Week 6: Rebecca

SHG  members gather at SST center to participate in survey

SHG member filling out survey

After many discussions with SST staff and faculty at CUSSW, JC and I developed a project for the remainder of our time here. We are examining the impact of SST supported SHGs on the wellbeing of women. We are assessing the level of improvement across SST’s six development sectors: environment, agriculture, economic development, health, education, and infrastructure. We also included a brief section on women’s empowerment.

Narrowing the project questionnaire was far from an easy process. When the survey was originally drafted it was a whooping 18 pages. It was too long, but there were so much content to explore within each sector that I found it hard to compromise depth for length. Knowing that a three hour survey was unrealistic for both staff and SHG members, we collaborated to prioritize certain question types.

The SST surveys we have reviewed generally assess quantitative measurements, therefore this survey could be used as a tool to also assess qualitative measures. The questions are structured to elicit responses which assess the member’s perception and priorities. 

SST staff administered the survey to a small focus group and three problems arose: length, complexity and literacy level. The main challenge was the 15 or so open-ended questions. SST staff informed us that many of their surveys are filled out by the administrator in a face to face interview, so this may be the first time participants were asked to write their responses. I assumed that the question format would be somewhat self-explanatory and took for granted that surveys are culturally specific documents. SHG members had difficulty understanding questions that asked them to rank their responses numerically. Most skipped over the open-ended questions. I thought that rating questions could be answered regardless of literacy level, however, illiterate women could not recognize the numerical values. SST staff suggested reframing open-ended questions into rating questions and to offer more assistance to women with low literacy proficiency.

The entire process was tedious and frustrating, but worthwhile. Once finalized, the survey was successfully completed by 103 participants (possibly more if it is administered today). JC and I are beginning to analyze the results for an internal report to the Chairman of the organization. I feel proud of the questionnaire we’ve developed with SST and hope the results provide insight for future development programs. None of the work over the last few weeks would have been possible without the insight of SST staff, our advisors at Columbia University School of Social Work and the SHG members, thank you all!

Week 4: Rebecca

JC and Rebecca present "Foundations in a Flash" to community animators.

This week SST conducted a refresher training for all the field animators at the Padavedu site. We were asked to lead a brief lecture on social work practice in the United States. JC and I developed what I like to refer to as ‘foundations in a flash.’ We discussed strengths-based practice, client-centered approach, self-awareness, transaction theory, ecosystems perspective, and holistic approach. Self-awareness was the most challenging concept to embrace, which I think is true for most social service professionals. The process of becoming more self-aware requires reflection and insight beyond our time allotment and training ability. Our goal, however, was to introduce and share a few guiding principles from our studies. We wanted to emphasize the interconnectedness of various sectors across multiple levels of intervention. I was unsure how these theories would translate (literally and figuratively) in another culture but animators were quick to participate and share examples from their practice.

During our planning I was concerned our training might come across as common sense, but then I realized how easy it is to forget. At field placement I found myself distracted by immediate concerns: does this person have housing, what is their affect, is this child safe, etc. It is a constant struggle, especially as a direct practice student, to remind myself that immediate crisis’ are correlated to community, policy and cultural ramifications. In class the connection is clear, however, in field I rarely examine the larger implications. This is the Achilles heel of social work. I worry that direct practice narrow-mindedly fixates on the (dis)functioning of an individual without addressing the root cause. Even if the practitioner recognizes the macro-level connection, are direct practice positions malleable enough to encompass community development? My experience here has strengthened my interest in community organizing and confirmed its importance in empowering others. I feel my challenge upon returning will be to fuse community development and direct practice in a meaningful way.

My favorite part of our mini-lecture was when we posed the question ‘how does society benefit from self-help groups’ to the animators. An eager hand decorated with gold bangles shot up and explained that SHGs empower women. Such a simple, almost obvious answer, but the weight of that statement in the context of transforming an entire culture reminded me that nothing is fixed.

Week 3: JC

Rebecca (in blue) and JC (in white) with SST Staff Members

SST operates Monday through Saturday. On Sundays Annalakshmi sleeps in, does laundry, watches Tamil TV, and prepares a homecooked meal if she’s up to it. During the week she eats exclusively from the village “tiffin” shops—run by SHG members—since she’s too busy to make food herself. This Sunday Annalakshmi takes me and Rebecca to Rajamani’s (an SST community animator) home for lunch. It’s a pleasant 10-minute walk past the Padavedu market and across a small river abloom with too much algae. Annalakshmi makes a point of saying that she usually rides her two-wheeler to Rajamani’s. Village residents take full advantage of her first time on foot, eagerly asking about the two foreign visitors and insisting we eat at their houses. Annalakshmi deftly declines the invitations. As an aside to us she smiles and says, “All of these people are our SHG members. They’re so nice, I like them so much.”

