PAKT assistance to "Ma Sarada Shishu Tirtha" - an underprivileged girls' school at Krishnanagar

We came to know of Ma Sarada Shishu Tirtha (MSST) through a PAKT companion.
We made a visit to this school which gets support from Spanish NGO (El Hogar De Las Ninas) as well as another Kolkata based NGO, Abheda Foundation.

Out of the pressing issues seen in the school,  two specific issues (repairing of toilet doors, as well as purchase of primary school books etc at start of session) were deemed most suitable to be taken up by PAKT. Following an authenticity verification visit to MSST, PAKT contribution towards these two expenses was agreed with members. 
The disbursement has been made to MSST. In a subsequent visit the toilet door fitting activity has been confirmed, along with MSST acknowledgement of admission / new books support for new classes.

With this activity, all funds related to HSI (Help Sunderbans Initiative) stand disbursed. These funds were collected for HSI relief and rehabilitation activity triggered by cyclone Aila (May'09) wreaking havoc amongst large swathes of population dwelling in the Sunderbans.

Pix of follow-up visit uploaded in link: https://picasaweb.google.com/115644634360398428782/1305_MaSaradaShishuTirtha_visit?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPKD5p-bgcCpDg&feat=directlink

Pic of repaired toiler doors: https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-int8jZdKnG8/UZKSp9lE9vI/AAAAAAAADCk/A0ESLKvhhho/s128/140520133326-001.jpg

Some other links related to MA Sarada Shishu Tirtha:

a) brief write-up on Ma Sarada Shishu Tirtha: http://share.pdfonline.com/d35e54806fbe46f29543a2746750f1ec/Ma%20Sarada%20Shishu%20Tirtha%20-%20writeup%20for%20Rotary.htm
b) online video of Ma Sarada children putting up a dance program: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahC0DCdpXxE

PAKT: Assistance for educational support to street children adopted by Niharkana

PAKT: the way ahead


PAKT's Aila rehabilitation program at Chargheri area of Sunderbans came to an end in 2010 after more than 7 months relief / rehabilitation activity from Jun 2009 to Dec 2009 followed by 3-4 months of subsequent survey and feasibility assessment of further support.


PAKT has been dormant since the closure of Sunderban activity.


After discussing with members and contributors of PAKT who participated in the AILA relief & rehabilitation activities at Chargheri, it was felt that PAKT can get involved in some social rehabilitation activities in Kolkata and nearby areas.
Aim is to sustain the good work of extending assistance to those who need it most. 



Niharkana


Of late PAKT has been in touch with Niharkana Rehabilitation Center, run by Mrs Kanta Chakraborty.


Niharkana Rehabilitation Center aims to rehabilitate a set of street children, mainly girl children, to self-sufficiency at adulthood. They aim to achieve this objective by providing continuous support to these children upto their adulthood on essential an developmental requirements like food, clothing, education (including support outside their schools), health and contributing to their overall development by involving them in extra curricular activities.


Current achievement of Niharkana is given in this link. [the page needs minor updation with more recent information]


The children are accommodated in an enclosure on Dum dum station and a vendor's union office (otherwise vacant at night) is allowed by relevant body to be used as there shelter for the night. The above arrangements are facilitated by Niharkana by making formal / informal requests and coordinating with the relevant authorities & bodies to provide security and partially protected environment for education & living to these children.


Preliminary visit to the area was done in Sep-Oct 2011 to carry out basic verification of Niharkana activities and the organisation was found to be genuine. 
[Press coverage o Niharkana: http://niharkana.org/gallery]


PAKT's educational support to Niharkana 


In early January 2012, Niharkana Rehabilitation Center got back to  PAKT requesting support for the children's educational needs at the start of the academic session. 


The requirement was as follows for approx 20 children currently adopted by Niharkana for long term rehabilitation support: 

i) Notebooks for all kids for one academic year 

ii) Admission cost for the kids

iii) A few specific books for class 8-9 (other books are provided by the schools)

iv) School bags (tailor made ones with low cost material to reduce costs)

The required amount for the activity is around Rs. 7000/-


On 26th January 2012, PAKT made a visit to Niharkana's enclosure at Platform#1 of Dumdum Railway station. The cheque for Rs 7000/- was handed over to Mrs. Kanta Chakraborty. Sandeepan Choudhury and Angshuman Hazra visited Niharkana Rehabilitation Center on behalf of PAKT.
Niharkana will subsequently provide PAKT with formal expense bills specifying the actual purchases against the heads of expense as listed above. PAKT can also carry out a subsequent verification visit to review the fulfilment of these needs.

