Esp'errance

We left to go to the heart of the desert of Thar to discover the association Malenbai. At about twenty kilometres from Jaisalmer, the jeep left the road to take a trail that meandered through areas of sand and black stones where a few bushes braved the wind and the sun. This huge plateau stopped abruptly to dive in a big expanse of light sand, similar to a piece of the Moon lost on Earth: it was a drained lake. We stopped at the threshold of a big lonely building that seemed to contemplate the horizon.

The founders of Malenbai, Capucine and Pabu, welcomed us with some tea and told us their story. During a trip in India, this young French woman went with her family on a camel safari accompanied by Pabu. They fell for each other and decided to unite their destinies in this desert where they both felt more at home than anywhere else. They settled there despite all the difficulties of financial order, but above all cultural and social order. The mix of their couple is not accepted within the Indian society, all the more since Pabu comes from one of the lowest castes: the Bilhs, who are traditionally hunters.
                      Capucine and Pabu

After three years of perseverance, the house they built became a welcoming place, following the tradition of the inhabitants of the desert. The farmers of the neighbouring lands, the shepherds passing through... all the people who wish for it can break their journey there. They come on their own or with their families, share their meals and the big terrace where they fall asleep under the stars after the evening gathering.
 
Pabu is proud to be Bilh, but a lot of others have lost this feeling. Originally from the Gujarat region, Bilhs were moved near Jaisalmer to put their gift of being hunters to the service of Maharajas. During this migration, they lost a lot of their customs and craft. Nowadays, most of them survive by breaking stones for building sites, which is a demeaning slavery work.

Capucine and Pabu want to make of their difference a strength to help the Bilhs get back on their feet. They turned first towards agriculture: they invested in a tractor. They could lend it to families in order to encourage them to cultivate their land and train the youth to drive it. The year after, they took advantage of the water from the lake and of the loan of an electric generator to make a culture of irrigated mustard. Numerous families participated to the crop sowing and then the harvest. Around this new activity, exchanges and sharing developed to the rhythm of songs accompanying the work. However, the operation was in deficit and, with the uncertain character of the harvest, they had to find new ideas.
 
Following the enthusiastic advice of a friend, they created the association Malenbai in August 2007. Malenbai is the name of the goddess of the desert that the Bilhs venerate. Capucine and Pabu’s objective was to bring back to life the local craft, which is a vehicle of the culture and the roots the Bilhs needed to find again. The knowledge was so lost that Capucine and Pabu worked hard to find again the few people who were still in possession of it. It was a true treasure hunt.

They discovered a weaver. This elderly man did not have the strength to break stones anymore and struggled to make his family live well. The unexpected possibility to take back his original job thrilled him. With the help of Malenbai, he renovated his father’s old weaving loom and went back to work. After a few years without practicing, he needed several tries before mastering the technic again. The carpets are woven from goats hairs tied up as a rope, which only a few elderly persons can still do; Pabu sometimes had to go as far as 80 kilometres to find the precious balls. The life of the weaver was transformed: the sale of the carpets in Malenbai provided him with an income, and above all he found again his pride and the respect of his peers. When we went to visit him, the whole family and the children welcomed us with joy and curiosity. Apart from Capucine, we were the first foreign people coming to their place.
                   The weaver and his daughter

This year, Malenbai renewed the experiment with a family of potters in a nearby village. In order to earn a living, the latter neglected their wheel progressively and left for quarries to break stones. Pottery was becoming an extra activity and could have been abandoned on the long term. Motivated by the opportunity to live again of his art, the potter showed us the numerous models he can do. Capucine and Pabu gave him the idea of objects inspired by Rajasthanese traditions and susceptible to be liked by tourists. We were amazed when his 15-year old son replaced him at the wheel, showing already a great expertise. The transmission of knowledge is provided.
                   The potter’s son

When visiting the families, Capucine meets women who make magnificent pieces of embroidery for their personal uses. With a few new ideas drawn from the markets or their traditions, they could use their craft and join the craft workers of Malenbai.
                   The huts

At the same time as the activities of the association, Capucine and Pabu want to develop an activity that would allow them to live in this desert, which is an essential condition to continue the action of Malenbai. Bit by bit, they formed the idea of welcoming tourists who are desirous of discovering and living the desert. When we were there, Pabu had just finished building five beautiful traditional huts. They were harmoniously situated in front of the immensity of the drained lake. He also wishes to take advantage of his experience as a guide to offer camel safaris to the visitors.
                                A cameleer

Their approach is tinged with morals and solidarity in the continuity of Malenbai. They are very keen to integrate in their project the craftsmen they support by organising visits in their villages so that tourists could discover their work. They see this new activity as a chance to share their passion and knowledge of this mysterious, tough and generous environment. It would be for the visitors an occasion to immerse themselves in the life of the desert: sharing meals with the shepherds passing through, listening to their songs while admiring the Milky Way at sunset, sleeping in huts rocked by the wind blowing, etc.



How to help

This touristic project will help the action of Malenbai. And with the help of the goddess of the desert, it will give hope back to the caste of Bilhs. Capucine and Pabu invite people to come and visit them, which is a nice idea for ‘discovery’ holidays. They are located at 24 kilometres from Jaisalmer, or a 30-minute drive. They are looking for contacts with agencies of solidarity tourism in order to make themselves known.

During her yearly visits in France, Capucine collects clothes and medicine in order to distribute them to people who need it. Financial donations are also welcome.

