Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement in Rural Karnataka

This past Thursday and Friday the GSE Team took a trip to rural Karnataka to see the work of the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM).  SVYM is an organization that focuses on development with three areas of focus: health, education, and community development.  They began in the 1980’s after a group of young medical students in Mysore wanted to make a positive impact and improve the lives of the poor that they saw around them.  Today, SVYM runs countless projects, mostly in the state of Karnataka, to create community-driven empowerment and a better civil society.

On our visit we got to tour two hospitals and two schools, some of which were in very rural areas.  These institutions cater to rural peoples as well as tribal groups who have traditionally been marginalized members of society.  SVYM receives special government funding to make healthcare and education affordable for tribal peoples.  However, as SVYM staff noted, it is often difficult to get tribal persons to come receive medical care at the hospital or to attend school because of a number of cultural reasons.  This includes a tradition of needing children to stay at home to help with work, having to travel far distances from home, and having parents who have never attended school.

School artwork made from waste materials.

Sarah (the cook of the group) in the kitchen at one of the schools, frying up some onions and garlic.

Sam, Sarah, Kipaya, and I really enjoyed meeting all of the kids at the schools.  They loved taking photos with us and asking us “What is your name?”  This was the major highlight for most of the team.  Of course a major highlight for me was getting to see the “sanitation park” at one of the hospitals where all of the different toilets are displayed that can be purchased by villages (perhaps I should thank my father for this interest in toilets).

Squat toilet at sanitation park, along with a list of pricings.

In addition to the hospitals and schools, we visited the Vivekananda Institute for Leadership Development in Mysore.  Here, people receive training to work on various SVYM projects.  There is also a very cool graduate program in Development Management (MDM).  It was very inspiring to meet the students in the programs and see students like us who were very passionate about social change, development, and sustainability.  The students were full of energy as they told us about their final research projects and what they hoped to do after graduation.

One of the greatest parts of the trip for me (perhaps my most favorite) was the agrarian landscape as we travelled out of the city and into rural village life.  I wish I could have visited a farm to see the operations up close, but even from afar it was fantastic to get to see small-scale agriculture in action.  The photos don’t do it justice.  Lots of people working with their hands or directing a team of cattle in very small fields was a typical scene in the areas we traveled.  There were definitely no John Deers the size of a house out in Sargur or Hosahalli!  It was so calming and at the same time uplifting for me.  I would have loved to go join the farmers in their fields.  I'm sure they have lots of wisdom to share.

A stop at Mysore Palace on the way home.