Monday 26 November 2012

Life in Uravu !


By Nimisha Singhal

Itinerary


Day 1 (and a small introduction)

    On the first day we of course traveled from Bangalore to Kalpetta by bus. It was freezing but fun! After reaching M.S. Swaminathan foundation, settling down and eating breakfast, we immediately left for our first mission.
    We went to the main workshop of the Uravu foundation, where we were introduced to the president of the NGO (Non-Governmental Organization). He gave us a small presentation and a brief introduction to the association, working with bamboo, and the craftsmen.
    After this we were introduced to some of the workers, they were a group of women sitting in a room, all working together to make similar products, only two people in our whole group including the facilitators could speak in Malayalam(The language spoken in Kerala). So they were mediators between the rest of us and the workers. We were shown the weaving sector, the blinds sector, later on we were even taken to the where they had displayed their products for sale. Many beautiful handicrafts, all made from bamboo, were available including candle stands, ornamental masks, pen holders, even pens!
    In addition to this workshop we were shown where they made handbags, wallets and such goods. They even had quite a few finished products displayed there. We went for lunch at about 3pm after which we went for a trek through the bamboo forest where apparently one hundred and thirty six species of bamboo grew. The most interesting bamboo species that caught my attention were the elephant bamboo and the laughing Buddha.

    We saw a tiny waterfall, we had to cross over a stream by a bridge made out of a single log and we even saw a crab in the stream! There were many tiny little frogs hopping about too, they were fascinating, not bigger than the tip of your thumb!
    After the trek were taken through rice paddy fields, we were taken to a conventional kerala temple and were also shown the bamboo nursery where they were growing and tending to 30 different species of bamboo.

Day 2

    We went to different workshops in different places where small groups of women (SHG’s – Self Help Groups) worked together to produce bamboo products. Each cluster focused on the production of specialized items.
    The first cluster we went to, was called Neravu, the second; Unarvu, then went to Sneha and finally Soubhagya.

 Day 3

    We climbed up to the Edakkal caves to see the stone carvings and to get a sense of the history of the place, we then visited the Wayanad Tribal Heritage Museum, and then after having a nice lunch at Hotel New Taj, we traveled for about forty minutes to get to the Soochippara waterfall, upon reaching there, we still had to walk about two and a half kilometres to arrive at the actual waterfall. Through out the trip, I especially enjoyed the treks and looked forward to them.

Day 4

    This day we went for a trek in the morning through the forest behind M.S. Swaminathan foundation. We learned about the tribals, the flora fauna and many other things about the area in general, after coming back, having lunch and resting for a while we then went to the kanavu school which was started ny local people who wanted to educate the children or upcoming youngsters who were willing to learn whatever the elders or teachers had to offer them.

Day 5

    We designed out own products and were helped by the bamboo craftsmen to reach the closest that we could manage to the product we desired. After this we ended our trip and went back to Bangalore after a fun and academic trip that were both equally satisfying.

Overview

   What is Uravu?


    URAVU is a non-government organization working with people, governments and businesses to implement programs for sustainable employment and income generation in rural areas. Uravu is a non-profit trust, established in 1996, registered under the Indian Trusts Act.

    Uravu promotes employment of talented bamboo craftsmen from villages, providing skill training in bamboo processing, establishing micro enterprises, marketing of bamboo handicraft, cultivation of bamboo and promotion of eco-tourism.
    It tries to empower marginalized social groups, especially women.
    Uravu heads six clusters and renders support to several others. These clusters are mainly self-help groups, like Sneha, Neravu and Saubhagya, which are based in the Wayanad district. Uravu is deeply dependent on the government for funds and projects. Uravu has a finance team, a designing team, marketing company and trained laborers. The main aim of Uravu is employment generation.

    They have their own bamboo nursery and permission to cut bamboo from different parts of Wayanad.

Clusters


    Clusters or SHG’s are small groups of women about 10-20 who work together to make products, usually of a specific kind. The clusters under Uravu receive orders and raw materials, capital goods, training and complete support from Uravu in every matter

    Neravu cluster has 19 working women even though they started off with 20 workers. They use reed and elephant bamboo to make flower vase, candle stand, frames and lamp shades. The women who work at the cluster live close by to their work place.

    Unarvu cluster has 12 working labourers. They used elephant bamboo to made jewellery products such as necklaces, bracelets, etc. They are free to make their own designs and implement their own ideas in making bamboo jewellery. Earlier there were 18 workers but most of the women who left, left due to dust allergies.

    Sneha SHG was started by 15people initially but 5 of them left because they got married. They took orders from Uravu as well as third party people. They received orders and raw materials from Uravu. They made utensils and photoframes etc.

    Soubhagya cluster consisted of 15 members, all of whom were making various objects like trays, spice boxes, bottles, wall hangings and pencil stands. Each member deposited 20rs every week into the Malabar Gramin Bank. It was mandatory for them.

Edakkal Caves, The Museum and The Waterfall


    The Caves were beautiful, Edakkal(which means in between two rocks) is a false cave formed by large rocks that have gotten stuck between two walls of the hill. Inside the cave, there were carvings which are said to date back to the stone age.

    It was a tiring but exciting climb to the top, the rocks and stairs that we had to clamber over were steep and dangerous, but the view from the top was amazing, you could see all of Wayanad along with snow covered peaks along the horizon.

