We have been staying in Bhubanehswar at the Xiaver Institute of Management, where our main contact has been Dr. Shambu Prasad who teaches the Rural Management and who wrote a series of booklets describing the state of SRI in Orissa. As I have previously mentioned, our trip to Orissa has been to find out what worked here and to figure out what to do in Chattisgargh. Dr. Prasad reccommended identifying the actors relating to SRI in the state - NGOs, goverment, research agencies, farmers - and learning about their activities to assess the state of things before deciding on what action to take.
During the course of the meeting, he got excited when he found out we had heard of JSS through AID, and called up two of his students to organize and informal discussion about AID, JSS, SRI, and what we were doing. We talked with them for a short time, and they said they would send out an email, and we set a time for 8PM. When we met them a few minutes before 8, we were told this "informal meeting" was going to be attended by 60 students, or about half of the entire Rural Management program. We did the best we could to be informative and accurate, but there was some confusion about our relations to the organizations. Though we have worked with AID and attended their meetings and events, we are not members, and not incredibly informed about the details of their activities. We faced questions like "what is meant by development" and "what is your definition of social justice" (Dolly's answer about community got the only applause of the night). We asked after the meeting if they had somehow implied it was required, but were told that the students were just curious.
The next morning, we attended one of Dr. Prasad's classes, on Environmental Management, and they were applying the same type of analysis (identifying actors, creating a timeline), and it was beneficial to get a little more information and depth on how to conduct those analyses.
We spent part of the afternoon as tourists, going to a market described as having authentic tribal crafts. Many of the shops were the same, and it felt a little touristy. There are other sights here that we would have liked to see but didn't have time, especially Dhauli, which dates to the 3rd century BC, and contains the edicts of the legendary emporer Ashoka, who was instrumental in spreading Bhuddism across Asia. There are also some caves that date back to the same era that have some carvings. We will probably be back this way again, so we will have a chance to see them.
If you are curious about the books of Dr. Prasads, they are available online: http://www.wassan.org/sri/ - search for "Shambu" and you should find the appropriate ones. They are the most informative literature we have found on the state and growth of SRI.
During the course of the meeting, he got excited when he found out we had heard of JSS through AID, and called up two of his students to organize and informal discussion about AID, JSS, SRI, and what we were doing. We talked with them for a short time, and they said they would send out an email, and we set a time for 8PM. When we met them a few minutes before 8, we were told this "informal meeting" was going to be attended by 60 students, or about half of the entire Rural Management program. We did the best we could to be informative and accurate, but there was some confusion about our relations to the organizations. Though we have worked with AID and attended their meetings and events, we are not members, and not incredibly informed about the details of their activities. We faced questions like "what is meant by development" and "what is your definition of social justice" (Dolly's answer about community got the only applause of the night). We asked after the meeting if they had somehow implied it was required, but were told that the students were just curious.
The next morning, we attended one of Dr. Prasad's classes, on Environmental Management, and they were applying the same type of analysis (identifying actors, creating a timeline), and it was beneficial to get a little more information and depth on how to conduct those analyses.
We spent part of the afternoon as tourists, going to a market described as having authentic tribal crafts. Many of the shops were the same, and it felt a little touristy. There are other sights here that we would have liked to see but didn't have time, especially Dhauli, which dates to the 3rd century BC, and contains the edicts of the legendary emporer Ashoka, who was instrumental in spreading Bhuddism across Asia. There are also some caves that date back to the same era that have some carvings. We will probably be back this way again, so we will have a chance to see them.
If you are curious about the books of Dr. Prasads, they are available online: http://www.wassan.org/sri/ - search for "Shambu" and you should find the appropriate ones. They are the most informative literature we have found on the state and growth of SRI.