Contact

Website: http://malenbai.canalblog.com
Email: capucine@hotmail.fr
Capucine’s phone number: +91 9829 5522 78
Pabu’s phone number: +91 9602 5343 44


Gabrielle
(Translation: Yolène Dabreteau)

In India, they call ‘scavengers’  (dustmen) the people traditionally in charge of taking care of human faeces and carcasses of animals. They represent the lowest of the castes that form the Hindu society. They are confined to this job from birth. The job of scavenger itself is particularly degrading. It consists of picking up (by hand) the faeces of others, carrying them in a bucket on one’s head and throwing them out in the river. Add to that, the members of this caste, considered as impure, are subjected to unthinkable discrimination. They are the infamous ‘untouchables’, named this because other members of the society owe it to themselves to avoid direct contact with them.

The Sulabh Sanitation Movement’s mission is the eradication of ‘scavenging’.

                         The symbol of Sulabh: a bucket of faeces crossed in red

On 13th July, we were welcomed by Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, the founder of Sulabh, in the headquarters of the organization in Delhi. Nothing about his past suggested he might one day take care of the untouchables’ difficulties. But the ups and downs of life took him to lead this fight.

As a young man, Bindeshwar Pathak wanted to become a teacher but did not manage to get a position. In 1969, when he was 27, he joined the Committee of the Celebrations of Gandhi’s Centenary. This organization was notably in charge of accelerating the fight against untouchability, one of the main concerns of Gandhi. Bindeshwar Pathak went to live with scavengers in a slum for a few months in order to immerse himself in the situation.

During this time, he was confronted by the daily drama lived by this population. One day, a child was attacked by an enraged buffalo. Men rushed to help him but suddenly, someone screamed ‘it’s an untouchable!’ and they all stopped instantly, leaving the boy to be trampled. Dr Pathak and a few good willing people picked up the wounded child and brought him to a hospital. There, the medical staff balked at approaching the little untouchable to heal him. The child died from his injuries.

Deeply touched by this experience, Dr Pathak decided to fight in order to stop the inhuman behaviours led by the system of castes. He founded Sulabh in 1970 with the will to eradicate scavenging. It was a choice with serious consequences for a Brahman (high caste) person: his family and step family temporarily turned their backs on him.

                               Dr Bindeshwar Pathak

Building a ubiquitous sewage system like in occidental countries is too expensive for India, and consumes too much water. The installations of septic tanks is not an answer either as it involves emptying that would be done by scavengers. Sulabh looked for a way to develop a technology that could be adapted to the economic and environmental situation of India, and that would allow them to solve the problem of scavenging at the same time.

In 1970, Sulabh inaugurated the first toilets built following the model of Dr Pathak. This model has two essential innovations compared to the classic installations. First of all, the evacuation system was improved in order to use only 1.5 liters of water thanks to a smaller bend (an ordinary flush uses 10 liters of water). Then, the faeces are drained towards a system of double tanks, each of which has a life of 2 or 3 years. Once the first tank is full, the evacuation is directed towards the second tank. The faeces that are in the first tank transform progressively with the natural action of fermentation. After 18 months, the tank left at rest is full of odorless and dry green manure, easily transportable and usable for agriculture.

The toilets Sulabh: water and methane produced by the fermentation are absorbed into the soil thanks to spaces on the surface of the tank (photo Sulabh).

The Sulabh installations are adapted to all incomes and can be made with a large range of local material. As of today, the organization has built and sold more than 1.2 million toilets across India.

           The green manure obtained after 18 months of fermentation (Photo Sulabh).

For a lot of inhabitations, the simple and cheap technology of Sulabh remains inaccessible, notably in slums for reasons of cost and space. The only available toilets are often an open-air corner of pavement that scavengers have to clean.

In 1974, Sulabh installed the first paying public toilets in Patna, in the state of Bihar. Nobody believed it would work. However, the first day it opened, 500 people came to use it. The towns inhabitants are ready to pay 1 or 2 rupees to use the toilets in a clean and private environment. Today, Sulabh manages more than 7,500 public toilets across India, which welcome more than 10 millions users every day.

Sulabh continues to innovate and, at the beginning of the 80s, Dr Pathak had the idea to recycle the methane issued from the fermentation of faeces. The organization installed biogas plants in about 190 public toilets. Instead of escaping in the atmosphere where it contributes a lot to the greenhouse effect, the methane is kept and used for cooking, street lighting, electricity production, etc.

A Sulabh biogas plant and its different uses: electricity production, stove, heating, lighting, etc.

At the headquarters of the organization in Delhi, an experimental laboratory tests new simple technologies in order to improve the sanitation situation in India. One of the recent ideas was to use duckweed to clean up lakes and rivers. The weed can then be harvested and is used to feed livestock.

Each time, the solutions offered by Sulabh are simple and adapted to the Indian context. Moreover, in Hindi, 'sulabh' means literally ‘simple, easy’.

After the visit of the Sulabh installations, Dr Pathak invited us to the library of the organization. Among the numerous books, he chose a big volume of the bound editions of ‘Young India’, Gandhi’s newspaper, and opened it respectfully.

The work of Gandhi inspired the actions of Dr Pathak. During the conflict for independence in India, the Mahatma was already fighting for the abolition of the system of castes. What would be the use of independence if some Indians were still oppressed? He insisted on his disciples cleaning their toilets themselves, and taught sanitation basics in villages he visited. After they achieved independence in 1947, and the death of Gandhi in 1948, the new Indian government passed numerous laws to fight against the phenomenon of untouchability. It was not particularly successful.

