Return to Pune

The group has returned to Pune and have begun the program in earnest. We have visited DST (Development Services Training I believe) and Annapurna. Both groups working in slum areas on women's development, empowerment and micro-finance but with different foci. DST establishes self-help groups where typically the women use their own acquired savings to fund loans or to guarantee loans while Annapurna is based on micro-finance, providing small loans to groups of 5 women who guarantee the loans to some degree. These loans were initally funded through grants from other sources (possibly aid organizations) although now the group is nearly self-sufficient in their loan programs. I realize these sound rather similar but I believe the differences are critical. Annapurna begins with the financial side (loans) and builds its other services around it especially its micro health and life insurance programs. DST seems to emphasize the self-help nature rather than the financial side of the equation. However Annapurna believes you cannot have the MFI (micro-finance) alone, that that is NOT the goal sof these programs. The goal must be women's empowerment and development.

Curiously enough, as a returning visitor, there is much that is familiar down to landmarks on the way to various areas. For example, a large temple like structure is across the street from a major slum where both Annapurna and DST operate. Spying this temple yesterday, I recollected it as a landmark from 2007.

Cultivating internal quiet is a challenge here. As I have a basic introverted streak finding the time to be separate from the group and have quiet has been a challenge. I re-realize how much I cherish both the green of Oregon and the relative peace of Portland. Opportunities for personal reflection, time for personal reflection are somewhat constrained, partly a side effect of a group trip partly a consequence of having a program and schedule. A friend living in Mumbai suggests that the reason yoga and meditation and long puja (prayer) periods are practiced by some is that these cultivate an internal quiet or peace that is not available externally. You must cultivate it in yourself otherwise you'd go kind of crazy.

We will be spending yet another day at Annapurna, doing some field visits to successful entrepreneuers who've received loans to develop or expand their businesses. Then we'll be heading back to Chaitanya which is in a rural area. This will be a return as well and I'm anxious to see how the organization has grown and changed since 2007.