03-24-2005, 01:02 AM
Was forwarded via email..
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->From: "shrinaath"
Subject: Time to reflect
Folks,
I urge you to simply give some patient thought to this long posting, as an appeal coming from someone who has a spent a fair amount of his adult life (more than 10 years) with AID.
Opponents of AID support to the peace march- please do not consider this as a criticism of your opinions, from a person who just happens to disagree with you on the issue of the peace march...
1. Respect for our Leaders and their vision
There would be no AID or ASHA without Ravi Kuchimanchi or Sandeep Pandey. Don't dismiss this by saying there would be other organizations founded by others- I'm saying this specifically with the full pride of how AID (in particular) and ASHA are different from the average "funding" organization or charity. The vision of these founders was not just to "do good", but to be a force of real change in people's lives. Having witnessed the nascent growth of AID & ASHA, I can tell you that it was anything but easy to even convince people that they should spare some money or spend their free time for working on issues related to poverty & education in India. Ravi (& Sandeep, I believe) was both optimistic, yet practical in setting up the organization as an open and debating forum (unlike some other NRI
orgs), with the deep realization that the awareness and real change should occur at least as much in our views & lives here (and through us to the extended communities) as in the lives of the poor & marginalized in India. Think about this- if you don't like AID supporting the peace march you can disagree, debate & worst case you have the "luxury" to just not support the cause or even AID any more. But what about the people along the border villages where the march take place...do they have the right to ask the armies on both sides to just get out? Did they get a chance to debate or vote on whether they want the Kashmir issue resolved before they can get a few days of peace?
It is a wonderful situation for us that people like Ravi & Sandeep have taken the "next step" in returning to India to work full-time for their causes. So when they, with all their excruciating knowledge of how difficult it is to raise money here or to raise awareness about various issues, feel that a particular cause in India be it the struggle against the Narmada dam or the peace march is important enough- not only for them to get personally involved, but also involve the AID/ASHA community in the US- that deserves a certain amount of respect and responsibility.
So when we raise questions about the "inappropriateness" of the budget for the peace march, shouldn't we first get a clarification from the people on the ground? Cincinnati, you seemed to have based on your vote on the fact that budget was too high for certain line items- did you wait for the clarifications from Sandeep? Others who felt that the march was a "good step" but just not within the boundaries of "development" for AID- did you then express your moral support to Sandeep & others who are probably placing their lives at great risk for the hope that many others may live in peace! What is your reaction when you read negative & extremely vulgar attacks by anonymous cowards on people like Sandeep- is it one of solidarity with Sandeep or a silent agreement of "he shouldn't have gotten involved in such issues..."?
2. Understanding of AID
When most of us say, AID should do this or should not do this, it is obviously because of our attachment to AID, but have we thought about spending more time with senior volunteers (senior in terms of total hours spent with AID, not just calendar years) in understanding what AID is all about- why it has taken up some issues and some causes in the past, and how its collective understanding of grassroots issues has grown with time & experience? When one goes to volunteer with most other organizations in the US or in India (including many of our projects)- you are simply given tasks- you don't have much say in what they (the organizations themselves) do or don't. And in many cases, even if some of what that organization does conflicts with what we believe, we just find enough common ground & respect for their overall vision that we gladly spend our time & resources for them. So when we have a greater freedom to easily disagree or opportunity to shape the consensus in AID, doesn't it involve a greater responsibility to understand the vision of our founders & senior volunteers?
New Orleans, you have quoted from our by-laws to "validate" your opposition to the peace march, but did you take the time to talk to some senior folks to find out what they mean & imply? You haven't even read the by-laws fully to realize that you need a quorum of "atleast 6 voting members" to take a vote! And do you know why we need atleast 6? Let's think about our by-laws more deeply than just using it to "validate" a pre-determined mindset we may have!
3. Accountability
Accountability to our donors is often the claim made about why we shouldn't support or fund a cause. There's clearly no arguing that we should be accountable to donors. But what does that accountability mean? How are we accountable to the marginalized & the poor in India? Aren't they our very reason for existence? To me, with respect to the nature of projects we do or causes we support, our primary responsibility & accountability is to the villagers, the Adivasis, the Dalits, the marginalized, the refugees (yes, including the Kashmiri Pandits), and the people in the grassroots who are working with them- our Jeevansaathis, Saathis, NGO partners and other collaborators. When a few volunteers from Boston & elsewhere saw that we were totally leaving out a region of India from our mission- the Northeast, they formed the Northeast Cell, worked very hard to establish contacts in the region, get good proposals and Anand Sivaraman even made a visit to the remotest part of Assam amidst threats of violence, so that we could do projects there- that's accountability! Before you bring up the plight of Kashmiri Pandits next time just as an excuse to vilify Pakistan, spend some time to look for a good, non-communal effort that helps alleviate their suffering or rehabilitate their livelihoods.
Not to say that we are not accountable to our donors- but there is a different relationship and there are different ways to show that accountability. We should show our accountability by working harder on our processes to receive & encash their checks, renew & protect their credit card information, keep them informed through our newsletters (Next time you feel accountable to a donor, write an article for Dishaa about the latest project your chapter has done!), keep our donor database updated, set up tables at community events to tell donors what we do, and so on. In my experience over 10 years, there have been very few complaints from our donors that they didn't like our projects, there have more questions about whether we have deposited their checks or deducted their credit cards on time.
Our accountability to our donors & to the villagers in India can also be expressed in the way we read and come prepared for project discussions, the time we take to learn more about the issues that affect our projects, the respect & speed with which we review and approve or reject projects, the care with which we treat their confidence in sharing information with us. Next time you feel accountable to a donor, make a pledge or plan to visit a project for at least 2 days in your next trip to India!
