AYAP 2014 - Reflections: Usha & Purvi

We write this reflection with a sense of inspiration and gratefulness.  Each one of us on the trip truly had an experience of a lifetime.  Last fall, when we first began this journey, we could not have imagined all the people who offered their support, expertise and guidance in creating this experience for the pioneering Youth Ambassadors – we are immensely grateful to each person.  We believe we have been able to help set the Ambassadors on their journeys to “Spark, Learn & Innovate” and to be empowered to work collaboratively to effect social change.  Through interactions with AIF beneficiaries, by listening to experts in the NGO & corporate sectors & visits to homes & sanitation treatment plants, the Ambassadors gained a nuanced understanding of water access & sanitation in India.  They also had an opportunity to create & share an awareness-raising presentation or an idea for a frugal innovation with water. Each Ambassador impressed us with their intelligence, empathy and ability to “go with the flow”. They have set the bar high for following cohorts with their authentic “all-in” approach, and we have no doubt that each one will uniquely contribute to making our world a better place. While the trip has officially ended, we hope the journey continues for each Ambassador, and we hope to create meaningful opportunities for continued engagement with AIF for the Youth Ambassador Cohort of 2014.

Beginning the end of the journey

Today finally felt as though we were "beginning the end of our journey."  We have spent eleven days learning about India in the "Spark and Learn" phase of the AYA Program, and now it is finally time to "Innovate." 

We began the day with a 2.5 hour session synthesizing many of our thoughts and experiences.  All of us addressed several prompts that got us thinking both about our own personal leadership growth and our growth as global citizens understanding the water/sanitation issues in India.  A rich and meaningful set of discussions arose including one about the concept of "Hospitality" around the globe. More questions were raised than answered, but it is worth noting that it was the incredible hospitality we felt in small villages, major corporations, under-resourced schools, and luxury hotels that prompted us to think about whether we deserved this type of attention and care and why it was given so generously.
Other topics that drew significant reflection were "competition in the US vs. India" and "traveling to see things vs. traveling to build relationships."  It seems that the more we learn about daily life in India, the more we reflect on our own daily lives and behaviors at home.

The afternoon was spent working in groups on the final projects. Everyone chose an aspect of water access, distribution, filtration or sanitation to explore.  Some groups are choosing to synthesize information and create a compelling presentation on why we need to understand and respond to the water/sanitation crisis in India.  Other groups are designing frugal solutions to one small aspect of this incredible crisis.

Tomorrow promises to be a long, but fulfilling day with everyone sharing their final projects in the late afternoon.

Stacey Kertsman

Day at the DE school

Today, we visited a government school. This school is part of the Digital Equalizer (DE) program that AIF sponsors along with help from both the government and corporate support. We were greeted with a rose upon our arrival and we were escorted to a classroom were we were introduced to the teaching staff. After the introductions, we had the pleasure of witnessing a traditional folk dance performed by six girls along with three girls singing. After the amazing dancing, we had the opportunity to sit in on two different classes provided at the school to experience both their traditional teaching styles and witness their transition to incorporate more technology into the classroom. The traditional classroom environment involved the students doing hands-on projects
and experiments with the teacher without the use of technology. In the modern classroom the teacher used a power -point presentation to display pictures, movies, and ideas on the board. After talking with the kids about each style of teaching, they all agreed that technology had played a very important role in their education. Right before we left, we dispersed our candy amongst all the students and they were so excited! Some even tried to pretend they hadn't received candy in order to get more. Following our time at the school, we took our bus along with a handful of students to eat outside of a temple. This time was spent getting to know the students and discussing our upcoming home visits. From the temple, we made our way into the village where we separated into four different groups to visit four different homes. Each home was unique from the others. Some of our impressions:

        Talia: I noticed that the members of the school did what ever possible to make us feel welcome and cared for. They gave each one of us a rose as we walked in and later on we were each given a pen as a part of a "token of love". We were made to feel very welcome and were so  grateful for the opportunity we had today to visit the school and the village.

        Emma: I was blown away by the immense kindness and hospitality we were met with today on our visit to the school and village. We were welcomed open armed into the home we visited and the family showed us around both their house and the surrounding area. In addition, everyone we met at the school and in the village was so nice to us and treated us as members of the community rather than tourists.

        Mikayla: It was very interesting learning that there were 5,000 villagers in the small village. In the home I visited, there were 12 members living in the home, and there was even a space for the animals to sleep indoors. It was great seeing that they prioritized putting a roof not only over their heads, but also over their animals.

Once we reconvened after our visits, we walked together to visit one of the students bean farm and learned how many of the families make their livings. After a long goodbye with the students, we embarked on a two hour bus ride back to our hotel. Along our journey home, we witnessed some of the worst traffic we had seen in India, including cows on the median and an ambulance stuck in the traffic which was unable to quickly make its way to the hospital. With only an hour to get ready and dress up, we headed to dinner at an amazing Indian restaurant.

