[RangDe Kolkata] The Official Rang De Blog

[The Official Rang De Blog]

The Official Rang De Blog

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In the pursuit of Gold Posted: 22 Apr 2010 09:07 PM PDT By Smita Ram, Rang De Team While most of urban India would track the inflating gold prices and save money to invest in the ‘yellow metal’ the rural India has other things to worry about. In Orissa,where I have just returned from, it is the pursuit of another kind of gold that takes most of the time, effort and money of the rural folks, especially the ‘jena’ community. The ‘golden grass’ called Naliya in the local language is nothing but yellow coloured grass that is strong enough and is used to make baskets and other artefacts just like bamboo. The finish of the products made of ‘naliya’ is a  lot more refined and the products sturdier which makes these artefacts sought after. Many of the Rang De borrowers are involved in basket making and most of them hail from the ‘jena’  community. They have been  doing this for generations and take pride in continuing it. However, in the recent years, their traditional art has been endangered due to non-availability of golden  grass. The basket weavers travel miles together to heart of the forests to collect golden grass in a particular season of the year. They need to stock up for the entire year then and this journey itself takes anywhere between 10-15 days. The men are usually involved in this activity and often have to cross a river that is filled with crocodiles in order to reach the forest. Their trouble does not end there, all the forest areas where golden grass is found has now been demarcated as national park areas and the government does not allow the weavers to collect golden grass without a licence. The weavers do not get licence easily and hence end up going through other routes which involves trying  to escape the forest officials and sometimes even bribing them to get out of the forest. A few of them end up getting imprisoned when they are unable to bribe the officials. The women I interacted with take pride in making baskets and weave some beautiful ones. Their challenges revolve around sourcing  the raw material and their lack of market know-how to understand what products will be well received in the market. Currently, their market pertains to the village community - their own and the neighbouring  villages. The restrictions around getting golden grass makes it as precious if not more than the yellow metal that we seek out.

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[The Official Rang De Blog]

The Official Rang De Blog

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Exhibit at International Tech Park-Bangalore Posted: 24 Apr 2010 07:54 PM PDT By Sri Ranganathan, Rang De Bangalore Chapter Member A display of the bookmarks and posters at the exhibition. Sri Ranganathan single-handedly coordinated this effort. Rang De was invited by Namaste India!: the organizers of one the most happening exhibitions at International Tech Park, Whitefield, Bangalore. Resident to some of the most prominent companies in the world such as Microsoft, TCS, Seimens ..etc, presented Rang De a chance to interact and spread awareness about the power of micro-credit. With ‘Holiday and Resorts’ being the theme for the exhibit, Rang De managed to bring a different auro and flavor to the event under the theme of ‘Knockout Poverty’ There we were nestled between Makemytrip and SOTC holidays, giving the attendees something different to look at. Like in any exhibition, there were large crowds picking up their holiday packages for the summer. With Rang De positioned at the Entry/Exit, gave a double advantage for us to talk to people coming in as well as the ones leaving. With limited resources in the form of a few bookmarks and a poster, we managed to capture the attention of employees. We had managed to speak to about 35 people about Rang De. Based on the feedback given, most of them felt it was a very innovative concept. We requested them to visit the website and also share it with their family, friends & colleagues. Mr.Guruprasad from First American Corporation also requested us to send an e-brochure so he could send out an official mailer to all the employees and spread the word. Even you can do the same at your office or spread the word about Rang De in your networks. Overall, In a span of 4 hours, we were able to create awareness and the event also got a mention in the local Telugu newspaper. Rang De woud like to thank Mr. Sanjay Jalan, Director of Namaste India for providing us a platform such as this to bring a community driven approach to alleviate poverty. We sincerely hope to associate with Namaste India in the future.

[The Official Rang De Blog]

The Official Rang De Blog

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The Unknown Indian Youth Posted: 28 Apr 2010 08:24 AM PDT By Kunal Nichkawade, Rang De Intern A picture of everyone at the Gurukul when we went to it. This Gurukul is located in Hanuanthkuppan, approximately 100km from Chennai. It has been almost 3 weeks now since I joined Rang De for my summer internship and it has been an amazing experience. Sometimes I feel the criteria for evaluating a workplace is very simple. If after a day’s work, you can get a good night sleep, feeling satisfied about your day, without your conscious haunting you, you know you are at right place. One week into the internship and I got a chance to go on a field visit to ‘Gurukul’, a vocational training school, training young people who don’t have access to quality education mostly due to financial reasons. A joint initiative by NABARD, PanIIT and Rang De, the aim is to tackle the ultimate challenge, ‘employment for all’. Most of the youth in the pilot project at the training center are from Bahraich district, Uttar Pradesh. They are given different assignments like bar bending, Masonry etc depending on their skills and preferences. It is a one month long program, along with 6 month ‘on-job’ training, after which each youth will be a certified worker; a certificate which will be government recognized carrying similar weightage as that of ITI certificate. A group of construction gurukul students get hands on experience. The PanIIT program has gurukuls for programs such as construction and driving. The facilities provided are very good. Care has been taken in everything, right from choosing the right kind of mentors to providing basic amenities. But what amazed me most was the attitude of the trainees. Maybe the thought of a regular source of income, maybe financial stability but I guess more than anything else the thought of fulfilling the dream of becoming a skilled worker eventually was what which was driving them. The conversations we had with some of them were very interesting. Most of them had a big family with very few sources of income. Typically each one of them was either working in someone’s farm or was doing household work at some corner of India before joining the training. After receiving the training they want to break free of the vicious age old poverty cycle. They don’t want to keep doing what their forefathers did just for the sake of it. In simple terms, they want to do something which ‘adds value’. And no, they don’t use this phrase like Corporates do; they surely haven’t heard of it, but they mean it. There was a healthy sense of ambition in each one of them; there was spark in those eyes. They didn’t want to be limited to a 6000/- per month job. They wanted to work hard, learn more, improve and climb the ladder. All they need is an opportunity to show their worth. Most of them probably haven’t heard about Winston Churchill but those eyes were saying, “Give us the the tools, and we will finish the job.”