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The words 'Adventure Travel' usually bring to mind white water rafting, elephant rides or helicopter skiing. But there is another kind of adventurous travel that is perhaps, in many ways, more exciting and better suited for avid travelers who happen to be retired. |
 Experienced travelers may be looking for something a little different than camel rides and Pink Cities, as nice as they may be. RIDE, Rural Institute for Development Education, is offering an eco-tour that provides an opportunity to get an up close and personal look at an Indian village in the state of Tamil Nadu where virtually every house is involved in the silk weaving and sari making industry. The experience includes insight into the social and cultural problems in villages like these, as well as issues of child labor abuse, women's rights and police corruption. |
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You will find yourself in a very basic house with a roof thatched of palm leaves watching intricate and beautiful silk saris being woven on a hand loom that is hundreds of years old. Shown in the photo is one of the many weavers in a typical town where just about every house has a silk loom for the weaving of saris. The age of the rickety looms in these primitive houses contrasted with the exquisite sari being made boggles the mind. It takes about seven days to make one of the fancy wedding saris which have many gold thread in them. |
When we took this tour recently, our plan was to spend one night at this NGO's guest house, see the weavers at work, visit a Bridge School and one or two out of the way temples. RIDE takes its visitors to temples not often seen by tourists as they are small and in outlying villages. More effectively, we were caught up in this special view of Indian life and in the work RIDE is doing to improve the quality of life here. |
There was a coordinators meeting that afternoon at RIDE's office. An important aspect of the Women's Empowerment Program is micro-financing. Briefly, a village coordinator forms a group of up to 29 women to save money together and make small loans to individuals for starting a small business. The equivalent of twenty US dollars can start a small tea stand or a tray of bangles to sell in the market. The success of this program, started by the Grameen Bank, is that everyone in the group is soley and jointly responsible for each loan. If a woman is late on a payment, she has 19 of her peers at the door looking for a payment. |
It was an exciting meeting to participate in this meeting. Visitors are encouraged to make suggestions to the group and often good ideas arise from this. The enthusiasm and excitement generated from these women made it evident that this was something that make them feel self empowered and important. |
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The tour guides include the Director, Jeyaraj, and some of the coordinators who also speak English. The stories they tell as you move through the village are priceless. One lovely young woman we passed, who was newly married, had been told by her mother in law that the old man next door fancied her and she was to go and spend the night with him. When she ran to her husband for protection, he told her she must do what his mother says. She was so distraught she swallowed rat poison. One of the neighbors, a RIDE woman, went to Jeyaraj who then ran to the house with his wife, got the young woman to a hospital and afterwards placed her in the home of one of its coordinators. Today she is, herself a coordinator and lives a meaningful life. |
Significantly, their program offers much more. The agency's mission is to free children from slavery, re-educate them and at the same time help their mothers to be self-sustaining so that they need not sell their children to these silk weaving/sari making mills. |
This RIDE school is bringing in child labor victims from the stone quarries near its facility in Arppackum. They are new students as is evident by their condition. Eyes that show a life of deprivation and abuse. It is painful to see these children at this stage of the process. The one-room school is basic, clean, has a cement floor and a roof. Conditions better than many of them see at home. A nourishing meal is also provided every day. Visiting Volunteers are effective spirit-boosters for thildren who rarely see outsiders. Gifts of pencils and pads are eagerly accepted and a step up from chalk boards. Seeing the children that have been with RIDE for several months is encouraging. |
Evidence of notable succes is in one of the more advanced students who has learned the local dance tradition performing at The Pongal holiday festival Children from the main school at Arppackum that have been in the system for many months and are noticeably clear-eyed and healthier. Most are ready to return to the public school system |
There are regular talks on numerous topics, including what to do when one is a victim of police corruption, options for women to combat brutality from a spouse, or to protect a child from abuse in the school from teachers. Listening to some of these topics being discussed during our visit to RIDE opened our eyes to how different the problems of India are to those of us living in more first world countries and how much we take for granted. A visit here is an adventure--one, I think, that beats the hell out of sky diving! |
For more information about Rural Institute for Development Education (RIDE):
http://www.rideindia.org/tourism.htm Rural Institute for Development Education (RIDE) is located in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. It is a non-governmental organization, dedicated to the welfare of the poor. Founded in 1984, it has been in the front of the fight against child labor, and for the social justice of women. RIDE is working in partnership with, Tamilnadu Corporation For Development of Women Ltd, American Jewish World Service, Dreikonigsakiktion, The Global Fund for Children, and The Andheri Hilfe Bonn, Germany. |
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