Seva (service with affection)
Implementation:
In Samagra (Integral), an integral perspective in thinking, action and living will be maintained. At all levels of the program, whether for the workers, the trainees, the visitors or those served in the field, an integral perspective and action would be the basic founding principle for Samagra work.
To maintain such integral perspective five basic concepts will be applied at different levels of Samagra program.
1 Problem based learning
2 Interactive dialogue
3 Participatory assessment: of the problem, solution and implementation
4 Participatory study and observation: for visitors
5 Participatory co-operation: with the beneficiaries
Problem based learning:
Problem based learning’s objective is to focus on a specific problem related to any activity or area. It may be within the organization or outside in the field area and may be in health, education, income generation or in the field of environment. Priority will be given to a problem that is urgent and needs rapid solution.
PBL is a group exercise that allows a whole group to analyze the problem and after adequate discussion to try to find an integral solution. Each member of the group will have an opportunity to speak and express his/her view fearlessly. Because such learning is integral, the facilitator will make sure that the shy or hesitant person will get an opportunity to fully participate in the exercise. In PBL there is no dominant force and the group’s analysis and solution will be acceptable to all. The role of the facilitator is not to dominate the discussion but to help the discussion and dialogue move in the right direction. The facilitator helps the weaker members of the group to speak and, whenever needed, sums up the main points and suggests further research about the topic if more information is needed to find the solution.
Interactive dialogue:
Interactive dialogue is a free discussion revolving around a specific problem and its solution. Such dialogue is based on the principle of equality. The difference between PBL and IAD is that for PBL a group of people is needed but IAD could happen between two individuals or in the group setting.
Participatory assessment:
PA is done with the people who are going to be benefited by the program. Those people can be within TS (what is TS?) or outside in the village, town or city. For PA assessment people can either be approached directly (in individualistic societies) or through elders or influential people (in traditional communities). PA is an informal conversation or dialogue which takes place in the natural surrounding of the people about whom we want to get information. It is designed to help us to understand the problem, its possible solutions, mode of implementation of the program to solve the problem and also to assess the contribution of the people for whom the program is going to work.
PA should happen at such a time, day and season when there will be least disruption in the routine life of the people. During PA, the facilitator can give a helping hand in the work the people are doing. Although the conversation will be focused on a specific topic or problem, if people don’t want to focus on that particular topic then the direction of the dialogue can be changed, to come again to the topic whenever the environment is appropriate for such dialogue to take place.
Participatory study and observation (PSO):
PSO will be for the visitors both from India and abroad who would like to visit Samagra, go to the field area to observe the work done, or study the general environment and culture of the place. These people will be new to the region and culture, so their participation in the program will be limited. However, they will be encouraged to make keen observations of the work in progress and to study the culture with some participation in the daily lives of the people they are studying and observing. Visitors will be allowed to do volunteer work appropriate for the region but without any fixed targets. Samagra will ensure that their participation in activities will be within the norms of the region and culture.
Participatory work:
Last, but not the least in importance, is the participation of those people in the program activities who are going to be directly benefited from it. Without a contribution of some kind, which may include provision of space, labour or goods, the program wouldn’t be implemented. Without active participation, people may become passive recipient of goods and services, which would increase their dependence on charity rather than encourage them to become self reliant in the future.
After these five concepts underlying the T/S (expand) program, we would like to explore the implementation of the program at four different levels.
The first level is the apex of the program where administrators, planners, contributors etc. meet and begin to lay down the foundation of the specific program.
At this apex level the integrity of the program will be ensured by going through the following check lists:
a. It will be ascertained that the program doesn’t have such forces and elements within it which may have vested interests or ulterior motives and who may try to influence the direction of the work.
Such motives may be
.Religious
.Political
.Financial
.Caste related
.Cultural
.Ideological
.Others
b. Another checklist will discuss the positive and negative impact of the program at the following levels:
.Individual
.Family
.Society/culture
.Country
.Earth/nature
There would be an effort to minimize negative impact at all levels. If the impact of the program is found to be deeply negative to any level there will be a review of the whole program to make it more appropriate.