Observations during visit

When we visited Niharkana Rehabilitation Center, the children were participating in drawing lessons under tutelage of a gentleman, the drawing teacher. Subsequently they broke the class to have breakfast. Mrs. Kanta Chakraborty was supervising the discipline as well as the needs of the children. She was joined by another lady teacher.


We had taken some pictures during the visit. Those pictures have been captioned and placed in this link.

Please let us know about your thoughts on this latest activity of PAKT.


Request from Niharkana:


During our discussions with Mrs Kanta Chakraborty, we have come to know that a majority of the expenses are pooled from her personal earnings. With external supports being limited to minimal and sporadic one time supports, rising food prices are making it very difficult for Niharkana to sustain the expenses. She requests generous people knowing about Niharkana to visit the facility and extend financial support to help make a difference to the future of these children (long term assistance is preferred, but short term aid also welcome).


Interested individuals, those who follow this blogpost as well as all others who are willing to help, are welcome to independently visit / support / assist Niharkana as the case may be.


We thought it worthwhile to pass on this request from Niharkana to members & contributors of PAKT as well as all readers of this blog.

Still a Lot is Needed

Many times we repeated in our blogs that certain constructive initiatives by the administration could have made things lot easier. The basic two initatives we urged several times are:
i) Pumping out saline water from the low lying agricultural lands
ii) Disbursement of the government approved amount for the reconstruction of the destroyed houses.
The same view is echoed by a newspaper report, Aila survivors stare at winter without relief in The Telegraph.
The report is based on an area other than Chargheri, in the Sunderbans, but this is a general picture. This is exactly why we had to take up the agricultural training program in Chargheri in a more elaborate way than initially planned. Only aim is to show the villagers a ray of hope that some agriculture is possible here – they can find some livelihood.
But a lot more is to be done to bring them back to their normal agriculture based life.
Any advise, assitance and direct participation will be a big help for us.

8th Visit report

After our second trip, we promised people of Chargheri that we will continue our relief with rice distribution till Biswakarma Puja. We could complete that commitment yesterday on our 8th trip. It was possible only because people came forward to be part of PAKT’s initiative. With support from our friends, colleagues &well wishers it we could complete distribution of around 15,500 kg of rice in last three months over 12 weeks in our 8 trips. During this trip also we carried with us 2700 kg of rice and 15 kg soyabean. This time we could not get Kachu (Arum) in the local market.

The distribution was very smooth and distribution of all rice sacks was completed by six in the evening.

We also took with us considerable amount of old clothes (in considerably good conditions) for those who will not be able to buy anything for their pujas. Many of the villagers will not like to have the old clothes for the pujas even in the distressed condition – but it was meant for those who just cannot make it.

Rehabilitation - going back to growing crop

On our way towards Charheri, we had extensive discussion with our agricultural trainers Mr Narayan Bachhar and Mrs Anjana Mandal from Swanirvar. They accompanied us for the third phase of training from 19th to 21st. The outcomes of last two trainings were discussed. In total 61 people have been trained on alternative crop production. A lot of interest has been noted among the trainees indicating they are trying hard to come back to their normal life.

With the advise of the trainers and guidance from them, the trainees have prepared a land asset map (indicating the low lying land, watrerlogged areas, flooded lands, different soil categories) of Chargheri. Also a calendar map of crops and kitchen vegetables has been prepared. This gives a nice calendar about which crop or vegetable is most appropriate for cultivation at a particular time of the year.

From the attendee list of 1st 2 trainings, we felt that villages far away from training location were less represented in 1st two trainings. We hoped that change in venue for this phase could help bring in more people from other villages. We also decided to ask attendees of other villages in introductory session and at food distribution queue to bring in more people for this training, which is really a refresher course with an emphasis on saline conditions. [From reports of our trainers on 20th September, this seems to have proved true. This time the training has been shifted to Santigachhi high school and other villages were well represented this time]

After reaching Chargheri, we visited the nursery prepared by the local people during the last two phases of training under the supervision of the trainers. Extensive use of compost manure, straw, cowdung water, raising the level of the soil in low lying areas with drainage facility, seeding in the sackful of earth – all saw the same result in the backyard gardens. Green sprouts confirmed the fact that it is possible to cultivate in the backyard plots of people. This was the one of the objectives of our rehabilitation initiative: to bring back the belief among the mass in these villages that cultivation is possible in their backyards. Just the application of the right technique and making some new additions to the existing techniques they know is all that is required to master the existing conditions in their backyards.

