06.10.07 � 06.16.07

Current project

• Mitigate tensions

Did this; I knew this wouldn’t be solved by holding a meeting and talking things out so I took Dharampal (a well-respected young adult in Ashok Nagar) to assist me with the art of negotiation. He and I first went to talk to Jamna Ji. We then both went to Vimla Ji’s with Jamna Ji’s requests and grievances. Finally there was an agreement that both of them will willingly participate in maintaining the vermicompost and preparing for the Rewari sale. Then the women will decide whether they want to continue and on which plot of land.

• Continue preparing for vermicompost sales

A majority of the women are doing this; though they are not following through on all the tasks I had delegated, they are pretty diligent when they are packaging and they are spending more time doing so because they know that time and effort is involved once the compost is ready.

• Market the compost

Have been doing this; visited two hotels who I thought would be potential customers, followed up with an interested person with a large plot of land and a tube well, gave out compost samples at our recent GDL public relations event, and finished the vermicompost flyer and gave 25 copies to Meva Ji to post throughout Ashok Nagar.

• Follow up with those who I marketed to last week

Did this; at present, the hotel, Jamuna Resort is not interested in purchasing. However the manager seemed really enthusiastic about our work and I feel that he’d be willing to support us in some capacity in the future. I also spoke with the receptionist at Piramal Hotel who said that that I should come to the hotel tomorrow to speak with the manager face-to-face.

• Keep the women motivated; ensure that they are properly caring for their beds

Did the second, not the first; the women are taking care of the beds decently. When they’re not, I’ve usually been telling them. In terms of motivation, I’m sort of at a loss of how I can increase the women’s levels. If I provide incentives for good work, I feel like another argument could erupt because some women will want benefits that they see that others receive. I need to work through this though because until the women sell the compost, they need to continue this streak of focused hard work.

• Continue searching for someone to take over this project

Have been doing this; I was previously looking for someone informally but now have created an SHG job description and am in the process of editing it.

Future project:

• Connect with people who have started up rural business/vocational schools and make plans to meet with them and see their work

I’m in the process of doing this; I’ve connected with an organization called Dr. Reddy’s Foundation ( www.drreddysfoundation.org) who head up vocational institutes throughout India. Lakshmi will be going to Udaipur tomorrow so she will meet with the program coordinators at the Udaipur branch to understand how they operate and to learn from their model. I will also be talking to the director of the MannDeshi Rural Business School tonight to get the same details.

• Gauge local interest and get suggestions from community on it

I didn’t do this as extensively as I thought I would have. The one community member I asked said he would have to think about the idea further. I realize that I should have done more of this but my SHG project is in a critical stage right now and feel that I can’t abandon it, especially if I haven’t yet found someone to take my place as group facilitator cum manager.