader of the group of 50 was probably in her 50's and had a neat presence and great confidence.
Afterwards, we all introduced ourselves and then mulled around the back yard. With permission, I took pictures with our digital camera. I had a kick being able to show the pictures to the women right away. We had a good time. After that, we walked the muddy paths of the village, visiting several of the homes / businesses of the women and their families. Several had invested in shops, some in crops, some in Water Buffalo. I thought one of the Water Buffalo (which resembled a bull) was charging me at one point until I realized he was just thirsty and I was standing in front of the water. These women's husbands were usually home too, and they too were excited to show us the family business. Family income often increases substantially upon access to finance.
And I thought, how neat that these women can feel like they are making significant contributions to helping their families realize their dreams. In a land where an estimated 7000+ brides in 2005 were burned because of dowry issues, what a quietly revolutionary way of empowering women. Many microfinance organizations focus on women not necessarily with the primary aim of empowering them – it just makes business and long-term socio-economic sense. Experience has shown that women are a better credit risk / more likely to repay and are more likely to spend profits on the family (education, food, health, etc.). But the empowerment, confidence and knowledge that “I am able to make fulfilling choices that are creating a better life for myself and my family, I am needed and valued” is a side effect. You could see it in their eyes.
And therein lies the power.
When the routine starts to settle in and the work begins to feel a little tedious in the head office, these are good memories to turn to.
posted by Jen at 9:19 PM
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