The State of SEEDS -- a Report Priyadarsan Patra Genesis of the Sustainable Economic and Educational Development Society (SEEDS) lies at the door of the compassionate, responsible pangs of conscience that many of you share.. Yet, SEEDS, while appreciating the import of benevolent charity, rather emphasizes the need and desire for a catalytic, reasoned involvement in sustainable and equitable development of the people. While what sparked many of the SEEDS members/supporters might have been the cries of the dispossessed in Kalahandi-Bolangir, the real issue at stake is the basic human rights and decency of obtaining a few square meals, basic sanitation and the right to not remain illiterate. What better way than to think globally and act locally by lending a sustained helping hand to some of these most unprivileged from our own towns & villages we have left behind? Thus, the mission of SEEDS is to give expression to our often muted urge to help the less fortunate among us, .. to educate and sensitize ourselves to the problems of inequity, and to possibly harness that most potent energy of all -- the activism of the younger generation to devote a part of their active life to face the socio-economic maladies gravely eroding the human fabric. To this end, we adopt and try to closely work with appropriate "development" projects in Orissa. In the following, I will briefly describe the projects, financial status and our present needs. Well, how far have we come? Over the last 30 months, we have cajoled and excited scores of people, eclectic in age and interest, to chip in, share and chat about the non-proselytizing philosophy of SEEDS. We periodically publish a newsletter Ankur on SEEDS activities and news on development, etc. We also engage in dialogues with many people and groups around the world who find our philosophy and work interesting. However, perhaps the most tangible part of our activism is the few projects we undertake in Orissa. The Lanjigarh Project run by Vanabasi Kalyan Ashram (VKA): This project involves establishment of one-teacher schools in 10 tribal panchayats in Lanjigarh area of Kalahandi district. (Please see the previous reports for details on the purpose and content of the project.) Our commitment was for 15 such schools and for an experiment with fruit sapling nursery. However, VKA which is part of a national organization, Akhila Bharatiya Vanabasi Kalyan Ashram, has a laudable goal of expanding it to over 25 schools in Lanjigarh this year. Dr. Umakant Choudhury and this author had visited several Lanjigarh project villages for two days in December, 1994 and Dr. Dhanada Mishra had toured the area as late as September, 1995. The progress and content of the schools seemed very satisfactory to these visitors among us. The tribal villagers seemed thrilled about the project despite the fact that they don't receive any direct monetary benefit and that they have to send their children to the schools who would otherwise have perhaps helped them with many chores. The last report from VKA notes regular functioning of 20 such schools and their audit report as of last year shows a total expenditure of Rs. 70,275 on this project since the start. For lack of space, We present data on first four of the 20 one-teacher schools, as provided by VKA, in Table 1. TABLE 1. Village Gram Panchayat No. of Students Name of Teacher ------- -------------- --------------- --------------- Melghutu Biswanathpur 34 Pabitra Bibhar Sulim Biswanathpur 40 Mahendra Harpal Matkera Lanji 45 Kanhu Ch. Sahoo Kuburi Bandhpari 30 Butuka Majhi Quoting from Dhanada's October, 1995 report to us: "Before visiting Lanjigarh I met Bharat Agrawal and almost all other members of VKA (Vanabasi Kalyan Ashram) on separate occasions. I have been also receiving copies of their correspondence including the last years audited accounts and so on. Also I attended parts of VKA's all Orissa Adivasi Khel-kud competition held recently in Bhubaneswar. It was a big event with over 300 participants from all the Adivasi districts of Orissa brought to Bhubaneswar for three days to participate in traditional sporting events as well as non-traditional Vanabasi games.. Some of these promising sports persons will be sent to participate in the All India event in Rajasthan later this year. Limbaram, one of India's ace Olympian archer was a find of one such effort in the past of VKA's Khel kendra program to spot talent among Vanabasis... Mr. Kamalesh kumar arranged my one day trip. I arrived at Bhawanipatna in the morning of 29th and met Kamalesh. We then proceeded to Biswanathpur by bus. VKA now has rented a small house at Biswanathpur as their headquarters for our project. I met many of the 28 teachers that are now working in our schools. The office has some maps and charts showing the details of our project and its progress. Afterwards Kamalesh arranged for bikes and we visited two schools. Our attempt to visit a third school was unsuccessful as our bike got a flat tyre on the way. The two schools I visited highly impressed me. The first one was on the way to Lanjigarh and operates on the premises of a village temple. The children (30 odd) were very enthusiastic and the neatly maintained attendance register showed good attendance. The teachers have been supplied with some wall charts to teach alphabets and other basic things. The class has already learnt a lot of songs and games. Most of them have been given slates and books, and the rest have their own. The village committee was very thankful for our work and promised all help in the future." On the other hand, we also noticed that VKA lays a certain emphasis on "protection of Adivasi religion," and education on basic sanitation, living in harmony, resistance to exploitation, self-help, etc. are imparted by "bhajans, kirtans, etc." which may be construed by some as controversial. However, our colleague Mr. Somdutt Behura received an assuring critique during his meeting last month with Mr. Chittaranjan Das, an engineer and development worker at Bhubaneswar, whose wife highlighted the efficacy of VKA's method of imparting education and bringing tribal people to the mainstream through kirtans and other religious methods. Unfortunately, we have not yet received detailed