South Asian Village Empowerment International

Ultimate Objective: To assist in the social and economic development of poor underprivileged communities directly and indirectly affected by the historical legacy of "Untouchability" and also small fishing villages affected by the Tsunami of 12/26/2004 who are not recipients of aid from large international NGOs.

Immediate Objectives:

" To provide free supplemental educational benefits to poor children enrolled primarily in under funded and understaffed Government Schools at the primary and preschool level (3-15 years of age).

" To ensure that they learn to read and write their native tongue, Tamil, have a foundation to learn more English, the language of higher education in Tamilnadu, and possess basic skills in arithmetic and math.

" To reduce school dropout rates by providing caring professional tutoring in small groups and educational counselling.

" To provide a suitable location and regular time where children can complete their homework assignments, study their lessons, and prepare for examinations under the guidance of professional adult educators and other adult community leaders and volunteers.

" Create small community-owned and managed buildings where supplemental educational programs can be conducted and other community organizations such as village leadership meetings, women's self help groups (SHG) and youth groups can meet and conduct business and other activities.

Future Objectives:

" Develop village-centered vocational education programs for women, youth and the unemployed in such fields as Information Technology, Construction, Tailoring, and Handicrafts.

" Introduce health and wellness training programs and provide medical camps where health professionals come directly to the village and conduct both general and special clinics in immunology, opthamology, infectious diseases, obstetrics and pediatrics.

" Create athletic programs for young men and women in such sports as Volleyball, Badminton, Cricket, Soccer, providing both equipment, coaching and instruction and the framework for inter-village competition.

1. Introduction

Background

India has historically been unique as a region where the existence of a caste based social system has been pervasive both regionally and at all levels of society since ancient times. A caste system has been defined as a social system composed of kin-based groups with endogamous marriage patterns, that is, marriage is prohibited outside of the group. Additionally, these groups are ranked hierarchically along economic, political and religious criteria. Traditionally each caste (Jati) is associated with a traditional occupation which helps to determine its strata and status in society. The caste that one is born cannot be changed during one's lifetime. Changes in status can only be achieved only through changes in the ranking of one's caste, which can accomplished only with great difficulty and over many generations.

There may be between 10,000 and 100,000 different castes and sub-castes in India depending on the definition and criteria chosen. In Tamilnadu alone the Government of India has officially recognized over 400 different castes. The belief held outside of India that there are only 4 castes - Brahmin(priests), Kshatriya(kings and warriors), Vaisyas (merchants) and Sudras( farmers) is an idealized and simplified description based on ancient texts that never really applied to the caste system as it exists in reality.

Problem Statement

Although the Indian caste system has undergone many changes in time, especially beginning with Indian Independence in 1947 and continuing with the recent economic development and modernization of India, the Caste System remains a powerful force in the lives of the majority of Indians, especially the majority who live in the rural areas - Village India.

Those members of caste's ranked at or near the bottom of the caste hierarchy, described in western literature as "Untouchables" and known in Indian currently as Dalits or Scheduled Castes (SC's) were historically discriminated against by members of middle and upper ranking caste's in ways that would challenge modern notions of the extent of injustice that could be perpetrated by one human against another.

Dalits were historically prohibited from owning land, from receiving any education, from changing employers or occupation, from living with members of the multi caste community in general, from entering most large places of worship, from exercising any legal or civil rights, from wearing shoes or covering their upper body, or even physically approaching within certain prescribed distances members of other castes. In short, they lived in a situation akin to slavery, justified by Hindu religious principles. They were physically and verbally vilified as "unclean" and treated as social pariahs. Indeed, the word "pariah" finds its roots in the Tamilnadu Dalit Caste of Paraiyans. Turning to the period of English Colonization, The East India Company in Madras City, now Chennai, sought to enhance their tax revenues from property they controlled in Tamilnadu. A large district 35 miles south of Madras consisting largely of rice paddy fields was acquired and large numbers of Dalit agricultural laborers were settled there to engage in virtual slave labor under the authority of large land lease holders. After Indian Independence they remained and presently make up approximately 68% of the total population of the Tirupporur and Tirukallukkundram.

This is the area, and these are the peoples that Tamilnadu Village Outreach seeks to help.

Target Area

The target villages are in Tirupporur and Tirukallukkundram Taluqs(borough), Kanchipuram District, immediately south of Chennai City and extending from the Bay of Bengal inland about 15 kilometers. The region has few major rivers and is quite flat apart from periodic granite monoliths. Water for agriculture is obtained through bore wells and rainfall and the major crops are rice, millet, and coconut and goats, cows and buffalo are also raised. There are several factories in the area including a major pharmaceutical park (many of whose employees are bussed in daily from Chennai) and an auto parts manufacturer. The coastal area draws many tourists drawn to the beaches and 7th century rock temples built during the Pallava dynasty, with a concomitant tourist infrastructure of hotels and restaurants. Fishing and the aquaculture of prawns provide employment for mainly non-Dalit laborers. 10 kilometers south of Mamallapuram is a large nuclear power reactor plant and plutonium reprocessing facility known as Kalpakkam.

Land ownership by Dalits is no longer prohibited but the historical legacy of oppression is evident in continuing very low ownership of agricultural land. Most Dalit men and women work for daily wages (Kule labor) on an on call basis in agriculture and construction, unskilled factory work and menial work in the tourist sector. Daily wages from on-call labor average $1.50 to $3.00 a day for men and half that amount for women.

