Site visit report to APSA, Bangalore.

http://www.ashanet.org/arizona/projects/APSA/APSA-WAH2001.htm

by Ananth Chikkatur, Asha-Boston

I visited APSA (Association for Promoting Social Action) on the 28^th of December 2001. I called up Dr. Kshithij Urs a few days before and he mentioned that he would be available on the 28^th and asked me to visit then. He gave me directions to his place from the airport bus-stand. I took a bus from Jayanagar to Richmond Circle and then took a bus 333 to airport. From the airport, I walked a mile and half or so, periodically asking people about the location of APSA or Namma Mane. They were more familiar with Namma Mane. The area in which Namma Mane is located is interesting mix of Hindu and Muslim culture. There seemed to be plenty of people from both religions. The area in fact is called Islampura and/or Annasandrapalya. I passed by a large mosque and a temple. The area is a mixture of slum and pukka houses. I was not sure if the area would be classified as a slum area or not.

Eventually after about a mile and a half, I turned left from the mainroad and walk down the block to Namma Mane. The road has about 10-15 houses, all pukka ones. I went in and was surprised by the architecture of Namma mane, however, I was soon taken into a room and asked to wait for Dr. Urs. Kshithij walked in a simple T-shirt, proclaiming an end to child labor, and jeans. It seemed like it could be anywhere in the US. After a few formalities, where I introduced myself, we discussed his role in APSA and the work that APSA has done in Bangalore. It was only later on that I did find out that APSA has also an organization in Hyderabad, which also does similar work (Hyderabad has all the components of APSA except for Namma Mane).

Dr. Urs went to Bangalore Medical College and became a medical doctor. As with many of fellow doctors, he went off to the US, Seattle, to settle down. However, he discovered a calling in himself to come back to India. This "calling was too great" for him ignore. Kshithij tried a couple times of settle in the US, but was dissatisfied and came back to India in 1993 permanently. He worked in Namma Mane as a medical doctor for the kids. However, he life was soon changed upon the "Anita" incident in 1994. He moved out of the clinic and decided to work on social issues.

Anita was a girl from one of the Banashankari slums. She worked as a domestic worker and an agarbathi roller (Rs. 6 for 1000 rolled, Rs 10-12 per day). Hence she had no opportunity for schooling, and besides the quality of schools in her area was terrible. Her father was an alcoholic, which did not help either. Her parents one day forced her to go to Bombay for "better work". They all knew that this "better work" is prostitution, but psychologically they don’t want to accept to it, and believe that their daughter is going to Bombay for better wages as a domestic worker, etc. If asked, they would claim that they don’t know what she was doing there. In 1994, the Bombay police ‘rescued’ her and sent her back by train. This was done in conjunction with a Nepalese NGO, which was ‘rescuing’ Nepalese who were working in Bombay prostitution rings. She was sent to Namma Mane, where Kshithij discovered that she had AIDS, tuberculosis, and pelvic inflammation. It was clear what work she was being forced to do in Bombay.

Kshithij was moved by Anita story and started to wonder what he could do to help people like Anita. The key paradigm shift was getting out of the clinic and into the field, so to speak.

APSA, is a child rights and urban development organization, closely related with child centered community development. APSA has 12 projects aiming at a holistic approach at eradicating child labor. These 12 projects involve working with various organizations and gov’t departments and each of them take a very professional approach. Each have then own legal framework, within which APSA operates. Simply focusing on taking kids out of work is not a solution. One needs to look at the conditions that allow for child labor, especially the urban slums. The three main issues around child labor are child laborers, street children and urban economic poverty.

Child laborers – who live in slums and work, and street children – a) those who work on the streets, but have communication with their family and may even live with them, and b) those with little communication with their parents, and c) abandoned with no communication or knowledge of their parents.

