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A: I don’t know, but my observations from the last couple of days have made me think about it:

Today’s crowd at Hunar Ghar

Today was Republic Day, and what a splendid day! After all the teachers’ planning I feel like we had an excellent event. Lots of people came, the children put on some excellent performances, and afterwards all the people who had come went to visit our library and the classrooms. Ok, we bribed them in with tea and mithai, but still Gopal and Rajkumar managed to catch about 30 people and give a presentation about our teaching methods and what the children had learned, and Neha managed to do to the same with some women, except about women’s issues.

Rajkumar talking to parents and community members about what it is to learn at Hunar Ghar

Entirely unexpectedly one of our first teachers, Nanadlalji, took to the microphone and gave a fantastic and passionate speech about Hunar Ghar. Seeing him do this speaks volumes for the internal changes that have come about in our staff, and that are the bedrock of Hunar Ghar: they haven’t only learnt to be better teachers, they have also discovered something in themselves and in their relationship and opportunity at the school that excites them, and this motivates them in ways that pay, praise and punishment do not.

Another example: Yesterday I overheard some other teachers talking, Ajit S, Ajit B and Shantilal, as they were making invitations for the local dignitaries for today’s events. They were discussing what address to put. When Ajit S asked what to put, without a second thought Shantilal immediately said “Hunar Ghar, Bakhel”. What’s so significantly about that? A couple of years ago or even last year he might answered “Bal vidya mandir, Andat”; the first three words meaning ‘Children’s learning temple’ which is a typical name for every school in the area, and ‘Andat’ being the name of the hamlet of our school, while ‘Bakhel’ is the village. The change in describing the school and it’s location shows a change in thought. They too can now see their school as different from the other schools, and so call it differently. And by giving the name of the village instead of the hamlet it suggests that some of the petty-minded territorialise that used to be present is perhaps no longer there, or at least much weaker.

Some of our girls and boys dressed up ready for their performances

Nandlalji told us about both these aspects in his speech. He focussed on the two words in our name ‘Hunar’ – meaning skill – and ‘Ghar’ – which means home. He described how once there weren’t skills here and it wasn’t a home, but it as come to have and become both, and that everyone in the village should know the school by it’s proper name – Hunar Ghar. He then went on to say what the village is, naming Andat, Ratnat, Kharivali, Dholimagri and Degri – all the 5 hamlets of Bakhel.

All this is interesting to me because I want our teachers to care about our school in a deeper way, and it appears they are starting to do that. Why is this interesting to the casual reader? Because in deeply rural areas such as this normally just getting a teacher to stay in a school is a challenge. We have a staff of 14 who are there every day, learning every day, and developing their own school. In this lower-class community whom are often thought by the outside in very negative ways they are creating a special relationship that so many upper and middle-class learners in India lack. For me, this signifies a change in thought about how development can be carried out, because it suggests that communities can be perfectly capable of defining their own growth without, they just need the support, belief and patience to discover it for themselves. Everything else that is going on at Hunar Ghar at the moment – tree and seed distribution, drinking water bleaching, women’s health meetings, educational and health research, learning from the environment, Scheffler solar cooking, solar electricity, compost toilets and all that before we even get to the pretty decent classroom environment – only goes to support this.

This writing says ‘Hunar Ghar, Bakhel’ 

International aid and development has been in a state of change. There have been various condemnations of international aid practices, with some even stating that all aid to Africa should be cut completely. Reasons for this include ideas concerning corruption, ineffective use of funds, short-sighted policy making and various way by which aid actually perpetuates poverty. From this has grown the increased interest in the concept of sustainability.

