Nala is long on looks and short on brains. Every now and again, usually between skunk encounters, I find her to be a worthy companion and will spend some time stroking her fur and scratching her neck. In these moments, when she behaves more like a dog than a cat, I find her to be a marginally acceptable pet. Now if I could only teach her to pose.
More often than not I have to pull teeth to get Maya to sit for photos. This evening I was surprised when she asked me for a photo session including her friends Fiona and Sarinnagh. The girls had a great time and I enjoyed the shoot which included some very silly photos.
It is impossible to take a walk right now without encountering something beautiful.
I found this flower during a lunchtime walk near my office. I took dozens of photos of different flowers each more beautiful than the last but settled on this as my favorite. Something about the color mix that I found so peaceful. I will try to keep my flower postings to an absolute minimum this year for fear of overdoing a spring cliche.
Today’s entry features a paper written by Maya.
The death of Jonathan Holdeen gave birth to the first generation of educated tribal girls in India. The Jewish millionaire lawyer left a huge portion of his fortune to the Unitarian Universalist church, of which he was not a member, with the understanding it would all go to the impoverished of India, a country to which he’d never been. Holdeen’s money now funds over 70 human rights and social change programs including a girl’s school called Eklavya Parivartan Vidyalaya, or in English, Residential School for Girls. Creating an education program for tribal girls proves to be controversial. Many people question the purpose for spending money on an education that shelters girls from racism, if they are just going to be confronted with it later in life, but without the skills acquired in free public schools, to handle it. The purpose for such an education is to teach young women of their rights, how to provide for themselves, and to teach them pride in their heritage.
The school was started 18 years ago in 1995 by Vivek and Vidyulatta Pandit, social activists from Mumbai working for Vidhayak Sansad. Vidhayak Sansad is an organization that pressures the government to meet the socio-economic needs of tribals and Dalits. (Dalits are people of the lowest caste in India and therefore the most discriminated against. They are also known as untouchables.) The Eklavya school is for tribal girls of Usgaon and surrounding villages. Today there are 243 students in attendance. They live, learn, and eat together for 10 months every year. 10 teachers and 1 superintendent run the ever growing school. Before the Eklavya school was created, there was only 1 primary school for girls in Usgaon. The reason for such a lack of schools is that parents don’t often trust organizations with their young daughters. The Eklavya school is possible because parents trust the association after 25 years of partnership work together. In rural parts of India, girls often have a hard time in school settings, but tribal girls in particular suffer unfair and harsh discrimination.
The Eklavya School is a necessary expense in order to have a safe and healthy learning environment for girls. Vivek hopes that by providing this school and opportunity for tribals and Dalits, the education can bring them away from poverty. In many tribal communities, the literacy rate among women is less than 1%. Among other goals, the Eklavya school hopes to change this number. Increasing this statistic will also decrease the number of tribals taken advantage of by educated and literate people. Also, this program shows promise to create new educated leaders and role models for the tribal communities. As one Unitarian visitor described a student at the school, “Pooja will be a gifted leader- all because there is a place to nurture and protect her and people who care for and love her.“ While not every student will become a leader, a few particularly gifted students will. They will not only lead, but become inspiration for the next generation. Vivek is the number one advocate of this message. “It is now your responsibility to empower your society.” Finally, girls are educated about their rights as Indian women and how to protect those rights. In the past, many tribals have been taken advantage of by government officials who use their power unfairly in the name of greed. Many Union activists remind parents of potential students that an uneducated girl will be vulnerable to exploitation and disrespect. For example, until recently, bonded labor was a major problem among tribal people. When tribal people needed money, the landowners in the area granted them loans and used their small plots of land as collateral. These people were left with the impossible feat of working off their debt in forced servitude. Debt was passed from generation to generation, because uneducated tribals did not know it was illegal. The loss of their land has been devastating to their way of life. This is why education of the tribal girls is so important. Graduates of the Eklavya school will know if they are being wronged and fight for justice when it is ignored, equipped with the tool their parents did not have, education.
Many people however, are hesitant to participate in this new program for fear of the change it may produce for the individual student, family members, and community as a whole. While the school does provide a safe environment, it is very sheltered from the outside world. The real world has harsh racism that tribal girls in the public schools are accustomed to. They acquire a tough-skin that the Eklavya students do not. This can leave the Eklavya students at a disadvantage when starting high-school and university. Also, many families cannot afford to send their daughters away. Most girls in Usgaon are the daughters of migrant brick kiln workers. Even though the work is extremely taxing, the wages are low. Every family member who can, must work to support the family. Those who are too young to work need supervision, a job often assigned to the eldest daughter. Those who do send their daughters are making a sacrifice, because someone in the family will have to replace her instead of working. Finally, the introduction to formal education can draw members of tribal communities away and into the modern world, thus threatening the tribal ways, tradition, and population.