Urban economic poverty is primary cause of child labor. The urban slum is a complex beast, with many issues intertwined, such as land rights, housing, water, electricity, crime, sanitation, etc. Bangalore has about 750 slums with 1.6 million people in it. There is much ignorance among the elite and the middle class about slum dwellers; they are considered as criminals, and perhaps even considered inhuman. For example, the top cop today in Bangalore, Sangliana has decided that in order to reduce crime in Bangalore, he will now finger print people living in the slums and create database of slum dwellers, because of course they are ones who commit crime. This is tantamount to serious violation of human rights of these people, and at worst is similar to the British Criminal Tribes Act, which declared the nomadic tribals as criminals. The life of an Adivasi became criminal overnight, despite the fact that this was their lifestyle for millennia [See many talks, for example by Dr. Ganesh Devy, and information about de-notified tribals]. Similarly, slum dwellers have now become criminals overnight, thanks to zealous politicians and police who don’t understand the true cause of crime and urban poverty in the slums.

One way in which APSA attempts to bridge the gap of understanding between the higher income people with the slum dwellers is under the Vikas program, which was started 4 years ago. This is a college-based program, where rich college kids spend a year learning about urban poverty and slums. Many of them have never been to a slum, nor do they know anyone from a slum. They are exposed to their ignorance and eventually learn about the causes for poverty and child labor. When I asked if this work was similar to NSS, Kshithij told me that NSS is an obsolete program and does not really work as it was intended. About 200 of Mount Carmel and Christ College students have gone through this program each year. Initially, they are exposed to their ignorance about slums via statistics and numbers, such as that Bangalore has 1.6 million people living in 750 slums, etc. [Even I did not know that the numbers were so large, although I lived near a slum growing up in Bangalore, and had to walk through it everyday for school]. After exposing them to numbers, the next few weeks are spent doing case studies, showing how they themselves are indirectly responsible for the good and bad in the slum. They are taken to the slums and learn about the why and how. For a lot of them, it is like visiting a zoo. The slum people are like the animals in the zoo, passive. Yet, it is very important for both the college kids and the slum dwellers to be exposed to this. . The slum dwellers may get to know the students as people, rather than as their masters. The students learn to identify the issues and learn about the three issues mentioned above. They are then taken to NGOs and learn about the various initiatives undertaken by them to help ease child labor. At the end of this year, they develop an ability to question their own attitudes, and understand the role of migrations and problems in the slums. Christ College has started a Center for Social Action, which has now become an NGO. APSA provides the guidance, training, etc. for the program, and the colleges provide the rest of the monetary aid for Vikas. Over the past four years, about 1000 students have been exposed through Vikas and other similar models. This is apparently the first time in which colleges are involved in long-term social progress in India. The UGC is apparently looking into Vikas as a possible model for implementing such programs throughout the country. In fact, a student Asha, who went through the program 4 years ago, is now employed by APSA for working in the Vikas program.

Kshithij then described the slums near Cantonment Railway station as an example. He called the slum an eyesore with no basic facilities, but it has 120 child laborers in it. So, where to send these 120 children to school? There are simply no schools around. And besides, even if there were a school, the kids need a home address, which they don’t legally have. The first thing that the Slum Outreach Project team (with 5 people) will do is to work with the Karnataka Slum Clearance Board to get the slum legally recognized. This will enormously improve the economic conditions of the slum, they are provided with basic amenities: water, sanitation, housing, etc. For example, the slums with pukka houses and some infrastructure are usually legally recognized slums. The Cantonment slums are not, and they basically contain makeshift houses made with plastic sheets. The Slum Project team uses the laws that already exist to fight for the people in the slums. They inform the people of their rights and the law. And they are also involved in improving the law, making it more people-friendly. The work is done alongside professional lawyers, such as those in the National Law School in Bangalore.

