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December 18, 2008
"Educational" blue movies and a murder investigation were among the eye-opening experiences of two CSI-sponsored interns who travelled to India for eight weeks in September on a scholarship with the Indian development organization PRIA.
Alicia Mollaun and Claire Hammerton, jointly sponsored by CSI, the Chain Reaction Foundation and Jobs Australia, joined other young people from around the world on PRIA's international internship program. Alicia was based in Bihar, where literacy rates are the lowest in India and per capita income is less than one-fifth the national average, working on comprehensive district planning and women's empowerment projects. Claire was posted to Jaipur in the state of Rajasthan and made field trips from there to remote surrounding areas including Jodhpur and Govindgarh.
"Each of these field visits focused on different development issues, such as rural self-governance
She learned much more than she expected to - for example, about the difference between official versions of the "success" of development schemes on the one hand and villagers' accounts of failed implementation, lack of community consultation and corruption on the other.
In the course of research for her 10,000 word essay (a requirement of the scholarship) on her chosen subject of discrimination against women and dalits (untouchables), she became involved in the investigation of the murder of a dalit woman who was found dead near a pond in a remote village a couple of days before her arrival.
"Although these few days investigating the murder were shocking and quite draining, the experience was highly worthwhile and taught me more about Indian society, Indian bureaucracy, oppression and corruption than any textbook or expert could have possibly have taught me", she says.
Among the problems observed by Alicia in Bihar, the lack of sex education and need for improved health practices stood out.
Taboos surrounding sex were such that "informal" sex education included the showing of "blue" movies in local cinemas in the middle of advertised feature films. At the same time, even a simple public health measure such as the promotion of frequent hand washing presented formidable challenges in places where soap is a luxury few can afford, according to Alicia, an executive officer in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
On a personal level, experiencing the lack of freedom and independence as a woman in a patriarchal society was both "interesting, and sometimes immensely frustrating", she says.
Claire and Alicia are working on their essays and will be presenting their experiences in forums over the coming months. Read Claire and Alicia's first-hand reports, and an earlier story about their scholarships.