While these arguments are strong, the Eklavya school should still be considered by families for many reasons. Firstly, while Eklavya students do not develop a tolerance for racism, they do instead learn pride in their heritage. The current director of Holdeen, Derek Mitchell says, “the girls can draw strength from their heritage instead of shame.” Despite the disincentives of sending a child away, many families are making the choice in order to create the first generation of educated tribals. Most parents do want their daughters to become independent and strong enough to stand on their own one day, these are the parents who send their girls to Eklavya because their future is worth it. The father of Jayshree, a former student of Eklavya says “…being educated will give her a good future.” Finally, introducing formal education to even more of the tribal communities can threaten their population, but not every girl will go to university and become a leader. Many girls will return back to their villages after graduating and spread their knowledge. Having strong, smart, brave, young women as role models for the rest of the community will motivate others to learn and step up. One educated woman can teach and empower the rest of her community.
Overall, justice means something extremely powerful to these girls, because they are truly freedom fighters in the present day. Their constant struggle for equality renews the importance of justice in anyone who hears their stories. “Zindibad!” (Long live our struggle)
When Maya returned from her recent school field trip to Washington, D.C. I never had a chance to see the photos she took. This evening I finally retrieved her camera and downloaded the pictures. She had a nice collection of images including these two that I really liked.
My injured hamstring is healing quickly but I was not ready to return to the pitch today. My absence was of no consequence as we defeated Lexington by a margin of 6-0 and have yet to give up a goal this season. I made good use of my time on the sidelines by photographing the team in action. The better my photographs have become the more my team looks forward to me being injured. Here, I have captured one of our forwards as he dribbles past the diving keeper for a goal. It was nearly identical to the goal I scored last week during which I was injured. With any luck, I will be back on the pitch next week. This evening Jeanine and I attended a potluck dinner celebrating Maya’s graduation from the Unitarian Universalist Our Whole Lives program. OWL helps participants make informed and responsible decisions about their sexual health and behavior. I participated in the same program when I was a teenager and found it an extremely valuable learning experience.
Maya had more than her fair share of exercise today. After two players were injured, her soccer team had no subs and the remaining eleven had to play the full match. Maya made her first header attempt on goal and it was not too far off the mark. She comes from a family known for its heading prowess and she may yet prove to be another in that line. A second performance of the Ugly Duckling ballet completed her day. Meanwhile, Jeanine and I found time for a nice walk through our local fields during which we discussed life after the kids are grown. Regrettably, that is a day we can start to imagine. We ended our day with a Bring Your Own Fillings Crepe Party. In addition to sampling some really good food, we got our own workout when eating and drinking turned to dancing.
Maya performed this evening in the Ugly Duckling, a ballet adaptation choreographed by Carrie Schantz Voiland, her teacher at the School of Ballet Arts. Maya performed with great poise and grace as Jeanine, her cousin Johnnie and I looked on. Nicolai is in California visiting with Kyle in Santa Clara. I photographed the entire performance and pictures can be found here.
I spent the entire day in Wellesley attending a strategic planning offsite at the Babson Executive Conference Center. I am responsible for Engineering at iRobot and support three separate business units. Pictured here are my colleagues in our Home Business Unit. I arrived two hours earlier than the 8:30 am start time to avoid rush hour traffic and to do a little morning light photography. I had little to show for an hour spent walking along the Charles River but am happy with the reflecting pond scene below.
When Maya returned from her ballet class this evening something was distinctly different. It took me a moment to determine she was wearing makeup which is quite out of the ordinary for her. She explained that she had come from a dress rehearsal for an upcoming performance and I seized upon the occasion to have her sit for a portrait.
One of the biggest challenges in photographing birds is getting close enough. This morning that was not an issue. This robin flew into one of the windows of our sun porch and was temporarily rendered flightless on our deck. I was able to take this close-up before it regained sufficient composure to fly away.
The trees which line the driveway into iRobot are in full bloom which makes for a spectacular way to start the work day. I have yet to take a photograph that does this scene justice and hope to make another attempt tomorrow if the sun and blooms cooperate.
There are few colors I enjoy more than that of a weeping willow tree in spring. A pair of my favorite specimens are located nearby, situated in front of a coral containing a pair of white horses. Occasionally they afford me a perfect foreground as was the case this afternoon. In a matter of days all the tree blooms will have come and gone making this a time of year to spend every moment outdoors. My soccer match this morning cost me an injured left hamstring that will probably put me on the sidelines for a couple of weeks. I am prone to such muscle tears but rarely suffer one in the act of doing anything worthwhile. This morning was the exception. I tweaked my hammy as I dribbled past the opposing keeper to score a very pretty goal. I now have four goals in as many matches and am tied for leading scorer on the team, a distinction that will be short lived if I cannot get back on the pitch quickly. We have yet to give up a goal this season and the team is on a good path for promotion back up to Division 1.
Earth Day is celebrated in Concord with the Musketaquid Parade. It features a variety of participants who entertain the crowd with all manner of nature-related imagery and music. This year the band in which Nicolai plays, On the River, was invited to perform for parade watchers. They did a set of about a dozen songs which lasted for just over an hour. I recorded high-fidelity audio and video and as time permits may post to the blog.