By founding Sulabh, Dr Pathak tried to approach the problem from a practical angle, and it is probably the reason for his success. The organization estimates that it has managed to free more than one million people from scavenging. Commenting on the work of Sulabh when she visited in July 2008, the Indian president, Prathiba Devisingh Patil, declared: ‘no program in India would give as much happiness to Gandhi than this one’.

Today, 60,000 people work within Sulabh. The organization tries to spread its model across the world. 2.6 billion human beings still do not have access to proper toilets. The technology developed by Sulabh can contribute to solving this sanitation problem. Moreover, when facing global warming and water shortages, the Sulabh toilets are a first rate ecological solution.

Thanks to the money earned with the construction and cleaning of the public toilets, the organisation also leads important programs of rehabilitation for the scavengers.  To be followed...

How to help

The organization is self-financing and does not accept donations. The financial independence of Sulabh is the best asset for Dr Pathak in order to think and act freely.

Dr Pathak invites people to follow his actions: the technology developed by Sulabh is free of patents, and technical training can be given on demand. For example, 14 African engineers were recently trained in the different systems developed by the organization. New sessions are planned to extend the training to other countries.

Contacts

Sulabh Sanitation Movement
Sulabh Gram - Mahavir Enclave
Palam Dabri Marg
New Delhi – 110 045
India
• Telephone : +91 11 25 03 26 17
• Website : www.sulabhinternational.org
• E-mail : sulabh1@nde.vsnl.net.in

The International Museum of Toilets of Sulabh welcomes visitors in Delhi (same address). One can discover toilets of all ages and shapes, of which there are some surprising models.

• Telephone : +91 11 25 03 40 14
• Website : www.sulabhtoiletmuseum.org

François
(Translation: Yolene Dabreteau)

The College of Social Work Nirmala Niketan was founded in 1955 following Les Filles du Coeur de Marie’s initiative. The latter is a religious society that came to Mumbai to work with the disadvantaged population. With the aim to organise quality help on the long term, they created this school to train professionals of social work among the Indian youth. Since then, the institute has been relying on its experience to adapt itself to the evolution of the society and anticipate tomorrow’s needs.

The principal, Dr Mary Alphonse, emphasises the characteristic of the institute which endeavours to pass on not only knowledge, but also the necessary passion and conviction to work in a social environment. The students gain professional discipline while leaning on strong human values. They develop both a critical viewpoint and a global vision to apprehend the problems they are entrusted with solving. By training this ‘army of social workers’, the institute wants to contribute to the construction of a new social order based on human dignity and social justice.

            Dr Mary Alphonse, principal of the CSW (College of Social Work)

                            The library of the CSW

            Manisha Desai, person in charge of the project AROEHAN

The girls married very young often have their first child as early as 13 years old, when they are not ready to be mothers. The association gives them health and nutrition classes in schools to help them take care of their children as well as themselves.
Moreover, the deforestation led to dryness and impoverishment of the soil, then made unsuitable for agriculture. The lack of food and work forces some families’ exodus and the region is impoverished accordingly. In order to stop this vicious circle, the association teaches, with the help of experts, agricultural techniques that are simple and respect the environment. This will help enrich the soil again and fight against the dryness.
Finally, there are laws to help the disadvantaged rural areas in matters of work, health services, subsidies to buy food, etc. AROEHAN plays an important role informing the inhabitants of their rights and encouraging them to join forces to make these rights recognised by the government. At the start of the project, the inhabitants feared that such an approach would lead to the retaliation of corrupt agents of the state. By dint of public awareness and support, the inhabitants organised themselves and obtained important help, opening the way to a better life thanks to their courage.

The 14 members of the team continue their fight with the help of the school, the government and partner NGOs.

Greeshma Francis, person in charge of the project CHIRAG, and Kamlakar, member of the team

It was pouring with rain, we went on a suburban train in the direction of Dharavi. This area contains a large population of immigrants and more flock there everyday by the hundreds. AIDS is one of the numerous diseases that strikes here more than anywhere else. We left the train station in the middle of rows of prematurely aged buildings. We followed Greeshma through the maze of streets and into one of those same buildings where the CHIRAG office was. Children played, neighbours greeted us. Immersed in the life of the area, the project office welcomes the sick and fights for their rehabilitation within the community.

The first contact with the sick is more often established through the support unit in the hospital, where 300 to 500 sick people come everyday to receive their treatment.
In Dharavi, CHIRAG offer different workshops to teach sick people how to take care of themselves, to control their disease, and above all, to overcome the shock and to be self-confident again. Once in a month, a support group gathers 50 to 60 people to share their problems, doubts or questions. CHIRAG visits the families to give them information about AIDS and encourage them to support their sick family members.
The team leads the important work of public awareness with the community to stop the discrimination. It leans on the network of existing public structures: schools, administrations, hospitals, etc. There, they have trained more than 200 community kindergarten teachers and helpers in order to pass on the message of the organisation. Activities are also organised with festive events: cricket tournaments, painting contests, street theatre, etc. These are all occasions to speak about AIDS and defend the cause of the sick by going beyond the fear.
The reinstatement of the sick also includes finding a new job as most of them are unemployed. The project CHIRAG offers professional training to allow them to create their own business at home. In the same view, a micro credit program dedicated to women was launched recently.
Finally, when resorting to justice by legal means is necessary (domestic violence, unfair dismissal, etc.), CHIRAG fights for the sick with the help of specialised lawyers. Encouraged by the success of the project in Dharavi, CHIRAG opened a second office in the area of Bhandup in 2005.

All this work is done by a team of 8 people under the flagship of the College of Social Work and of the NGO Rangoonwala Foundation India Trust.