Be prepared for another post tomorrow about our projects!
Missing everyone lots!
-Talia, Emma, Mikayla

Some more pictures from Pragya and Ellie

July 7 blog

Hello!
Today, we revisited Shishu Mandir and met with our friends from the school. We got the chance to look at the incredible pictures of water around their community which they so graciously took since our last visit. As we walked around the halls of the school, admiring each of the pictures displayed on the walls, we became much more aware of the water situation in their villages. After being reunited with the students from Shishu Mandir, we headed inside to watch a slideshow they put together for us. The slide show consisted of the many pictures the students took in their communities. After one student reiterated the pictures we were looking at, we began discussing certain pictures with the students that took them. We learned about where they got their water from, and how they used it in their homes. It was very eye opening, getting the chance to compare our lifestyles and discuss issues with water with them. One thing we found interesting was the fact that despite our different  backgrounds, we all thought similarly when it came to water scarcity and water conservation. Together, we discussed the different possibilities of saving, heating and reusing water in our communities. We also got the chance to innovate when it came to figuring out how to implement our ideas on water usage into the real world. Some of us also started collecting information to use as part of our final project. We took videos of the students explaining their pictures as a visual aid to our presentations. Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye to our friends from Shishu Mandir, and head to the mall to get some lunch.

We arrived at Gopalan Mall, where we split up into smaller groups and got lunch. After a large meal at the mall, we headed back to IBC to relax before our panel discussion at 6:30. We were given around 3 hours to relax, exercise in the gym, and play basketball at the hotel. Some of us even took a cab to the bookstore where we got candy, books, and jump ropes!

At 6:30, all of us regrouped at the conference room in the hotel where we were greeted by Meera K. and Rajesh Shah, our two panelists for the discussion. Meera showed how large large an impact one person can make if they care deeply about the issue. While Meera focused on specific examples of making a difference in her community, Rajesh expanded on the importance of changing ones mindset. He exposed us to a whole new view on environmental issues in both India and the US, specifically addressing the issue of sewage treatment in India. Although both speakers had a different view on how to conserve water, they both agreed that without change in both our mindset and our actions, we will never find solutions to the problems we have created.

We are looking forward to going to the DE school tomorrow!

Ellie and Pragya

Update on Mysore trip!

Hello,

The last couple of days were spent at the beautiful Infosys campus in Mysore. This tech company gave Bangalore the nickname the “Silicon Valley of India”. The campus was incredible, the front building looked like the capitol building with a wide array of different architectural influences. All of the buildings spelt out I-N-F-O-S-Y-S from an aerial view, which was pretty impressive. We met with kids who were in 9th and 10th grade and were participants in a program called Bala Janaagraha, an organization that promotes civil service and social change through working with young teens. We spent this day (the 4th of July) talking in our groups, a combination of Americans and Indians, about democracy, and then we moved on to our central theme of water. We all collaborated on two case studies, comparing and contrasting, while trying to find innovative solutions that encompassed all the stakeholders involved in the issue at hand. The program was great because it allowed us to interact with students from India. The following day, Saturday, was spent being typical tourists. First, we started off at the Tipu Sultan’s tea house, where he entertained guests. We spent some time looking around the grounds, and when we entered inside, we were all a bit surprised that when the security beeper beeped continuously, no action was taken- oh Indian Security! Then we drove to the top of a huge hill to get panoramic views of Mysore, and visit a temple at the top. However, the line was too long to actually tour the inside because this temple was rated one of the eight most sacred spots in South India. This ended up being a brief trip to admire the outside. We were bombarded with people selling odd bits and bobs, and we definitely stand out- especially because not a lot of locals wear sunglasses, and we are all slightly obsessed with ours! Afterwards, we had lunch at a crowded Indian restaurant (surprise!!), and although we were scattered throughout the restaurant, it was delicious, and many of the group were pleased to have ice cream as dessert after one too many Gulab Jamun… Then we were off to Mysore Palace to see where the royal family still lives. Half of the palace is open to guests and the other half is still their home. It was stunning and incredibly ornate in every corner of every room. Gold, turquoise, and exquisite gifts were showered through the palace. We had a very enthusiastic tour guide, who gave a VERY detailed explanation of every painting. A beautiful palace and a great experience. Of course, we had to balance off all of this “exercise” with a cultural excursion to… Café Coffee Day, after which the boys headed back to Infosys and the girls hit the silk and artisan markets. Piles on piles of silk were spread out throughout this massive emporium where we were easily tempted into buying the silk made in Mysore. After a rainy drive back (it’s Monsoon season here, perfect for our water project!) we had an early dinner as the wake up call was… 4 am!! Today (Sunday, July 7) we headed off to Bandipur National Park with high hopes of seeing one of their 2,000 elephants and slightly lower expectations, but hope, of seeing one of their 110 tigers. NO LUCK! :( We saw a few too many peacocks, many spotted deer, some mongeese, and couple bison but those were the only four-legged creatures we saw. On the five-hour drive back, we had a fascinating discussion about Infosys and how shut off it is from the real world, the role large corporations should play in society aside from donating money, and how this experience sparks innovation for those who visit. It lasted an entire hour and with many dozy, overtired people, this was significant! We are now back at IBC resting for a while after a busy few days :)