Apart from the Slum Outreach Project team and Vikas, the other projects are:

• Namma Mane – is not just a hostel for child laborers, but serves a larger purpose for educating kids about their rights, and gives them skills needed for improving themselves. The kids are selected to come to Namma Mane, after being identified by the Child Labor Project team (see below), and spend at most a few years there, before placed for jobs [See website for more info on Namme Mane]. APSA does not want kids to feel dependent on Namma Mane, and the general scheme is that ASPA works with a kid for about 1.5 years before coming to Namma Mane, he/she spends 1.5 years in Namma Mane and placed in a job soon after, and they are tracked for another 1.5 years or so.
  Recently, APSA has also adopted Juvenile homes using legal schemes available to them. Sheela, one of the 3 core members of APSA, is involved in this project.
• Education project – APSA is making an effort to ensure that children continue to attend regular school. In this effort, they hold classes in Namma Mane for 7^th and 10^th standard dropouts to make sure they pass their board exams. The CLCs and PCLCs are also part of this.
  Since it was a bit late, close to 3:30 in the afternoon, I was able to visit only two of the classes in Namma Mane, the 7^th and 10^th standard classes. In the 7^th class, they were discussing electricity in the science class. The kids were very curious about me and asked me a lot of the questions. The girls were more inquisitive than the boys. Not all the kids in the 7^th standard lived in Namma Mane; some of them lived in the neighborhoods around the school.
  Interestingly, one of the girls there was Sumitra, the girl involved in the Sumangali Seva Ashrama (SSA) controversy (http://www.ashanet.org/mit/Public/www/Projects/sumangali/visits/ravi.html). I was quite surprised to meet the girl who caused such a political mess for SSA. As I should have expected she was a very simple girl and was just one of the many students in the class. I did not feel that she had gotten extra attention or so, although of course it has been a year or so since the controversy. I did not wish to ask her about her experiences there without feeling like I would be butting into her life. Hence I chose not to ask any questions about her past. She told me that she was very happy in APSA.
  The 10^th standard kids were much bolder. Despite the fact that most people thought that my Kannada was not bad, one of them asked me why my Kannada was so terrible. J And I had to tell her that I don’t usually speak Kannada in the US, except at home, and hence it is in this pathetic state. They asked me about the US and about Asha. They all felt very happy that Asha is supporting the construction of the Kanasina Shale. I asked them about their upcoming exams, most felt that they can pass it, but not everybody was very convinced. Some of them were also not from the state, some were from Andhra Pradesh, and hence their mother tongue was not Kannada. Soon after I ended my visit to this class, the students were let out to play or do anything they want. Most went out to play, some went to the vocational training to do some work and some went to the Inchara room (see below).
  The classrooms serve not only as rooms for classes, but it is the place where the children sleep on mats at night. The green lockers in the classrooms are storage places for the children to keep their belongings [See the pictures]. Often on the streets, they don’t have any place to keep their things. Namma Mane helps them to learn to keep their belongings carefully and treat it with respect. The whole place was amazingly clean.
• Child Labor Project – The people involved here identify the child laborers in the slum areas, for example, the team identified the 120 kids in the Cantonment slums. They work actively with the Slum Project team and also learn about street children, and children with disabilities.
• Disability Project – The slums are bad for all kids, but they are the worst for kids with a disability, either mental or physical. This program aims that helping the kids with physical disabilities by providing with resources such as mobility aids, etc. They also try to provide the kids with vocational training.
• Child helpline – a telephone service provided for the kids by the kids, in conjunction with the police stations in Bangalore. APSA takes care of the East Bangalore section. The main thing is training the police officers not to automatically consider the street and slum children as criminals. They are informed about the laws concerning children and child rights. APSA has also ‘adopted’ police stations (including HAL, K.R. Puram, Jayanagar 4^th block precincts). This is one way for making inroads in the system.
• Micro-credit program – problems with credit rank very high among the poor. Self Help Groups (SHG) have been started by various NGOs for the rural poor, but a program does not really exist for the urban poor in the slums. APSA, along with Myrada (another big NGO in Karnataka) made a study, which determined that the poor need about $80 million worth of credit per year for consumption in Bangalore alone, which comes to about Rs. 10,000 per family. So, where to get this kind of money? This question needs an answer both at the local level and the global level. Locally, this leads to a huge exploited business involving moneylenders and sharks. The objective of APSA in the micro-credit program is show that the poor are bankable, even if they are not asked why the loans are taken. Usually, it is used to repay older higher interest loans, which the regular banks and gov’t schemes do not allow. APSA has now helped start 250 grassroots level SHGs in Bangalore and Hyderabad, with a Rs. 1 crore turnover. They bank with Sangha Mitra, which is a non-profit bank for SHGs built by NGOs for the poor. It was started by another NGO. The bank is a not a for-profit bank, but is a no-loss bank, i.e., its expenses and profit are such that it is self-sufficient. It has about Rs. 1.5 Crore corpus.
• Nava Jeevana Nilaya – is a working women’s hostel (> 18 years) for graduates of Namma Mane who choose not to go back home.
