Salwar Kameez

As you know from previous posts, CORD is situated in a small village called Sidhbari at the foothills of the Himalayas. The women in this village, including the women entrepreneurs who work with CORD, wear traditional salwar kameez. As future visitors there, the GLOBASE India team wants to be sure to do whatever we can to fit in with their culture, so the women on our team have purchased salwar kameez for our trip directly from the women we will be working with. The CORD women have taken our measurements and handmade the most beautiful salwar kameez you'll ever see. Take a look at these photos!

Kicking Off GLOBASE India 2011

The teams have been selected and our projects have been announced!. Starting the day we return from the holiday break (January 10, 2011), we will begin an unforgettable journey. GLOBASE India's focus will be on building the entrepreneurial capability of the women at CORD through the following projects:

• Kangra Paintings - There is high demand for Kangra paintings, but there are few artists who are willing and capable to create these paintings. Currently, the paintings are created primarily by young hearing-impaired artists who work at a studio at the CORD center. The major issue here is on supply and in getting artists to do enough paintings to meet a high demand. We must focus on how to get more artists, which requires identifying people with sufficient artistic talent and interest and understanding how they are incentivized.
• Retail including Sewing, Weaving, and Knitting Products - Currently women entrepreneurs associated with CORD are trained on how to do sewing, knitting, and weaving production in their homes. The goods that they produce are then sent to one of the 3 CORD retail sites and sold to consumers, whose revenue is passed to the entrepreneur. The students need to evaluate the 3 sites for ways to improve merchandising. Their main focus should be on increasing the supply of all merchandise and maintaining enough product in the stores.
• Microcredit Review - CORD operates a microfinance bank where their entrepreneurs are the clients. The team will focus on completing a review of the banking process and the groups utilizing the banking. A few areas that will need further investigation include the competition in the banking community and the effectiveness of the microcredit arrangements.
• Vermi Compost - There is enough supply of vermi compost products as there are several producers in the area. However, the key challenges involves supply chain and marketing. From the supply chain perspective, the team will focus on identifying the best logistical process to transport the vermi compost from the producers to the marketplace. From the marketing perspective, the team should make recommendations on how to package the product and market it to consumers.

CORD Video

Watch this incredible video clip of our partner in India, CORD.

Visit to Old Delhi

We checked out places to see in Old Delhi today. We first went to the Gates of India and Embassy Row. Monkeys were playing at the Gates and overturning pots to have at the roots of flowers. I am sure they were the gardener's nightmare.

We then went on to the Red Fort, built by a mogul and originally connected underground to the Taj Mahal some 250 KM away. It was a very impressive building, but even more so were the markets surrounding it. The old city is filled to the brim with people interacting in markets selling everything. Chickens are sold and butchered in the open market along with goats and other animals. Jim and I learned that our Globase students will need to be accompanied by a guide and one of us. One Professor even indicated that students should stay on the bus or in the car in this section.

VERY INTERESTING TRIP!!!

Navjyoti

What a difference a day makes!!! We flew back to Delhi and are now once again in the city of Gurgaon at a 5 Star Hotel. Back in the lap of luxury with hot baths, luxuriant sheets, a pillow of your choice, television, work out rooms, etc.

We visited Navjyoti, an NGO dedicated to empowering women, that was founded by Dr. Kiran Bedi. The group works to start Self Help Groups (SHG) in villages with a core group of women. They use micro credit with each women putting in 100 rupees to start and then lending to others via Grameen Bank as needed. The SHG are core to the success of Navjyoti. While there we watched women learn skills to help provide an economic means of support to them and their families.

Navjyoti provides an outlet for sales of the goods the women make including; stitched items, pottery, paper mache, puppets, etc. Jim was inaugurated while holding one of the women's baby. She was beautiful and while smiling and gurgling, wet all over him. I have a picture and will post once I get to the US!!!