It is much more difficult in the farmlands inundated in brackish water. However, trial plantation of 7 varieties of paddy have been made in salty waterlogged lands of 2 different areas. This was done to find out the most suitable variety of rice that may be tried out for next year's crop during Jan'10, if that is possible in some areas.

We find that the people know of most of the techniques suggested by trainers for the backyard. Yet we could clearly see that barring few exceptions they were not adopting it across the villages. The training can help push them do what they need to do, and start doing it NOW. They can grow their own vegetables in the winter if they can succeed making their backyards lush with greenery even as the farmlands still await redressal.

The introductory training session was started in our presence. We explained to the trainees that each trainee should teach another three persons what he learns. This is the easiest way for dissipation of knowledge. To facilitate the people from the four villages other than Chargheri, it was decided that the training will be held in the Santigachhi primary school from next day. The method of training is participative. Keeping the kind of response from farmers in mind, some further training in early October will help get more people into farming mode before the middle of October when some of the seeds need to get sown.

At the end of relief phase we need to mention one point – Kaustuv from Pather Katha , our one of the main pivots of PAKT, was the only person to be in Chargheri in all the eight trips. Kudos Kaustuv. It is by no means an easy job.

Some videos of introductory session of 1st crop training program

We had a brief discussion with the trainers in the car on our way to Sonakhali:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-n9xsnVAmE

The following videos were shot during the interaction between trainers and the local farmers in the introductory session of the 1st 3-day crop training program. The program was held in Chargheri Abaitanik PRathomik Bidyalaya, a local primary school.

Inside the Primary school :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE8sTofjC50

The trainers say a few lines about themselves, and the purpose of their visit. They flag off the session in traditional fashion by singing a few lines from a local song glorifying the Sundari tree, one of the specialities of the Sunderbans [Please amplify your volumes if sound is inaudible]


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evU00sURlKM

The trainers are made aware that farmers from 5 villages will be participating in the program [Please amplify your volumes if sound is inaudible]


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PjH3JSHVe4

Farmers of each of the 5 villages can possibly have independent problems. Trainers propose that it may be worthwhile if they (trainers) concentrate on one vilage on each day of training. (This was not required, as all farmers later confirmed that the problems were similar across all villages.) The attentive farmers are told about shifting focus from rice (their principal produce from these fields) to other vegetables for the coming winter [Please amplify your volumes if sound is inaudible]


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npPSs9D1PRU

Trainers touch upon the important part about farmers beginning alternative crop production at backyards and plinths of their damaged houses. Even salinity resistant crops can grow only after land is freed from saline water. This is a key factor in this area, as the salined farmlands cannot be drained (our survey reports support that). The plinths are higher, and hence present more chance to produce these vegetables.
The trainers bounce off some ideas as to which varieties of vegetables can be taken up in these conditions. The farmers are told about some techniques to free the salined fertiliser stocks from salinity.

Some trainees were thinking aloud that some options will require resources beyond their present affordability. PAKT requested them to leave that worry aside for time being and pick up all feasible options from the ongoing program. Subsequently these will be assessed and resource requirements will be discussed and supported by PAKT to the best of their ability. [Please amplify your volumes if sound is inaudible]


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq8pSXivEh0

Trainers suggest pumping out water from ponds to 'harvest' rain water for the alternative crop. In further discussions though the farmers say this would be useless. The drainage system in this island is abysmal. Drained out water refuses to go anywhere and overflow from salined canals would flow back into the ponds and farmlands. In other words, elevated reservoirs would be needed for rain water harvesting. [Please amplify your volumes if sound is inaudible]


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D9ok15O0_E

Trainers look to instill confidence in farmers that the options that they will explore with the farmers are not experimental ones. All of those have already been tried and found to be productive at areas similar to theirs. When they hear the names of areas where these techniques have been implemented, all farmer express agreement that the nature of their farmlands and soil is also similar to those. One senior farmer adds that amidst post-Aila despair they are seeing hope that some people are at least trying to support them in whatever way possible. [Please amplify your volumes if sound is inaudible]


