Interns' Diary: Silas Holland
Hello everyone! I’m sorry it has taken so long for me to write an update from India, but things have been very busy here. India is amazing – totally one of a kind! It’s almost as if it has taken the best and the worst of every other place I know and wrapped it up in one challenging/beautiful package… With more than a billion people, a wealth of languages and cultures, and an ancient history, India has an amazingly strong sense of culture and identity – both at the national and the individual level. Instead of being flattened by the Western culture juggernaut which is sweeping the rest of the world, India’s incredibly diverse and flexible culture has absorbed new ideas and given them a distinctly Indian flavour. Every day the temperature has been over 110* F! As soon as I walk outside, I am soaked with sweat. On the positive side, my skin has never looked better, but my laundry bill is going to be higher than my food bill! Everyone is praying for the monsoon to come to cool things down a few degrees… The super delicious super spicy food doesn’t help. After an auspicious start (I got bumped up to First Class on my 12 hour flight from Joburg!), I landed in Delhi three weeks ago. I stayed there for a week participating in a UNICEF orientation. Participants have come from all over India and the world to participate in these projects. Everyone is a recent graduate from a postgraduate program – public health, human rights, political science, education, law. I left the orientation completely humbled and totally energized. It was so fascinating to hear the different paths people have taken that have led them to this point. We will be going to sites all over India to evaluate UNICEF funded programs related to health, education, sanitation, child labor, and post-tsunami relief. My group took a six hour train to Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, from where we will be based. Lucknow is the capital city of the biggest (the population is 180 million – slightly larger than Brazil) and one of the most backward Indian state. Our advisor, Dr. Arvind Mohan, is a very bright and driven economist. Fortunately, I think he will push us to work very hard and we will produce a publishable case study. Unfortunately, we may not get much of a chance to travel while we are here. I’m a bit disappointed about seeing so little of India, but I know I will be back here again – this place is too big and too exciting to warrant only one trip. I will be working with Sophia, a Brit studying African development, and Kunal, an Indian economist, to evaluate the impact of an adolescent anemia project funded by Unicef – Uplifting Marriage Age, Nutrition, and Growth (UMANG). Umang means hope for the future and, unfortunately, it is in short supply for many young girls in India.
This weekend, we visited three of these projects with Vatsalya, the NGO running the projects. Two were located just outside of Lucknow and one was more rural. At each, we were greeted by a roomful of hot and sweaty, smiling adolescent girls. They sang and danced for us and shared their opinions on village life. Afterwards, they asked that we sing and dance for them! At the first village, we panicked and couldn’t come up with a song and ended up singing “Consider Yourself” from Oliver – a random choice but it went over well with the crowd. Some of the girls were quite outspoken and confident – very unusual in rural India. They were extremely curious and willing to share their opinions on just about anything. They told us about their desires to become doctors, teachers, and lawyers and to go to school and to postpone marriage. Unfortunately, no matter how empowered or confident or outspoken they are as a result of this project, the world outside of their Umang group is changing far more slowly. Secondary schools are still very very far away, families still have many financial limitations, and parents have the last say on when and whom their daughters will marry. This project is a good start, but India still has a long way to go… Besides working on the project, I have had a chance to go out exploring Lucknow. I saw a fantastic Bollywood movie which kept me on the edge of my seat for three hours (even though I speak almost no Hindi and there were no subtitles) with the attendant Technicolor over-the-top love, drama, and action. I also went sari shopping with my supervisor –a one of a kind experience. By far, the most common and most striking example of typical dress for women in India is the sari – it is five to eight yards of beautiful material artfully wrapped and draped around a woman’s body, usually without using any pins or buttons. It is the essence of free-flowing grace. My advisor and I walked out of the noise and grime of the street into a cool, air-conditioned shop. We were immediately greeted by one of the dozens of shop assistants, taken downstairs to the sari area, and seated in front of a large white table. Thousands of saris were folded in the shelves behind us. They then began unfurling meters and meters of the most beautiful material I have ever seen – woven silks in so many bright colors, intricate embroidery, and all covered with sequins and jewels! My groupmate Sophia tried a full sari on and looked like an amazingly beautiful Indian princess! The whole experience was surreal – a cross between the Rodeo drive scene with Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman” and a Disney movie! When we left, we were totally spent - literally drunk from the intensity of the colors and the richness of the fabrics. Place your orders – I can’t wait to go back for more! I am completely and totally fascinated by this place. This trip is only the start of a long relationship with India. I’m off on fieldwork for the next two weeks! Wish me luck! Keep well! Silas
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