DU Darshan for the freshers

The rikshaw launch was fabulous, though some of the rikshaw pullers seem to be having issues with their new rikshaws -  cycle chains are not firm enough, the wheels get punctured even on smooth roads, and other minor issues that can we rectified. SIFE is sending all the problematic rikshaws back to the vendor to have everything fixed - which will happen in a day's time - and the rikshaws will be given back to their owners.

Meanwhile, some SIFE freshers went for the DU Darshan yesterday. You would be marvelled at how the rikshaw puller is able to drive you around as well as be your guide - he speaks so well about the various monuments that he could really set up his own "guide" business, if only there were enough visitors to all those monuments. Really, I don't think most of us are aware that North Campus has anything of historical importance, it's just colleges and nothing else - and the DU Darshan proves just how wrong we are. There are monuments - each one with a fascinating history, and a fascinating rikshaw puller explaining that to you.

PICTURES!

Don't the rikshaw pullers look smart? They're SIFE rikshaw pullers, after all! Don't worry, Calvin, you look smart too!

The rikshaw puller standing with us here is the chief guide - Ram Shiromani Bhaiya

Deadline extended

Sudden change of schedule, guys. The big day, 18th September, is no longer the big day - the new big day is 22nd or 23rd of October tentatively.

For those who don't know know, SIFE SRCC had planned to have 100 rikshaws pulled by their 100 proud OWNERS by 18th September 2010. However, due to the Commonwealth Games, we have a slight problem - rikshaws may not be allowed on the North Campus roads for the duration of the games. Even now, we can see intense work happening around the North Campus area - cleaning up of roads, laying new footpaths and rikshaw lanes, etc etc. So we have extended our own deadline by about a month and the new date is tentatively 22nd or 23rd of October.

Tomorrow I'll update on our 10 rikshaws launch!

More great news!

Guys, guys, GUYS! I have so many things to tell you, I don't know where to start!

The happiest news of all is the 10 rikshaw launch happening tomorrow, Wednesday in the college parking lot in the presence of our principal. Yes, this means we have 10 more rikshaw pullers covered in our scheme, which means 10 more rikshaw pullers are going to be the proud owners of their brand new rikshaws, and 10 more rikshaw pullers are simply going to have more money and a better lifestyle, starting tomorrow. SIFE has made it possible. Great work, SIFE-mates!

In addition to that, 9 more loan documents have been deposited at Punjab National Bank, Vijay Nagar branch. The loans will most probably be sanctioned by the coming Monday.

That's 19 rikshaw pullers, this week.

Don't forget - 100 rikshaws, 25 days to go. We're getting there at a rapid pace.

In other news, as you all know Etasha Society will be conducting English lessons for our rikshaw pullers. They have published a small piece about SIFE, SRCC in their newsletter. Here is an excerpt from it, in which our Ian (sir) explains how they're going to go about the project.

The first demo class took place on 19th August and following an enthusiastic reception from the men the pilot will begin in two weeks’ time, once the program design is complete.  The project is not without its challenges explains ETASHA Program Coordinator Ian McBride, “All but 3 of the men are unable to read or write so we have had to adapt our methodology significantly.  The vocabulary and structures are still taught  through context-based conversation, but we cannot use the written word at any point. This presents the hardest challenge outside the classroom, where the men need to recall and study what they’ve learned.”   He explains  how ETASHA worked around it: 

“We have designed the program so that all inputs are framed within the context of their work and we are providing each rickshaw-walla with his own personal cassette player and tape for practice, which is usually done through workbooks, worksheets and assignments.” Funding was arranged by SRCC’s SIFE chapter.

The classes will also be supplemented by visits, audio, role-play and movies as in ETASHA’s other classes, and will take place in evenings and Sundays, which will not interfere with the workers’ earnings. If the pilot is successful the program could be extended to a further 80 workers in the DU area.

We're in the process of arranging for the walkmans. A suitable vendor has been found, and the prices will be negotiated. 20 walkmans will be procured by Thursday.

