ProWorld Internship in India

My internship through Proworld with the Non-government Organization Astha was life very informative about forest and land rights in India, but did not meet my expectations. I felt like I was not able to contribute my skills and knowledge I possess to Astha. My supervisor at Astha, Mangilal-ji, was kind and informative. I learned how to listen closely and overcome the language barrier between us. The trips to the villages were, by far, the most informative and interesting part of working with Astha. In the villages I was able to visualize the work that Astha does for the tribal forest dwelling communities. I was present for several meetings with tribal leaders who were taught; how to fill out claim forms, why claims are rejected, injustices in the implementations processes, and the importance of women’s empowerment. The second to last week I was given the task to write case studies about an assortment of villagers and their specific claiming process. I drafted interview questions and verified with Magilal that I would be able to affectively interview villagers from several villages about claiming processes. Mangilal reviewed the questions and made some suggestions and revisions. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to interview many villagers. I did most of my interviewing at the annual block-wide FRA conference. Rakesh told me I should speak in front of the forum, which made me nervous but I wrote a quick speech and spoke to the villagers, asking them to come forward at the end for interviews. In the end I compiled a 20+ page report with history, pictures and a couple case studies that outlined the history of forest rights in India and how the implementation process is currently ineffective and why. Unfortunately my final project report merely outlined pre-defined and understood goals for the (Tribal Peoples Rights to Dwell) Forest Rights Act. I presented a power point presentation to a few Astha workers who, for the most part, already knew the information and they had no questions or feedback. I think there is a large disconnect between Proworld and the NGOs that they send interns to. It would be helpful if Proworld’s process focused more on the NGO’s we work for rather than the “project” we will be working with before we arrive in India. I regret not being able to provide my NGO with much new information or perspective.

My trip to India, including the home-stay family, excursions and Indian culture in general, that Proworld arranged was wonderful. I am glad I worked through Proworld to acquire a home-stay, which I enjoyed very much (even though the curfew was annoying). Rachna-ji was a wonderful cook and tried to make sure we were always comfortable. Which is easily done in their beautiful marble home. The excursions and the friends I was able to make through the Proworld program were unforgettable.

I would recommend Proworld India to friends and peers but I would underscore that they take more of a role in picking their NGO program and get in touch with them before accepting an internship in India.