Francesca, Nika, Emma and Maddy

Rishi Valley

Hello Everyone,

Having being students from many different schools in the U.S., we are surrounded with a good education system, modern technology, and the benefit of being given many wonderful opportunities (the AIF Youth Ambassador Program included as well), and that we tend to take it for granted. However, after visiting Rishi Valley School for the past two days, we came to realize how lucky we are to be provided with these materials, and grew conscious of our own education.

Rishi Valley School was founded by philosopher J. Krishnamurti, who believed that students should have both an excellent education and a peaceful environment to become “one with him/herself”. It is located at Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, India, 166 km from our regular site, Bangalore. Rishi Valley also hosts programs like the Rural Education Centre and the Rural Health Centre.  We interacted with the Rishi Valley students and asked them questions about their different education system.  We learned that the students do not have access to modern technology, if even, only an hour a week to use computers. This surprised us, as we became conscious of the fact that we can easily create typed documents, presentations, or use the Internet, while they only have a notebook and a pencil to manage their day. We also learned that in the kids’ campus, the students set their own pace for learning, and that the teachers are there to help support them. Finally, the school actually produces their own ingredients by using their land. Despite being a drought-prone area, they were still able to solve some problems like using millets instead of rice. Millets are similar to rice, but they require much less water to grow, therefore, being the alternative option instead of rice. This makes water one of the biggest problems in Rishi Valley.  Many students, and even the community take initiative in trying to save water. For example, community members saw a leaking tanker, and were able to inform the driver carrying the tanker to try and conserve more water.

Although we spent nearly two days at the campus, we were able to gain an experience foreign to what we could have ever experienced at any other school.  First, we observed that the students and faculty seem to get along really well, as if they were a family together, and not that the teachers come only to teach and the students only to learn. Not only is this because the student-to-teacher ratio is smaller compared to our schools, but that they are also secluded from urban life, as they are surrounded by 100 acres of land. We had the opportunity to walk around some of the land and view the different plants and birds, which is a favorite activity students in Rishi Valley do outside of class time. Seeing many of these plants still overwhelmed us, even though we’ve been in India for a few days, as we are used to waking up and find houses instead of being surrounded by just nature.

Overall, these past two days was a great way to help us reflect on our lives as students, compared to the students in Rishi Valley.

Demitri , Jayden, Mark Jon

Blog (July 4th, 2014):

Hello Everyone!

Although many take the Fourth of July to celebrate independence for Americans, we, as youth ambassadors, commenced an everlasting relationship between two programs. The Bala Janaagraha program enables students from the city of Bangalore to obtain a role of leadership in their communities. These students, varying from the 8th to 9th standards, offered their own opinions, as well as accepted the new standards us Americans included in our brief conversations before lunch. During lunch, as a congregate group, we enjoyed a delectable meal, and the pleasant presence of each other, breaking the ice to a even further extent. After a long, interesting tour of the futuristic Infosys Campus, we finally settled down in the Ashoka Room for the main event. Gautam, one of the executives of Bala Janaagraha, commenced the conversation through introducing the topic of the contrasting governmental systems. The tit for tat about the prior topic within our little groups induced a spark of both conversation and amazement in two systems, which claim to be a democracies but structurally differ. After a one to two hour lecture, the adults allowed us a break for chai. Even though such a leisurely, simple task seems negligent, the study of their behavior displayed the similarities between all of us, grabbing for the pipping hot samosas and chai. As we returned to the Ashoka Hall, the conversation shifted to the topic of the water issues in India. Stacy introduced the proceeding topic. Next, we divided into our little groups again, hoping to create a practical solution to this major issue. All of us offered specific opinions, which include the following: division of water based off of population, use of external sources, and the connection of all rivers in India. As this conference, per say, came to an end, not only were new bonds and friendships created, which will last forever, but also transformed each of us as individuals.
- Ajay, Pranav, & Karan

