From the Field

As a new member of the Longitude team, I took the opportunity to travel to India to meet Ravi Kumar and the rest of the ARV staff.

Days at the office include numerous phone calls from the villagers, government officers, and volunteers. In the office, reports on current projects are completed and new endeavours and discussed.

There is always much activity in the office, with 5 ARV staff members there on a daily basis.

I am so glad that I have been able to meet so many past volunteers and new volunteers in Japan. I am indeed grateful all the past volunteers whom I met in Japan like Annie, Vishal, Sadaf, Nancy, Jonny, Duncan, Matthew, Clair, Yi Hua, Melissa, JoAnn, Erin, Meghan, and Masayo, for their involvement during my visit in Japan. We had a wonderful time recollecting all our experiences with the Dalit communities in KI, GP and Chevuru villages.

When we were preparing for Ravi’s trip, our goals were to help Ravi spread his message and expand his volunteer network in Japan. Now though, as we meet more and more people, I realize that there is also great value in what Ravi has been able to observe with his own eyes. Volunteers from Japan have often made suggestions to Ravi about public systems like recycling that they have seen. For the first time, Ravi understands firsthand where we are coming from- this has been an invaluable experience for him.

We are en route to Shiga prefecture now where we have secured an informational meeting with a nature conservation society that works with the largest freshwater lake in Japan, Lake Biwa. I am looking at Ravi right now as he writes thank you notes to the activists and professors we’ve met so far and still can’t get over the fact that he is here, on the shinkansen, eating an onigiri (Japanese rice ball) in a Uniqlo y-shirt that Jonathan picked out for him the other day.

Just like Ravi, I'm not accustomed to being in a big city like Tokyo; I've spent the past two years in rural Japan in a village of 10,000 people. Here, I feel as though we are constantly moving from a train to a subway to a light rail, with only brief glimpses of towering skyscrapers before being shuttled along underground.

For the past few months I have been going over the many differences between Japan and India and wondering how Ravi will react to things like the Japanese trash system and umeboshi (really sour pickled plums). I haven't been able to sleep or eat for the past few days because I am so excited to see him here!

Ravi has shown us such wonderful hospitality in India and Jonathan and I are thrilled to have the opportunity to return the favor here in Japan.

Cyclones In KI

KI Village suffered its worst cyclone in 14 years, Laila, who arrived in late May of this year. This cyclone produced high-speed winds and torrential downpours that forced evacuations of some 50,000 residents, including those in the KI village.

Fortunately, the KI villagers returned after the storm to find their homes intact and their belongings in place. This was greatly different than the tragic losses they suffered in 2004 after the tsunami.

PROFESA students have recently received word back on their National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) exam scores. Many of the students passed with distinction in specific areas. In the photo above you can see that Cynthia did very well in her typing, but needs more work in her office procedures course. While the exams were very positive for most of the students, Meshach Bondzie, the Academy's founder, is troubled that only 8 students were able to register for the exam due to financial barriers.

Houses for Dalits

Work camps of volunteers headed to Chevuru Village this past Spring to complete unfinished houses started by the Indian Government. A group of 6 volunteers in March and 18 in May set out as the first international volunteer group to visit Chevuru. Insufficient funds had been issued to some of the villagers by the government to construct new homes due to destruction from monsoons on their thatched huts. Yet requests from the government for the villagers to raise their own money to aid in the construction have left these homes unfinished.

The Monsters of Cheveru. They tugged at our hands, They welcomed us like long lost brothers. They brought us chai and biscuits while we worked. Left us to rest when we were having our lunch breaks. But, demanded us to teach them games and English when it was their time. We played tag, and "Police & Thief" with them, but they could outrun us, even though they were barefoot. And, when we were about to leave, they made us little paper aeroplanes to carry us home.

Not really monsters, but little children. In the end, the Monsters of Chevuru got the better of me.