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LaVNMk0Pu8

The trainers explain to the farmers that over the next one year, the thrust will be on surviving through to the next agricultural season. Hence they need to grow specific vegetables which can provide their family a diet and thus cut back on expenses towards buying food from market. [Please amplify your volumes if sound is inaudible]


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygAS1zXzIC4

Trainers briefly touch upon some techniques to grow alternative crop. In this video they explain how rain water harvesting can be done right at thelocation where the seeds of alternative will be sowed, so that the crop gets rain water during growth. Local mounding at crop location also helps non-accumulation of salinity at the elevated point where crop is sown. Expectedly these will be discussed interactively during the next 2 days [Please amplify your volumes if sound is inaudible]


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvYh9gDc7Wk

The canals for rain water harvesting serve as 'reservoirs' in other seasons. Now they are filled with saline water, and these are flowing into the fields to spoil the fresh water from rains. [i.e. unless saline water from these canals are emptied they will keep despatching saline water into the fields]. However it appears that these canals have no sluices into the river, hence emptying them may not be possible....can we isolate these canals at least, so that they do not 'send' saline water into fields? Also, the non-utility of the canal water will lead to the farmers not being able to get a harvest after the rains. People need to look at alternatives, even "personal" rain water harvesting if possible. Conventionally the ponds are part of personal rain water harvesting, but those face the same problems as the fields (i.e. backflow from salined canals), since the ponds are at same level as cultivable land. I almost went down into a pond beside the primary school while crossing the fields. Essentially, this feedback from farmers seemed to highlight that the cultivable lands and the ponds may well be the lowest points in the system with no drainouts available. If that is the case, isolation of rain water harvest canal is the temporary measure, and complete dewatering of that canal as well as of the fields is the long term measure required for next year's crop to be possible. [Please amplify your volumes if sound is inaudible]


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU6tprbJl8g

One of the farmers, Mr. Sarkar (I forget his first name), asked if they will get a certificate from the training. Surprisingly, he was trying to explore his career options as a full-fledged trainer who imparts training (similar to the role of the trainers in the current program)! He was requested to first concentrate on implementing the training into practice. He was also assured that if he is good at his work and is capable of communicating with people, there will be ample opportunities for him. If required, PAKT can then find a way to support him with the recognition that he is good at his job. [Please amplify your volumes if sound is inaudible]


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL-GucaRGG8

Mr. Sarkar was further explained by the trainers that there is an ongoing effort to make a 'knowledge core group' of sorts comprising of 4000 such farmers across the state who can train others. They will all be selected based on their work and their willingness to train others, rather than certificates. It has started with a meagre 35 farmers, and the group will take a long time to get fully populated with names. Hence Mr. Sarkar can always turn to that option at a later date when the immediate aim, that of implementing the solutions identified in current training, is achieved. [Please amplify your volumes if sound is inaudible]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF05l6H3xi8

Farmers make a request. They bring to our notice that Chargheri Abaitanik Prathomik Bidyalaya (Chargheri Primary school) is at one extreme of the area we are supporting, and it would be preferable for other villages if either Kakmari Primary school or the High school at Santigachhi is chosen as the venue for next training programs. We are not sure of the modalities to make this change work, and will need to have further discussions to agree to this change. However, the very bad shape of the mud 'roads' (if you can call them so) at all places in the rainy season means some have to travel close to 1½ hours on treacherous path to attend program at this 'remote' location. Apparently the 2 alternative locations suggested above are relatively more central to the area than Chargheri Abaitanik Prathomik Bidyalaya (current venue). However we make it clear that the current training venue cannot be changed for this edition of training. [Please amplify your volumes if sound is inaudible]


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJOm5ETgCsg

Trainers egg the farmers of the 4 villages to be "Paagol" (Mad) i.e. single-minded about the purpose they now have at hand - of making some kind of produce this winter from the pieces of land they have. They need to forget the odds against them and get down to the work itself. Our trainers try to inspire them with the fact that people from far-away Kolkata like us are making this tough trip repeatedly to support them. Although we all know that there can be no comparison of our fortnightly ordeal with their life-changing nightmare, it was the need to be single-minded that our trainers were trying to demonstrate. [Please amplify your volumes if sound is inaudible]