Making New Friends at Shishu Mandir School

Click, click went the Nikon cameras as we exited the bus and were greeted by the eager students of Shishu Mandir school. Their glittering smiles welcomed us into their truly unique learning environment. Next, in a hospitable manner, they led us on a tour of their school. As we walked into the main building, we were amazed at the staff's caring nature and the students' redeeming qualities after dropping out of school. One of the great things about the Shishu Mandir school is that they give students another chance to enhance their all-around character and skills in order to prepare them for the competitive workforce. After witnessing the high tech machines, we also explored the nurturing and disciplinary structure of their extensive library. Then we proceeded to the weekly school assembly where students presented a variety of their achievements from singing to unicycling to drum dancing. During the assembly we discussed the qualities that make Shishu Mandir a one of a kind school. The founder of the school, Mamma, stressed femininism so strongly the boys may have felt slightly out of place. She suggested an "equal" classroom was one with a 7:3 ratio of girls to boys because she thought it was an ideal place to learn, despite the number of girls being much higher than boys. After the small look into the Shishu Mandir culture, we got into small groups with the children of Adobe Youth Voices, who were more than willing to share their experiences regarding the water situations in their homes. Through modern technology and innovative ideas, the students had created films that communicated significant issues in their own lives or societies. One prominent issue the students seemed to care about were gender roles in the domestic sphere. As the day progressed, we visited some of the students homes in the rural villages of Bangalore. We grew a new appreciation for water that books and movies couldn't teach us. Once we entered the house, we observed the transformation from the piles of garbage and stray dogs to their immaculately clean and sacred home. After talking to the residents, we acquired knowledge about the water situation in their community. Once every fifteen days, children of a family will go to collect water from a tanker. These tankers are never a reliable source since they come at random intervals of time. We realized the struggles the residents go through on a daily basis, while we have the ability to access clean water within seconds. From this experience, we are learning to be more conscious of our water consumption because every drop of water is precious in India, and all over the world. Overall, we moved beyond the confined space of a prisoner and ignorance of a vacationer and evolved the focused and clear mindset of a true leader. 








Riya, Anjali, Avani, Anika

July 3rd - Visit to Enable/Oberoi

Hello Everyone
This morning we traveled to Enable India, a partner of AIF that works to allow disabled people to find jobs. We listened to the founder, Dipesh Sutariya,  speak about his personal motives of founding this organization: his brother in law had degenerative eyesight and Dipesh and his wife wanted to teach this man to live an independent and fulfilled life. After successfully helping his brother in law find a job, Dipesh, and Shanti (his wife) decided they needed to help others. Dipesh spoke about innovation and thinking outside the box. He did a wonderful exercise with a plastic chair with us to help us see how we can come up with solutions to any problem if we think and look for solutions. We toured the Enable facility and observed five visually impaired men learning how to use the computer with the assistance of speakers. They were all very inspiring and driven towards their goal of living independent lives. After the tour we got to interact with some of the other candidates of the program and talked about their achievements and aspirations. Each had very unique stories. One man that we talked to got into an accident in seventh grade leaving him blind in one eye. He told us that he was sick of being treated as an inferior instead of an equal in his family due to his disability. He told his parents that he needed to be independent and blaze a path of his own in order to feel that he had lived his life to the fullest. He came to Enable to do just that, and after nine months of re-learning and polishing his skills we were ecstatic to learn that he has been offered a job interview tomorrow at one of the largest tech companies in southern India, Infosys. We all wish him nothing but the best!

After our visit at Enable, we got back on our bus and traveled to a local mall where we dominated the food court and stuffed ourselves with western luxuries such as subway! After this 30 minute lunch break we rushed off to the number one ranked hotel IN THE WORLD, The Oberoi. We were greeted by men and women in prestigious uniform with extremely warm hearts and welcoming smiles. We proceeded through the immaculately decorated lobby and entered a conference room. We were quickly served an exquisite refreshment, homemade lemonade with rose petals and we were all given cold towels to revive ourselves. We then refocused and went back to learning about the water at the hotel. We were talked to about how this hotel chain gets its water and then recycles 100 percent of it. We then walked down some less luxurious looking stairs as we entered the machine room which pumps 200,000 liters of water through its system each day. We learned about the sewage treatment plant in the hotel and how they maintain such purified water for their guests. Many of us pondered the juxtaposition of how luxurious their jobs are compared to their homes and water access at home. After this tour we were all extremely excited to watch some of the best chefs in the world prepare traditional  Indian snacks. They cooked samosas, cheesy chili , Kathi rolls , and mouthwatering vegetable pakotas. They were all well received to say the least! The outstanding service was so appreciated and the hotel was a great experience for all of us. Sophia and I are writing this from our new (and even more luxurious) bus as we race through the madness of Bangalore en route to eat even more at the Cable car restaurant in Indra Nagar!

Lastly we want to touch on Ashoka fellows, a term for social leaders, and how many we have met so far on this journey. We have been so inspired by the positivity and ingenuity of so many different types of innovators. We have met with panelists who have created their own businesses, helped others and pioneered all types of change in the world around them.


Tomorrow we are off to Mysore where another pair will blog!

Hope all is well back home,

Amy and Sophia