The Good News...

Standard 8 students who took me to the Sacred Grove

The school at Village Tamhini

Flowers used to make natural dyes

     My internship with BAIF Development Research Foundation started last week. I go 3 days a week for all of April. My internship has been going better than I expected; I am now unsure of why I was so nervous in the first place. I have a student interpreter who comes with me, and my contacts at BAIF are extremely helpful and friendly. I visited the village I'm working in twice last week and will be back soon to actually work with the students.
     Village Tamhini is set about an hour west of Pune city in the Sahyadri mountain range, one of the largest in Maharashtra. The village lies just beyond the Mulshi dam. Tamhini only has a population of about 500 people, with students coming there for school from neighboring villages. The area has a high amount of rainfall, making it useful for growing rice. The village is heavily agriculture based with almost every student raising their hand when I asked if they had a farm at home. Wheat and sugar cane are also grown in the village, but the small number of crops grown leaves the village with a high deficiency of vegetables. They purchase them weekly from a nearby village, but this does not satisfy the need for a fresh, nutritious part of their diets. BAIF’s work includes the construction of kitchen gardens to grow vegetables with which they can feed their families. BAIF projects are new (within the past six months) and not very widespread, so I would assume that most students have not been exposed to vermicomposting and backyard gardens yet.
     I would like to learn more about the Indian education system, but from observations, I have seen a lot of book knowledge being taught and tested. There are little additions to learning, with few activities or out of classroom trips. The headmaster of the school also noted that students made little connection between the theoretical knowledge from their books and the practical knowledge in life. The curriculum does include practical exams that account for a decent percentage of their grade, but it does not seem to be enough. The projects, like taking care of plants, are useful, yet they do not allow students to see the need for environmental conservation. Standard ten students conduct a bigger project on an environmental topic of their choice; i.e., studying pollution levels in leaves, research on native plants, birds, and different kinds of soil. These are more beneficial because the students develop an appreciation for something through knowledge on the subject; the more they are aware of nature’s importance the more likely they are to treat it with respect. The students as a whole said their favorite subject was Marathi because it was easy.
     My experiences with the standard eight students have led me to believe that they are knowledgeable on their local environments, knowing what trees to pick sweet fruits from and the names of various plants/shrubs/trees in their village. Although they are comfortable in their natural environment, once in the classroom, the students lose the connection between the textbook and life. Environmental Education as a compulsory subject is a wonderful idea, and the students know about the issues taught in the textbook- pollution, waste, sanitation, etc. Yet, this is not enough. The students do not see a way to take this knowledge home and apply it to their everyday actions. When I asked the students what environmental issues they faced, they said they do not face any. I assumed that they would realize the sanitation issues of the soak pits outside their homes and the garbage piles littering the ground. Things like this have become so common though that they no longer think about its implications or affects, especially on their own health.
     What they read about in their textbooks is believed to be something happening outside of their world; in their eyes, pollution happens only in the city and does not affect them. Despite this current view, they have open minds and through encouragement and further experiential learning, they will be able to see the relevance of the environment in their lives. They are also lucky to live in a unique area; the area surrounding Tamhini is beautiful with the mountains, forest and water. There is also a waterfall, which is becoming a tourist attraction for urban dwellers.  The students are surrounded by vast natural resources, which is why they need to see the reality of the environmental fragility surrounding them, as well as their personal significance in its preservation. They understand what a sacred grove is and know what they should not do in their backyard sacred grove. This is knowledge that comes directly from their families through childhood. If they can respect this small area of nature, what makes everything else so vulnerable to human caused degradation?

     

 

Rajashree, the woman at BAIF who has been guiding me in my internship, invited me to her daughter's Indian classical dance concert. Her daughter has been taking bharatnayam for the past 9 years. It is somewhat theatrical, with all the dances telling stories of the gods using facial expressions and detailed hand movements. The makeup, costumes and jewelry were very elaborate but beautiful; I was told it took them two hours to get ready before the show!