May the force be with AID,
Shrinaath<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->From: "shrinaath"
Subject: Time to reflect
Folks,
I urge you to simply give some patient thought to this long posting, as an appeal coming from someone who has a spent a fair amount of his adult life (more than 10 years) with AID.
Opponents of AID support to the peace march- please do not consider this as a criticism of your opinions, from a person who just happens to disagree with you on the issue of the peace march...
1. Respect for our Leaders and their vision
There would be no AID or ASHA without Ravi Kuchimanchi or Sandeep Pandey. Don't dismiss this by saying there would be other organizations founded by others- I'm saying this specifically with the full pride of how AID (in particular) and ASHA are different from the average "funding" organization or charity. The vision of these founders was not just to "do good", but to be a force of real change in people's lives. Having witnessed the nascent growth of AID & ASHA, I can tell you that it was anything but easy to even convince people that they should spare some money or spend their free time for working on issues related to poverty & education in India. Ravi (& Sandeep, I believe) was both optimistic, yet practical in setting up the organization as an open and debating forum (unlike some other NRI
orgs), with the deep realization that the awareness and real change should occur at least as much in our views & lives here (and through us to the extended communities) as in the lives of the poor & marginalized in India. Think about this- if you don't like AID supporting the peace march you can disagree, debate & worst case you have the "luxury" to just not support the cause or even AID any more. But what about the people along the border villages where the march take place...do they have the right to ask the armies on both sides to just get out? Did they get a chance to debate or vote on whether they want the Kashmir issue resolved before they can get a few days of peace?
It is a wonderful situation for us that people like Ravi & Sandeep have taken the "next step" in returning to India to work full-time for their causes. So when they, with all their excruciating knowledge of how difficult it is to raise money here or to raise awareness about various issues, feel that a particular cause in India be it the struggle against the Narmada dam or the peace march is important enough- not only for them to get personally involved, but also involve the AID/ASHA community in the US- that deserves a certain amount of respect and responsibility.
So when we raise questions about the "inappropriateness" of the budget for the peace march, shouldn't we first get a clarification from the people on the ground? Cincinnati, you seemed to have based on your vote on the fact that budget was too high for certain line items- did you wait for the clarifications from Sandeep? Others who felt that the march was a "good step" but just not within the boundaries of "development" for AID- did you then express your moral support to Sandeep & others who are probably placing their lives at great risk for the hope that many others may live in peace! What is your reaction when you read negative & extremely vulgar attacks by anonymous cowards on people like Sandeep- is it one of solidarity with Sandeep or a silent agreement of "he shouldn't have gotten involved in such issues..."?
2. Understanding of AID
When most of us say, AID should do this or should not do this, it is obviously because of our attachment to AID, but have we thought about spending more time with senior volunteers (senior in terms of total hours spent with AID, not just calendar years) in understanding what AID is all about- why it has taken up some issues and some causes in the past, and how its collective understanding of grassroots issues has grown with time & experience? When one goes to volunteer with most other organizations in the US or in India (including many of our projects)- you are simply given tasks- you don't have much say in what they (the organizations themselves) do or don't. And in many cases, even if some of what that organization does conflicts with what we believe, we just find enough common ground & respect for their overall vision that we gladly spend our time & resources for them. So when we have a greater freedom to easily disagree or opportunity to shape the consensus in AID, doesn't it involve a greater responsibility to understand the vision of our founders & senior volunteers?
New Orleans, you have quoted from our by-laws to "validate" your opposition to the peace march, but did you take the time to talk to some senior folks to find out what they mean & imply? You haven't even read the by-laws fully to realize that you need a quorum of "atleast 6 voting members" to take a vote! And do you know why we need atleast 6? Let's think about our by-laws more deeply than just using it to "validate" a pre-determined mindset we may have!
3. Accountability
Accountability to our donors is often the claim made about why we shouldn't support or fund a cause. There's clearly no arguing that we should be accountable to donors. But what does that accountability mean? How are we accountable to the marginalized & the poor in India? Aren't they our very reason for existence? To me, with respect to the nature of projects we do or causes we support, our primary responsibility & accountability is to the villagers, the Adivasis, the Dalits, the marginalized, the refugees (yes, including the Kashmiri Pandits), and the people in the grassroots who are working with them- our Jeevansaathis, Saathis, NGO partners and other collaborators. When a few volunteers from Boston & elsewhere saw that we were totally leaving out a region of India from our mission- the Northeast, they formed the Northeast Cell, worked very hard to establish contacts in the region, get good proposals and Anand Sivaraman even made a visit to the remotest part of Assam amidst threats of violence, so that we could do projects there- that's accountability! Before you bring up the plight of Kashmiri Pandits next time just as an excuse to vilify Pakistan, spend some time to look for a good, non-communal effort that helps alleviate their suffering or rehabilitate their livelihoods.
Not to say that we are not accountable to our donors- but there is a different relationship and there are different ways to show that accountability. We should show our accountability by working harder on our processes to receive & encash their checks, renew & protect their credit card information, keep them informed through our newsletters (Next time you feel accountable to a donor, write an article for Dishaa about the latest project your chapter has done!), keep our donor database updated, set up tables at community events to tell donors what we do, and so on. In my experience over 10 years, there have been very few complaints from our donors that they didn't like our projects, there have more questions about whether we have deposited their checks or deducted their credit cards on time.
Our accountability to our donors & to the villagers in India can also be expressed in the way we read and come prepared for project discussions, the time we take to learn more about the issues that affect our projects, the respect & speed with which we review and approve or reject projects, the care with which we treat their confidence in sharing information with us. Next time you feel accountable to a donor, make a pledge or plan to visit a project for at least 2 days in your next trip to India!
May the force be with AID,
Shrinaath<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->