Going To School

Tune in to AIR FM 102.6 all this month to hear epic adventures starring young entrepreneurs and learn about the Be Fund. Radio episodes air every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday at 8 p.m.

“THUD!” A football lands in the middle of a large garbage pile in a teeming urban slum. A group of boys frantically rummage through the trash—wrinkling their noses in disgust at the smell—but are unable to find it. So begins the story of Pintu, a young man who has come to the city from his village, who decides enough is enough—it’s time to clean up the slum and start a profitable waste management business with the help of his 99 friends. So, too, begins our first Be! Radio series.

On Sunday, August 8th, Going to School launched the first episode of our 15-part series on All India Radio in New Delhi and NCR. The 22-minute drama follows the exciting journey of Pintu as he starts a waste management enterprise, and encounters many challenges along the way from battling negative attitudes of people and to a show-down with the local slumlord.

Two more episodes air this week, featuring Gauri, who transforms her sleepy cut-off village into a vibrant hub when she starts an IT and information kiosk and Seher, who brings light to her slum when she rents out solar lamps to street vendors. Both these hero-entrepreneurs overcome unsupportive naysayers to change their lives and the lives of those around them.

Be Radio! tells stories different enterprise models and inspires young people, with the support of their parents, teachers and other decision-makers in their lives, to start businesses that solve problems in their communities. Each episode also tells young people between the ages of 18-29 from low-income communities how to submit their business proposals to the Be Fund, in order to get funding and mentorship to turn their ideas into reality.

Can stories be told without words? This is Tara’s story of renting solar lights to street vendors, told in a different way. We’d like to know what you understand from the panels given below. Please remember to mention the panel number in your feedback to us.

Across 10 states, villages and slums, over 1,000 children told us they thought entrepreneurs solved problems, all kinds of problems: things that were unfair (discrimination) and interrupted services (water, waste, energy). And when entrepreneurs weren’t solving problems – they were creating businesses that filled gaps – businesses that provided access to those same things that were missing where children lived – water, waste and energy. For children, sometimes entrepreneurs brought people together, for the greater good of the village, other times, they worked alone, earning the respect, trust and admiration for their very hard journey, making them role models for children to follow. Children told us entrepreneurs are everywhere: she is your teacher who sells mangoes to build another classroom, your father who insists you should be able to drink from the same school water tap like children of other castes, your grandmother who lets you go to school when your brother says you should stay home, your local leader who says together, we will get the bribe returned to the young person who stands up for what they believe in.

Girls look at women entrepreneurs for inspiration.

In the cities of Uttar Pradesh, North India, girls think a woman entrepreneur is different from a man because in order to start an enterprise she has to negotiate at different levels – with her family, neighborhood, community just to be able to leave the house. She has to negotiate much more than a man if she wants to achieve anything – and so it will take her longer to be successful. If she decides to start an enterprise she has to work at home and outside as well – she has to find a way to do two full time jobs, and she has to prove to everybody that she can manage both roles well. Otherwise people will say all kinds of things about her that are not true and unfair, to make her stay home, to force her from shame not to participate.

As an entrepreneur, negotiating both roles, she must take initiative to talk to people and build relationships with them. She also understands, to work in the community she has to build trust, over time. People believe that girls should not be allowed to go out of the house – because they think it is dangerous for girls to be outside. “Work”, for women is not something they choose to do – it is only if their family is very poor that the women work. If a family has a choice, they would prefer that girls do not work. A woman entrepreneur has to prove time and time again that she will always do the ‘right’ thing. People are less likely to forgive her mistakes as compared to men. She builds trust in the community by her clear communication and actions – by doing good work for them and fulfilling the responsibility entrusted to her.

Girls think an entrepreneur is motivated and determined to do new things, especially if she is told that she is not supposed to, and so she takes on the challenge. Girls think entrepreneurs are ‘free’ – they have freedom to decide when they go to work, and for how long. They decide what they wear and where they can go. Entrepreneurs, to girls, are free to move, and come back home again, to do what they think is right. They are free to choose.