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN_aURqkmyM

The trainers ask the farmers to go ahead and do something for us (PAKT & their trainers). They are told that they can make us feel satisfied about this work and believe that all our efforts were worth it. We will be almost as happy as they will be if 3-4 months down the line a few of them can stand up and say that they have been able to bring about a postive change in their post-Aila condition by sticking to the guns and putting in the hard yards to produce some alternative crops. [Please amplify your volumes if sound is inaudible]


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaYfdoEj2lE

An outside view of the front side of Chargheri Abaitanik Prathomik Bidyalaya, where the inaugural crop training program is held. We are told that the dilapidated building on left side of the main block is a result of Aila fury. Also, we are assured that the continuation of training till Monday should not interfere with the classes (Even if it did, we would have preferred the school to remain closed for a day to let the training continue. Having this training is far more important than a day's schooling for young kids at this point of time)

Employment of some people from Chargheri at various hotels

We have missed out on highlighting to you the news of another important bit of support that we could provide to some people of Chargheri over the past 2 visits. I am including Kaustuv's email below which some of you may have already received. It is self-explanatory. This is a very effective initiative for which PAKT's Khelaghar and Biswajit da have taken a leading role.

Inspite of the desperate condition that they find themselves in, people of Chargheri have generally shown mixed responses when presented with the option of moving out for a job. Hopefully a feedback from the four people, who have already moved out by taking up jobs at Sikkim, will help some others make up their minds on taking up the remaining offers available.

--------------

"As per the commitment made by PAKT to the local people of Chargheri, we have successfully placed 4 men from Chargheri into Hotel jobs at Rinchenpong, West Sikkim. These guys halted overnight at Kolkata
on 8th Sep'09. On 9th Sep'09 they departed for Sikkim via Darjeeling Mail and on 10th Sep'09 they have reached the hotels at Rinchenpong, safely and in good health.

All the arrangements for these 4 men, since they reached Kolkata, have been done by the Hotel owner Mr. Dibbendu Ghosh. He has also arranged for garments, shoes and other necessities of these 4 men. At present these 4 men are working in two Hotels at Rinchenpong. They will undergo a training cycle of 2/3 months, after which they will be fully functional to serve the Hotel & its customers.

The names of these 4 men are - Harekrishna Mondal, Surajit Mondal, Manab Mondal & Ranjan Mondal. They are placed in the hotels, "Rinchenpong Nest" & "Norla", at Rinchenpong, West Sikkim.

This is just the beginning of the PAKT's Employment Rehabilitation program. We are planning to provide such placements to 15 more villagers from the Aila affected Chargheri area and hopefully this shall be accomplished within a month's time. At present, we are satisfied to be able to save at least 4 families by providing them an alternative livelihood.

Regards,

Kaustuv (on behalf of
PAKT)"

Agricultural Training Phase II

From tomorrow Second Phase of Agricultural Training on alternative crop cultivation will be starting at Chargheri. The first phase of training program, initiated during our last visit (on 5th September), was successfully completed on 7th, covering over 25 farmers from our five villages: Chargheri, Parasmani, Santigachhi, Bidhan Collony and Lahiripur. The training started with a great enthusiasm almost 40 farmers were present on the first day including a number of women folks. Trainers are happy with the keen interest of the villagers and the trainees are satisfied after learning something new. The trainers from the NGO
SWANIRVAR, Mr Narayan Bachar and Mrs Anjana Mandal, will again be back to Chargheri Primary school tomorrow (on 11th September) to resume the second phase of training with a fresh batch of 25 farmers. This time the trainers will distribute some seeds to the trainees of last batch so that they can start experimenting in the field. The trainers have suggested for arranging lunch for the trainees to ensure uninterrupted day long training and PAKT has readily agreed to arrange for the same. The responsibility of food and lodging of the trainers during these three days will be taken care of by Purbasha, our local group of friends. We have requested the trainers to identify at least 10 trainees from the last batch who can impart further training to some more farmers in the villages. This way we will try to benefit maximum possible villagers from this agricultural training program.

As advised by SWANIRVAR, the farmers will have to start working with the new techniques in their fields by October 15th. That is essential to have a crop of suitable vegetables during the coming winter. The seeds can always be handed over to them before that deadline but the key part is making hundreds of farmer families aware of what needs to be done with those seeds under the prevailing conditions.

The only way to achieve this is to train 2 or 3 batches of farmers through external trainers and then getting the rest of the farmers trained by these trainees. In other words, trainees will need to become trainers within a span of days. This is easier said than done. The first thing they will need to do that is some initial work on their fields with the alternative methods.