But what does sustainability mean for us, and how can we determine if we are achieving it or not? Are we contributing to a long-term and positive change or are our actions more misconceived than that? To find out, we need to understand sustainability, Read on »

Today is very grate day for me. Today our Hunar Ghar 3 teacher Ajit bumbaria, Nandlal bumbaria, Vishnu priya say we want go again at molela village. Please Deepak can you make again 3 day Training planning for learn mud status work.( In june Month our staff went for learn mud status work at molela village ) It is wonderful for me for some reason 1 our Hunar Ghar teacher less interest go out of village. 2 mahy Hunar Ghar staff make excuse we will not go, we have work please can you send other person. 3 Today I saw very good confidence our Hunar Ghar staff for go out side. 4 Also molela village we want Manna lal prajapat ( This is person who learn mud work) has brother only one son is die. Manna lal call and give this information us. So Hunar Ghar staff say we want make good realationship because when we want at Molela that time Manna lal keep us as his family member. ( It is good for Hunar Ghar realationship ) 5 Hunar Ghar staff discuss skills value of mud status. Hunar Ghar staff say we saw 5100000 ( fifty one lac rupees status) at nathdawara.

There has been some disturbance in Bakhel this week resulting from our decision to trial two women from outside the village as learning initiators at Hunar Ghar. A certain number of people in Bakhel are unhappy that we are giving jobs to people from outside the village. Work opportunities are limited in the village so as a result there is a certain amount of territoriality over those that do exist.

One of the new women comes from Anjani, a neighbouring village, the other from Mandwa, a neighbouring village on the other side. Neither lives more than 2 km from Hunar Ghar. Some time ago some people from Bakhel found work in Anjani and were told by the local power holders, in no uncertain terms, that they were not welcome to work there. This, and the inherent territoriality that exists anyway, has brought resentment upon the two outside women and some unacceptable, quite pitifully desperate, behaviour from some people in Bakhel; two women, including the wife of one of our teachers, blocked the path from the main road to Hunar Ghar with cacti to stop Deepak passing until, as they were hoping to precipitate, he waylaid to their demands to get rid of the women and install them as teachers instead. This isn’t the kind of behaviour I’d ever have expected from our teacher’s wife and I am shocked at it.

Twice Deepak has tried to discuss the issue but no degree of discussion is coming from the aggrieved parties, they just want to see their demands met and to hell with everyone else. An almost mob mentality has developed; it appears whispers are going around that someone has suggested a can of kerosene and a book of matches might be the solution. Some people have also being telling Deepak to get out unless he submits. I find this the most upsetting, Deepak has done so much hard work for Hunar Ghar and this is how some people end up treating him.

This isn’t the first time we have looked for female teachers. Ash was very keen to get the fourth of our original four teachers as a woman, but no-one in Bakhel was forthcoming. I’ve also tried on two previous occasions with no luck. The chances were there and people chose, for whatever reason, to not take them. The arguement of the offenders is further flawed; Deepak, Ash, Preeti, Raj Kumar, RBKS and I are all outsiders. If they are adament they don’t want outsiders it is possible to arrange for that but they would be fools indeed to expect Hunar Ghar to function beyond that rice and chalk which are in the store rooms. Before getting that far though I am not keen to hire someone who thinks metaphorically kicking and screaming and literally putting cacti across the roads is the appropriate behaviour in a dispute, she perhaps wouldn’t be a terribly good role-model for the children.

Fortunately it is not all bad. The peeved aren’t the majority and some of the more influential older members of the community are aren’t signing up to BKIP. The children have been great for Deepak. He’s taken all of this on the chin himself, as I’ve been away, and he isn’t happy about it. But a few of the kids came up to him and said they didn’t like this kind of behaviour and that they didn’t want him to go.

All this is disappointing in other ways too. We’ve tried on many occasions to get the community involved in Hunar Ghar but we haven’t yet found a reason for them to want to be a part of it unless they are paid. We’ve sought constructive, positive contribution and been met with stoney faces. But in a flash a negative, degenerative flame can roar from the peaceful fields and pressure upon Hunar Ghar. In that same vein we’d like to think that the community see more in Hunar Ghar that just an income source. I do know that that isn’t the case, but it nonetheless smites a little.

We certainly aren’t going to do anything now but hire those two women. The whole storm will probably turn out to have just been in a tea-cup after a couple of weeks anyway. My main concern is alienating Hunar Ghar from the community by ‘not listening’ to them, so making it harder to gain real contribution/dialogue later on. Unfortunately the anger-mongerers are giving us nothing to listen and respond to, only crass ultimatums. I’m sure if I was better at this whole school management thing I could turn it around into a really positive interaction, but I can’t get this one figured out.