In contrast, to the woman entrepreneur who has to negotiate to leave her house, boys in the villages of Andhra Pradesh, South India, think an entrepreneur is an extrovert, makes friends easily, is very much a part of the community; he participates in all of the local celebrations (often organizing them) and is there in times of sorrow as well. He is always presentable – wears clean clothes and has neatly combed, oiled hair.

Entrepreneurs help you with a smile.

He has good relationships with his friends, community and customers, he takes good care of them – if they need something that he does not have he makes sure that he gets it for them and in this way builds relationships and trust. He is also willing to let people pay a little late because he knows that they can’t always pay on time and people like him for this understanding. He always has a joke to tell and lightens the conversation when it starts getting too dry.

He is inquisitive, and makes it a point to get important information about something before taking initiative to make it happen and get other people involved. Even as a child he always asked questions – about the moon and stars, about outer space, about history. He makes decisions in his enterprise; he does not take orders from others. When he was not able to get a loan from the bank because he did not have any collateral, he took a loan from someone in the village, to start his business – even though his parents did not think this was a good idea and tried to discourage him.

He is not very highly educated but is able to read and write. The entrepreneur is someone who has faced problems similar to the ones the boys face – caste, poverty, lack of education – but has not given up and has struggled and has worked hard to make things better. He will treat everyone equally, regardless of gender, class, religion. If he has a daughter, he will make sure he gives her the same freedom as a son, because he feels that the discrimination that girls face is very unfair. He is upset by the prevalence of dowry and always tells others that this is wrong.

He realizes that while not desirable at all, sometimes it’s necessary to strike a balance between principles and getting the job done. He likes to plan – and he has planned for the future, as he feels life is within his control. His first aim is to earn enough money to be comfortable, then he will take on community issues. He has not yet heard of businesses that solve a problem and generate income, he feels they are either always on one side of the line or the other, development or business.

“My sister used to go to school everyday. Then one day, my father decided that she should stop. She wanted to study so much. It was unfair to stop her. I fought with my father to allow my sister to go to school. I told my parents that I would help with the housework but they must let her study,” said Sirajuddin, age 17, in Banaras, a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Mohammad Sirajuddin

It remains true that young women and girls in India face barriers and restrictions in their lives – they are not allowed to go to school, are often married young and are not allowed to work. When it comes to deciding what girls can and cannot do, it is their brothers, fathers and uncles who act as the gate keepers for girls: they decide what their sisters/daughters/nieces can do. For many years, this has just been the way have been.

Rehana, Sirajuddin's sister, is ready to go to school.

But things are changing. Our research revealed brothers who when asked the wide open question ‘what problems do you face?’, responded, ‘I need to figure out how to let my sister do what she wants to do but I don’t know how.’

This is good news. Because where there is empathy, there is hope for change.

Many brothers who feel empathetic towards their sisters are  moved and driven to make a better life for the girls who have somehow become part of their responsibility. They feel very sad that their sisters cannot go to school or are not allowed the same freedom they are allowed. Very often, brothers negotiate with their parents for their sisters – trying to convince them.

Irfan, age 16 says, “There is a marriage proposal for my sister. I know that she doesn’t want to get married. Even though she says that she is ready, she is under a lot of pressure. I can tell how she is actually feeling. I don’t think that this is right so I told my parents that it is not the right time to get her married yet.”

How do you negotiate between freedom and safety?

Sometimes, they go a step further than just talking to their parents. Vicky, age 16 from Madhya Pradesh said, “When you [referring to the interviewer] speak to me, you are actually talking to a child, a young boy and an old person – because all three people are inside me. I am young and old at the same time. I feel I have so many questions about my home, my life. I have questions about whether I should work for my home or for myself or for others and I feel I am not being able to do anything for anyone. So I have left everything behind, even myself, because I have found one thing to work for – my sister. I think for her, I feel I may not be able to do anything about my life but at least my sister can have a good life so I am working for her happiness. If there is anything that I am willing to fight for, it is my sister.”