And the last check list is to find a balance between
• Awareness generation
• Prevention
• Distribution of goods and services and
• Advocacy
In an integral program, all of the above elements have to be considered and given their due place. At different points of time, a specific element may dominate but still, efforts will be made to integrate them into a comprehensive whole, for integral development and growth.
The second level is at the level of the workers. At the level of the workers it will be important that they be well trained in what they do. If they don’t have enough knowledge or skills for the work they are given, then the program will arrange for training both within Samagra and/or in an outside institution. A standard of knowledge or skills will be maintained amongst workers to produce excellent integral results.
Training and expertise in particular work doesn’t mean that a person needs only good professional knowledge and training. Such expertise and skill also includes how much one knows about the working area, can connect with people and speak their language and communicate with them according to their culture and religion. It is possible that a person may not have a college or university training but be very good in his or her work because of connecting to the local people and inspiring them to participate in integral work.
Workers will go through Integral awareness, Action and Living workshops to become familiar with the concepts of how various components in a person (body, emotions, intellect and soul) are intimately connected with the family, society/culture, country and nature/earth and how harmony of all components leads to the experience of Sat-Chit Ananda which is the essence of Dharma. In these interactive/PBL workshops they will become familiar with how their own development and growth is intimately connected with the growth and development of others.
Workshops for the people outside Samagra will also be based on the same core ideas of Integral awareness, action and living. Whether the workshops are for health training, income generation program or spiritual in nature, we would explore the interdependence and interconnectedness of the economy, environment, health, education, politics and spirituality. In essence, the message will be conveyed that everything is dependent on everything else, and for the growth and well being of one the well being of all other components is necessary.
One other group contacting Samagra will be visitors and guests from other parts of India or the world. These groups and people will be allowed to do participatory observation and study in the program. No research will be permitted in the Samagra program unless such research becomes the objective of Samagra.
There would be certain rules for the visiting groups and individuals based on local culture and traditions so that local population will be comfortable. Hostile reactions should be avoided as they may affect the Samagra program adversely.
And lastly, concerning the people outside of the organization for whom the program is put in place. As we emphasized, before the program is finalized, there will be a detailed participatory assessment in the field with the people who will decide about what problem they want to deal with, how they want to solve it according to the local culture and traditions, and to suggest the mode of implementation of the plan. The whole program will include participatory action in which beneficiaries will directly or indirectly be involved in the program.
Targets or goals of the program will be flexible and change according to the priorities identified by both workers and village people. There wouldn’t be any pressure to spend resources in a specified period of time or finish the program in a hurry while compromising its quality.
Samagra will function at many levels:
Resource center:
Samagra resource centre will plan and conduct various training workshops depending on Samagra needs and demands from other organization. Most of these workshops will be organized within the Samagra campus but occasionally, if needed, could be arranged in peripheral working areas or at the campus of another organization. Samagra resource centre is also going to be a place for the Integral movement (Awareness, Action and Living) which may be facilitated by organizing informal or formal gatherings, meetings, discussion groups and producing appropriate printed material about the movement. Samagra is going to be a focal point from where a new practical vision of development, growth and evolution will emerge.
Through the resource center, the following training workshops may be arranged:
Health:
Implementation:
In Samagra (Integral), an integral perspective in thinking, action and living will be maintained. At all levels of the program, whether for the workers, the trainees, the visitors or those served in the field, an integral perspective and action would be the basic founding principle for Samagra work.
To maintain such integral perspective five basic concepts will be applied at different levels of Samagra program.
1 Problem based learning
2 Interactive dialogue
3 Participatory assessment: of the problem, solution and implementation
4 Participatory study and observation: for visitors
5 Participatory co-operation: with the beneficiaries
Problem based learning:
Problem based learning’s objective is to focus on a specific problem related to any activity or area. It may be within the organization or outside in the field area and may be in health, education, income generation or in the field of environment. Priority will be given to a problem that is urgent and needs rapid solution.
