I'm staring out the window watching the leaves blow off my tree, lost in reflections on "poverty."
Right now I feel "poor." Mr. Darcy needed an unexpected $2000 worth of dental work right before a month long trip, and now there is something wrong with his eye and he might need to see a specialist. I hope the eye will clear up, and it's troublesome that I will have to leave him in less than tip top shape, and to know that I simply can't shell out any more thousands on him for quite some time. I will earn no income during October, and I'm still waiting payment for an invoice mere days before I leave, an invoice that will pay for my hotels. But I look around and know that I'm not "poor"--I would never say that. I just feel broke and a bit stressed. But come late November life will be back to normal; I'll have what I "need."
I'm flying to a country most of us quickly associate with real poverty. Of course there are Indians far richer than any of us will ever be, but on the whole, we know they don't have the life we do, far from it. I've noticed that people seem to comment on the poor that they still seem so happy, so content--you know the kind of comments I mean. I'll probably make them myself. Is it true or will I look for this "happiness" to ease the unbearable guilt I'll feel simply for being born in the West? I was watching a documentary on India last night in which an elderly Indian woman stated quite directly, "India is poverty, that's what we have. Look at me; we live like animals [referring to her family]. Do you think I want to live like this? Of course I don't."
And then there are the rich who are impoverished in soul. I don't mean the corrupt CEOs, that's obvious, but rather your more regular well-off person, who thinks of little else than status, attaining goods, having the right everything, referring to themselves as privileged, and putting themselves first no matter what. They simply have a skinny soul and a fat bank account. You know the type. But calling them poor doesn't fit; instead I usually just resort to pompous ass or the like.
So what is poverty then--the complete absence of what we need and should have? How do we define need? What are the boundaries of need? What should we give up, what should we give away? Certainly poverty is not the lack of what we want, that's obvious. But want and need can get a little fuzzy.
I think very soon my stress will snap into focus, and I don't look forward to feeling "lucky" either. For right now though, I better get back to these pre-travel exams...
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
What have I gotten myself into?
So it occurred to me that you might be wondering what the heck I'll be doing in India, exactly. Well, lots. Warning: this is a long entry, and they won't always be so but I can't promise. I type fast! :)
Part of it will be my own research, and other components will be for the classes we are formally enrolled in while there: "PCOM641 Supervised Field Study" and "PCOM638 Contemporary Issues in Communication." 638 will involve visits with various NGOs (non gov't organizations) in Ahmedabad, and 641 will be about our own research and simply being out there interacting with locals and other tourists. For 641 we are required to build a documentary project to take our experience public, and mine will be a website I'll publish for Nov 15.
I should probably make some introductions, too, since you'll be hearing their names a lot: Phillip, Wendy, and Tina. Phillip is the head of our program overall, leader of our India trip, and prof for 641. Wendy is our prof for 638, and she has done development work all over the world. Rupinder (Tina) is Phillip's teaching assistant and our go to girl for all things India. Tina graduated our program last year. April is Phillip's wife, prof for the class we just finished, and champion of teaching us all how to take our indecent research topics and proposals to rock star status. Her name may come up, but unfortunately she isn't coming to India.
So, my research. After a rather arduous process of figuring out a research topic for which I'll spare you the details, I landed on observing how Indian street kids use humor to bond and cajole with Western tourists to land a few rupees. Essentially, a cross-cultural humor study, and looking at humor as tourist product and form of economic exchange. OK great. Well many times during the proposal process I nearly turfed the entire project, seeing myself as using street kids for my silly research and thus going straight to hell. I collected myself however and, done well and ethically, I hope this will be a project that can do some good in raising awareness and inciting change in tourist/local interactions. It all sounds so tidy on paper.
I have a vision in my head of what this might look like, which I realize, of course, is quite romantic. Laughing and bonding with kids, giving them a few rupees, even getting to know a few even, their skin and big brown eyes...oh my how we laughed and what times we had!
....[insert sound of needle scratching across a record]......loudly.
I'm also well aware that the movie Slumdog Millionaire is not entirely fictitious. April said yeah, go ahead and give the rupees they ask for but be careful about giving more. I was relieved, because I had been thinking that if the university said no to giving rupees I was going to turf the project for sure. What good is a pencil crayon or some Canada sticker when your stomach is empty and/or you're going to get beaten at the end of the day if you don't fill your quota?
Back to romance and my soft spot for kids. On some of our class discussions Phillip and my friend Kathyrn both were a little concerned about my giving money at all, and likely sniffing out my soft spot. For context, the school budgets about $100 each for us in order to take us out for a special celebration night as a group or whatnot. Phillip asked us though how we would like to spend that money, and most of us are going for giving it to one of the NGOs we'll visit. I also piped in that if we don't do that ah, I'll just convert mine to rupees and give it to the kids.
"I think those are very noble ideas [to our class]. If at any point in time you two have specific NGO's in mind that you'd like to donate to, let me know. The same if your wish is to donate to kids (though, careful with that, Kim, as you don't know who that money is actually going to at the end of the day, and you may end up involuntarily financing their owner [literally]." Phillip
"Kim,
I also think you should be careful with handing out money in the streets. You might get a mob of kids and the kids that don't receive anything will get really upset (their parents, passer-bys...) I have never been to India, but I am assuming that it could be quite intense. My parents had a friend who did that in India and he learned quite quickly that his compassion was actually not appreciated (think of the vast population of kids that you will run into.)
