Jonathon Ripley, our Service Corps Program Manager, encouraged each of us to rearrange and redefine our beliefs, perspectives and attitudes while in India. So here are some lesser known statistics/facts/thoughts to help redefine:
<!–[if !supportLists]–>1. <!–[endif]–>Microfinance has only reached 8% of India’s poverty
<!–[if !supportLists]–>2. <!–[endif]–>85%-95% of men who have sex with men (msm) are married
<!–[if !supportLists]–>3. <!–[endif]–>75% of India’s work force are women in agriculture
Week one of training has come to a close. I spent Sunday, our free day, walking around Connaught Place and had a great south Indian lunch with Anu(ja) and her fiancée Rishi. Anuja is working at Ashoka (one of the leading NGO foundations and the originator of the Ashoka Fellowship which supports social entrepreneurs across the world) and Rishi is working at Google.org. They are very knowledgeable about India and it was great to pick their brains.
The fellows are staying at the “Vish”, a youth center in Chanikyapuri. My roommate is Michael Yau (former banker and private equity, surprise, surprise) who will be working in Udaipur (…Yaudipur) at Seva Mandir (same place where Arun wrote the memorable AIF blog). The Vish has decent western bathrooms (toilets and showers are combined), courteous service and provides us all our meals… the meals, however, are beginning to blur together. Paneer for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
This past week, speakers lectured and discussed India’s development scene through the healthcare, education, and livelihood verticals (AIF’s three pillars). We heard about the caste system, the role of “Ragpickers” (families who pick/sort landfill trash for a living, microfinance, India’s independence (from a Congress party member and a Social Party member (who I wish taught me world history), market based solutions to development (from the president of ICICI foundation), Indian sexuality and so much more. We also visited Salaam Balak Trust, an NGO helping runaway streetkids who “work” (swindle, steal and live on) the railroads in Delhi. The most fascinating topics were Indian sexuality and the market based solution to development.
To understand HIV/AIDs in India, you first have to learn about sex workers and homosexuality. The western definition of gay doesn’t apply to Indian MSM. There are many classifications within MSM, some of which have only recently been defined. For example, the word “Kothi”, which describes an effeminate man, was said to not have existed before “Bill and Melinda came to India”. We heard from the first “outted” gay man in India and from an Ashoka fellow who are both promoting policy that will allow for “gay” rights in India. The Ashoka fellow also had a refuge center for orphans of parents who died from HIV/AIDS. Their conviction for change was both touching and inspiring.
Nachiket Mor, the president of the ICICI Foundation, brought a different, but necessary viewpoint to orientation. Mr. Mor is considered to be one of the leading thinkers in market based development. In a constructive manner, he questioned the role of NGO’s, challenging the effectiveness of microlevel change. He argued that India is a land of large numbers and as such, its issues should be resolved in large ways. He applied business models to not only financial constructs (microfinance, women livelihood training), but also healthcare and education. He is most known for his desire to localize MFI’s (Microfinance Institutions) which will reduce the service cost associated with nationalized and regionalized MFI’s and will thereby lower the exorbitant interest rates currently charged on loans. Apologies if this doesn’t make any sense, I hope that soon, I will be able to succinctly explain the whole MFI sector in the coming weeks.
If I’ve learned anything in week 1, its that I don’t know anything about development in India. I’m excited about week 2.
finding rickshaw. 
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