I though you all may be intrested in what I have been doing so far working with the Gandhi Manav Kalyan Society in Ogna village. These are some rough feild notes that I wrote up for class and to share with you.
Gandhi Manav Kalyan Society
21/10/10
• At headquarters in Udipur we read about different aspects of GMKS in last year’s annual report and watched several short films GMKS has put out.
o GMKS’s annual report was very insightful to all the things they are doing. However there are many grammatical mistakes. I would like to be able to review this year’s annual report but that is not possible because has already gone for printing.
• In the evening we arrived in Ogna and settled into our accommodations
22/10/10
• Visited our working site, the Dharamitra. Dharamitra means ‘friends of the soil’. It is an organic farm and training center about 2 K from where we are living at the GMKS
• There are 4 girls from the ITS program in Jaipur visiting GMKS for a few days. We joined them in their activities
o It was very nice entering our internship with a little others around. It also provided us with an opportunity to travel and visit the different aspects of the organization as well as rep the benefit of having someone to translate conversations and information.
• We drove around Ogna and neighboring villages viewing different water conservation techniques including check damns, wells, irrigation cannels, and the large government damn. Some had been established by GMKS and other by the government.
o The manual cattle draw well used for irrigation really impressed me. It seems like a very good and sustainable method for drawing water. Other pumps in the area are motorized, including ones at the Dharamitra.
o I have concerns and unanswered questions about the large government damn in the area. How many people where displaced with the low lying lands flooding and what was their compensation?
23/10/10
• First day of work at the Dharamitra. Cleaned the cow barn and delivered waste to vermi-compost bins. We also cleaned a field of left over brush after all the turmeric was harvested.
o We are learning methods of organic agriculture through hands on experiences. Recycling cow waste into compost puts heath into the soil.
• That afternoon we sat in on a workshop with village farmers.
o The workshop was entirely in Hindi and Mawari but it was still a good experience watching this group of farmers interact with each other. Many of them where very shy at first and even had trouble introducing themselves. Later on most seemed open.
24/10/10
• Workshop demo with farmers at the Dharamitra. Practical session.
o Short and to the point. Again presented in Hindi. We saw organic practices done at the Dharamitra: fertilizer bins that drain into the field, the fertilizer is made from cow urine and tree leaves, but can only be used on certain crops, vermin-compost bins to create healthy soil, intercropping techniques, natural pesticides and an array of organic seeds.
25/10/10
• Visited Kathodi rehabilitation center for tribals, sponsored by GMKS. GMKS built the houses and acquired land in the area for the people to farm and make a living from.
o I read about this center in GMKS’s annual report.
26/10/10
• Dharamitra field work. 7am. cleared a field of cut sufed muesli waste and fed it to the cows.
o This is one sustainable method used at the Dharamitra: using the waste of a harvest to feed the cows is a good. This is a good use of resources.
• After breakfast helped set up irrigation pipes for a field of ginger, away from dharamitra but still owned by GMKS
o It is interesting that farm fields here are very small neighboring ones are often owned by different people.
27/10/10
• Morning: continued the same irrigation pipes as yesterday.
28/10/10
• Dharamitra: hulled dried lentil brush out of field and piled to be processed later. We helped harvest sufed (white) musli from the ground with other laborers.
o It is hard to ask questions and get answers because of the language barrier. The few people that speak a little English are not with us on a daily basis. I am curious about where the laborers come from and how much they get paid. Also if this is their main source of income or just a seasonal job. I also would like to know where the harvest crops are sold and for how much. They must be different from other crops because they are being sold under the organic label.
29-31/10/10
• Weekend off. Traveled to Udipur.
1/11/10
• Dharamitra: set up irrigation pipes on a newly planted wheat field
o It is interesting the choices of crops grown in the area. Most famers do not seem to be subsistence farmers and are growing cash crops. In some well irrigated areas there are even fields of sugar cane. This is surprising because water is a very sought after resources here and sugar cane takes a lot of water to grow. On the other hand the monsoon this season has been very good so they may have the surplus of water to grow such cash crops.
• Helped harvest ginger with many of the same laborers as before.
o I much prefer the ginger to the muesli simply because it is easier to harvest and has a pleasant smell.
2/11/10
• Continued ginger harvesting.
• Course work.
3-4/11/10
• Course work.
5-7/11/10
• Holiday off. Traveled to Udipur for Diwali
8-11/11/10
• Traveling to Jaipur for our mid-intership seminar. I should be back in Ogna on the night of the 11th.
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