Varanasi India 2015

As we neared our final presentation day we were thrown a curve-ball when riots broke out in the city, protests against the government for not allowing statues to be thrown into the Ganges River.

For this reason we were asked to remain in the safety of our hotel.  So our client came to us so we could continue to work and finalize the last edits to our solutions.

One of the most challenging aspects of this assignment has been the wifi in my room. It seems the room I’m in has a “dead spot” and the IT folks at the hotel can’t get it to work most of the time. When I do have wifi, I’m with the client.  So suffice it to say I’ve had to write my blogs and try to post them as wifi became available… which isn’t very often.

This final week has seen our group pulling together all the pieces of our communications strategy, plan, deliverables, web site and training.  I’ve created almost 40 pieces of collateral, written content, trained the staff to use the design templates and developed an 18 month plan.

There are people in this world so hungry that God can only appear to them in the form of bread.                                                            Mahatma Ghandi

We have been so focused on our project deliverables for the last few days that we were jolted into reality again on Friday morning.  It was a national holiday and most shops and establishments were closed.  But we had a small event that was organized at a local school in the slums along the railway. Not knowing the name of this slum, I referred to the kids as the railway children.  And that’s exactly what they are.

We’ve passed this corner every day, but Friday we turned the corner and drove along a short way.  We saw women digging in the rubbish piles looking for anything edible or reusable. The mosquitoes were thick and the odor was suffocating.  But we were here to teach the school children about proper garbage disposal, sanitation and present the school with new garbage bins.

Greeted by the principle, staff and lunch ladies, the children were clustered primarily on the veranda.  They quickly following into the school and sat on the floor, while our team and others from SRF and VSO sat at the front.

The children had put on their “Sunday best” and were scrubbed clean for our arrival. They had prepared songs, poems and dances, which they performed.

They were given a short seminar about proper garbage disposal, recycling and the importance of maintaining a clean environment.

This was followed by a bush planting ceremony where I had the honor along with a VSO member to plant this shrub.

The children were excited to have their photos taken and clamored for our attention. Each child received a packet of cookies.

Many of these children and their families have no homes, live in makeshift shelters and scavenge for any sort of food they can get.  The public school they attend now provides subsidized lunches as part of the curriculum due to the intervention and cessation of corruption by SRF.  100% of the railway children are enrolled in school and no longer working as child labor.

I’ve spent the last two days “interviewing” the senior staff of SRF to collect content for their collateral and help them develop content.  Although I’ve heard pieces of this throughout the past 2 weeks, it’s been interesting to dive into specifics, facts and statistics.

SRF has made a huge impact in the villages and communities where they are present.   They’ve increased school registration to nearly 100% in many areas and reversed the truancy numbers from 70% no show, to 30% no show.  They have many professionals working pro-bono such as lawyers, doctors, psychologists and dentists to help these people get the proper help and assistance with major issues.

As an example, they heavily monitor baby / child development up to the age of 3. Using very simple methods the field staff collects data and findings and reports issues to the social workers and doctors.

It’s hard to believe that week 3 has begun.  There is so much to do and a month just isn’t sufficient.  Our client, SRF is way ahead of some of the NGO’s and still has many needs.  They are very engaged with us and the President and Director have made themselves available every day except 1.  

Yesterday started off with a few delays with our client having various meetings. This gave our team time to spend the entire day working in our teamroom at the hotel.  We made great progress.  I developed a series of brochures for each project a communications plan that outlines the steps involved and time required for each asset they want to produce.

Serge continued to work on the web site, researching alternatives and setting up a new test site.  Sharon worked on the communications strategy for internal and external communications.

It was a great day to be heads down and crank out a lot of deliverables.  Our Tuesday meeting will be very detailed with lots of questions, comments and enthusiasm.

Our meetings are lively and engaging.  Rajeev and Roli are asking lots of questions and sometimes are way ahead of our presentations.  They are anticipating challenges, issues, and opportunities.  They have taken the SWOT points and are working hard to leverage opportunities, change the weaknesses and lower the threats.  All said it increases their strengths.  They are thrilled with our work and asked if we can stay longer.

I know this blog is longer than most, but I have so much to share.   So bear with me or just skip to the photos below.