• Vocational training project – apart from teaching preparatory classes for the 7^th and 10^th standards, APSA has vocational training. I visited these classes. They have a tailoring unit, which has about 10-15 machines along with screen-printing. They have gotten a contract with the Taj hotel, and they make their pillows, towels, etc. The linkage with the local industries has clearly helped the APSA cause and also has gotten them publicity. In addition, they have about 8 computers, which they use for desktop publishing classes. I was told that the kids are trained here fare very well compared to those who pay a lot more to go to such classes. They are doing well in the market. The computers were donated and upgraded by the former class members who graduated out of the APSA vocational training classes. Hence there is good rapport with alumni, and they feel strongly about the place to contribute back to APSA. Vishy (an Asha volunteer from Texas Instruments who has done the past visits for APSA) has also contributed by providing them with resources to ASPA, in particular he has helped them get the services of Janardhan, who also works in Texas Instruments. Janardhan has taken over the upkeep and maintenance of the computers. In addition, he has taken a lead in their electronics outfit. The kids currently built voltage stabilizers, an essential component for running sensitive electronic devices due to voltage fluctuations that are inherent in Indian electricity. Janardhan has them building the components of the device, including a printed circuit board upon which they install small electronic components. Kshithij told me that it is hard to keep Janardhan way from APSA; they have to pry him off and force him to go home. The kids, in learning to build these electronic devices, learn not just how to put things together, but also know how they work. This kind of work is excellent, and is not even done in electronics classes here in the US. They plan to sell these devices for profit. Apparently, they have also identified a market for these devices. The kids are encouraged to join any of these classes that interest them. The variety of the vocational classes that are offered is simply incredible. In most other places that I visited, they had only one or two such vocations, either tailoring classes or silk weaving or something. Nothing compared to the variety here. I was very impressed, especially with the electronic class.
• Inchara project – In addition to the vocational programs mentioned above, there is a cultural activist works with children and teaches them painting, artwork, sculptures and murals. I saw some of the work done by the kids in their sculpture class. I was very impressed with some of them. So, kids who are interested in the arts are also encouraged. It is not just the vocations that matter, but the usually neglected arts are also taught. There is a room, in which the kids attend the art and painting classes. A lot of kids usually want to hang out in this room, it seems. They find it a lot of fun.
  In addition, there is also an effort to identify and rejuvenate the cultural customs of the coolies: their songs, dances, etc.
• PCLC/CLC – APSA runs potential child labor centers (PCLC) and child labor centers (CLC) in the neighboring areas. Asha is supporting two PCLCs in Marathalli (which I visited, see below) and Koremangala. The PCLCs are extra tuition classes for the 7^th and 10^th standard for students in the village. These classes ensure that the kids do not fail and end up at the doorsteps of child labor. This is a preventive measure. The Norwegian group, FORUT supports the CLCs, and are non-formal classes held for kids who have no choice but to work as child laborers. I visited one of them in Marathalli, see my notes below.
• Kanasina Shale (Dream School)– APSA is currently engaged in building a new formal school nearby Namma Mane exclusively for child laborers and slum children. It will cater to the slums around the airport (about 8-9 slums, both legal and illegal). Half of the WAH2001 money is being dedicated for this school. When I visited, the school was under construction, the foundation was being laid. The construction was started in November 2001 and should be completed by May 2002. In fact, a lorry with sand had just pulled up and some of the kids along with a few construction workers were helping to distribute the sand along the foundation. I found it a bit ironic that the kids, who are being saved from child labor elsewhere, were being put to work for the dream school. I pointed this out to Kshithij, who remarked that this was a very unusual situation, and this never usually happens, but the kids are very anxious about their school and want to help it come to fruition. He told me that the children have participated enormously for this school. Their insights, wishes and approval have been taken into account from the architecture of the school building, to the classrooms and curricula. They in fact worked with the architects in designing the structure. This process was similar to the construction of Namma Mane, where children’s advice and views were sought and implemented. Indeed, the design of Namma Mane was very unique, and hence I am curious to see the final outcome of Kanasina Shale structure. The kids also had given up a part of their playground for the school; the playground is now cut in half. While some of the older kids helped out and rest of them were playing in the field. Every kid that I spoke to in Namma Mane was very excited about the school. They felt a deep pride in it and its construction. They think of it as their own. All of the younger ones longed to study there and the older ones were a bit disheartened that they won’t be studying there, but really wanted it for the younger ones. Kshithij hopes that this school will serve as a model for other schools for child laborers around Bangalore and the country. He felt that a model is very important in Indian situation. It is easy to have a theory for development or schooling, but it is important to go through the process of implementing this theory into practice in the real world. A workable and visual model is very important for people to accept a new idea. It is the same with Namma Mane and will be the same with Kanasina Shale.
  In addition to the school, APSA has already adopted the Marathalli gov’t school under the Karnataka gov’t adoption scheme [see Melli’s report] and they are in the process of adopting 5 other schools by 2002. The Kanasina Shale will also provide training for the gov’t school teachers. The child labor project is responsible for this adoption work.

