ICA, Global Research Assembly
Chicago:
TASK FORCE V: Future Engagement
July, 1977
The third weekend the Community Health Pair in E1
Bayed was held and was a profound sign for the auxiliary and community
and perhaps the event of greatest potential for mass impact by
the Health Team. Held in the courtyard of the government clinic,
the fair consisted of booths from every guild demonstrating their
activities in relationship to health and booths from the Community
Health Worker Classes. The Builder's Guild demonstrated their
well drilling implements (all of which depend entirely on hand
labor) and a three dimensional model of the village showing the
projected sites for the combined shower/laundry/toilet/facilities.
The teachers guild booth demonstrated hand washing in front of
a marquee listing the names of the village families with children
in the Hadonna or preschool, the caretakers demonstrated
the five food groups of basic nutrition on a poster created by
Roberta Lapp which if we could swing it deserves to be in the
Smithsonian Museum. The Farmers demonstrated a "barrel garden"
in an oil drum cut in half filled with vegetables intended to
be used by each of the households to supplement the family diet.
The Merchant's guild sold shares in the new cooperative
store. Two of the most popular booths were the Anatomy and Physiology
in which villagers delighted in listening to their own hearts
with a stethoscope and the "Microscopic Universe" where
the citizens were profoundly amazed at the slides of canal water
and blood. The village men who helped dig the trench were especially
delighted with the ring toss game where the rings were the rubber
joint rings used to join the water pipes and the targets were
the upright handles of the broad hoes we used to dig with.
(Excerpt from the Health Trek Report, February 20, 1977)
Vaviharsh is a village of 800 people with over 80%
being tribal people and 80% being illiterate, but not the same
80%. As you drive from Igatpuri, the Tashil headquarters, you
drive up into the mountains for 25 km. Suddenly you come upon
a huge lake surrounded by mountains of many peculiar shapes giving
an eerie effect, One is an old rock chiseled fortress that looks
over the land. The clouds move slowly about hiding
this mountain, swallowing up that valley causing
many small water falls to run down the mountain's sides.
It was obvious as we looked over the village that
the first miracle had happened before we arrived. A road was cut
from the entrance of the village which before had been a path,
to the school house ground. At the entrance to the village there
were two signs: "Gram Sabha, Vivaharsh" and "The
Gram Sabha Welcomes You". They had white washed rocks, graded
land, and cut weeds to the ground. The central meeting area was
in front of a one room school house with a porch. In the center
of the meeting area was a "May Pole" with five other
poles around it at 70 feet radius. Strings connected the poles
and colored triangular banners were hung along each string. Palm
leaves were wrapped around the poles and the porch eves and posts.
A banner entitled, "Gram Sabha Viviharsh 22/9/76"
was hung at the edge of the area
The next morning we had breakfast and time began
to approach for the Gram Sabha. The villagers began to come an
hour early. We began the registration. When asked about the women,
we assured them they should be registered too. So the men went
through the registration line and then the women. We gave them
a name tag with a colored dot on it to indicate which workshop
they should be in. They carried their name tags clutched in their
hands all day long.
The government dignitaries arrived. We went out to
meet them and then began a procession into the village before
us. There were 8 village men dancing with sticks about 15"
long with a slack chain attached to each end and 3" cymbals
were hung off the chain. Behind them was a band with one man with
two drums strapped on him, one with a monotone flute, and another
with a flute that wailed typical Indian music. As we processed
in I felt Ganeesh had never been honored like this.
Upon starting three of the government officials,
two from the Tashil magistrate's office and one official from
8 neighboring village made opening speeches. The nearby man's
speech was very short. I then gave the "New World" spin.
By this time the nearby man had repented of his brevity and got
up and began to really let go. He picked up some of the New World
themes for good measure.
The attendance in the morning plenary held in the
center area in front of the one room school house was over 400.
The men and women sat in different groupings. All during the day
we had over 200 in the workshop. The workshop held on the merchant's
porch had a gallery of people 2040 feet away who sat in
the shade and watched the workshop. The group fluctuated in size
as people from other villages would drop in during the day to
see what was happening. The final plenary had over 300.
One snafu was the luncheon meal. They were to have
lunch prepared in the various homes and present it at the proper
time. When the hour came the men said, "We have no food,
for the women have been in the workshops." So they sent the
women to hastily prepare something while the interlude went on.
The women came back with food, sat down and ate it, and the men
didn't get to eat all day but they never let on at all.