            A beneficiary of CHIRAG

These two projects are a good example of the philosophy of social work taught by the CSW. They are led willingly and with talent by young enthusiasts who make sure not to confuse empathy with sympathy.

How to help

In order to accompany the current projects, and launch new ones, the CSW constantly looks for funds with NGOs as well as private individuals. Volunteers are also welcome within the AROEHAN and CHIRAG projects (Greeshma Francis is looking for people to maintain and develop the CHIRAG website).

Contacts

College of Social Work Nirmala Niketan
38, New Marines Lines
MUMBAI 400 020
India
Telephone : +91 22 22002615, +91 22 22067345
Fax : +91 22 22014880
Email : colsocwk@mtnl.net.in
Website : www.collegeofsocialwork.in

AROEHAN
Email : aroehan@gmail.com

CHIRAG
Email : chirag_nn@yahoo.com

Gabrielle
(Translation: Yolene Dabreteau)

On 23rd June, we had a meeting with the organization Janodayam in Chennai (Madras).

In the Hindu tradition, society is organized into different castes. From one’s birth, each one belongs to a caste that gives him or her a specific role. In decreasing order in terms of ritual ‘purity’: the Brahmins are the priests and men of letters, the Kshatryas are the warriors (and policemen), the Vaishyas are the traders and agriculturists, and the Shudras are the artisans. What is left is all the ‘outside caste’, called Pariahs or Dalits (or ‘untouchables’), who are confined to the tasks considered as the most impure.

Each caste is itself divided into a large number of sub-castes (there are about 3,000 in India), corresponding to specific jobs. The Arunthathiars have inherited the job of ‘scavengers’. These Dalits’ task is to take care of everything in relation to garbage and human faeces, in conditions that are often degrading (in particular, they are in charge of cleaning the toilets and the sewage bare-handed). There are about 1.6 million of them in India. They are despised by everybody, even by other Dalits. The objective of Janodayam is to help these ‘scavengers’, the pariahs of pariahs, in the state of Tamil Nadu.

We were welcomed into the offices of Janodayam by G. Israel, who is the director of the programme. All the people in charge of the association were gathered for the occasion. Jayanthi, one of the organizers, welcomed us with a song. Altogether, the association has 22 full-time and 30 part-time workers.
             The team of Janodayam


Janodayam is an NGO founded in 1983 by the reverend Claude D’souza, a Jesuit. G. Israel joined the organization in 1984. Himself son of a ‘scavenger’, his studies allowed him to escape the destiny attached to this caste, and he wants to lead the rest of his community behind him.

The organisation counts on the education of children to put an end to the ignominious conditions of the Arunthathiars. It is with this aim that Janodayam supports almost 1,000 children by giving them free evening courses. In addition to that, each year, the children from 10th and 12th grades can follow a month of intensive classes before the exams. Thanks to this programme, about 70 children each year join the neighbouring Loyola College, one of the best universities in India. With a diploma in engineering or a doctorate, their social condition changes automatically. Since 1983, 2,000 Arunthathiar children have thus been joining this university.

                     Loyola College in Chennai

Janodayam also leads actions for the Arunthathiar women. In 2000, the organization created the APMS, whose objective is to help women reach social and economical autonomy. Support groups meet every week to help these women gain self-confidence. The APMS organizes short professional training (3 to 6 months): dressmaking, embroidery, computer science, medical care, etc. Thanks to this programme, women can find a job and increase the family income. And above all, they regain their dignity within a society that considers them ‘untouchables’.


The same year, G. Israel founded a citizen movement, the TAAMS (Tamilnadu Adi Andhia Arunthathiar Mahasabha). It has for its objective to organize the Arunthathiars in order to put pressure on the government to satisfy the most important needs of the community and make its rights respected.

In 1993, a federal law was promulgated in India to eradicate the scavenger’s manual work: human faeces could not be picked up by hand anymore, and every offending employer exposed himself to a year in jail and a fine of 2,000 rupees. But this law was easily bypassed by the companies, and the administrations often resorted to ‘independent’ scavengers who do not have social welfare. In 2002, the TAAMS spoke in favour of the Arunthathiars to the governor of Tamil Nadu. The payment of the ‘independent’ scavengers, who are hired from time to time in the administrations and schools, was increased to the same level as the legal minimum wage.

The TAAMS continued to campaign with other organizations for the defence of Dalits. In 2007, they managed to obtain social welfare for the ‘independent’ scavengers in the state of Tamil Nadu. As soon as 2008, public funds gave these workers insurance for health and accidents at work, as well as help in case of pregnancy, marriage or funeral (funerals are very expensive in India). Janodayam is setting up the new administration created to run this system.

In India, 18% of the places in universities and of the jobs in administration are kept for the Dalits in order to encourage their social integration. However, within the Dalits, the Arunthathiars are discredited too much to be able to benefit from it. In 2008, the TAAMS obtained from the government of Tamil Nadu a quota within the quota. 3% of the places are now kept solely for the members of the community of ‘scavengers’.


The interview was over, and G. Israel offered us to stay for lunch. Which we did with pleasure! While waiting for the trays of dishes, we were invited to participate in a small improvised songs concert. Why not? The song ‘Les filles des forges’ was successful.


How to help

The resources of Janodayam come mainly from international NGOs, especially the CCFD (Catholic Committee against Hunger and for Development) in France or Coordaid in the Netherlands.

To help Janodayam, it is better to contact these organizations directly. Financing and school equipment are welcome, as well as volunteer help.