PBL is a group exercise that allows a whole group to analyze the problem and after adequate discussion to try to find an integral solution. Each member of the group will have an opportunity to speak and express his/her view fearlessly. Because such learning is integral, the facilitator will make sure that the shy or hesitant person will get an opportunity to fully participate in the exercise. In PBL there is no dominant force and the group’s analysis and solution will be acceptable to all. The role of the facilitator is not to dominate the discussion but to help the discussion and dialogue move in the right direction. The facilitator helps the weaker members of the group to speak and, whenever needed, sums up the main points and suggests further research about the topic if more information is needed to find the solution.
Interactive dialogue:
Interactive dialogue is a free discussion revolving around a specific problem and its solution. Such dialogue is based on the principle of equality. The difference between PBL and IAD is that for PBL a group of people is needed but IAD could happen between two individuals or in the group setting.
Participatory assessment:
PA is done with the people who are going to be benefited by the program. Those people can be within TS (what is TS?) or outside in the village, town or city. For PA assessment people can either be approached directly (in individualistic societies) or through elders or influential people (in traditional communities). PA is an informal conversation or dialogue which takes place in the natural surrounding of the people about whom we want to get information. It is designed to help us to understand the problem, its possible solutions, mode of implementation of the program to solve the problem and also to assess the contribution of the people for whom the program is going to work.
PA should happen at such a time, day and season when there will be least disruption in the routine life of the people. During PA, the facilitator can give a helping hand in the work the people are doing. Although the conversation will be focused on a specific topic or problem, if people don’t want to focus on that particular topic then the direction of the dialogue can be changed, to come again to the topic whenever the environment is appropriate for such dialogue to take place.
Participatory study and observation (PSO):
PSO will be for the visitors both from India and abroad who would like to visit Samagra, go to the field area to observe the work done, or study the general environment and culture of the place. These people will be new to the region and culture, so their participation in the program will be limited. However, they will be encouraged to make keen observations of the work in progress and to study the culture with some participation in the daily lives of the people they are studying and observing. Visitors will be allowed to do volunteer work appropriate for the region but without any fixed targets. Samagra will ensure that their participation in activities will be within the norms of the region and culture.
Participatory work:
Last, but not the least in importance, is the participation of those people in the program activities who are going to be directly benefited from it. Without a contribution of some kind, which may include provision of space, labour or goods, the program wouldn’t be implemented. Without active participation, people may become passive recipient of goods and services, which would increase their dependence on charity rather than encourage them to become self reliant in the future.
After these five concepts underlying the T/S (expand) program, we would like to explore the implementation of the program at four different levels.
The first level is the apex of the program where administrators, planners, contributors etc. meet and begin to lay down the foundation of the specific program.
At this apex level the integrity of the program will be ensured by going through the following check lists:
a. It will be ascertained that the program doesn’t have such forces and elements within it which may have vested interests or ulterior motives and who may try to influence the direction of the work.
Such motives may be
.Religious
.Political
.Financial
.Caste related
.Cultural
.Ideological
.Others
b. Another checklist will discuss the positive and negative impact of the program at the following levels:
.Individual
.Family
.Society/culture
.Country
.Earth/nature
There would be an effort to minimize negative impact at all levels. If the impact of the program is found to be deeply negative to any level there will be a review of the whole program to make it more appropriate.
And the last check list is to find a balance between
• Awareness generation
• Prevention
• Distribution of goods and services and
• Advocacy
In an integral program, all of the above elements have to be considered and given their due place. At different points of time, a specific element may dominate but still, efforts will be made to integrate them into a comprehensive whole, for integral development and growth.
The second level is at the level of the workers. At the level of the workers it will be important that they be well trained in what they do. If they don’t have enough knowledge or skills for the work they are given, then the program will arrange for training both within Samagra and/or in an outside institution. A standard of knowledge or skills will be maintained amongst workers to produce excellent integral results.
Training and expertise in particular work doesn’t mean that a person needs only good professional knowledge and training. Such expertise and skill also includes how much one knows about the working area, can connect with people and speak their language and communicate with them according to their culture and religion. It is possible that a person may not have a college or university training but be very good in his or her work because of connecting to the local people and inspiring them to participate in integral work.
