Learning from cross border migrants in India
10-13 May, India
IndiaCompetence facilitated a Knowledge Fair with CARE India, its partner NGOs and community representatives, who work with mobile population. On the first day, participants shared their experience in small groups on specific topics like Access to services for migrants. Community representatives, including the police and a group of Rickshaws, shared stories of change in their community.
Participants discussed several topics related to mobile population. One group discussed ‘access to services’. Mobile population, mainly Nepali migrants, prefer to go the traditional healers or quacks (amateur private doctor). They treat themselves with home remedies. They deliver their newborns at home, which leads to no birth certificates and problems of admission in a government school. The reason why they do not access health care system is that the queues at the government hospitals are too long and moreover they do not want to spend their day’s wage on medical bills. The group discussed if the drop in centers there should be a line of treatment and if yes, how it should be implemented.
Sanghamitra shared: “The Emphasis CARE teams were working within the constraints of a highly structured programme with largely quantitative deliverables. They were pushed, challenged by the donors and felt dejected about what they could do. Yet when the community stories began to be shared, they were extraordinary.
She went on giving two examples: “A group of rickshaw pullers who had been overcharging cross-border migrants got together and decided not to increase the vulnerability of these individuals. They passed a resolution in their union about this, and even decided that there would be a fine on whoever overcharged. Understanding led to action and basic human response!!
Another story was of a police station with a water filter. The police who had initially been suspicious of the team interacting with the migrants and been rough with them, started looking at their role as members of the local community. They started offering access to cold filtered water to the migrants. Small changes, but community led and born out of a feeling of fellowship.”
Several facilitators wrote a blog about the event. Rafique shared how impressed he was with a woman from Bangladesh. “We often underestimate the power of communities, as well as their innate knowledge.” (see blog of Rafique) Smiti shared the agenda, minutes and lessons learned. And of course Sanghmitra shared a new insight she gained at the event: “Someone asked: What is new about SALT? It got me thinking. The strength of the Constellation lies in its ability to connect rather than create: accepting the agency of response as outside of us!”
