The three-day orientation was very rigorous and extremely helpful in becoming acclimated to the area. The site visits were definitely the highlights of the three days. I was extremely impressed the organizations and their missions. As Saru already mentioned in her blog, the organizations were creative in their solutions to social issues in this region. Also, we met with the founder of Deshpande Foundation. He was a kind man with a lot of knowledge of incubating knowledge and creating an environment to foster creative leadership and a heart of social entrepreneurship. To be able to meet the man to make it possible for us to pursue our projects in Hubli was a honor and we realized that we have an important responsibility to make sure our project is sustainable and impactful.
One of the most important aspects of this trip to India is to connect with the local community. I looked forward to staying in Hubli because I want to develop trust and rapport with the individuals with the closest knowledge to the pain points of this region. Also, the rapport allows me to feel closer to this country instead of simply being an outsider looking into a fishbowl. I felt like I am an active participant in this community. Sometimes when I wear my Indian clothes and eat Indian food, I just want to simply appreciate that I am in India and I have the opportunity to test out our crowdsourcing concept.
On the flip side, settling in Hubli has not been completely smooth sailing. Last night, I felt discriminated against for my gender for the first time. Although I have experienced gender differences in other countries, I have never been so blatantly disrespected. We went to the a local restaurant, Piccolo, as a group last night. All the male GIP-ers were sitting in one table and the girls were split into two other tables. We were sitting in the ladies & family section which was acceptable. We were told that it happens in India to keep women away from men who are drinking and smoking. I can accept that. But when the guys were served food and we were for over an hour, that is unacceptable. In the end, we left the restaurant without eating the food that never came and went to another restaurant. I understand that we need to adapt to the culture to gain trust and build rapport. However, there are certain instances when one should stand her ground and this was one of those occasion. I don't intend on pushing my feminist tendencies on other people. I have no objections to the traditional role of a woman; many women embraced that care giver role. However, I don't believe that I should "get used to" being treated as lesser-than men in this country.
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