From Students of AIMIT, Beeri
Mangalore, Aug 28: St Aloysius Institute of Management and Information Technology (AIMIT) of St Aloysius College, Mangalore organized a rural immersion camp to Mundgod taluk (45 km from Hubli) of North Karnataka recently. Rural exposure camp is a unique feature of AIMIT curriculum. The camp is held as a part of the academics to stay in a rural village for a week and experience their livelihood.
The journey to 5-day camp began at the main campus of St Aloysius College were everyone gathered. Prof Santhosh Rebello, the dean addressed the students. He briefed them saying that the villages that we were visiting were much developed now and also encouraged to go and explore the place. Then, Fr Denzil Lobo, rector of AIMIT invoked God’s blessings for a safer journey. He also told us about his previous visits and that the people there are very kind and generous and they will welcome us with open-hearts. We were given some necessary instructions and then we boarded the buses. We were accompanied by three faculty members-Miss Hanica, Srinu Setti, Mellisa Castellino.
The development of rural Mundgod was started by Jesuits in the year 1982 with the inception of Loyola Vikas Kendra. LVK as it is better known, under the leadership of Fr Arun Louis SJ has encouraged many Self Help Groups (SHGs) and the concept of Rural Immersion helped us to merge with this organization and practice Corporate Social Responsibility. Two buses packed with students reached Loyola Vikas Kendra (LVK) at 6 am. This was followed by a small orientation program by Fr Arun. He formally welcomed us and introduced to them the concept of rural immersion program and how to go about for the next three days. He introduced the various villages that would be allotted to us. Also the life style of people in that region, their origin, their occupation and mentioned certain norms and regulations to be followed during the stay.
We as a group of 10 were allotted into 7 different villages a few kilometers away from Mundgod main city namely Chikkalli, Byanahalli, Hosakoppa, Salgaon, Signalli, Nyasargi and Chowdalli. We after dispersion in the village stayed two in each house. They adapted themselves completely to the lifestyle of the Villagers starting from involving in their daily chores, working at the fields, fetching water, cooking etc. The major challenge was to make a living with limited resources, imbibe the skills of management and adjustment. Also we did explore the living of the people over there and learnt the thinking and culture as a whole.
Byanahalli was one of the undeveloped villages among all the other villages. The tribes were called gowlis. The gowlis led their lives rearing cattles and buffaloes. Hostel was built by LVK to give tuitions to the children. Importance of Education was given to boys as girls were treated as burden. Dowry system was still in practice. Bore well water was not good for drinking. Among the 45 houses in Byanahalli none of the house had toilet facility. We gave them the insights on education for girls and need to have toilet facilities.
Salgaon was among those villages which were very much developed. Houses in this village had great facilities, electricity and gas to cook and even vehicles to travel. The drainage System was well managed.Yet there was a need to suggest people about various improvements to be done in the village. We suggested the villagers to have Corporate Societies so that justice is done to the villagers with respect to their yield and products. Growth was also required in the education sector and also they encouraged the parents to motivate the students to study.
Chowdahalli was a village which suffered from lack of water facility. Living in this area we realized the importance of water and ways to preserve water. People also had superstitious beliefs saying that having toilets is a sign of impurity. The village lacked good medical facility and if encountered with any problem the people had to travel all the way to Mundgod. The people in the village showed great hospitality and we felt that they were treated as a part of their own family.
“In a world where people hesitate to invite their own relatives home for food, these villagers set a great example by accepting us who were complete strangers,Even when we walked the streets of the Village they invited us for lunch, tea, dinner etc and took care of us as their own children”
“Learnt to lead a simple life with satisfaction and working hard the entire day without taking a single break. We saw them wake up before 5 and sleep by 10. Between these periods was a life filled with hard work, cheerfulness, liveliness, helping one another and making each moment worth living”
“Explored the art of growing not just the crops in the fields but learning to grow each day by inculcating simplicity and humane life. Ploughing the field, bullock cart ride, trip to forest, tasting fresh honey, walking the streets, banana plantations were unforgettable experiences of life”
“If you are a cook then you would want to add on more to this talent of yours wherever you go. Learning to cook without gas with the help of wood was really tuff but when mastered, gave an immense joy within ourselves. We also learnt to cook with less resource. Rotti being the specialty of this place was not just tasty but interesting to prepare as well.”
“Making difference in the lives of people by telling them the importance of Education, development, growth in the society gave all of us a kind of joy which is a little hard to achieve. The happiness in our hearts by seeing at least small percent of change in them before we left that place was something very precious and we would cherish till the end.”
“We live today, tomorrow we may die but the experiences that we have gained in this ‘life discovering camp’ is what will be worth sharing as our biggest achievement. Every single moment was a moment of learning and change”.
We visited the schools at this village trying to convey to the students the need to be educated. They also contributed to these villagers by giving the children few stationeries, distributing sweets, giving some gifts like emergency lights, cutting boards etc. The nature was its best at Mundgod. We learnt some experiences of life which they wouldn’t have done being in cities. The people who went with lot of anxieties and fear thinking how the camp would be actually had tears while leaving the villages and wished they could stay some more days. Equal amount of tears were shed by those people who dint want us to go. They also mentioned that they like us came every year. They gave the villagers life time memories to cherish. But once they left they never visited them again. So all that they requested was to come back again. This moment was heart touching for most of us. They craved for our companionship, our love, our care. All that they wanted was who could add more color to their otherwise beautiful and colorful life.
On the way back to LVK We had a session of sharing our experiences with each other and Fr Arun. We also thanked the organization for the opportunity and the hospitality provided. Before leaving we also visited the famous Tibetian Colony.The journey back to Mangalore was begun at 10pm. Next day i.e. Saturday morning we were back into our own homes in our city yet lost in the Mundgod memories which played like a slide show for next one week. It was truly a journey to life.