To achieve this, we have tried to make sure that the trained farmers start on their fields within days of receiving training. This is the principal reason behind PAKT distributing seeds to first lot of trainees this early. Subsequently they can train others in their villages about the procedures learnt by them. This is the only way to attain the target that by early October, majority of the villagers will be ready to make productive use of the seeds that PAKT plans to support them with.

7th Trip in pictures

Reaching Chargheri Primary school for initiation of alternative crop training program

Inaugural session of 3-day alternative crop training program for local farmers, starting 05-Sep-09

Local farmers interacting with the trainers during the inaugural session

Chargheri Abaitanik Prathomik Bidyalaya: the venue of inaugural training program for local farmers on alternative crop production

The still pictures from 7th trip (including food distribution camp and crop training) can be found in the following Picasa albums:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kaustuvlive/SunderbanAilaReliefWorkPhaseVII#

http://picasaweb.google.com/angshu2909/ChargheriTrip7Pix#

Crop Training Program: Introductory session

It is a matter of sweet coincidence that the alternative crop training program for farmers of Chargheri was initiated in Chargheri on Teachers' Day, the 5th of September. Furthermore, it was arranged inside a primary school, Chargheri Abaitanik Prathomik Bidyalaya!

The first crop training program was a 3 day session for around 40 farmers (including women from farmers' families). Introductory session of this program took place on the 5th of September in front of PAKT. The attendance was a little lower on this day due to heavy rains and cyclonic weather which prevented many farmers from the distant villages to come. [Request you to spare some time and look into the videos at the bottom of this post to get a feel of the terrain that they need to cross to reach any destination far from their homes on a rainy day]

A lot of effort went into arranging this program. The training was given by experienced trainers Shrimati Anjana Mondal and Shri Narain Bachar on behalf of an NGO, 'Swanirvar'. We liked what we saw in the inaugural session of the training program. Clear communication was happening between trainer and trainees. The trainers clarified that the purpose of their visit was to provide guidance to the trainees and to agree on some proven solutions, rather than imposing something new on the latter. The trainers asked for feedback from the local farmers to chart a way forward. The trainers also urged the locals to leave aside the despair they must be having within and be single minded on the purpose for which the training is arranged.

The locals too appeared to be eager to make a success out of the knowledge they gain from Swanirvar trainers. A senior person amongst farmers said that they can see the brighter side when they find people from far off people coming to help them. They were assured by us that they will be supported by PAKT further down the line in their effort to get a produce.

This 1st phase of 3-day training has now been completed. We kept in touch with the trainers over these 2 days of hands-on workshop following the introductory session to keep ourselves updated with the progress. Also, we needed to check that two of them were confortable as they too were visiting this area for the first time.

We are awaiting the detailed report from the trainers. The feedback sounds encouraging from both sides. However the amount of land that each trainee can take up right now is likely to be substantially lesser than the total land owned by him / her. This is mainly because of the absolute non-existence of draining facility to help empty the brackish water from their fields and ponds. This is so frustrating..... if only there could be some miraculous way of emptying the area of the trapped saline water in their inland rain-water irrigation canals as well as fields. Or a not so miraculous way of someone relevant in the administration driving to execute this critical need of these villages and getting the dewatering done from all the areas in the next one month's time.

Some videos of the mockery of a 'path' that we traversed to reach the school from distribution point:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoYrdUjo18w
A major part of our walk from food distribution point to the primary school (venue of crop training) consisted of plodding in the stagnated water on the erstwhile paddy fields. It served a direct reminder that if Aila had not happened then these fields would be sporting a lush-green-with-crops look instead of the depressing state they are currently in. Also, these are quite dangerous for unintroduced people like me to be walking on (A Purbasha guide was leading me along with Shri Narain and Smt. Anjana - but I fell way behind on both up and down trip). There may be ponds on the sides of these plots. Also, almost all plots have local deep cuts from which earth has been taken away for bund reconstruction work. On the way back I fell in one of those by deviating from the route shown by our 'guide' (the Purbasha volunteer) and promptly found myself standing in chest deep water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3JOd9nbeWU
In this video we are seen to be heading towards the venue where local farmers are waiting for us. This slippery entrapment is all that the locals have got to use as a road to travel. These mud paths are better when dry, in that at least standing still is not an ordeal. When these get soaked with rains, the mud gets really slippery. Any travel from one area to another on these 'concoctions' is like an adventure sport. To be able to travel some distance, especially climb up /down a slope, without having a fall feels like a triumph.