Contacts

CCFD
Website : http://www.ccfd.asso.fr
Telephone : +33 1 44 82 80 00

Janodayam
122, Sterling Road
Nunggambakkam
600 034 Chennai
INDIA
•    E-mail : janodayams@eth.net

François
(Translation: Yolene Dabreteau)

On 19th May, we went to the centre of the Missionaries of Charity in Kochi, in the Kerala state. Outside, a statue of Mother Teresa showed us the entrance. This famous nun founded this Catholic order in 1950, in Calcutta, in order to help the ‘poorest of the poor’ (the dying, the handicapped, the sick, orphans, etc.). Since then, the order has expanded and now counts 4,500 nuns spread over more than 600 missions across 133 countries.

We were welcomed by the Mother Superior of the centre, Sister Rosyline, to whom we volunteered our help for two weeks. Why not? Volunteers are always welcome at the Missionaries of Charity. She answered our questions briefly: this centre is an orphanage for mentally handicapped children and we could take part in the housework, the meals service and play with the children. But when she saw our backpacks and our tired looks, she advised us to get a room in town and to get some rest in order to come back fresh the following day. We were to learn during those two weeks that before helping one’s neighbour, one should help oneself in order to be in the best possible shape.
                 The centre of the Missionaries of Charity in Kochi

The following morning, we went back to the centre for our first day of volunteering. As soon as we arrived, Sister Rosyline welcomed us and invited us to follow her. With a broom and a scraper in our hands, our services were called upon for the big daily cleaning of the dormitories. The buckets of soapy water were poured out between the beds. Then, we went to do the laundry: the 35 children’s clothes are changed many times a day, which means a lot of dirty laundry. There was no washing machine, everything was hand washed following a precise schedule: after the soaping, each piece of laundry went successively into three big washtubs. We were stationed for rinsing, we had to follow the rhythm! Once washed, the laundry was brought upstairs in big baskets in order to be hung out on the big terrace. Once the housework done, we were invited to take our morning break with tea and fortifying biscuits.

Then came the first contact with the children. It was the first time we were confronted with such ‘different’ people. The children were mentally handicapped, most of them profoundly. And lots of them also had physical handicaps that did not allow them to walk. We were not really at ease facing this reality that is usually far from us. What could we bring them? We had to put aside the games we had thought about and find out how to establish contact with these children. It was time for lunch already. Most of them cannot eat on their own and have to be spoonfed. Some of them, who cannot remain seated on their own, are fed lying down. It was hard…were we going to be able to help?

We hung on and came back the following days. Bit by bit, our perception of these children changed, we left our normality references behind and entered their universe. We understood the character of each of them, which made them laugh. We explored new ways to communicate: with sounds, gestures, and touching. The children also got used to us. The most mischievous claimed all our attention as soon as they saw us: Kala asked for cuddles and Rincy, the gossip girl, always had something to show us.
                 Rincy and Gabrielle

In the end, we did not see their handicaps. We saw the life these children carry in them, the young (e.g. Sopna, 9) as much as the old (e.g. Maria, 32). Beyond their physical suffering and the drama of their abandonment, they catch every little moment of happiness that comes their way.

Francois used to shake Alok’s bed every time he passed in front of it. This little asthmatic boy, for whom breathing is suffering, had bursts of laughter when he felt his little world shaking. There was also Sopna, the little music lover. She could spend hours listening to the noise made by an object against the ground. But what she really loved was the ‘plane’, when we took her in our arms and made her spin.
                    Alok, Cherry, Krupa and Anila

Then there was Subash, the star of dormitory B, who communicated only with singing and laughter. He listened very attentively when we whistled ‘Singing in the Rain’ to him (it was a day of monsoon), then started singing again.
                                Subash

The atmosphere that reigned there was cheerful and serene. It is the fruit of the work accomplished everyday by the seven sisters and the twelve laywomen of the centre who love ‘their’ children and take care of them.
                 The laywomen

Despite our lack of experience, the sisters and the laywomen integrated us and soon trusted us to take care of the children. Neither of us would have imagined one day helping handicapped children have physiotherapy. Gabrielle learned from the physiotherapist how to touch the children’s limbs and joints to make them supple (fingers, hands, feet, etc.). The children appreciate these sessions of ‘home gym’. We improvised a little classroom with the most studious of them. Within a few lessons, Anita learned how to write her and her best friend’s name in the Latin alphabet.
                 François, Anita…and Sikoti’s legs

The days went by and it was already the end of the planned two weeks. The goodbyes with the laywomen were warm (more sober with the sisters, because they are more reserved). We did not have the feeling we had only arrived recently. Then it was time to say goodbye to the children. Anita, when she learned we were leaving, asked us to come back. Amongst the others, who realised we were taking them in our arms for the last time? Some of them would probably realise the next day. For us anyway, we realised immediately…we were going to miss them.

How to help

The Missionaries of Charity need financing to pursue their action in the world. All the donations can be sent to the headquarters of the organisation in Kolkata (Calcutta). Donations of clothes are also welcome, even though the cost of transport from overseas can be more expensive than buying clothes on the spot.

Volunteer help is also welcome. The centres of the Missionaries of Charity are generally organized in order to welcome volunteers for long or short periods of time. The organization has centres all across India (Ahmadabad, Mysore, Chennai, etc.) where it is possible to volunteer on the spot. It is better to offer help somewhere other than Calcutta where the volunteers are already numerous. The best way is to go there and ask a representative of the Catholic Church for the address of the closest ‘Mother Teresa’ centre.

