“When people talk about villages in urban areas there is a sense of nostalgia. It is not that everything is fine in villages. We have to do something to find a social, political and economic solution to problems, [so we can] live in harmony without exploiting each other. My vision is a world where there is no exploitation. Someday there will be a world like this.”
– Devendra Ji in conversation with 2009 Indicorps Fellowship Class
In 1986, an engineering graduate named Devendra Upadhyay (Devendra Ji) chose to return to his home village and begin farming. His wife, Sudhi Bhatnagar (Sudhi Ji), a trained social worker, joined him, and both Devendra and Sudhi became actively involved in the economic and social issues of the local community.
In 1992, irregularities in processing loans from the Government of India’s Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) led the local community and Devendra Ji to establish Hum Kisan Sanghatan (HKS) - which literally translates as “We the Farmers.” HKS became a forum for discussion to coordinate protests against costly loopholes in the IRDP. For nearly two decades HKS has established a strong presence across 50 villages in Rajasthan’s Manohar Thana region, promoting civic awareness and local self-sufficiency.
HKS has chosen to evolve as a democratic and non-hierarchical organization, wherein decision-making is a collective exercise. When HKS built the Manthan School, for instance, farmers volunteered to contribute two hundred bricks, five bamboo stalks and five days of labor each for construction of the building. In the last four years, HKS has added two classrooms, one library hall and a work shed via a similar process of “sweat equity.”
As an organization, HKS engages in many village activities to create an informed and self-reliant community. Inculcating an ability among villagers to question and explore issues that affect them through research, reason, logic is one of the fundamental focus areas of HKS. In the past, the collective has fostered participation of villagers in “Activist School,” a workshop to encourage scientific thinking, including courses on the evolution of mankind, the history of economics, and gender issues.
HKS has five main streams of activity: education, livelihoods, culture, religious harmony, and effective governance. These activities interconnect with one another creating a holistic web of development programs. Combined they seek to increase the quality of life in the community by increasing the vibrancy, knowledge, self-sufficiency and societal integration of the people.
Need for Project:
HKS has 12 handlooms and 30 families involved in weaving. Weavers were given training through a government program and developed their skills in the last five years of operation. Currently, weaving is a source of extra income for most of the weaver families. HKS plans to further develop the technical skills of weavers to increase their earnings.
HKS seeks to make weavers self-sufficient in operations and marketing of the handlooms. Many of the villagers involved in weaving are illiterate and see illiteracy as an impediment to becoming involved in business activities. HKS would like to promote marketing activities to build both confidence and marketing skills in weavers.
As an August 2010 Indicorps Fellow, you will enhance the capacity of the HKS weaving center to create and market their products. Initially, you should spend time forming relationships with the weaver, and understanding their motivations, techniques, and organizational structures of handloom weaving. You will focus on empowering women to recognize the income-generating potential of handlooms, encourage their active participation in the business, and more generally assist women to become more confident and able to contribute to their family and community.
You will assist in all aspects of the handloom process from design to marketing of the product. You may organize group discussions to develop collective understanding of the process and devise ways to improve efficiencies. You will invite master craftsman and financial/marketing experts to conduct workshops/trainings on design and marketing skill enhancement. You may encourage development of new designs and products, emphasizing the value of market research and experimentation. You will assist women to establish connections, partnerships, and contacts to find and develop new markets for their products. You will help women’s groups contact similar groups in other villages to forge partnership to share best practices. You should pursue the development of leadership structures, processes and methods that ensure sustainable model that can function independently.
Target Community:
The target community will be village women and men between the ages of 20-35. Majority of the weavers are women from the local farming community who are involved in the weaving activities to generate extra income for the families. In many cases, weavers are have limited formal schooling and little or no land holdings.
Objectives:
• To build technical skills of weavers
• To train the weavers’ collective in marketing
• To build confidence in the weaving community
Challenges:
• Understanding technical issue and functioning of the weaving process
• Creating strong marketing linkages that will provide steady employment
• Building confidence in weaver community to run the handlooms center operations
Team-Based Model:
Each project is designed as a three-way partnership between you, Indicorps, and the partner organization. Each grassroots partner organization – in this case HKS – will be hosting two to four Fellows. Consequently, the August 2010 Fellowship will have both an individual and a team component.
As a team of Indicorps Fellows, you will assist in HKS’ efforts for community empowerment. Team members will focus on different areas including inculcating rational thinking in children and youth, inspiring social change through use of media and art, and building capacity of a women weavers community.
Fellows will be provided accommodation in the village of Jhiri close to the main campus of HKS. Simple vegetarian food and clean drinking water will be provided. You will be expected to do your own laundry, chores, and help with household activities. Jhiri village does not have 24-hour electricity. Phone and limited internet facilities are available at the HKS office. The nearest major town near Jhiri is Kota, it is well connected by road and rail to other major Indian cities. Buses run all day from Jhiri to Kota; emergency jeeps and motorcycles are available if necessary.
The language spoken at HKS is Hindi. For this project, a basic knowledge of Hindi is required. If you do not have basic knowledge of Hindi, you can still apply if you commit to learning the language before the start of your Fellowship year.
Please explain the qualifications that make you a strong candidate for this project - be sure to elaborate on any experiences with textiles and/or design.
2.
A pair of illiterate weavers in your village seem completely dependent on outside assistance for design and marketing. How will you empower these weavers to believe in themselves and in their craft? How will you help them to create new designs and market their craft?
3.
Talk about a time when you had to motivate others to take action to change their lives for the better. How did you deal with resistance? How did you stay motivated in spreading this message?
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