Diwashi Trip – An Encounter with reality

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “To a poor man, god cannot appear except in the form of bread.” The truth in this cannot be completely comprehended unless one has a face off with poverty. That is exactly what this trip was for us, Enactus – Somaiya Social Cell members – a face-off with poverty.

130 kms from Mumbai is Dahanu, a small taluka in coastal Maharashtra. As we trudged along on a Sunday morning to Nareshwadi Learning centre on 23^rd Feb 2014, we never imagined it would take us so long to reach our destination which was still at an hour’s journey from there. Diwashi is a small village further from Nareshwadi, where the farmers, the main beneficiaries of Project Mogra reside.

As we interacted with Mr. Walvi, who represents the Girivanvasi Educational Trust (GVET) and handles the project there, we got a general idea of the farmers. The farmers have families of 5-6 members, lands of less than an acre and a monthly income of around Rs. 500-600 from their meager agricultural produce. Due to their low incomes, the males of the family work as laborers in nearby areas such as Vasai. The women of the family take care of the farms. Children of these families mainly study at the School in Nareshwadi Training Centre.

While we educated the farmers on Financial Literacy, we were faced with just one question. How do we save from our already insufficient income? There is no answer to that question.

The root cause of poverty lies somewhere deeper. And the root cause of most social issues in our country today lies in poverty. There is much work to be done, many people to be educated and many families to be uplifted. Let us all endeavor together to not rest till we empower each and every poor household. It is by each small step that we can fight poverty.

We left from Diwashi praying to the rain gods that the farmers be blessed with a bumper Mogra crop this season. And here’s hoping that our efforts would help them rise out of their current conditions.