Contacts

Centre in Kochi
Missionaries of Charity
Eraveli Road
Kochi – Kerala

Headquarters in Kolkata
Mother House
Missionaries of Charity
78 A.J.C. Bose Road
Kolkata 7000014
West Bengal
India
Telephone :
•    +91 217 22 77
•    +91 33 224 97 115

Gabrielle and François
(Traduction: Yolene Dabreteau)

SPFA (Protestant Solidarity France Armenia) started its activities in Armenia in Gumri in 1990. In 2004, the association turned its activities towards the High Karabakh. This self-governing province of Azerbaijan (populated with Armenians) proclaimed its independence in 1991. A three-year war followed, causing numerous casualties and destruction. The Karabakh recovered bit by bit from this war. Rosane, a young woman from the SPFA Yerevan team, went to Stepanakert (the capital town) to found a new office.

          With Rosane and Jacques Matossian

She started by developing French-speaking activities. She created in particular a library where young children of the area can come to read books in French and have fun. We participated with lots of pleasure in the workshop activities that take place every day of the week after school. We met children who were happy to be there and ready to discover everything that was on offer.

The adventure in Khatchen started as soon as 2004 with a beautiful objective: help the village to take off and allow its 372 inhabitants to stay on their lands. Khatchen is part of the main villages drawn to the attention of NGOs by the authorities of the High Karabakh. Located about twenty kilometres from Stepanakert and easily accessible by car, this village meets all the optimal follow-up conditions. So Rosane can go there once or twice a week. She told us she knows every inhabitant’s name! For a year now, SPFA has achieved all of its projects in Khatchen, and continues to do so.

          Rosane and an inhabitant from Khatchen

It was 10am and we were on time to go and visit Khatchen. On our way there, we were able to enjoy the beauty of the Karabakh’s landscape.

          Khatchen

Upon arrival, we discovered the charm of this quiet little village. The car stopped in front of the town hall where Ernest Grigorian welcomed us. Mayor since 2004, he has been in collaboration with SPFA from the beginning of the project: sponsoring destitute families, renovation of the water network and the church, construction of the kindergarten, setting up of the micro credits, etc. The intervention of SPFA is total, and reflects well its philosophy of action: ‘we have to do everything or nothing’, Rosane told us. By fighting one by one all of the problems in a given village, SPFA gave itself the means to bring back good conditions of life to the inhabitants (sparing them tough departures to the capital town or abroad).

This philosophy is also applied by Jacques Matossian (responsible for the projects of SPFA) to the work he does. The church, which was used as a barn during the Soviet period, had a magic wand waved at it in 2006. Now, it cuts a fine figure with its stone vaults and its sculpted wood doors. The inhabitants show the importance of having rediscovered both a spiritual centre and a meeting place.

          The church of Khatchen

Jacques Matossian did not come for the church but to renovate the water network so that people could have running water 24 hours a day (which is rare in Armenia). Once the reservoir was installed, all the villagers were invited to dig the trench connecting their houses to the main network. This is another key point of the way SPFA intervenes: the beneficiaries of the projects have to participate in its making as far as they are able to.

Rosane likes the spirit of initiative of the inhabitants of Khatchen and their will to go forward together. Her slogan is: ‘we must listen to people, they know what they need’. To help SPFA organising and orientating its actions, the decisions are taken by a council that brings together the inhabitants, the elected representatives and the members of SPFA.

In 2004, SPFA started its action by looking to reduce poverty. A few families are sponsored directly by the association; some others are chosen to receive a cow, of which the first calf will be given to another family, and so on.

Soon after, the inhabitants asked the association to give them the means to create their income themselves. SPFA donated a harvester and a tractor to the village. The town hall rents them to the farmers. The latter, assured to have the right tools to harvest, do not hesitate to sow anymore. The town hall uses the money from the rent to help old people.

In 2008, to go further towards the creation of activity, SPFA set up a program of granting micro credits  (loans of small amounts of money attributed to people who cannot get regular bank loans). After having explained how that worked, the association studied the projects introduced by the people interested in it (purchase of cattle or seeds). Those accepted receive $1,000 to pay back over a period of three years interest-free. Groups of three to five united people are formed and the town hall is also a guarantor in case of a borrower’s default.
We met Arthur. Thanks to the micro credits he benefits from, he owns two cows and ten calves. He is happy to have both an income to support his family and a job he can put a lot into.

          Arthur

Allowing children to go to school and study in good conditions is another essential requirement for the support of families in the village and an investment of priority status for the future. We headed for the kindergarten.

The director showed us the brand new premises built last year by Jacques Matossian’s team. When we arrived, the children were in the middle of their lunch. They were enjoying the potatoes from the garden that the teaching team cultivates during its free time to improve everyday fare.

This is all thanks to SPFA and the government of Karabakh, which has financed half of the construction. The logic is the same for all the interventions concerning the public infrastructure. SPFA always tries to involve the authorities with the constructions. And it never starts building without the assurance that the authorities will take care of the running costs.

At the entry of the village is the school. To give it more income, SPFA donated ten beehives. Thanks to the sale of honey, the school opened a cafeteria where the students are welcomed everyday with free school meals. The generated income also contributes to renewing the equipment and textbooks. Today, 24 beehives produce 180 kilos of honey every year. The kilo being 2,500 drams, it represents 450,000 drams per year (about €1,000) – the capital investment is €100 per beehive. We tasted this delicious honey with the mayor on the occasion of a ‘small’ Armenian coffee.

Armed with this success, in 2008, the school opened a workshop to build its own beehives with the help of SPFA. Apiculture is now a subject taught during the handicrafts classes.

          (Photos: SPFA)

At the end of our visit, Rosane told us proudly that the number of students in the school went from 42 to 48 this year. This is a sign that the work of SPFA is bearing fruit! ‘As long as the children are here, the village cannot die’.