We from PAKT do it only during daytime, that too once in a fortnight on a special mission....and we still get daunted by the risk of it. Not without reason though. Sandeepan has already picked up a cut below the foot and an upturned toe nail in two separate trips while moving in the mud. And it is a miracle that the others amongst us have not had some more such injuries. The locals - they need to 'travel' on it every day (and also during the night if required with no illumination around) to go to dyke work, to go to the riverside for "bagda maara", to visit the market place for buying essentials, to go to the doctor, to visit the nearby shop for a sudden household requirement and to rush back home upon hearing that someone in the family is sick or injured. Children need to do it to go to school and come back.

Often these roads would have a break and the connecting part would be a plod in the inundated fields (including a treacherous climb down from the slope, as well as an equally harassing climb up). By the time we reached Chargheri, It had rained for over 24 hours and there was a cyclone warning. The location of this primary school selected as venue was near the distribution point (a mere 20 minute ordeal) which is at an edge of the area covered by PAKT. Hence a number of farmers must have needed to travel over these over miles to come to the inaugural program on alternative crop training organised for them. We were lucky that the rain held up specifically at the times we were moving through these areas.

Reaching the school: http://picasaweb.google.co.in/angshu2909/ChargheriTrip7Pix#5378309831895574290

The PAKT banner on display at distribution point

SEVENTH TRIP COMPLETED

A landmark trip for us. We could finally start our rehabilitation initiatives. The initiative was kicked off with the training program on alternative crop production by the trainers from the NGO SWANIRBHAR, and the inaugural program was scheduled with our visit. This was practically the main reason for which we decided to proceed to Chargheri on 5th, despite heavy shower and cyclone warnings and met the cyclone on the way.
Two trainers (Mr Narayan Bachar and Mrs Anjana Mandal) from SWANIRBHAR, accompanied us for the first phase of training. With help from Purbasha volunteers we could identify 50 trainees beforehand. Many of the farmers from far away villages and could not come due to the abominable condition of paths (if we can call them even paths) connecting villages during heavily rainy days like it was on 5th September but attendance is expected to increase in the following 2 days. The trainers met them in the primary school building of Chargheri and started the first phase of training program for 5th to 7th. They will discuss in detail the available practical options on growing vegetables in lands “poisoned” by saline water and guide the farmers to implement those options.
It is doubtful if the other part of the training, the practical hands-on training in fields, will be possible in this phase due to inclement weather. The condition of fields after these 2 days of rain may not help either. However following the initial interactions and positive responses from the local farmers, the trainers are confident that they can still be given enough training in the first phase for them to make a start and for them to spread the word around in their respective villages on the techniques to be adopted and crops to be selected.

Food Distribution
The food distribution was not easy this time. We have to take a smaller team (six only) to accommodate the trainers. Purnendu, a friend of Debajyoti-da joined us for the first time. The river was full of waves and from the mid river (where the boat anchored), the PAKT team has a tough time to move to the distribution point on land. The volunteers of Purbasha also had a much harder task in downloading and taking the rice and arum (kachu) sacks from our boat over the sticky and slippery mud. Braving sudden spells of torrential rains, almost 2100 persons came to the distribution point. With great help from Mahendra (he drives our car almost every time and join us for Chargheri instead of waiting in the car) and Purnendu, we could distribute almost 2100 kg of rice along with kachu and soya nuggets very quickly. We continued in dark till the last person in the line is served. The only source of light for verifying the cards was the torch lights held patiently by the volunteers of Purbasha. What is left (around 700 kgs of rice) will be distributed in the next few days by volunteers of Pusbasha.

Rehabilitation Program
At the starting of the distribution, like the earlier weeks we again informed the people that the relief stage involving food distribution will be over by 19th September and we will move into next stage – rehabilitation. Biswajit-da, our seniormost team member from Khelaghar, has already arranged for unskilled jobs for five local youths in the hotel industry. With not many opportunities available for alternative occupation in the village, it will be a good opening for them. Biswajit-da is trying hard to place another 10-15 people in similar jobs. With the agricultural training started, we hope to provide some restoration of the agricultural livelihood. As advised by Nilangshu, the key person from SWANIRBHAR, who responded to our request for arranging the training; the seeds will be distributed to the farmers by mid October. PAKT has already committed to bear all expenses for training and distribution of seeds.