    On entering the caves you need to walk down a short flight of stairs behind which apparently there is a tiny painting that has been done, it is said to be the first geometrical figure made in India, dating back to almost sixty thousand years ago. This discovery has created debates and dilemmas and is causing the rewriting of history.

    There is no security near the painting and people are not allowed to go near it. Mobile phone photography was not allowed however to be allowed to take photos with proper cameras, a ticket needed to be bought for 20 rupees. Even plastic bottles were not allowed to be taken up to the caves as it was a plastic free zone, until and unless we deposited 15 rs at the counter and took a sticker for the bottle, only upon returning the sticker would the 15 rupees be refunded.

    The Museum was located in the middle of town. It was home to many ancient local artifacts, products made of bamboo that had been preserved for years. The Museum too required an entry ticket.

    The Soochippara Waterfall was huge and the falling water was so powerful that it was spraying drops of water as far as 20-30 yards away from the point of impact. People were allowed to bathe in the water which was so freezing cold that on entering the water one would immediately start shivers and would get chills up ones spine. Walking on the rocks was a challenge as they were slippery and covered with moss and smoothened out by the flowing water. Many people slipped and fell numerous times. There was one guard standing around in the water helping people.

Ecological Trekking


    We were taken for a trek up the hill behind M.S. Swaminathan foundation, we were being guided by a local scientist. We walked on for about one and a half hour, occasionally stopping to let some people catch up and to rest for a few minutes here and there. The forest was full of different kinds of herbs and plants. The land belonged to the tribal people of that area or the “aboriginals”

    Many of the aborgines did not buy food, they picked food from the forest and survived on those. Apparently they did not adhere to the rules of scientific medicine, they had their own remedies and herbs and ointments, and their life expectancy was about a hundred years old.

    The forest was a habitat to different kinds of animals, insects like pretty butterflies with beautiful patterns on them, etc. even some rare flowers.

Kanavu


    We also visited an unregistered indigenous school named Kanavu which was started by Joy Mon Baby located about 20km from Kalpetta. That school is run by the indigenous families. They follow the gurukul system of education. The elders teach folk music, martial arts, history and other subjects which are learnt or practiced by kids and teenagers. They go for exchange programs all over India to learn pottery, weaving, agriculture, etc. That land was bought was Vistar in 1993 for the adivasis of that region for cultural and educational reasons. Vistar used to provide for their exchange programs and other expenses but they stopped doing so in 1996. The aborigines have to carry out their own expenses now. They perform music and dance in troops in order to collect money. The children there start working at an early age and hence are exposed to substance abuse at that age. They also have rehabilitation center for the indigenous who are addicted to substance abuse to have a fairly better future.

Possible Issues and Solutions

Uravu and Clusters


  One of the issues that the NGO faces is that they do not have great demand for their products, there is a shortage of funds and of skilled employees. To rectify this they could possibly begin to construct products that are more useful and practical. Objects that can be used daily to make our work easier for us.

       Another issue is that this NGO is sort of small and not widely renowned. They need to spread the word about the usefulness of bamboo, the history of bamboo craft and its future market. It would benefit the workers greatly if there was more publicity of the NGO. They could probably advertise and increase the number of consumers. They could have bamboo workshops, inviting people to see what it’s like to work with bamboo and to see the skilled craftsmen at work to spread awareness along with exhibitions to display some of their best products and designs.

       Due to the relatively poor wages, the number of workers have gone down, therefore production rates are low. If they could employ a few more workers, at better wages for a short while, create a bit of a buzz in the local areas and neighboring towns and cities, production rates would go up, and as there would be more publicity, the demand would increase too. The salaries can be increased, the product prices raised, the company would grow and become more known.

       Better health facilities can be provided to the workers to ensure their safety and to reduce loss of employees.

       If they maybe formed a bit of a more complex working system, created a brand for themselves, opened up retail stores in bigger markets, and sell products that are coveted, then again the demand would increase, income would increase, salaries could be raised and more workers could be employed, in turn, again, increasing the production rates.

       Their main target should be the general public.


The Caves, the Museum and the Waterfall.


    The Geometrical Painting in the Edakkal cave should be allowed for public viewing. Security around the painting should be increased or some sort of barrier should be installed so as to avoid the damage that can be caused by people messing with it.
    The Tribal Museum should invest in an English-speaking guide and maybe improve the signs and write ups that are displayed for the different artifacts, to make it more interesting and easy to understand. They could open up a gift store to make the visit more interesting and maybe invest in the physical display of articles a bit more.
    The Waterfall, though it was a beautiful place full of greenery and clear water, many an adjustment can be made to improve the way the place is maintain

ECOLOGY TREKKING
Maybe the tribal could use the medicines a bit more commercially, sell them to people for a certain price whatever value they decided was appropriate and then buy food, processed and sanitized, and also a wider variety than just picking their food from the forest ground.
KANAVU
They have problem with getting students to enroll, after which they have a problem getting even the enrolled students to study, They could probably expand the school, the teachings mainly, to other places where people were willing to learn people who had no money for school people who had no prospects and would rather learn and be part of a sustained community by learning the ways of the tribes, they should not just make sure that their own kids learn they should make sure that everyone who wants to learn and have a chance at a comfortable life is actually awarded with that chance to be as good as they can be, and to instigate more discipline among the kids who are enrolled and not studying or learning anything even though its not like they don’t want to do well in life they just don’t know how badly off you can be if you don’t know how to take care of yourself.

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