During the months of December and January, APSA is involved in a review of the past year’s activities and planning for the next year. There are presentations about the work and there is an external review of their performance and future plans by about 24-36 members in January. Between 5:30 and 6, the staff including Kshithij was involved in setting up a timetable for the review process. The staff argued with Kshithij to get their points across and were not afraid of speaking up to him I felt they did not have much hierarchical structure in the group, and expressed their views freely. APSA also helps its internal people start new organizations by giving them all the info they need in their endeavors.

My visit to APSA ended with a ride to the nearest bus stop, where I got on another bus going further up the airport with Balaraj to Marathalli. Balaraj, along with Subramanya are the coordinators for all of the child labor activities including PCLCs. The Marathalli PCLC is run by two teachers, both with M.Ed., Shivaji and Malthesh. There are 25 kids registered in the 10^th standard class and about 17-18 come regularly, in the 7^th 42 are registered and about 30-35 come regularly. The kids who come to the PCLC are mainly SC/ST: Adi-Karnatakas, Adi-Dravida, Gollas (a backward tribe) and a few Christians and Muslims. In the second PCLC in Koremangala there are two teachers as well, one with B.Ed. and M.A. and another with B.Sc. In the 10^th standard, there are 10 registered students and about 8 show up regularly, and in the 7^th, 20 are registered and 16 show up regularly. [I got the above info from Balaraj]

From the main road, we walked about a kilometer or so, and reached the school grounds. Although it was dark, I was able to make out that the building had about 5-6 rooms and a large playground in front of it. The two classes were held in two of the classrooms. During the day the building serves as the primary school for the area. The school is located in the Sanjaynagara slums of Marathalli. Given the pukka structure for the school and working blackboards, it seems that the funding from the gov’t school is adequate. However, I failed to ask them why there was no compound for the school property and if there were any toilets. In addition, I don’t know if the school has water supply. In slum area, there was a mixture of pukka houses and makeshift houses, however there was a borewell, electricity and a school, all of which implies that the slum is legally recognized. Marathalli and the surrounding areas have about 80-85% Dalit, SC/ST, Muslim and Christians, and the rest 15-20% belong to the upper castes.