PAKT Banner
So far we have not used any banner of PAKT. We did not feel it is necessary. But since our last visit we found that quite a few members of our extended team (everyone who supports the initiative), who could not accompany us, is getting confused that all things are distributed with a banner of PURBASHA in the background. So to clear the confusion, we just put up a simple banner during this trip.

Problems
Our main concerns still remain
i) Getting water out from the low lying agricultural lands. We know we cannot do it, but some initiative from irrigation department will be very helpful and we can motivate the villagers to carry forward any good suggestion in this regard. In the very least the backflow of salined water from these main rain water harvesting canals to the farmlands & ponds needs to be immediately arrested. If we can achieve at least that miraculously in the coming few weeks, the farmers have an outside chance of emptying their ponds and holding some water from any October rain to bring up their crop in the coming winter. The emptying of main canals can then be carried out in coming months.
ii) Proper restoration of the embankment. On our way to Chrgheri this time we observed that in some locations, the newly formed embankment showed signs of breach. Chargheri is still surviving, but not sure how long it can hold on
iii) Mobilising the government fund for restoration of houses. This is also something we could not help directly, but believe something needs to be done
We appeal to the people of extended PAKT Team and our well wishers to help these cause

Topics covered by survey carried out in 6th visit

• To assess further need for relief
• To assess if the distribution process was acceptable to people
• To assess needs of people for the coming months outside of food
• To assess impact of Aila on people’s livelihood
• To list common professions practiced in the area before Aila
• To list options available to earn a living after Aila
• To assess impact of Aila on infrastructure
• To assess receptiveness of people to alternative professions and to obtaining training for alternative earning options

UPDATE: SOME VIDEOS RELATED TO SURVEY

Debajyoti da's conversation with an earthwork labourer who used to cultivate land before Aila

"On the walk" Survey - part 1 of 5

"On the walk" Survey - Part 2 of 5

"On the walk" Survey - Part 3 of 5

"On the walk" Survey - Part 4 of 5

"On the walk" Survey - Part 5 of 5

6th visit: Food distribution and survey

PAKT completed the 6th trip to Chargheri last Saturday (22nd August). We distributed 1 kg of rice per head for a fortnight to the selected families of the 5 villages. We also distributed 100 gms of soyabeans to families having children aged less than six years. Like previous (5th) visit, we again provided a piece of arum (kochu) to each of these families.

In addition to distributing food during this visit, we also carried out a survey on a few pre-identified issues related to PAKT activity at Chargheri-Bidhan Colony-Santgachhi-Porosmoni-Lahiripur.

Purpose of survey:

(a) Assessing the effectiveness of our past effort at providing relief and

(b) Carrying out some ground work for the future months in which we intend to withdraw food relief but assist these people in more specific ways to get started at rehabilitating themselves, as far as our (significant) limitations permit.

The sample of people selected was not enough considering the short period (3 hours) we got to carry it out, but we believe we still get a representative assessment.

Summary of findings

The survey does not throw up any dramatic findings as such, and generally supports the expected. For last 2 visits we have been letting people know that we intend to withdraw food relief from end of September. This time we again announced the same at the distribution and also tried to spread the word individually during the survey. It was heartening to find that most people were supporting us to withdraw relief in the near future and instead assist them to get back to earning their own living if possible.

The subjects of survey and its outcomes are compiled into a detailed survey report. We are ready to share it with anyone willing to go through that detailed report.

Volunteers

Before distribution we put forward an important request to each of the 5 villages to facilitate implementing our future plans for these people: we requested that some of their villagers must now come forward and enlist themselves as volunteers for their respective villages. This is essential to provide smooth knowledge transfer via various vocational / self-employment trainings we intend to provide to people of these villages in coming months.

The volunteers are intended to be the direct link between the experts providing the training (PRISM / other NGO's / other sources) and the villagers that intend to implement this training for self-benefit, without any 3rd party bottleneck formation. [For example, we will endeavour to push and get each of these programs started the first time, but if subsequent communication keeps happening through us who visit so sporadically then we can become bottleneck instead of facilitator]

Update: The picture-cum-video story of the 6th visit is overdue. Apologies to all for inadvertent delay. We request you to check up on the snaps of 6th visit at the Picasa sites of Kaustuv and myself....while we put together something to take you to the live action of 6th trip.