SPFA managed its projects in Khatchen by dint of perseverance and talks with the inhabitants. But it did so also to convince the financial donators to support them. Not being recognised by the State, the High Karabakh cannot count on any kind of subvention from the international community. SPFA turns towards private financing and thanks as such the foundation Suisse Armenianos.

The story does not end there. In Khnabad, it is only starting. This village of 1,000 inhabitants, at the border with Azerbaijan, suffered a lot from the war. A part of the school was destroyed during the bombings. The director, Zaven Beglarian, showed us the current projects with SPFA. The outside pond will be renovated in order to irrigate the fruit trees in the garden, the sale of which will generate income for the school. A donation of ten beehives is expected, as done in Khatchen. New bathrooms will also be built.

In 2008, SPFA had already done the renovation of the water network in the village. This year, SPFA is organising the sponsoring of three families, the purchase of sheep and cows for eleven families, and two micro credits for a common poultry farm. Numerous other projects await financing, like the renovation of the school roofing that shows serious signs of weakness.

The inhabitants we met gladly engaged in conversation with us and did not let us go without giving us a few sweets. After such a welcome, we can only wish them and SPFA as much success as in Khatchen!

How to help

Rosane gave us very concrete possibilities to support the action of SPFA in Karabakh:

• Volunteer activity leaders for the holiday camps that take place every year for a week in July. French-speaking volunteers of SPFA will accompany them. It is a great occasion to discover the beauty of Karabakh!
• Second-hand sleeping bags for the holiday camps.
• Children’s books in order to renew the stock of the library in the centre of Stepanakert.
• Financing for the projects in Khnabad.

Contacts

SPFA (Protestant Solidarity France Armenia) in France
1 rue Cabanis / 75014 Paris
E-mail : Paris@spfa-armenie.org
Website : www.spfa-armenie.org
Telephone : +33 1 47 35 30 23
Fax : +33 1 53 80 19 49

SPFA in Karabakh
5, rue Maschots / Stepanakert
E-mail : armrouz@yahoo.fr
Telephone : +374 97 26 77 67

Gabrielle
(Translation: Yolene Dabreteau)

Ekho is an association founded in July 2008 to help disabled children in the village of Darbnik, about ten kilometres from Yerevan.

Angela has lived there for 20 years. Her son Serguei, who is 18 years old and has a motor disability, gave her the idea and courage to create this association. This is because there was no help service for disabled children in this district. The closest hospitals and boarding schools are in Yerevan, and the families did not have the means to travel there easily.

Angela, Mariam in Yerevan and a friend in Darbnik introduced themselves to the families and started to help them by distributing clothes and food. Then, they organised afternoon teas, evenings at the theatre, etc. They achieved all this work by appealing to Armenian businessmen’s generosity.

          Christening of the children supported by Ekho 

Today, 180 children (most of them with motor or mental disabilities) are registered on their list; new applications reach them everyday.

Their action did not stop at this level. Ekho alone organised the set up of a special school in Darbnik. There, about thirty disabled children are welcomed and accommodated from Monday to Friday. The vocation of this centre is to lavish needed care on the children and to prepare them for their autonomous lives. In this sense, different classes and activities are offered to the children: language classes, computer classes, cooking, sewing, singing, sport, etc.

To supervise the children, the association plans to get a team of ten people in the end (three doctors and seven teachers). Regarding the maintenance of the premises and the preparation of meals, Ekho will call on the parents that are already volunteers. Angela explained to us that this is their contribution to the running of the centre because they cannot afford to pay for the subscription. Regarding the supplies, Ekho plans to look after a vegetable and fruit garden, and to buy two cows for their milk and derivatives.

In order to achieve this project, the women from Ekho secured the use of premises from the authorities of the district. We went to visit these premises with them. They consist of the first floor of a former student residential building. Destitute families are also accommodated there.

When we arrived, we were brought back to reality by seeing this old building in a pitiful state. Inside was not much better as all the rooms need to be renovated. This is a lot of work ahead, but it does not seem to discourage these ladies. They showed us which areas would be the future bedrooms, communal room, kitchen, bathrooms, etc. On the ground floor, they showed us the planned locations for the gym and the ramp.
  

At the same time, we met the parents that had come to share their hopes and expectations regarding the opening of the centre for their children.
 

With little money and not much experience, Angela, Serguei and Mariam embarked on a complex and ambitious project. By dint of perseverance, they removed the obstacles one after the other. The most difficult part is still to be done; the renovation of the building needs big investments. Ekho already has sponsors, some of them being construction companies ready to help them. Angela and Mariam are still looking for financing in order to begin the work. They also need support from people that could give them advice to see their project through.

          Gabrielle with the Ekho team

Contacts

E-mail : ekho_so@mail.ru
Telephone :
• Office: +374 77 26 45 94
• Mariam: +374 77 26 45 94 (speaks English fluently)

Gabrielle
(Translation: Yolene Dabreteau)

SPFA has existed in Gumri since 1990. Its objective there is to help the town recover from the earthquake that devastated it in 1988. We heard about this association through a project that allowed all the inhabitants of a district of Gumri, called ‘Ani’, to get access to running water 24 hours a day; we wanted to know more about it…

We had only just arrived when Aram Khatchatarian shared his adventure with us, interpreted by Lilith Haroutunian. Gagik Papikian, civil engineer for SPFA, took us off for a visit of the area.