The plenary at the end was a great happening. They
read very soberly all the challenges and proposal statements.
Then they read their story and sang their song which had a real
beat to it. I never will forget the look of wonder and sheer exhilaration
on one old woman's face as they sang that song. Their slogan was
an antiphonal yell that shook the houses of the whole village.
They shouted it over and over with great glee. Just before the
story workshop was over, I went by and they were writing everything
up. They showed me their symbol. They were proud of it but had
no way to talk about it. They really came alive. They then did
their own spinning during the plenary.
(Excerpts from a letter written by Joseph A. Slicker, September 22, 1976)
The community was ripe for the challenge that was
put to Tom Reiniger and the Chamber of Commerce by the Institute
of Cultural Affairs. This challenge was to carry through on the
plans for a 7week countdown to a special Forum day. Mr.
Reiniger went to work soliciting support from all citizens, groups
and organizations in the area. The first concern was: Is there
a purpose to the Forum? Yes, there was, since we all had hopes
and dreams for the future, there were many issues facing the community,
and some of the "road blocks" could be removed by group
action. How do we carry out a successful Forum? Total community
involvement through representation on the steering committee,
a grouping of necessary tasks would make the Job easier. Each
meeting brought new faces, new ideas, and new tasks.
The Forum day was a multifaceted community
day that began when720 members of the Hudson Bay band alighted
on a flat bed truck at 8:30 A.M. to play around town. By 9:00
A.M., residents started to arrive for registration and coffee.
The colors were marched in with 2 Girl Guides carrying the town
crest. The decor in the auditorium included drawings of grades
47 on "Our Community". Lockie Bracken, M.C. welcomed
the 90 participants; meanwhile in the Home Economics room and
kitchen, a lively group of grade 8 students were stirring pots
of moose stew for the community lunch. The noon entertainment
included a fatherson act and community singing. Three of
the workshops in the afternoon sorted the morning challenges statements
into the economic, political and cultural challenges and began
working on community proposals for each arena;, The fourth went
about creating a community symbol, story and song.
The Forum came to a close with the reporting session
on all of the work of the day, including the songs, story and
symbol. The children sang their Hudson Bay Generation song. Lockie
Bracken led a reflective conversation on the significance of the
day. Commenting on the day, Deloris Chometsky said, "My feet
ache, but I'm not tired."
(Printed in the PostReview of Hudson Bay, Saskatoon, Canada)
The usual way for a community to purchase a fire
truck is to apply to the Department of Municipal Affairs for grants
or to the Capitol Borrowing Board to borrow money. The fire truck
purchased by Lorne residents for their community last week was
done, in a completely different manner.
Lorne De L'Acadie is a community in New Brunswick,
bound by 10 feet of snow, 6 months of the year. Following the
week long consult of the previous week, several committees were
set up in Lorne. These committees each had a goal; one committee's
goal was to obtain a fire truck. The committee began working on
their goal on Monday, April 18. By Friday evening the fire truck
was setting in front of the church at the center of the community.
There is nothing so different about a community obtaining
a fire truck, in this case it was the method that stands out.
When the community learned they could buy a fire truck from the
village of St. Quentin they moved. They had no funds from any
government source so they decided to get the money in the community.
The members of the committee went from door to door in Lorne,
beginning at 11 o'clock on Friday morning. They asked Lorne residents
if they could loan the community money. About 15 or 16 Lorne people
said yes, they would loan money. While the committee moved from
home to home seeking assistance, someone was driving those who
agreed to loan the money out to the bank in Jacquet River.
By 3:30 Friday afternoon the committee had raised
$7,000 and was on its way to St. Quentin to purchase the truck.
Durvin Esliger and Tom Greyshock returned to Lorne with the truck
at midnight. The residents of Lorne are very excited about having
their own fire truck. There have been some tragedies because of
fire in the community and the nearest fire department is Jacquet
River, more than 10 miles away. The community is already making
plane to set up a volunteer fire department and some citizens
have already indicated their willingness to serve. Plans are also
being made to send some firemen to training school in Saint John.
On Saturday and Sunday the community was expecting
some of the firemen from Jacquet River to give them a quick course
in the operation of the fire truck. On Saturday morning many Lorne
residents were in the church yard washing and waxing the fire
truck in preparation for dedication ceremonies on Saturday afternoon.
