First Week: Ubuntu at Work

Background: I am spending 5-6 weeks interning for Ubuntu at Work this summer. Ubuntu at Work is a non-profit, that primarily works in India and South Africa. I’m sure you’ve deduced by now that I am working with the India operation. I am stationed in Bangalore, a city in southern India, and spending each week in rural villages where Ubuntu either has or is setting up work spaces. Ubuntu strives to empower women in impoverished villages and help them lift themselves out of poverty by teaching them income-generating skills and connecting them to national and global markets. However, in order to enable these women to connect to greater markets, when they are located in rural areas, the women must not only be taught skills, but must become more confident in their abilities and must broaden their horizons. These are all things Ubuntu aims to do. The women with which Ubuntu works often can’t even begin to visualize ways to increase or supplement their income, outside of the ways already practiced in their village- agriculture, maintaining snack stalls, buying a goat or cow and selling its milk, etc. Additionally, these women often have little confidence in their own skills. The executive director, Vibha, told a story about a woman in one village who sews saris, salwar kameezes, and all kinds of traditional attire for the villagers. However when she was shown a simple cotton bag (like the ones you’d use for groceries), she said there was no way she could sew it. If these women don’t believe in their own abilities, or engage in new activities, they have little chance of changing their stars.

Current Ubuntu operations in India focus on making a variety of goods, specifically bracelets and cotton bags. They currently have 10 workspaces in India and are expanding rapidly. My first week, the other interns and I, did a lot of observing, shadowing of the head field worker, Harish, and taught English classes to the women, children, and college students in the village. Additionally, we started a project to help the women get bank accounts. The village we were located in, Kodagali, is home to one of the biggest Ubuntu workspaces. Thus, we were able to get a good idea of what the other villages can aspire to, although the women of Kodagali are no where near the end stage. They are largely self sufficient, however there are certain processes that they still feel uncomfortable doing without supervision. For example, on Tuesday, the women were cutting fabric for bags, using a power tool that could cut through 200 layers of cotton at once. Harish was the only one using the power tool. For him, it was a really important job, and something that was just easier for him to do himself. However, that defeats the entire purpose of empowering these women and helping them become self-sufficient. Being the daughter of John Kelley, having cherished building book shelves and doll houses growing up, having framed the side of a house and shingled a roof at SSP, was all about the power tools. The other interns and I convinced Harish to let us use the machine, and then guided the women in using it. A young man hanging out at the work space said that it was “men’s work” and the women were hesitant to give it a try. However eventually we convinced them, and let me tell you, if I still feel like a beast every time I use a power tool, I can’t imagine how it felt for these women. 

Vibha herself was the first advocate for bank accounts. Setting up bank accounts will allow Ubuntu to pay the women via direct deposit, which is easier and safer for the company. However, helping the women open their own accounts has a number of fringe benefits. It gives the women greater power over their income, mechanisms to save, and opens the door for attaining loans in the future. The women all vehemently insisted that they use their income from Ubuntu for their children, and try to save as much as they can. However, when you are at that level of poverty, saving is far from easy. Saving is always a decision. For (most) Americans, saving money means forgoing eating out, buying a new outfit, visiting relatives, etc. For the people of Kodagali, it means forgoing basic medical attention, fertilizer for their crops, or even meals. Additionally, many of the women couldn’t previously get bank accounts because there was a 500 rupee (approximately $9) minimum to open an account, which they couldn’t afford. Thus, we spoke with a representative from the bank, and he agreed to allow the women to open zero balance accounts, and he came to the village to help the women take passport style pictures and fill out the appropriate paperwork. The bank is in the next town over, Bannur, a 15 minute bus ride away.

Kodagali fields

We of course thought this was a great idea. However, here the importance of a micro, culturally intimate, perspective comes in. The women were initially opposed to the idea of using these accounts. They just wanted to be payed in cash. If they were payed in cash, they could hide the money and use it how they chose. However, if they took a bus to Bannur, their husbands would know they had money on them, and would demand it. The husbands would then use the money to buy alcohol. If they were to lie to their husbands or refuse to tell them how much money they had made, their husbands would beat them. For them, this was just commonplace. They were laughing and joking around as we discussed the possibilities. For them, their short term goals were just surviving. Just not getting beaten that night. How can these women even begin to think about their future, when they are barely living above the subsistence level? 

In the end, we discussed the possibility of getting them checkbooks, so they could write checks to themselves, and cash them at the Kodagali bank. We will of course follow up to ensure that this system is working, but we learned a number of important lessons. We learned that lofty development goals cannot be achieved without a micro perspective. No development program can be applied to every country, every village, or even every person.