Workers will go through Integral awareness, Action and Living workshops to become familiar with the concepts of how various components in a person (body, emotions, intellect and soul) are intimately connected with the family, society/culture, country and nature/earth and how harmony of all components leads to the experience of Sat-Chit Ananda which is the essence of Dharma. In these interactive/PBL workshops they will become familiar with how their own development and growth is intimately connected with the growth and development of others.
Workshops for the people outside Samagra will also be based on the same core ideas of Integral awareness, action and living. Whether the workshops are for health training, income generation program or spiritual in nature, we would explore the interdependence and interconnectedness of the economy, environment, health, education, politics and spirituality. In essence, the message will be conveyed that everything is dependent on everything else, and for the growth and well being of one the well being of all other components is necessary.
One other group contacting Samagra will be visitors and guests from other parts of India or the world. These groups and people will be allowed to do participatory observation and study in the program. No research will be permitted in the Samagra program unless such research becomes the objective of Samagra.
There would be certain rules for the visiting groups and individuals based on local culture and traditions so that local population will be comfortable. Hostile reactions should be avoided as they may affect the Samagra program adversely.
And lastly, concerning the people outside of the organization for whom the program is put in place. As we emphasized, before the program is finalized, there will be a detailed participatory assessment in the field with the people who will decide about what problem they want to deal with, how they want to solve it according to the local culture and traditions, and to suggest the mode of implementation of the plan. The whole program will include participatory action in which beneficiaries will directly or indirectly be involved in the program.
Targets or goals of the program will be flexible and change according to the priorities identified by both workers and village people. There wouldn’t be any pressure to spend resources in a specified period of time or finish the program in a hurry while compromising its quality.
Samagra will function at many levels:
Resource center:
Samagra resource centre will plan and conduct various training workshops depending on Samagra needs and demands from other organization. Most of these workshops will be organized within the Samagra campus but occasionally, if needed, could be arranged in peripheral working areas or at the campus of another organization. Samagra resource centre is also going to be a place for the Integral movement (Awareness, Action and Living) which may be facilitated by organizing informal or formal gatherings, meetings, discussion groups and producing appropriate printed material about the movement. Samagra is going to be a focal point from where a new practical vision of development, growth and evolution will emerge.
Through the resource center, the following training workshops may be arranged:
Health:
Physical Health:
Health training workshops will be primarily for village health workers and village midwives who may belong to Samagra program or come from other organizations. Depending on the need of the workers and the feedback given by the organizations sending their workers for the training, health training will include generational (general?)awareness or health education on many topics including mother and child health, diarrhea, TB and nutrition. In training, emphasis will be placed upon preventive health care - immunization, food, water hygiene - and remedies for basic problems such as common infectious diseases, pain, injuries and other emergencies.
Working with people with disabilities:
Samagra will begin with Communication issues under disabilities but as we gather experience and resources, we will take up other issues which constrain one out of ten Indians, in fulfilling their inherent potential. The purpose of this work will not just be to serve the individual with a disability but also to expand our consciousness and empathy into a realm which is often foreclosed to us by the social taboo and traditional upbringing. Our understanding of health can not be complete till we have glimpsed the other side of the coin and learned to accept it without reservations.
While visible disabilities generate understanding and empathy easily, invisible disabilities often confuse people. Stammering (or stuttering) is one such neurological health condition which leads to communication difficulties. It appears as a sudden paralysing fear of certain syllables while talking. Its ‘off and on’ and variable nature leads to considerable confusion both for people who stammer (PWS) and also for their listeners and colleagues. It has been little understood and has given rise to incorrect stereotypes like: PWS are always nervous; It is just a bad habit etc. It has also been compared to an iceberg: Audible stuttering is often just a little part of the problem but emotional and psychological issues generated by it are huge and often not so obvious, either to others or to PWS themselves. Recurrence is frequent because of this nine tenth hidden part of the problem which was rarely addressed in traditional therapies till now.