Philip, I would be happy to donate my 100.00 to a NGO. Especially one that focuses on education for children (and helps girls have the opportunity to attend school. )
-Kathryn"
Thank god we aren't doing this alone, and Phillip said right from the beginning you are going to need to lean on each other, a LOT. So far I'm wise on one thing: going early, hanging out in Mumbai with France, who works in children's aid, and taking the time to get my game on and get used to the place...and get my street smarts.
Part of it will be my own research, and other components will be for the classes we are formally enrolled in while there: "PCOM641 Supervised Field Study" and "PCOM638 Contemporary Issues in Communication." 638 will involve visits with various NGOs (non gov't organizations) in Ahmedabad, and 641 will be about our own research and simply being out there interacting with locals and other tourists. For 641 we are required to build a documentary project to take our experience public, and mine will be a website I'll publish for Nov 15.
I should probably make some introductions, too, since you'll be hearing their names a lot: Phillip, Wendy, and Tina. Phillip is the head of our program overall, leader of our India trip, and prof for 641. Wendy is our prof for 638, and she has done development work all over the world. Rupinder (Tina) is Phillip's teaching assistant and our go to girl for all things India. Tina graduated our program last year. April is Phillip's wife, prof for the class we just finished, and champion of teaching us all how to take our indecent research topics and proposals to rock star status. Her name may come up, but unfortunately she isn't coming to India.
So, my research. After a rather arduous process of figuring out a research topic for which I'll spare you the details, I landed on observing how Indian street kids use humor to bond and cajole with Western tourists to land a few rupees. Essentially, a cross-cultural humor study, and looking at humor as tourist product and form of economic exchange. OK great. Well many times during the proposal process I nearly turfed the entire project, seeing myself as using street kids for my silly research and thus going straight to hell. I collected myself however and, done well and ethically, I hope this will be a project that can do some good in raising awareness and inciting change in tourist/local interactions. It all sounds so tidy on paper.
I have a vision in my head of what this might look like, which I realize, of course, is quite romantic. Laughing and bonding with kids, giving them a few rupees, even getting to know a few even, their skin and big brown eyes...oh my how we laughed and what times we had!
....[insert sound of needle scratching across a record]......loudly.
I'm also well aware that the movie Slumdog Millionaire is not entirely fictitious. April said yeah, go ahead and give the rupees they ask for but be careful about giving more. I was relieved, because I had been thinking that if the university said no to giving rupees I was going to turf the project for sure. What good is a pencil crayon or some Canada sticker when your stomach is empty and/or you're going to get beaten at the end of the day if you don't fill your quota?
Back to romance and my soft spot for kids. On some of our class discussions Phillip and my friend Kathyrn both were a little concerned about my giving money at all, and likely sniffing out my soft spot. For context, the school budgets about $100 each for us in order to take us out for a special celebration night as a group or whatnot. Phillip asked us though how we would like to spend that money, and most of us are going for giving it to one of the NGOs we'll visit. I also piped in that if we don't do that ah, I'll just convert mine to rupees and give it to the kids.
....[insert sound of needle scratching across a record]......loudly.
I also think you should be careful with handing out money in the streets. You might get a mob of kids and the kids that don't receive anything will get really upset (their parents, passer-bys...) I have never been to India, but I am assuming that it could be quite intense. My parents had a friend who did that in India and he learned quite quickly that his compassion was actually not appreciated (think of the vast population of kids that you will run into.)
Philip, I would be happy to donate my 100.00 to a NGO. Especially one that focuses on education for children (and helps girls have the opportunity to attend school. )
-Kathryn"
Thank god we aren't doing this alone, and Phillip said right from the beginning you are going to need to lean on each other, a LOT. So far I'm wise on one thing: going early, hanging out in Mumbai with France, who works in children's aid, and taking the time to get my game on and get used to the place...and get my street smarts.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
What to wear, what to do, too much to READ!
We are all a bit hyped up on adrenaline right now. "How am I going to read all these books? Which NGO visit group should I join? What are you wearing? I just ordered my rupees. Can I borrow your Goa book? Don't forget your bra. My daughter saw Westerners walking around without bras."
It's all exciting and amusing; I chuckle at myself. I'm not a nervous traveler, but this is unlike any sort of trip many of us have ever experienced. This is "field school"...there will be tests and presentations, and NGO visits, and evaluations of our abilities and contributions, and journaling and paying close attention and hopefully no diarrhea to distract--plus stinky smells, fast cars, and cows in the street. It is game on for 27 days, and like my friend said to me, best we just anticipate the occasional meltdown and give it a hug when it happens.
I can safely say I will not forget my bra. But I did need the reminder on the rupees order. I cannot believe it's Sept 15. All the "to do before India" stuff is now on our doorstep. Funny, I can't think much past Heathrow airport. One, because I love airports, and two, because I have no idea what to expect. I can't wait to read what I'll write this time next month....
It's all exciting and amusing; I chuckle at myself. I'm not a nervous traveler, but this is unlike any sort of trip many of us have ever experienced. This is "field school"...there will be tests and presentations, and NGO visits, and evaluations of our abilities and contributions, and journaling and paying close attention and hopefully no diarrhea to distract--plus stinky smells, fast cars, and cows in the street. It is game on for 27 days, and like my friend said to me, best we just anticipate the occasional meltdown and give it a hug when it happens.
I can safely say I will not forget my bra. But I did need the reminder on the rupees order. I cannot believe it's Sept 15. All the "to do before India" stuff is now on our doorstep. Funny, I can't think much past Heathrow airport. One, because I love airports, and two, because I have no idea what to expect. I can't wait to read what I'll write this time next month....
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