Week 7: Field of Dreams

"If you build it, he will come," - Field of Dreams (1989)

I remember watching clips of a strange movie where a man hears voices in a cornfield and builds a baseball field. I thought it was weird as a kid, but the message still sticks.

This week I would be going to a village that has not been supported by the Sehgal Foundation. I wasn't really sure what to expect.

The villages I had seen so far had renovated schools, newer infrastructure, and healthy looking kids. I must admit, I was nervous about conducting a FGD here. How would it go? Would the participants like that activity?

Here in this village, I experienced the same warmth as the others. We went to a woman's home, and with the help of Manju the community worker, we organized a group of women to meet and discuss nutrition and WASH practices.

At this point in my internship, I had become more comfortable working with locals and conducting these activities. I have found that the best way to make the women feel comfortable is to be human. To treat them like I would treat an old friend.

Pretty soon we were chatting about all sorts of food we like and what food systems are like back in Iowa.

As we went through the activity, I realized how natural the dialogue felt. By being transparent and communicating instructions thoroughly with my group, participants felt comfortable saying "I don't know" and even asking me questions about the food we were discussing. Typically assessments can feel quite scary, and in that moment I realized that I had done what I had wished my instructors had done for me as a student; I made them feel comfortable not knowing all of the answers.

One of the girls was very close to my age, and she would sneakily ask he aunties what the answer might be when it would be her turn. I laughed, and mentioned how I would do the same with my friends when playing board games at home.

The design of the FGD was a success. I had wanted to recreate an activity similar to the style of a board game to communicate nutritional knowledge and learn about the women's perspective of nutrition as well, and it was a great succsess.

I also got a chance to interview some Anganwadi workers living in the village. Through our conversation, I learned that there is a lack of support for Anganwadi workers due to a lack of infrastructure and a disconnct of government support. They are required to upload data through an app on their phone. However, they don't have the wifi nessesary to even do this.

During my time in the non-internvention village, I learned that other NGOs had instilled nutritional knowledge in the community that was then passed down between family members, but some of it was lost in translation. With no stable support, there were some concepts that the women were less confident in. I was happy to hear that after the activity, the women had learned a lot and they were happy to know new nutritional information.

Our next stop was a village I had visited before. Here we would be interviewing some other Anganwadi workers and visiting a school.

The interviews went well, and I was very impressed by the improvements done to the school.

When I first came towards the building, I heard music and stomping feet. Inside the school house, there were about 50 or so kids dancing to a very groovy song.

Sushmita ushered me towards to dance party, and the students were kind enough to teach me the moves to the dance.

Speaking of Sushmita, I have yet to tell you all about my wonderful new friend. She is an consultant at the foundation specializing in economics, and although our time together was short, I will be sure to visit her the next time I'm in India. It's always a treat to meet someone who is also a cat person.

After my interviews at the school were finished, we went back to a familiar house to visit the first family I visited during my field visits.

After reconnecting with the Buffalo and interviewing the daughter of the household, it was time to head home.

The rest of the week was filled with even more adventures. That Friday, me and Dev went out to explore 3 museums! I have discovered that museum hoping might be my favorite past time.

We went to:

• The Train Museum! (This was extra special since my dad is a train driver)

• The Doll Musemm! (Dolls from almost every part of the world)

• And last but not least, the National Gallery of Modern Art (Absolutely stunning)

After a full day of learning many new things, we went back to the Big Chill Ice Cream shop one last time to say goodbye to the parrots on the walls.

And just like that, I would be heading back to Iowa.

Although the field of dreams is a film about my home, I think the concept applies very well to the villages I visited.

"If you build it, he will come,"

Where there is supported infrastructure, clean water, internet, and good schools, community and family will come.

It has been such a wonderful blessing working with the S M Sehgal Foundation this summer. Seeing the incredible progress of their holistic interventions in rural communities shows just how impactful support can be if you empower locals and give women the ability to educate themselves and their loved ones.

Thank you, India, for everything.