Overall Goal: to work for people with disabilities, with an approach based on social model of disabilities
Strategies:
1. Need based (everything will ensue from a proper need assessment)- what a person needs, not what modern medical science/ technology has to offer.
2. Formation of Support groups / self help groups (not referring everyone off to a specialist or an institution)
3. Seeking and Accepting "medical / technological" inputs only as far as commensurate with the above: person's needs, local culture/ context and long term sustainability
4. Ensuring that people with disabilities work for other people with disabilities (as far as possible) and relationship between the two is always equitable; never changes into dependency. ‘McGuire program’ is one such intervention: it is run by recovering stammerers for other people with stammer.
Mental health:
During mental health training participants will learn the basic concepts of emotional and cognitive/intellectual health, how to recognize some major mental health problems including depression, anxiety and schizophrenia, and how to refer them to the appropriate centers or healers.
Spiritual health:
Spiritual health training will make participants aware of the importance of maintaining cultural traditions which are contributing to the well being of the people, without seeing them as superstitious, as labeled by others. They will also experience gentle yoga, prayer, meditation and breath work.
Income generation:
In income generation workshops, trainees will learn to form co-operatives, arrange small scale loans, manufacture specific quality products and do the book keeping. Specific emphasis will be given to finding a market for finished products and to ensuring that the income generation program is not damaging the local environment.
Acupuncture:
As per the recommendation of the WHO, a 300 hour training program will be organized to train health professionals or others who have a biology background, in the science and art of acupuncture. Training will also include concepts of Prakirti (body-mind constitution) from the Ayurvedic (Indian Healing system) tradition. There will also be components of mind-body medicine including gentle Yoga, Breath work or Pranayama (Breathing exercises) and Meditations. The training program may be completed either in small workshops scattered over several months or through a six week long intensive training. Local (clinical?) material will be used for the training.
Yoga, Meditation and Self:
These workshops will be appropriate for health professionals who want to familiarize themselves with the theory and practice of integral health, for those who are sick, and for those who want to explore mind-body connections. These workshops will include an intensive training in yoga, breathing exercises, meditation, emotional and cognitive work. The total duration of the program may be between 5 to 7 days per course.
Integral evolution workshops:
These workshops may be of 5 to 7 days duration, during which the meaning of Dharma and the experience of Dharma as Sat-chit- Ananda (Existence-Awareness-Bliss) will be explored through an interactive dialogue.
Through a theoretical and experiential session, an understanding of the body, emotions, intellect and soul (as constituents of a person or microcosm) and family, society/culture, country and nature/earth (as the components of the macrocosm outside the person) will be given. A particular emphasis will be placed on the exploration of the linkages between the micro and macro cosmos through the principles of Harmony, Unity and Movement.
Other Workshops:
Health training workshops will be primarily for village health workers and village midwives who may belong to Samagra program or come from other organizations. Depending on the need of the workers and the feedback given by the organizations sending their workers for the training, health training will include generational (general?)awareness or health education on many topics including mother and child health, diarrhea, TB and nutrition. In training, emphasis will be placed upon preventive health care - immunization, food, water hygiene - and remedies for basic problems such as common infectious diseases, pain, injuries and other emergencies.
Working with people with disabilities:
Samagra will begin with Communication issues under disabilities but as we gather experience and resources, we will take up other issues which constrain one out of ten Indians, in fulfilling their inherent potential. The purpose of this work will not just be to serve the individual with a disability but also to expand our consciousness and empathy into a realm which is often foreclosed to us by the social taboo and traditional upbringing. Our understanding of health can not be complete till we have glimpsed the other side of the coin and learned to accept it without reservations.
While visible disabilities generate understanding and empathy easily, invisible disabilities often confuse people. Stammering (or stuttering) is one such neurological health condition which leads to communication difficulties. It appears as a sudden paralysing fear of certain syllables while talking. Its ‘off and on’ and variable nature leads to considerable confusion both for people who stammer (PWS) and also for their listeners and colleagues. It has been little understood and has given rise to incorrect stereotypes like: PWS are always nervous; It is just a bad habit etc. It has also been compared to an iceberg: Audible stuttering is often just a little part of the problem but emotional and psychological issues generated by it are huge and often not so obvious, either to others or to PWS themselves. Recurrence is frequent because of this nine tenth hidden part of the problem which was rarely addressed in traditional therapies till now.