Then the fire truck was driven through the village to give everyone
an opportunity to view it. It was also used to distribute the
latest copy of the "Lorne Voice". At five o'clock in
the afternoon, special ceremonies were held in front of the church
when the truck was dedicated and two flags, one Canadian and one
New Brunswick were raised. A new sign was also raised. The sign
says, Lorne de L'Acadie Human Development Project.
(Printed in Dalhousie News, April 27, 1977)
I look back and think of December 13, 1976, the day
dawning bringing with it glorious sunshine, driving away the dark
clouds which had kept us, the people of Vaviharsh in the dark
and away from the world.
I will remember December 13 as a day which brought
about a change, not only in my life, but also in the lives of
all people of Vaviharsh. Since that day, every person living here
seems to have suddenly changed. There was, and still continues,
a great feeling of closeness, understanding and cooperation among
us. We have never looked back, but only towards the future since
then. We have decided that this project belongs to Vaviharsh and
its people, and we will be responsible for the execution of the
many plans and decisions that were made. Every day there is something
new to see in the village and this sight draws me closer to my
village and its people. The discussions during the weekly guild
meetings give us the opportunity to decide together which works
need to be done for the benefit of the village.
A speech given during a community meeting told us that we would have to work hard to make this project successful, because it is our village project and this brought about some misgivings and bitter feelings within me.
I now realize how wrong I was. Looking back, I can
see the need for hard work, not only for the success of the project,
but also for all of us citizens of Vaviharsh, and finally for
the betterment of the entire universe. The village of Vaviharsh
will be a symbol to the whole world to indicate how corporate,
selfless work can improve the lives and outlook of people. This
is the Vaviharsh story.
(From the Vaviharsh Voice" written by Mr. Maruti
M. Ambaker, May, 1977)
ICA, Global Research Assembly, July, 1977 Chicago:
TASK FORCE V: Future Engagement
We are just finishing up the Shantumbu document writing.
We did this one out in the village, under a huge tent we put up
for the consult. It started raining right after the consult ended
and has hardly stopped. The tent is really just a couple of tarps
over telephone poles, so it's been rather cold. Although we did
the consult without any electricity, we managed to get a generator
hookup by the second or third night of the document writing.
Although every bone is chilled and you long for a nice warm house
and a proper table instead of this ridiculous scribbling by candlelight
with rain dripping all around and the wind making us think the
tent will blow down any minute, it's hard to get too wrought up
about it when the people in the village are so fantastic. Thirtyfive
people showed up on Monday morning to go to work. They did a 2
day survey to find out how many kids would be in the preschool
(over 200) and spent 2 days digging stumps out of a field so that
it can be plowed. All this in the rain. Six more villagers have
been in teacher training with Peter N. from Kawangware all week.
Yesterday they asked for a few people to send their children so
that they could have a practice teaching session; 50 showed up.
Peter did an unbelievable job, we could hear them out under the
trees.
(Excerpt from letter written by Donna McCleskey,
December 10, 1976)
... suddenly the busy center seemed hushed. Tom Washington,
one of the original Iron Men, died last year. He is becoming a
legendary figure in the community. One even suspects as one turns
the corner of Homan and Fifth Avenue that one might still encounter
the slight but wiry black figure slipping down the early morning
street, wearing the aging fedora. The "keeper of the keys",
Tom Washington daily toured the boundaries of the community, checking
the buildings marked for rehab and those in the midst of renovation,
as well as watching for dead and disabled vehicles, windows smashed,
tires slashed, parked beside the crumbling curbs. An hour before
Chicago 'a freeway teemed with sleepyeyed commuters, Mr.
Washington would be sitting in the Community Center sipping coffee,
deciding who needed to be called at City Hall to have the plundered
Chevy hauled away from Kedsie and Jackson. Few knew that Tom could
barely read and write. He carried his briefcase jauntily as he
approached some office downtown, dressed nattily in a green suit.
He would stand amidst the chrome and concrete until some decision
was made to exterminate rats or empty garbage cans.
... The first trash collection in 1965 is a treasured
part of 5th City. On a cold drizzling Saturday in December, a
clanging sound drew the people of 5th City to their windows. Down
the middle of the street marched a determined bellswinging
Wanda Lee. As she shouted to her neighbors, an assortment of black
and white people knocked on doors and asked for trash.