We couldn’t wait for our third Sunday to roll around.  It was the day we were doing community service at the Manav Sewa Kendra (MSK) center, located in the outlying hills of Varanasi.  MSK is one of the NGO’s where we are working. It took 2 ½ hours to get there with stops for hurds of sheep, goats, cows and buffalo, only one flat tyre, rough terrain and unpaved roads and lots of nausea.  Everyone said it was only 35km, but it felt much further.  According to Google it was actually 85 km.  

As we made out way out of Varanasi and into the countryside and rolling hills the vistas were of green rice fields, pastures and lots of cattle.  We passed a number of Sheppard’s.  We drove through the Chandraprabha Wildlife Sanctuary with our final stop in Naugarh, Uttar Pradesh.

Upon arrival at the MSK compound we were warmly greeted by the staff and children. Everyone was anxiously waiting for us. We were taken to rooms where we could freshen up and rest.  Deserts, tea and water were served as snacks. (They eat a lot of very sweet deserts in India.  Delicious but very sweet!)

We were seated at a head table with a huge audience of children, teens, women and men. A welcome was said, followed by the presentation of a flower lay hung around each of our necks.

Girls and teens performed various songs, dances and recitals for us.  They were very talented and selected lovely, upbeat melodies for the musical accompaniment.  Several speeches were delivered before we broke into our groups to work with the tweens, teens and young women.  I uploaded a video to Vimeo.  You can link to it from here.

I was in a subgroup where we organized a Henna beauty competition.  The girls paired up into 2’s and one provided the hands and arms while the other did the artwork.  This is part of the beautician education provided at the MSK Center.

Next we gave the teens a lesson in Flags from our respective countries.  We bought maps of the world which we left with them and drew sample flags.  The groups then needed to redraw the flags and identify the respective country. They attached the paper flags to bamboo poles.  They had a great deal of fun, with lots of squeeling and laughing as time ran out. We took some great pictures which are posted below.

Our group work was followed by Mango Planting Tree Ceremony.  Each one of us had the pleasure of planting a mango tree in the courtyard of the MSK compound.

One of our teams taught the boys to play volleyball.  It was a riot to watch as they got started, but shortly after getting the hang of it, the teams were really competing to win.

The staff organized a simple but terrific lunch, without hot spices, included more sweet deserts.

It was a day which left a memorable impression.  The work which MSK is doing with these remote villages is incredible. They are an NGO and therefore have very little money.  But the donations they get are put to good use and nothing is wasted.

When MSK began their program in Naugarh there was an over 90% illiteracy rate. It is now almost reversed. Although still a very poor village, the women are learning trades like sewing, beauticians and finance.  Skills which give them an opportunity for work. Children are no longer roaming the streets uneducated, but are attending daily school, are well fed and nourished.

Having ended week one with field trips during the day, followed by strategizing, planning and evaluating during the evening, we had a good grasp of the challenges faced by the Dr. Singh Research Foundation.  

Our second week began with promised of more field trips, but due to various circumstances we had to delay and this gave us time to work with the field, office and senior staff members.  Each day was spent in their office until around 3 pm.  We presented our analysis with and findings along with objectives for the following 3 weeks of our stay.  The CEO, Rajeev and his wife, Dr. Roli Singh, Director were extremely pleased.

We began with a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) approach and quickly gained the clients agreement to the first version of requirements.

I spent a great deal of time doing layout examples along with a reference document on how to create marketing and communications material, what to consider and the elements of creating great content.  They were very pleased with these pieces.  Sharon from the USA worked on the communications strategy and looked at a team collaboration tool.  Serge, from Switzerland analyzed their web site and made recommendations for changes, fixes, etc. as well as adding social media. We all continue these activities into our third week.

This coming week I need to finish up several real document layout, a yearly / monthly communications calendar with all the processes and steps for each. Then I need to investigate how they begin a Sponsor Child program.

The week ended on Saturday, September 26 with the annual SRF team get together. Since we were present they changed it up a bit and had each person present something about themselves, sing, dance or tell a story.  It was quite funny.  Dr. Roli wouldn’t give people a chance to finish and then would mimic them.  She is quite the actress and comedian.  He son came home for the weekend and she even imitated him and her husband.  

When it came to my turn to introduce myself and do something, I recited Mary Had a Little Lamb.  Of course none of these people have ever seen Mary or snow, and they thought this was quite a cute poem.

There were three birthdays among the staff.  Not being able to easily find birthday cards, we drew some.  We had to break into one of our boxes of crayons and all three of us drew a card that we signed.  The recipients were Dr. Roli, her son, and Sunil their IT guy.  They were so happy with this.