Want to hear some more exciting news? There is the first mention of our project, "Crafting their Destinies" in the leading daily Hindustan Times. Here is the e-link of the article in the newspaper http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/PUBLICATIONS/HT/HD/2010/08/23/ArticleHtmls/An-endeavour-to-help-craft-their-destiny-23082010007010.shtml?Mode=1

We're doing a great job. SIFE-mates, pat yourselves on your backs for the great work you've all been doing.

Comments, please.

English training

More good news to share, people!

We seem to be making great progess day after day on our Life on Wheels project. The deal with Etasha Society (I posted on that last week - Etasha Society will be conducting English lessons for the rikshaw pullers) is on and we had the first trial class this week. Ian sir (I mean, Ian) was fabulous. The response we got from the rikshaw pullers was absolutely overwhelming. SIFE did have its doubts on how enthusiastic they were going to be about the whole English programme, and if they'd attend regularly and participate in class, but the first class went just so well that we don't have any doubts anymore. SIFE is helping the rikshaw pullers learn English, but more importantly the rikshaw pullers are helping themselves.

As of today, 16 rikshaw pullers can say
-Hi
-What is your name?
-My name is __________
-Pleased to meet you.
-Pleased to meet you too.
-Where do you live?
-I live in______________ but i belong to______________.

Wow, right? Can you imagine a rikshaw puller saying to you, "Hi. Where would you like to go?" - with a British accent, because Ian (sir) is their guru-ji !

On an official note - the classes will formally begin the first week of September, so you can expect more fun updates on this blog on how the lessons work out.

In the meanwhile, the account opening and loan sanctioning process is happening side by side. SIFE members are busy filling up forms and submitting them in the banks. Remember guys - 100 rikshaws, 28 days to go.

We seek. We create. We strive. We change.

Comments are most welcome. I say this on every blog post but people somehow seem to be repulsed by the whole idea of commenting! What's the point of a blog, guys, if the readers aren't participating?

Update

Hey everyone! First of all, sorry for the delay in updating.

The meetings are proving to be quite fun. Yesterday's was about the other two projects that SIFE SRCC is currently undertaking.

For details on the Crafting Their Destiny project, here is the direct link to the official SIFE SRCC website http://sifesrcc.org/sife_srcc_projects_crafting.aspx

And the link for DU Darshan details http://sifesrcc.org/sife_srcc_projects_delhi_darshan.aspx

It has now been decided that SIFE SRCC will meet every Thursday starting 26th, so you all can expect weekly updates on this blog.

In the meantime, we are making good progress on the Life on Wheels project ( http://sifesrcc.org/sife_srcc_projects_life_on_wheel.aspx )

7 new bank accounts have been opened for rikshaw pullers in the Kamla Nagar branch of Punjab National Bank. Wow, 7 is a big number to achieve in such a short time! But don't forget there's still a long way to go - 100 rikshaws, 31 days to go. But with the enthusiasm we're seeing right now, we might even finish work before deadlines! Keep up the good work, SIFE-mates!

For those of you who don't know yet, all travel expenses on SIFE work will be reimbursed to you at the end of each month. Make sure you keep records of the same -
Date of Travel

Pupose
Concerned senior

In other exciting news, we've heard from Ankit Khirwal, who Palash describes as a super senior of SIFE SRCC. He might visit us at SRCC on Thursday, if we "promise free lunch my reimbursement".

So that's all on today's update guys. Wait until next Thursday for more exciting news. In the meanwhile, if you have anything to share, whether you're a member or not, feel free to leave a comment.

Etasha Society

Friday - meeting with Mr. Ian McBride and Mrs. Meenakshi Nayar from the Etasha Society.

For those who don't know, Etasha Society is a Delhi-based NGO that trains disadvantaged young people, so that they may obtain jobs in the organized sector. SIFE SRCC approached Etasha to train rikshaw pullers in spoken English. Mr. Ian McBride and Mrs. Meenakshi Nayar came to our college to discuss the programme.