Folks turned out to clean the alleys of trash neglected
by the city; refrigerators, old furniture, the remains of stripped
cars. The city had promised to collect the accumulated garbage
from two vacant lots at either end of the community. At midday
an appalled policeman tried to halt the pileup. When a phone
call to city hall had convinced him that cleanup was proper, he
went away, shaking his head.
At the end of the day 5th City rested between two
mountains of trash. The city officials were shocked. They hadn't
dreamed it would be so much, and they said they couldn't possibly
remove it. But when we reminded them of our agreement, and respectfully
suggested that it really was their job in the first place, they
agreed. To dismantle the mountains of garbage the city had to
work overtime for ten days.
(Excerpts from "The Iron Men of 5th City", Guild 18, July, 1974)
A group of people who love Hanover County enough
to spend a Saturday studying its faults, good points, needs and
future prospects, met at Rural Point and came up with some interesting
ideas for us all to ponder.
The theme logo, "Pride, Hope, Change" shows
that this was not a group of soreheads who assembled for Town
Meeting '76 but people willing to assess the past in terms of
the present and to face the future with assurance. This is the
story they wrote about Hanover County.
Hanover County is the field in which Patrick Henry
planted his seed of independence. Our forefathers nourished this
seed to a young plant, and it has blossomed through struggling
times to a strong tree. However without the loving care of our
ancestors or their local leaders, the seed would have shriveled
up and died. Just as Patrick Henry and his peers started this
plant, our ancestors helped to care for it, and now the responsibility
is ours.
Although Hanover County, with all its courageous
history is a wonderful place to live, it stil1 has its trials
and struggles. We have many hurdles to cross and many mountains
to climb; but if we take courage from the foresight of our ancestors,
we will emerge as winners.
Hanover County stands at the crossroads of civilization
seeing a glorious past leading to a challenging future;
watching the solidity of the rural admit to the strong pull of
the urban. Standing in the vantage point, we encounter a future
of great risk, and in the midst of the uncertainty, see hope for
a county and for communities planned with care.
(Excerpt from the Editorial, Herald Progress, May
26, 1976)
The Gram Sabha at Sevagram never came off. Yet, in
one respect it was the finest Gram Sabha we have held so far.
In addition, it was for us a further lesson. Victory is what we
are after finally. The happening happened.
... By 9:00 A.M., less than 50 people were registered...
after we had exhausted the situation we told them we would be
glad to have a Gram Sabha whenever they would let the village
come out. They said they now wanted to talk. We had been standing
at the tables set up for the opening session of the Gram Sabha.
So we sat down at the tables and turned it over to them. It was
now 11:00 A. M,
They wanted to hear reports from people who had been
to Maliwada. As they started it was obvious that they had loaded
the situation, but the morning had taken the wind out of their
sails. The Sarpanch was the fall guy. The one who had said Maliwada
was like the sun, now got up and made a series of negative remarks.
Another person got up and told of his visit. Several said, "Tell
us negative things". He hit back at them hard. "Here
I am telling you what I saw and instead of listening you are asking
for negative comments. What kind of question is that?" At
a tactical time one of our 'iron men' friends got up to speak
of his visit to Maliwada. He made a passionate plea for the renewal
of Sevagram and what he had seen at Maliwada and that he had decided
to be an iron man forever. He clearly won that round and turned
the day.
By this time we had about 80 people. We told them
we could hold a Gram Sabha with this many people but it was not
wise. They set up a great clamor to have the Gram Sabha. They
said they were ready now. We again said no, that it should be
held for the whole village and that we would be glad to come back
any time and hold it for the village.
Our Director then told them that twice before they
were told they couldn't work together. The first time was when
Mahatma Gandhi wanted the women to work together with the men
and they refused. The second time was a year ago when Vinoba (Ghanhi's
spiritual disciple) came and asked them to redistribute some of
their land to the poor. They refused and Vinoba shook the dust
off his feet and said, "your name is a village of service
but you won't turn loose a pinch of land."
Now this is the third time as you hear our voice.
Are you willing to guide your own destiny? Let us work together.
Let us eat together. Let us get said now maybe for the first time
that nothing is impossible."
They all began to talk. "Let us all eat together",
they said. So we adjourned to set up the meal. That lunch was
a great celebration. Some brought their wives. They were so proud
of themselves and said this was the first time since Mahatma Gandhi
died that they had eaten together, and now they did what Mahatma
Gandhi wanted but never happened, brought their women into the
fellowship.
(Excerpts from a letter written by Joseph Slicker,
January 4. 1977)