Developing a Vision for Livelihoods

Getting the women to believe in my vision for the group has been difficult. I envisioned a group that would serve as an outlet from daily tasks and struggles and that would work towards the financial empowerment of its members via a group business. The first part of the vision, that the group be an outlet and support network, has not been realized by the women. During initial meetings, I made attempts through games and activities to have the women discuss their values, how they feel about their status in their homes and in society, etc. While the women’s attention was held initially, what sessions began to look like was school; I would question or prompt and they would answer. Basically it turned out to be a contrived space in which they tried to tailor their responses to what they thought I was looking for so that meetings would end early. I don’t know if the conditions weren’t right or whether I wasn’t hitting on the right topics, but I know something about the meetings made the women feel like they couldn’t be completely open in these sessions.

When I asked women individually what they wanted to get out of the meetings, in terms of learning a skill or discussing an issue, I never got a concrete answer. However, because of the women’s restlessness and apathy I switched gears and focused on group cooperation and team building in order to prepare for future composting activities. Even then, only so many group-centered games worked before women again became restless. Over time, I understood that I was telling the women to realize the value of the group when there was no group activity taking place besides the games (because the composting process hadn’t yet started).

As the financial empowerment piece of the vision hasn’t yet been realized, I believe there’s hope for it given the earning potential of the livelihood and the fact that the members have begun internally lending money from the group’s collective savings to those women who need loans. Perhaps personal empowerment will only come once the financial advancement portion of the vision is underway.

Immediate Goals

Under my project vision falls the vermicompost venture. As the vermicompost in the first several beds is ready, our goal is to prepare to sell it to Piramal School who has put in a request for 300 kilograms as well as a large company in Rewari, Harayana who is willing to buy all the remaining supply of compost. Several challenges have presented themselves with respect to these goals: those within the group (meaning the women’s behavior and attitudes) and those that are external.

In terms of internal group obstacles, the women still feel that they work for ‘Company Radhika’ wherein they do only as I instruct them rather than thoroughly carry out their responsibilities and take initiative to advance their business. For example, they were informed that Piramal School showed an interest in buying the compost about a week ago. Still, they have yet to make the transaction with the principal of the school because no one person has decided on the means of transportation for their product. Finally a decision was made that people who are interested in purchasing fertilizer will have to come to Ashok Nagar themselves or arrange for delivery on their own.

In terms of maintaining the beds each day, some women do not do a thorough job: they’ll either pour water over the beds instead of lightly spraying the beds or they’ll let the worms go into the dirt rather than placing those worms that slither into the dirt on the sides or on top of the beds. In this respect, the women are also not realizing that if one woman’s beds aren’t maintained, it’s not just she who will have to face the negative consequences of lower profits but the entire group who will be at risk for this.

To clarify the members’ understanding of what it takes to operate a business, I brought in a local business woman, Maya Ji (a woman who started a dairy in Ashok Nagar) to one of the meetings. We had discussed prior to the meeting how she would speak about what’s involved in starting a business and potential problems that arise in doing so. However, when it came time to speak at the meeting, she was overly tacit. Even when trying to prompt her, she laughed out of nervousness. Even after trying to explain the reason for Maya Ji’s presence, some women were confused, apathetic, or just not energized about the topic. Needless to say, the women did not understand and the objective of Maya Ji coming was lost. The women were no more reenergized and motivated around their vermicomposting business than they were prior to the meeting.

In addition, the tarp on the shed has been only placed on the shed’s roof. As there have been periodic heavy winds, the tarp has blown off one side of the shed several times. While some sons and daughters of the women have spent time readjusting the tarp to cover the entire roof area each time this happens, the women have yet to tie it down properly despite my various requests. The women should have actually tied the tarp down more sturdily or had someone from the area do it for them without me even asking. But I think until the shed is visibly damaged, they won’t take action because they don’t see this issue as a priority or look at it with any urgency. This, among other issues, was the reason why at today’s meeting, two women were assigned to the task of ensuring that the shed is tied down tightly so as to increase its durability.

An external challenge that has come about most recently was that termites have been turning up in various areas under the vermicompost shed. Termites are detrimental because they bite the worms and destroy crops. Mores, one of the appeals of vermicompost is that they keep out pests so if termites begin appearing in it, the value of the compost is diminished.

When first discovered about a week ago, the termites were only in the dirt. Today, however, they got to the actual compost. Fortunately, we were able to do away with them by placing them in the sun (after which time they die out gradually) while also salvaging nearly all the compost and gober.

The termite presence has me feeling pretty uneasy. While termites showed up in one of the beds that I created for experimental purposes, I thought the reason for that was that there was not a sufficient amount of shade over the bed. However, the shed we’ve created in Ashok Nagar seems more than adequate. The only other possible reason for their presence that I can think of is that we hadn’t spread neem leaves under the first bed (in which the termites showed) when we created the bed back in March (neem leaves detract pests). We hadn’t thought of this idea until we were ready for the creation of the third or fourth bed. I’m hoping that was the reason for the termites and that there won’t be a massive influx of them in all the beds in the coming days and weeks.

Long Term Vision of Livelihoods in Bagar

Some obstacles I see in the livelihood sector involve the nature of certain jobs and profitability, Bagar’s location, and issues involved in entrepreneurship in this area. For one, many people want jobs for which they are respected instead of backbreaking physical labor. From various people’s comments as well as the women in the Ashok Nagar SHG who comment that they feel strange and almost sinful sometimes for handling gober and worms as much as they do. While the women are also expressing their frustration in not yet seeing financial gains, what they have communicated to me stands out and is something to think about when considering the feasibility of different livelihoods in Bagar in the future.

Profitability is also something to consider. The respectable work issue comes up again in terms of social status. While there is earning potential in vermicomposting, residents of a higher socioeconomic status would not be involved in such work because it involves such conditions they are unwilling to subject themselves to, especially when there is only a limited scope for profitability.

Additionally, the fact that Bagar is land locked makes transportation of products costly. While the Piramal Foundation may be willing to provide loans and advances to aspiring entrepreneurs, transportation may pose problems to such an extent that a specific business idea won’t make good economic sense.

With respect to employment, the issue here is not that people here are lazy. Business ideas such as dairies and cinema halls have been created in the past. But the location and lack of raw materials here put Bagar at a disadvantage. The challenge now will not just be the provision of seed money for business ideas, but the provision of seed money and innovative business ideas that have local as well as external market scope.