The year was 1991, that was the time when
Corporate Social Responsibility was unheard of. Life was simple,
Corporates did just their business and made profits and Charity
Organizations did not do any business but doling out welfare and
feeding the poor and did not make any profit. The two entities
functioned in their own spheres and nobody bothered or even thought
that Business should engage with Community Organizations or vice
versa.
In that period, I was working in an International
Aid Agency's Non Formal Adult Education for Fishing Communities in
Coastal Tamil Nadu. Total Literacy was the all encompassing Mantra
and every district in Tamil Nadu was busy declaring themselves "100%
Literate". In this backdrop, we got zero support from the Govt.
when we said we wanted to educate the fisherfolk
I was joined in this mission impossible by a
Catholic Priest, and a fiery character who had strong communist
idealogies. We soldiered on against all odds and went about setting
up non-formal education centres in fishing hamlets - where we also
taught them to read and write. Predominantly, though the NFE
centres were more a platform to discuss the aspirations, the joys and
sorrows of the younger generation of the fishing community. We also
were privy to the ocean like wisdom of the village heads who extended
their full support and wanted their wards to be 'educated' not
just literate.
It was no coincidence that the fishermen /women
were as broad minded as the ocean itself. They had their priorities
right and their approach to life was to face it with all its
struggles and never back down or complain. They believed that the
Ocean with its abundant treasures will take care of them – come
what may. They also understood, that education is not just knowing to
write down your name. They did not go to any classroom, but even a 5
year old in that village will tell the time by just looking at the
position of the sun. They know when to venture out into the sea and
when not to. They knew how to calculate the “profit -loss' for the
day, and the women could make accurate guess on the weight of the
fish caught even while it is being offloaded onto the shore.
Enthused by their active participation, the NFE
centres became a centre of intense discussion on issues of community
development like creating jobs, income generation, mainstream or
formal education etc. Government meanwhile got wind of the happenings
in these centres that they finally decided to close down all centres.
The foreign Nation which was generously funding this activity was
told rather bluntly that they cannot continue with a "literacy'
program in a 100% literate State. The Development Counsellor fought
valiantly, but had to succumb to bureucratic pressure and finally the
project was abruptly shut down.
Back then there was no Govt. backing, no corporate
funding, no fancy Public Private Partnership or fancier Citizenship
Initiatives - but it was purely, unadulterated People's Participation
that kept the project going. The fishing community supported the
project not because it will help them write their names on a piece of
paper, they understood that it will help build their community
stronger.
The project also me a new perspective to life,
They helped define my approach to life. Till this date, this
conviction has helped me to work towards bringing out the true
meaning of education and unearth the treasures of knowledge buried
deep under the recess of rote learning and discover the joy of
learning – something that the humble fisherfolk realized from day
one.
