A Calmer Brittany!!
Trip Start
Sep 03, 2006
1
8
32
Trip End
Jan 30, 2007
Hyderabad,
India
Monday, October 2, 2006
Leila, Calleen and I had a blast. It is festival time for the Hindus and Ramadan for the Muslims - Charminar, and the bazaar, was PACKED. We were the only western faces I saw there the entire time. I purchased seven (yes 7) saris for a total of 4,200 rupees ... that is about $90. You couldn't get one of these saris in the U.S
A cute (but annoying) kid whose pic I had to take!
. for that price. I was the master bargainer, you all would have been so proud. We all sat and had tea and negotiated for about an hour ... and the shopkeepers here love to do it. While we are still hassled with every step I think there is power in numbers and we all felt a little more at ease. You start to realize that people are friendly - they are just having some fun - it can get overbearing but you deal with it. At work things are going swell. I have chosen a research area and sat down with Shantha and Venkat to talk about my proposal. My tentative research question is: In what way(s) and why is the rights-based and non-negotiable approach of MVF effectual for former girl child labourers? In my short time at MVF I have had exposure to a variety of actors who have a stake in the quest to get every child into school and out of work. This important task requires engagement of government, parents, teachers, community organizations (like CRPF), and most of all the students. The MVF approach is rights-based, inclusive, and non-negotiable. This has been successful in mobilizing all actors involved and in garnering real social change, particularly at the grassroots level.
I have heard the enthusiasm of community leaders and volunteers who emphasize the impact of the rights-based approach on the way they think about education and child labour. I have heard the promises of government officials who are beginning to abandon the poverty argument and articulate the challenges and solutions in the language of rights. I have heard about the challenges the parents face in becoming motivated to take the initiative to enroll their child in school or a bridge camp. However, I have not heard enough from the students, the former labourers, who are the most important actor in this scheme
A pretty building ... not sure which one - sorry!
. Without their dedication and persistence to securing their rights this endeavor would not be as successful as it has. Girls face a specific set of cultural and structural challenges that make their struggle for securing rights more difficult then that of boys. I venture to expose these challenges in my research and provide insight into how (if) and why the MVF rights-based approach has worked for these girls despite these tremendous challenges. Through my interviews I also hope to learn about how the girls have changed, or if they have, and how the exposure to a rights-based agenda has, or has not given the girls a different outlook on how to approach other challenges, i.e. food, gender equality, shelter etc. I plan to interview 20-30 former girl child labourers in a variety of locations.
On 6 October there will be a meeting with nearly all district level staff. Venkat said I can present my research topic at this meeting and arrange to travel to the various districts in October based on the schedules of the district-level staff. Until 6 October I will be conducting as many mock interviews as possible in the Ranga Reddy district. This process should help me adjust the questions I ask in the interview, if need be, and to get acquainted with my translator. Saturday through Tuesday is a holiday here so I look forward to getting back to work on Tuesday.
I WANT FEEDBACK PEOPLE! Dialogue is important in this world and if you are reading this and you haven't sent me an e-mail or posted a comment I will be very sad. :( I feel like the computer is my only friend out here! :)
Comments
Sounds good...
Your research topic sounds interesting... how old are the girls you'd be doing the research on? I'd love to see the finished product... well looks like I've reached the end of your bloggy Brit. So until your next entry... Ciao! Hit me up on myspace or email me. Have fun, good luck with everything and pleaseeee be careful.
-x0x0