Overall Goal: to work for people with disabilities, with an approach based on social model of disabilities
Strategies:
1. Need based (everything will ensue from a proper need assessment)- what a person needs, not what modern medical science/ technology has to offer.
2. Formation of Support groups / self help groups (not referring everyone off to a specialist or an institution)
3. Seeking and Accepting "medical / technological" inputs only as far as commensurate with the above: person's needs, local culture/ context and long term sustainability
4. Ensuring that people with disabilities work for other people with disabilities (as far as possible) and relationship between the two is always equitable; never changes into dependency. ‘McGuire program’ is one such intervention: it is run by recovering stammerers for other people with stammer.
Mental health:
During mental health training participants will learn the basic concepts of emotional and cognitive/intellectual health, how to recognize some major mental health problems including depression, anxiety and schizophrenia, and how to refer them to the appropriate centers or healers.
Spiritual health:
Spiritual health training will make participants aware of the importance of maintaining cultural traditions which are contributing to the well being of the people, without seeing them as superstitious, as labeled by others. They will also experience gentle yoga, prayer, meditation and breath work.
Income generation:
In income generation workshops, trainees will learn to form co-operatives, arrange small scale loans, manufacture specific quality products and do the book keeping. Specific emphasis will be given to finding a market for finished products and to ensuring that the income generation program is not damaging the local environment.
Acupuncture:
As per the recommendation of the WHO, a 300 hour training program will be organized to train health professionals or others who have a biology background, in the science and art of acupuncture. Training will also include concepts of Prakirti (body-mind constitution) from the Ayurvedic (Indian Healing system) tradition. There will also be components of mind-body medicine including gentle Yoga, Breath work or Pranayama (Breathing exercises) and Meditations. The training program may be completed either in small workshops scattered over several months or through a six week long intensive training. Local (clinical?) material will be used for the training.
Yoga, Meditation and Self:
These workshops will be appropriate for health professionals who want to familiarize themselves with the theory and practice of integral health, for those who are sick, and for those who want to explore mind-body connections. These workshops will include an intensive training in yoga, breathing exercises, meditation, emotional and cognitive work. The total duration of the program may be between 5 to 7 days per course.
Integral evolution workshops:
These workshops may be of 5 to 7 days duration, during which the meaning of Dharma and the experience of Dharma as Sat-chit- Ananda (Existence-Awareness-Bliss) will be explored through an interactive dialogue.
Through a theoretical and experiential session, an understanding of the body, emotions, intellect and soul (as constituents of a person or microcosm) and family, society/culture, country and nature/earth (as the components of the macrocosm outside the person) will be given. A particular emphasis will be placed on the exploration of the linkages between the micro and macro cosmos through the principles of Harmony, Unity and Movement.
Other Workshops:
Freedom from Fear:
Path of Self Actualization: Chakra (Energy centers)
& Kundalini (Energy)
Meditation: A Path of Healing & Transformation
Energy medicine: Joy of Healing
Archetype and Constitution: A Journey
into Self-knowledge
a. Basic principles of action:
Problem based learning
Interactive dialogue
Participatory assessment: of the problem, solution and implementation
Participatory study and observation: for visitors
Participatory co-operation: with the beneficiaries
Problem based learning
Interactive dialogue
Participatory assessment: of the problem, solution and implementation
Participatory study and observation: for visitors
Participatory co-operation: with the beneficiaries
b. Resource center: Health training, Program with disabled, Income generation program, Environmental program, School of acupuncture & Mind-Body medicine, Spiritual workshops, Integral workshops and courses, Overseas visitors
c. Outreach program: Awareness generation, preventive and curative health care
More thoughts are welcome from readers..
Leave as comments or send an email..
2 comments:
Wow! great vision.
I would certainly like to be an integral part of the movement
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