interim progress report this year, possibly on account of VKA's recent change of address: VKA headquarters have moved from Sundergarh town to Vanabasi Kalyan Ashram, C/o Legal Forms & Books; 9, Udyan Market Complex; Udit Nagar, Rourkela 769012; FAX (courtesy of one Sri Rishi Arjya): (0661) 2973. As per policy, we are deferring our next installment payment to the Lanjigarh project waiting to receive the latest progress report which VKA has now indicated to send by May. Our New Projects: We have received short proposals from several NGOs such as Darabar Sahitya Sansad of Khurda district; Life Improvement Members Association of Nowrangpur; Institute of Rural Welfare & Research Center at Kosagumuda, Nowrangpur; RISE of Rourkela, and Sarvodaya Kanya Ashram of Nawapara, etc. We first evaluate simply based on the contents of the proposals, and then for the promising ones we look for extensive information on the NGO, their past record, and present proposal. Whenever possible we obtain a report of site-visit by a SEEDS member or sympathizer before adoption of the project. This is where we would like to pool (y)our common resources -- topical knowledge, area familiarity, vacation time in Orissa, etc. -- in search for an appropriate, visionary project led by a high-integrity, motivated NGO in Orissa. Srinivas Memorial Fund (SMF): We are now in the process of finalizing SEEDS grant for a library extension at the Jalespeta Kanyashram, a school for tribal girls in Phulbani run by VKA, in memory of our departed colleague Dr. Srinivas Praharaj. We have received a promising initial proposal, which is also available on SEEDS Home Page on Internet at http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/darshan/SEEDS/, from Asra, an NGO reachable at S.K. Mohanty, president, Association for Social Reconstructive Activities (ASRA), Satyabrata Press Premises, Pithapur, Cuttack-753001, India; Phone No (0671) 30221 S (0671) 35616; FAX - (0091671) 31678. Quoting from the first-year budget part of their proposal: "100% Immunisation, 2500 EC Protection by Sterilisation, 2000 EC Protected by other temporary methods. 25% of population motivated to use sanitary latrine. 20,000 trees to be planted. Health services for 25% population. 100% to be motivated to in-take safe drinking water. Cost: 210,000." Although this proposal may be weak in self-sustainability, definitive inquiries by Dr. Lalu Mansinha and colleague Mr. Somdutt Behura's visit of ASRA projects (old-age home, hospital, and tube-well sites in Balikuda and the flood-ravaged Naugaon blocks) in March, `96 have discovered many redeeming aspects of this proposal and integrity of the ASRA leadership. Moreover, Dr. Sri Gopal Mohanty has obtained word from India Voluntary Action Network (IVAN), a non-profit, volunteer group based in Hamilton, Canada for their collaborative, financial support of the part of ASRA project involving immunization and kitchen-garden. However, we need your generous financial support to be able to take up such ambitious projects. SEEDS Finance: SEEDS started as a non-profit, non-sectarian, social-development organization registered with the Campus Activities Office at the University of texas at Austin. Now that the individuals maintaining it have graduated and moved, we have all but closed the SEEDS university account. All funds have been consolidated in an account under SEEDS at First Technology bank in Portland where this author now lives. We seek volunteers to own the task of treasury and fund management, which this author has, for better or worse, carried out since the inception. We also hope that with help of the community, SEEDS can take its EIN registration with IRS one step further to obtain 501(c) status for tax exemption. Some highlights: We have collected $541 from individuals and $3263.71 from OSANY, the host of 25th annual OSA Convention, towards Srinivas Memorial Fund (SMF). We have received $125 as our newsletter (Ankur) subscription fees. Since inception, we have raised nearly $18,000 total. We acknowledge the few individuals who have contributed upwards of $500, and the few groups of people (New York, Chicago, Dallas, Canada chapters of OSA) for their generosity. However, we greatly value financially small but sustained support of a great number of individuals like you. We have paid four installments to VKA in the amounts of $800, $600, $500 and $500 since December, 1993 for the Lanjigarh project. Our total initial grant to the project was about $4000; we are continuing evaluation of the project's progress in order to decide release of the remaining funds of the initial grant, and for possibly further extension to the next year. We have paid $360 for the training of volunteers from Orissa at Bhagavatula Charitable Trust of Dr. Parameswar Rao in July, 94. We have remitted $150 for the opening of a SEEDS branch in Bhubaneswar headed by Dr. Dhanada Mishra. However, job-related relocation of Dhanada has temporarily suspended the functioning of this branch. SEEDS remains a "negative-overhead" organization with only less than $100 of SEEDS funds spent on university registration and miscellaneous photocopy costs --- thanks to the generosity of SEEDS activists. Conclusion: Time and again we have emphasized that money is merely a means, and not the "the be all and end all." SEEDS activists are still a very small group hard-pressed for the time resource. We need your ideas, criticisms, and involvement to keep SEEDS alive. We need your help in obtaining, screening, evaluating, periodic monitoring and reporting of projects and proposals. Of course, we also need people for out-reach and fund-raising as well. Our task has been difficult, and twice as much because we must meet on the network or by phone. What makes it even harder now is SEEDS derived most activism from the student members in the past, and most have graduated struggling to find footholds in their careers as well. Of course we could have chosen to do nothing as an alternative to this demanding yet profoundly rewarding task. So, we need your involvement more than ever. Donations and inquiries may be sent to : SEEDS, c/o Dr. P. Patra, 15852 NW Alta Lane, Portland, OR 97229. Also, you may join the "seeds" Majordomo email-list at seeds@cs.columbia.edu .