Unfortunately Mrs. Nayar could stay only for 15 minutes since she had other commitments, but we still had a fun meeting with Mr. Ian. I really hope he isn't reading this post, because he wouldn't like anyone calling him Mr. Ian, or Ian sir. He categorically told us that he is another normal human being and should be called just Ian. Easy thing to do if you've been brought up in Britain, his home country. Not so easy for an Indian. I remember how our school teachers would punish us for not standing up when they entered the classroom. Calling them by their names is a far-fetched thing for us, and very outrageous for them. Mr. Ian (I mean, Ian) says no matter how hard he tries, he simply can't get his Indian students to call him Ian, and he's called everything from Ian sir to Sir ji to Guru ji. LOL.

He is a funny and friendly man. We had our meeting in a classroom, with all of us sitting on the students' desks and him sitting on a special chair facing all of us. He really didn't like that and called it too "formal". Then Jasmine sat with him in the front, to make it a little less formal. Midway through the meeting our faculty advisor also joined us.

What came of the meeting is basically this

- The first batch will consist of about 20 rikshaw pullers.

- Etasha Society will train them in spoken English as well as basic etiquette.

- The programme is about 5-6 weeks long, depending on the response of the class.

- Each lesson would be around 2 hours long. Lessons will happen on 3 days a week.

- There will be one SIFE member present in every class, in case any additional assistance is required during the lesson.

- Rikshaw pullers will be incentivized to attend the classes on time. The incentive could be serving a cup of tea or cold drinks 5 minutes before the class begins.

- Negotiations on the cost are still on. SIFE is trying to fix it at Rs. 2500 per rikshaw puller.

- A trial class will be held this week, tentatively on Thursday or Friday.

- Based on the trial class, Etasha will start developing their teaching module, which will take them 2 weeks.

- SIFE is trying to have the lessons start by the first week of September.

The programme isn't being imposed on anyone and only those rikshaw-pullers who are really willing to take English lessons will be participating.

Another aspect of the programme that Mr. Ian (Sorry, Ian) highlighted is the fact that normally, when a new language is taught to a class, the teaching happens in the target language (English in our case), but that isn't possible with the rikshaw pullers. Hence a bilingual model has to be used. Etasha is using such a model for the first time, so it makes sense to hold a trial class first, which as I mentioned will be happening this week.

We're making progress on our "Life on Wheels" project, SIFE-mates! Keep up the good work! We're busy collecting ID's and filling up bank account opening forms for the rikshaw pullers. 

100 rikshaws, 34 days to go.

Comments are very much welcome. Tell us what you're thinking, let us know any ideas you have, or simply tell us what you think of the weather.

Happy Independence Day!

Hey everyone, and thanks so much for visiting (or stumbling upon) the SIFE, SRCC blog.

First things first – Happy Independence day to all of you! It’s been 63 years since India became an independent nation, and we have all come a long way. During independence, India barely produced enough food to feed its people. We had famines every other year. Today, we have food surplus going waste. We’re one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

But there is still work to be done. Here is a classic example of how some people aren’t able to fully take advantage of India’s independence. If you live in a big city, you probably see rikshaw pullers everyday. They work all 7 days of the week; they do one of the most strenuous jobs I can think of, and they earn just enough to feed their families and barely have any savings.

SIFE, SRCC, in one of its projects, aims to improve the life of such rikshaw pullers, by giving them a loan to purchase their own rikshaw. For details on this project, please see http://sifesrcc.org/sife_srcc_projects_life_on_wheel.aspx

We aim to have 100 “empowered” rikshaws on the road by 18^th of September 2010. 18^th would be our day to celebrate, but there is work to be done before we get there.

I personally had the opportunity today to travel on one such rikshaw. I asked the puller how he liked his new rikshaw. His lips curved into a beautiful smile and he said "Bahut achha laga.". Be proud, SIFE-mates! We made a poor man smile today! And hundreds more will smile in the upcoming months!

Wait, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Harshini and I’ll be updating this blog from now on, on behalf of the SIFE SRCC team, giving you details on what we’re up to. I joined SIFE this year. I want all of you readers to remember that this site is run by human beings and not robots, so comments and conversation on this blog will be very much welcomed, whether you’re a SIFE member or not.

So go ahead – leave a comment on what you think of SIFE, or what you’re doing this Independence Day, or simply talk to us about anything you have in mind.