On 12/26/2004 a Great Tsunami struck this coast greatly affecting the lives, livelihood and property of coastal dwellers, primarily persons of the non-Dalit Fishermen Caste (Meenavar) who engage in traditional fishing practices launching small boats through the surf. Due to the steepness of the beaches, relatively few lives were lost but most of their boats, motors and nets and personal property were destroyed and their houses severely damaged. Following the quake a number of large foreign NGOs have provided both intensive and extensive relief for the Fisher communities and the immediate effects of the disaster have largely been ameliorated.

Target Group

There are seven villages where Tamilnadu Village Outreach established operating free Evening Schools (called in this region "Tuition schools") between February 2005 and April 2005.

These villages are (Dalit) Salavankuppam, Bangaru Pettai, Karani, Amuur, Siritavuur, and (Meenavar) Puthiya Neymeli and Puttu Edaiyuur. Additional Tuition Schools are planned in 2005-2006 for Panjuntheertam, Nelluur, and the Dalit neighbourhood of Mamallapuram.

Priority Problems

The overwhelming majority of Dalit children attend elementary schools owned and operated by the Government of Tamilnadu because their income levels do not permit them to enroll in private schools, where the majority of middle class Indians educate their children.

Government schools in Tamilnadu are vastly under funded and understaffed and it is not unusual for 2nd and 3rd grade classes to have 75-100 students per teacher. Educational materials besides very low quality textbooks are non-existent. It is estimated that there are 85,000 unfilled teaching positions in Tamilnadu due to budgetary problems. School dropout prior to the Eight Grade (Standard) is very common due in no large part due to the ineffectiveness of the Government schools in providing an education. In the target area illegal child labor is not a widespread problem.

The key to social, economic and educational advancement in Tamilnadu is the possession of a good working knowledge of English, which is the medium of instruction in most University programs and professional schools, and the medium of commercial communication in multi-lingual India. Government schools in Tamilnadu have woefully inadequate English programs.

The City Of Joy by Dominique LaPierre, the well-known and justifiable lauded literary classic of poverty and suffering among the urban poor in contemporary India, contains a passage (page 165, Warner Books Edition, reissued 1992) which I would like to quote:

'"I suggest we all make an individual survey," said Kovalski (the Catholic Priest who had chosen to live among the poor and share their existence, addressing his troupe of volunteers), "to find out what are the most immediate problems our brothers want to see given priority." The results came in three days later. They were all identical. The most pressing desires of the City Of Joy were not the ones the priest had anticipated. It was not their living conditions that people wanted to change. The sustenance they sought was not directed at their children's frail bodies, but at their minds. The six surveys revealed that the primary demand was for the creation of a night school so that children employed in the workshops , stores and tea shops in the alley, could learn to read and write.'

While few children in our target area are engaged in any full-time (and illegal) child wage labor, the priorities of the families we serve are no different than those of the urban poor of Calcutta. To educate their children. This is the primary focus of Tamilnadu Village Outreach's activities.

The Evening schools are located within the village boundaries and run on a day to day basis by locally based teachers, either from the village itself or from nearby localities. The teachers are often Government Credentialed and many teach in both Government or private schools during the day. Where it is not possible or feasible to employ Credentialed teachers, individuals with relatively high educational attainments and an interest and aptitude in working with children are employed. Often there are volunteers from the village who assist the teacher. They may be close relatives of a student or older teenagers with an interest in education and community service. Regular written attendance records are required to be maintained for every Evening School session, which are normally held after every school day, usually 6 days a week, and between 5:00 and 6:30PM.

The curriculum of the Evening schools is chosen by the teacher and may closely follow that of the local School the children attend full-time, although the teacher is free to introduce new ideas and activities.

The Evening Schools typically provide a place where the children can do their homework uninterrupted by the routines of their home environment, study quietly for school examinations, and receive competent and positive individualized help and reinforcement with subjects and ideas that they may not have been able to grasp during the regular school day for any reason. Attending Evening Schools can demonstrate to the child that their community is concerned about and interested in their educational progress and places value on academic achievement, and can also be a place where a child can receive guidance from a nurturing unrelated adult in matters both educational and social.

The Evening schools are not places of serious competition and there is no grading or ranking of students although remedial testing may be implemented and the teachers are urged to become aware of their students progress and attainments and assist them in areas where they are deficient.

Extracurricular activities we have sponsored in the past include excursions by small bus to a large metropolitan zoological garden 60 kilometers away, drawing contests, athletic and board games, song, dance and dramatic presentations and an Award night for academic excellence and attendance with food snacks and music.

Individual School Reports The following section provides a both a sketch of the network of schools established by TVO in the last year and the communities they serve as well as more specific information about the teachers, attendance by age, sex, and other indices. All Evening Schools are completely free and are open o all who wish to attend. The children are usually provided with notebooks and pencils and the schools equipped with blackboards and other educational aids.

All teachers are treated as professionals and are paid the same regular monthly salary with reasonable paid sick and holiday pay. To date there have been no dismissals or voluntary terminations by any teachers or any significant complaints to TVO either from the teachers or the communities they serve.