"Field" Work

One of the most eye opening experiences of this internship has been doing field work in the rural farming communities of UP. WLC partners with seven local NGO’s to run programming in inaccessible rural areas of UP. It usually takes less than five hours to drive to these sites from Varanasi but it feels like a world of difference both socially and environmentally from Varanasi.

What strike visitors first are the vast fields of rice that go as far as the eye can see. It becomes clear that agriculture is the backbone of this nation. Everywhere you look there are open skies and endless rice paddies dotted by small figures dressed in bright colours working the land. It is a complete contrast to the crowded streets of Varanasi and worlds away from my life in Toronto. It was a bit of challenge adapting to living in a rural community, the beds were harder, often there was no electricity, we got sick eating the food sometimes and there wasn’t a western toilet for miles, but the hospitality of our NGO partners and the community made up for all these minor deficiencies.

The work done here is even more valuable because the people in these communities are at a greater risk of illiteracy and neglect as result of their isolation from large cities. The age of marriage is usually lower here. I saw many young girls, most no older than fifteen, with streaks of red vermilion powder in the parts of their hair, a symbol of marriage. But what gave me hope was that most of these young girls were enrolled in our Adult Literacy Classes. They had made a conscience choice to become literate and their families were supporting them by allowing them to attend the class. Many of these young girls took part in the government certified literacy test that WLC administered in Gorakhpur. Passing the test certifies them as being literate at a grade five level. It was very gratifying to hear these girls say that their lives have been changed forever by the ability to read.