When the winter chill prompts us to huddle under warm blankets and the heavy winter coats are unearthed from closets, at iiINTERest, we know that it is soon time for a project visit. This year, the project visit took place later than in previous years, namely from November 18th to December 3rd. Shortly before departure, the association’s own doctor and alternate board member, John Faber, fell ill and had to cancel his participation. Therefore, it was a slightly diminished group, consisting of Søren and Katrine, who set off for India early one morning at the end of November.
Bodil had already been in the country for three weeks before our arrival. She had stayed in the silk village of Tantipara, where she is a leading force in implementing our craft project. In Tantipara, she worked closely with local weavers, block printers, painters, and embroiderers to promote the local silk craft, which had been dwindling for years, heavily impacted by the import of cheap industrial products. The project participants moved into a new house used as a workshop and experimental center for the project. Here, they cultivate the plants, trees, and berries used to produce natural dyes for coloring the fabrics. The participants have now established a small producer association, collaborating to create and sell their products. As part of her visit, Bodil assisted in preparations for a craft fair to which the participants were invited in Delhi.
In addition to visiting Tantipara and the craft project, the project visit had the education project as its primary focus. Alongside Ahead staff working on education and local organizations contributing to educational activities, we visited several schools in the Bhakura district in West Bengal. At the schools, we were greeted by children of all ages. They showed us the vegetable gardens they had started as part of the school project. The gardens are developed and maintained by the children themselves, and as they gain experience in planting spinach, broccoli, and medicinal herbs, setting up irrigation systems, and building scarecrows, they simultaneously learn about the importance of organic production for the village’s health and environment, biology, plant chemistry, and the importance of a varied diet for health. All of this in an engaging and activating way that sparks children’s enthusiasm for learning and encourages them to attend school.
Education projects are currently in their third phase, with a specific focus on consolidating and expanding the activities initiated in the previous two phases. This includes, among other things, Ahead’s efforts to involve local, municipal, and regional authorities in our work and convince them—by the power of example—to integrate project activities into their annual and future development plans. In Bhakura, we had the pleasure of meeting the area supervisor for the school sector in one of the municipalities we work in—a woman with great vision and a clear perspective on making education joyful for children in poor rural areas. She recognizes the importance of involving the local community through parent-teacher meetings and neighborhood gatherings, and has, among other things, established an exchange network where teachers from the area can visit our project schools and be inspired to develop more interesting teaching methods. It is women like her who will ensure the sustainability of our project activities long into the future.
To conclude the visit, we met with the extended Ahead team and our civil society organizations in Shantiniketan for the annual partner seminar (see the above picture). Here, we had the opportunity to discuss the upcoming program (see blog about partner program), address the challenges that this transition will bring, and, in general, take the opportunity to share stories, exchange jokes—and at the end of the trip, gather around a bonfire and sing songs from our different homelands (in this context, we dusted off ‘the sun is so red, mother’ and ‘I know a lark’s nest’ to the great entertainment of those present). All in all, we look back on (yet) another good and informative project visit – thanks in no small part to Ahead’s skillful planning and commitment.