The 7^th standard students were very interested in talking to me. We discussed the world trade center collapse. I asked them what and how they knew about it. All of them told me that they were saddened by it, and they watched it on TV. It is interesting that they were more aware of the WTC crash due to the media hype, whereas their own conditions are as worse and their oppression has lasted for millennia. Perhaps some of them were just telling me that to impress me about what they know. I asked them if they felt that the classes were helpful, all of them nodded a yes. The girls were much more curious here than the boys.

The 10^th standard students were much bolder. The teacher had a harder time disciplining them. The boys considered my visit to be a time to fool around. The boys were quite rude to him and the girls, and were playing around most of the time. Some of them asked me how I had gone to the US, and why I was here. After explaining, one of them asked me how he can come there as well and asked me if I take him with me. The US, it seems, is as much in their minds as in any middle class student at their age. The girls in the class seemed much smarter and I was impressed by their ambitions. One of them wanted to become a doctor; another just wanted to go to college. They asked me what I do for hobbies and I mentioned that I am learning Danka, a martial arts from Jharkhand. While I expected them not to know about Danka, I was a bit surprised to learn that they had no idea where or what Jharkhand was. Even the teacher seemed a bit puzzled to hear the name. I explained to them that it was state in the Indian Union, and drew a rough map of India locating Jharkhand, explaining to them that it was formed recently (8-10 years ago). The teacher then nodded his head. Perhaps Jharkhand was only mentioned in their history or civics classes quite casually without any connection to the people or the culture there. This is indicative of a disconnect between the syllabus and its relevance to their lives. When asked about the usefulness of the PCLCs, they told me that they all might have passed without the PCLC, but now with it they can get first class. They were quite confident of this view. Strangely, some of the boys and the teacher also wanted my autograph and address. I tried my best to get out this predicament, but eventually had to oblige them by signing my name in their notebooks, and gave my name and address to the teacher, Malthesh.

Finally, I took leave of the classes and walked back to the bus stop. On the way, we stopped into the CLC, located in Manjunathnagara slum. The teacher for the CLC is Prabhu, who is a SSLC pass from Marathalli. He is also a former student at APSA and is now currently working for APSA part time at the CLC and in the electronics section. The children were actually kept there longer than usual, expecting my visit. I was a bit saddened to hear this: the consequences of a visitor are greater than I initially appreciated. Unfortunately, I could not stay for long. I talked to kids about the CLC and asked if they liked it. Some of them nodded their heads. All of the kids there ranged from ages 7-14 or so, and they all worked! I asked a few of them what they do; some of the work in a hotel, as a mechanic, as a domestic worker, etc. And all of them without exception told me that the reason was "difficulty at home". One of the kids really moved me. He was a little boy of maybe 7-8 years old and he worked in a hotel nearby. He was so tired and his eyes were deep and melancholy. It was depressing the blackness around his eyes. I couldn’t help but contrast his life with what my, or my cousins’, life at his age. While we in the middle class were living out our childhood, here is this little boy earning wages for his survival to abate the "difficulties" in his home. The contrast between middle class India (or the US) and the poor India is bleak.

Balaraj and I discussed APSA and his life there during the bus ride. He told me that he has a M.S.W. and is paid Rs. 3000 per month including transportation costs. Subramanya, the other coordinator, is paid Rs. 2300. He travels about 1.5 hours each way everyday to this area to work. He works with the local community and encourages the parents to send their kids to school and impresses upon them that education is important. He does homevisits. He told me that the parents’ main occupation is coolie work. We parted at Richmond Circle and I took a rickshaw home.

APSA is doing very impressive work. It was more of an educational experience for me. I would like to spend some more time with the kids the next time I visit. Their interactions with Asha and their alignment with Asha principles are excellent. Given that Asha is only their second funding source, we have a good chance for building a long-term relationship with them. I would highly encourage further funding for APSA and in addition, we can learn a lot from their work. There are lots of child labor projects that Asha is funding; we can use APSA as a standard and as a resource for other projects to look into.