        Gagik Papikian, Aram Khatchatarian and Lilith Haroutunian of SPFA Gumri

In 1997, faced with the poor access to running water that inhabitants of Gumri were enduring, SPFA decided to give priority to the improvement of the supplying of drinking water. Water used to be available only two hours per day in each district, when the water available in the mountains could have been enough to supply four towns like Gumri! Some buildings did not have access to running water at all. This situation was explained by the numerous leaks due to the poor quality of the pipe network, which was rebuilt too quickly after the earthquake, and also due to the overconsumption of water in houses.
 
Under the direction of Jacques Matossian, the project ‘Water and Health’ started in 1997 in the hospital for infectious disease in the Ani district with the support of the Water Agency Seine-Normandy. SPFA renovated the pipe network, built a 30,000 litre reservoir to supply the hospital 24 hours a day, and installed a ultrafiltering machine for drinking water. Residents could also benefit from these improvements thanks to an outside fountain. Gagik Papikian has kept this sophisticated machinery maintained since it was installed.

Between 2000 and 2003, SPFA installed six kilometres of pipes through the town to supply schools and hospitals - its priority being the supplying of public infrastructures.

        Ani district

Then, Jacques Matossian decided to take on the supplying of running water for inhabitants. For this ambitious project, he chose the Ani district and its 25,000 inhabitants wishing to make it a model for the rest of the town.

In 2001, he managed to harness the technical competencies of professionals from Aquassistance. Aquassistance is an association specialising in water supply. Then, he managed to put together the necessary funds with the help of the Foundation Armenianos Liechtenstein, the French government and the Water Agency Seine-Normandy. The work could now begin.

Under the direction of Dominique Chenille, the Aquassistance team conducted a ground study that revealed some important problems in the matter of loss in the network. The loss was 80% due to critical leaks because of the bad condition of pipes. Moreover, it turned out there was an awful waste of water in households. Installations were in bad conditions, and inhabitants were paying a fixed price per person for water. That led to bad consumption habits: flushes were running permanently, taps were left open the whole day to signal when the water was running in the district and to fill the bathtub that was used as a water tank. In a lot of buildings, inhabitants that were in upper levels had no water because of the overconsumption in lower levels. Altogether, the average consumption of water was about 1,000 to 1,500 litres per person a day (when the international standards are 100 litres).

Equipped with their metal detectors, the specialists of Aquassistance started to look for and suppress water leaks in the network. By 2003, the water network in the Ani district was entirely renovated.

Then, they had to convince the inhabitants of the district to install water metres in their houses. In order to do that, a public awareness campaign was raised in order to prove to the inhabitants that they would not pay more by checking their water consumption with simple means, and that the savings made would allow everyone to access water 24 hours a day. They managed to win them over and 10,000 individual water metres offered by Aquassistance were installed. The town hall also gave Aquassistance a list of 1,500 economically weak homes for which the installation was offered free of charge.

        In the streets of the Ani district

Thanks to this work, in 2005, the average consumption per inhabitant in the Ani district was divided by more than 10, and was then 100 litres per person per day. 20,000 to 30,000 cubic metres of water were saved this way everyday in the Ani district alone. This saved water could be then redistributed to the other districts of the town while waiting for the renovations of their network.

At last, the water supply is assured 24 hours a day in the Ani district, which is unique in Gumri and extremely rare in Armenia. This comfort represents a priceless luxury for the inhabitants. The gratitude of the inhabitants is shown with the rate of receipts of payments for bills: the water company counts only 5% of unpaid bills in the Ani district. The maintenance of the network in Ani is auto-financed by the payment of the inhabitants’ consumption.

At the end of 2005, despite everything, there was an important differential between the amount of water running in the district and the consumption registered on the water metres. By dint of search, an important leak was finally identified. Its repair allowed some water savings sufficient to extend the project to the districts of Mouch 1 and Mouch 2.
Good news: when we met Jacques Matossian in Stepanakert (High Karabakh), he informed us that he had just received a part of the 140,000 euro necessary via the Water Agency Seine-Normandy. This meant the building work could start.

In the meantime, no rest…
In 2006, SPFA made possible the supplying of water 24 hours a day in the hospital of Samariter in Gumri thanks to two 5,000 cubic metre water tanks, and installed an ultrafiltering machine for the new haemodialysis unit (which the association also finances).

The supply of water should not be reserved only for the inhabitants of towns. Armed with new financing, and with the same will to take action, Jacques Matossian and Dominique Chenille went this time in the direction of the mountains to install running water in Lernout in 2006, and in Djadour in 2007 (two villages close to Gumri).
In Lernout, they first had to build the route that would make possible the harnessing of water. Then, they installed a new reservoir and renovated the central pipe system. After that, it was up to the inhabitants to start digging themselves the trench in which to lay the connection to their house.

The water projects of SPFA look beyond the region of Gumri. In 2007 and 2008, the association began water projects in the villages of Khatchen and Khanbad, in the High Karabakh. That was again done in collaboration with Aquassistance.

Jacques Matossian would like all the Armenians to have access to running water. He knows that this dream might take a few more years before happening. He is looking for a volunteer project engineer to one day pass on the mission.

The Gumri Centre also conducts projects in the health and education domain. To be continued…

Contacts

SPFA (Solidarité Protestante France Arménie)
Email : Paris@spfa-armenie.org
Website : www.spfa-armenie.org
Telephone : +33 1 47 35 30 23
Fax : +33 1 53 80 19 49

Aquassistance
Email : contact@aquassistancenet.org
Website : http://aquassistance-en.blogspirit.com
Telephone : +33 1 58 18 50 36
Fax : +33 1 58 18 46 87

Gabrielle and François
(Translation: Yolène Dabreteau)