Annalakshmi’s relationship with the people she serves is inspiring, and her commitment to social work no less than admirable. When Annalakshmi leaves the apartment with her bags packed at three in the morning because SST has asked her to visit a project site 7 hours away, I think about how social work is much more than a 9-5 job. It reminds me instead of being a doctor always on call, and more of a general practitioner than a specialist at that. Annalakshmi and other SST Community Development Officers (CDO) wear multiple hats that transform them from direct service provider to case manager, project manager, and advocate all in one day. Providing financial counseling for an SHG, facilitating a partnership between villages and the Department of Forestry, or supporting residents as they petition for the removal of a corrupt local government official all fall under the CDO job description. Whereas social work in the U.S. has largely drifted away from its settlement house roots, I’ve noticed that community development in this context retains the principle that living amongst those you aim to help greatly enhances service effectiveness. Although to portray Annalakshmi as the Indian equivalent of Jane Addams would be overly romanticizing, it is fair to say that she serves in the same spirit. It is also fair to say that she could benefit from some personal “self-care.” I wouldn’t want Annalakshmi to burn out one day on account of working too hard.  

SST Office and Padavedu

I often read The Hindu newspaper at the SST office. It is filled with social welfare stories, some of which are similar to issues in the U.S. and others that are culturally specific. Recent articles have covered a job fair for tribal youth, government issued higher-education loans for girls, the number of homeless families in urban centers, government commitments to providing safe drinking water for all, efforts to stop land-grabbers from preying on senior citizens and widows, and new services to students with disabilities. Dedicated social workers like Annalakshmi are a valuable resource in this complex social landscape. They are also in short supply in India.  Annalakshmi's graduating class size was 30 students. Although both the number of MSW programs in India and their graduating class sizes have increased since the early 2000s, the numbers are hardly enough given the country’s large population.

Not all of SST’s CDOs are MSWs. Other CDOs hold degrees in anthropology, criminology, and engineering. Many employees are retired government foresters. This past week SST hosted three groups of young engineers from Sundaram Clayton Limited (SCL) as a first step in getting SCL employees to work as CDOs in the future. The point being that social work is not the exclusive domain of MSWs and can be done by anyone interested in improving peoples’ lives. It can even be done—and should be done, in my opinion—by whole businesses (SST is the social arm of SCL and the TVS Motor Company). Unlike many corporations that appear to take on social projects for publicity’s sake alone with no regard for sustainability, SCL and TVS are consciously working on sustainable development through SST. So far I haven’t been able to spend much time with non-MSW staff but I hope to do so. I wonder how their community interactions compare given their differing subject backgrounds and expertise. It’s exciting to be working with such a multi-disciplinary team.

Week 1: JC

Padavedu and surrounding villages

Padavedu village is located about 2.5 hours outside of Chennai in the  state of Tamil Nadu. Villages here are moderately sized (400-1,000 families) and packed along the thin paved-but-potholed roads so that it’s easy to walk into an entirely different village without knowing you’ve done so. Banana, sugar cane, rice paddy, and coconut palm fields—each their own vibrant shade of green—fill in the gaps between villages. Padavedu has no less than three temples each dedicated to different Hindu gods, and countless roadside and household shrines. Yogaramar temple—dedicated to Rama and Sita—even boasts its own resident elephant trained to bless temple worshipers on their heads. The small but well-stocked market sells basic food and household necessities. Snack shops, tiffin eateries, tea and coffee sellers, and one very delicious looking sweets shop line the market outskirts. Children walk in flocks to and from school wearing colored uniforms, the girls uniquely adorned with fresh flowers in their meticulously braided hair. Women wear colorful saris or churidhas (a long shirt over pants combo) of every imaginable color while men mostly wear a traditional cloth wrapped around their waist.  

We live across the street from the SST office in an apartment we share with Ms. Annalakshmi who is one of SST’s community developers. Another family also lives in the apartment building. The neighboring family, Annalakshmi, and the rest of the SST staff are extremely hospitable and have been indispensable in helping me understand the cultural practices of this region and to begin learning basic Tamil. Our neighbors are as curious to learn about American cooking (if you can say such a thing exists) as I am to learn about South Indian cooking, and the highlight of my evening is exchanging little “tastes” of our meals. One of the most interesting and challenging cultural activities is figuring out which of the million available spices are used for the redolent and healthy sambar and rasam dishes.  

This past week’s primary purpose has been exposure to SST’s development projects in the area. In a region where villagers complain of other NGOs abandoning projects or implementing unsustainable interventions, SST has a reputation for being a “model” NGO and at this point is sought out by community members themselves. SST and its community partners have also received awards from the Tamil Nadu government. In addition to basic infrastructure development (i.e. access to safe drinking water, toilet construction) SST’s foremost intervention seems to be the formation of Self-Help Groups (SHG) for which SST provides training and support. Through their participation in SHGs women are able to collectively borrow money from the bank and implement income generating activities (IGA) individually or as a group. Although anyone can form an SHG, those formed under SST have proven to have higher loan repayment rates and to have substantially increased members’ income. Members have used this new found income to construct better houses, send their children to college, and improve village amenities. So far this week we have been able to visit or hear about different IGAs including tailoring, banana rope making, shop keeping, flower garland making, milk-sweet production, and cattle raising. Through my interactions with the women themselves it is evident that they are sincere when they say that SHG participation has increased their confidence, awareness, public standing, and public visibility. As one woman put it, “We no longer have to rely on anyone else…that means our husbands!” 

Milk candy production in the village; one of many SST projects.

 Banana rope product

  

Tailoring project

Vermicompost project and SST staff