Day 12 - Tuesday 21st Nov

Submitted by Martine Roussel-Adam on November 22, 2006 - 12:15.

It was an early morning start. At 8am we left for a project visit to Myrada. The journey was very long because our drivers got lost among all the alleys of the industrial area on the outskirts of Bangalore. Finally, we arrived and were welcomed with a good coffee.

Myrada is a big NGO which focuses on self help groups (SHGs) in South India. It supports 2,319 women’s SHGs and 10 youth SHGs.

It started Meadow: Management of Enterprises and Development of Women. We went to a village, Hosur, and visited production units of Meadow. Women members of this organisation are involved in a range of works like watches (assembling watch straps) and jewellery (fixing precious stones).

Titan, a watch company belonging to the Tata group, trains the women for six months to three years. Then, they are paid on average Rs2,500 to 3,000 a month, which is less than if they had worked inside the company. But, the profits are equally shared amongst the employees. It’s a way for these uneducated women to get a first job and to transform their social and economic status. Then , some of them can be employed directly by Titan and will earn more.

After lunch, we went back to Bangalore and crossing the town, we noticed much traffic. We arrived to IFA (Indian Foundation of Arts). Its mission is to fill gaps in the support available for the Arts in India and to introduce new approaches for Arts and Philanthropy. IFA has so far made 174 grants across 17 states. It offers support under four programmes: research by arts scholars and practitioners; enhancing the role of the arts in education; supporting artists and art groups to extend their existing work in different ways; performing new productions in theatre, music and dance.

Then, we came back to the hotel, had barely time to freshen up, and hurried to attend a reflection session. It was a very interesting time of sharing our feelings about the projects and the journey.

The day ended very happily because we ate in an Italian restaurant. For the first time for twelve days we did not eat rice and curry! The was also a very appreciated Indian wine.

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