Learning Under the Mango Tree (Elizabeth)

So much happened today, I hope I can remember it all. The first half of our day was spent in the hotel meeting with three different organizations. Two stuck out in my mind. Under The Mango Tree is a social enterprise which helps poor, rural farmers increase their agricultural yield and livelihood through bee management. They partner with other organizations in the community to teach famers bee management skills. Through the bee management, farmers are able to increase their agricultural yields (grow more mangos because of increased bee pollination) and gain profit from selling the honey in the open market. This is a wonderful organization which deserves more coverage. You can learn more about them and their honey at http://www.utmt.in/.


The second organization was Be Fund, which uses media campaigns to reach young entrepreneurs with ideas to solve India's problems. They are a young organization, but have already invested in 18 entrepreneurs across the country. The entrepreneurs are then highlighted in the media campaigns, which include film, radio and print, in order to create local heros for other youth in struggling areas.


After a quick lunch we headed to the shopping area in Bandra. This was the first time that I felt I reached my boundary in India. I do not mind crowed streets, but the combination of crowded streets and constantly being looked at and yelled at by street vendors was just too much. I finally found a quiet coffee shop where I could relax.

We left Bandra around 5:30 and headed to South Mumbai to a Hindu temple for the goddess of wealth and prosperity. The roughly 15 mile drive took over an hour as traffic in Mumbai during rush hour is just about the worst experience I have been through. We were not allowed to take pictures inside of the temple, so my thoughts will have to be enough. We took our shoes off about one block away from the entrance. As we walked in the rain on the dirty street I was suddenly thrilled that I got all of my vaccinations. We each carried a pink flower into the temple as an offering, which we handed to the priest before having a red mark of "blessing" placed on our foreheads. The priest then handed us back our flower since it has been blessed by the goddess. The temple sits directly at the edge of the Arabian sea, which is an amazing view.                                   

Our day ended with a trip to a Sari store and a wonderful dinner at an Indian restaurant. Our guide Netra, who is really way more than a guide, told us that on the weekend Bollywood stars can be spotted there. 

I have so many more thoughts running through my head about India, but they will have to wait for another day when I have more time to sit and collect my thoughts. The cultural and economic differences among age groups, neighborhoods and genders are like nothing I have seen before.

Tomorrow the real work begins as we will be heading on our first field day into an urban slum.