Bandara - Monkey

Bandara means monkey in Hindi.
Yesterday we were at CORD which is situated next to an Ashram. We went to the temple in the morning and while there encountered monkeys. At first we saw the monkeys crossing the road to take a shot at getting food in nearby apartments - a type of break and enter. Then we saw them playing on a statue of the Hindi god - Hanuman. I tried to take photos and finally got a good one of a large monkey in a tree. He became incensed following the photo and began to give chase to Jim and me, first shaking the tree he was in vigorously as a warning. He then pursued us from the trees and roof tops banging loudly as he went. It was very exciting as he followed a good distance and was quite aggressive. New learning - monkeys are ill-tempered with bad manners.


Daravana or Mujhe Baca'o - Scary and Save Me

Jim and I were muttering Mujhe Baca'o on the road trip to Dharamsala yesterday given close encounters with vehicles, cliffs and cows. Very scary drive looking at an inch between you and eternity on the edge of a cliff....

At CORD

Jim and I have arrived at the CORD center in Sidhabari. It is simply stunning. The retreat is set on a hillside overlooking tiered rice paddies, forests and villages with the Himalayas as the backdrop. It is verdant green with Mynah birds chattering away everywhere, cows and goats on the roads along with many dogs and some mighty cute puppies. We've even seen mongoose scampering across the fields and Jim has seen monkeys. They tell us there are leopards as well. We have not seen those.

We spent the day reviewing and visiting what CORD has been doing. This included meeting with the deaf people who create Kangra paintings (beautiful works of art created with fine brushes made of squirrel's hair), meeting and seeing women at looms, visiting the co-op shop and one site that is not working, and then visiting a village on the side of a mountain where we hiked to see composting and looms.

CORD truly touches the very, very poor. They have changed the lives of many women in villages but it has taken years to do this. It is emotionally moving and powerful to see some of their results and think about being part of it. Getting people to be self-reliant and empowering especially women is not easy and takes lots of time and effort but is core to what they are trying to do.

Dr. Didi is the visionary leader and inspiration for CORD. She started 25 years ago working to establish health care for villages and quickly realized doing this meant doing so much more. She had to deal with societal issues, political items, resource constraints, a very rugged environment and many other daunting obstacles. We've been privileged to spend time with her and get to know what a truly gracious, incredible woman she is. Her spirit in embodied in CORD and manifests itself through her genuinely, kind and gracious people.

Will post photos when I figure out how to....

Why Globase India

Some of you may be wondering why we are embarking to Sidhabari to establish GLOBASE India. Sidhabari sits at the base of the Himalayas and is home to CORD. CORD is a non-profit national trust that strives to develop and educate those in rural areas and empower women. Student teams will be working with CORD on a variety of projects including microfinance applications for women in villages and work with artisans to help develop markets for their products. Students will learn a great deal about India including its economy, culture, business, and people. We hope to be part of the ground swell that CORD has started in empowering those in the villages around the Himalayas.

While at CORD, we hope to understand if we can make the site work logistically for all parties involved. Sidhabari is in a very remote part of the country. I have never been but am told it is beautiful.

Arrived in Delhi

I have arrived in Delhi and have managed to travel to the Crowne Plaza in Gurgaon. It is a delightful hotel with a great bathroom. Makes me want to take a long soak.

Tomorrow we fly on Kingfisher. I love Kingfisher. They have great service and are always on-time. They could teach US carriers a thing or two.

I must have jinxed Kingfisher. I just received a note that our flight may be delayed by 3 hours.

Let me start this blog by confessing to being a Luddite. Here's hoping I prove a little more capable at blogging than tweeting.....

Jim and I are starting the journey to India today. Flying from Indy to Newark and on to Delhi. Always a jam packed flight. Last time I met a woman testing a Delhi Belly vaccine. Wish I could be a test subject. It protected against 7 common bacteria borne diseases.

I am waiting in the airport and am currently wondering if I could go back to Starbucks and order another Caramel Frappuccino without the attendant knowing this is my second time back.