At the same time, they face a dilemma: how do they negotiate between greater freedom for their sisters and being responsible for their sisters’ safety? These boys, these brothers, have no role models that they can emulate. From the perspective of creating Be! media, it is very important that we show and create new role model ‘brothers’ who face similar dilemmas. Sirajuddin, Vicky and Irfan have decided to support their sisters. Does the entrepreneurial brother ‘allow’ his sister the freedom to start an enterprise?

“Who reads the books that you write?” asked Asifa, age 15.

“We write our books for you, Asifa”

Asifa Sheikh

This is a story of how Asifa sees her universe – when she watches TV, reads books and listens to the radio. This is a story of when and where Asifa just may see our stories.

Asifa's universe as she sees it

Asifa lives in a village on the edge of Jaipur, Rajasthan with her parents. She is the eldest of four sisters and a brother and her Aunt lives with her family too. Asifa’s family used to live in a mud hut but have recently built a ‘permanent’ house because they sold their land to a real estate developer. It’s not sure what her family will do next, for a living – for now, they have a new house.

Asifa's new house

Asifa wakes up everyday at 7 am in the morning and she has to sweep the house, feed the buffaloes and collect water from the tube well close to her house. She likes to listen to the radio or have the TV on in the background while she completes her chores.

Asifa goes about her chores

Chores completed, Asifa goes to school.

Asifa says the favorite part of her day is when she goes to school. At school, she and her friends spend one hour teaching the younger children after which it’s time for Asifa to continue with her classes. She says, “I like going to school. I know that when I am there I can stop worrying about everything else and concentrate on my studies…”

Asifa in her classroom

Asifa talks about how there used to be much more rain in her village, there is a photograph in her album of her father and his brother in a green field. Now, there is less rain. And since her family has sold their land, she’s not sure how they will survive. Her father works as a machine operator in the city, but Asifa is not sure this will be sufficient. Plus, there are four sisters and only one brother, so there must be four dowries given. For now, Asifa is determined to go to school, but she wants to find a way to help her father.

Asifa's father and his brother. There is no water to irrigate this land now.

Next year, Asifa will read Be! Books at school with her friends.  She will read stories about young people, like herself, who, once they have finished school, have set up enterprises that solve the problems of waste, sanitation, water and energy for their villages and communities, and generate income and jobs at the same time.

Once Asifa gets back from school, in the afternoon, she likes to watch TV as she does her homework. She says, “Until my father comes home, the remote control is in my hands. After that, he decides. He has blocked all the English channels – because they show all kinds of things.” Be! Movies will be aired on Hindi channels. They will be aired in the afternoon to reach our target audience of young girls and boys all over India.

Asifa watching TV in the afternoon

As the day draws to a close, Asifa likes to spend some time on her own. She takes her radio and goes up to the terrace of her house and the last thing she hears as she falls asleep under the stars could be an episode of Be! Radio.

How does a thought become a story? This is a sneak peek into what children have told us during our research and how their insights are helping us create stories.

Aarti, age 14, said, “Until very recently, we did not have electricity in our village. Now the poles and lines have been set up but electricity is supplied only for an hour everyday. Usually, there is no electricity at night. So, after dark, my father doesn’t allow me to go outside. Without electricity, I cannot study at night.”

Neetu, age 15 says, “Electricity and water supply are the biggest problems that we face. There are parts of my village that get regular electricity. It is a big problem for us because most people in our part of the village are poor and illiterate. No facilities reach us because we are not able to raise our voices and even if we do, no one listens to us.”

In the absence of electricity, these girls and their families depend on kerosene lamps for light. They also use kerosene as fuel for cooking. Kerosene has its own set of problems. Ganga age 16 says, “The kerosene oil that the government supplies for us often does not reach us because the dealer sells it elsewhere and makes a profit. So even though we are supposed to get a certain amount, we actually get much less. If we oppose him he tells us either to take what he is giving or go away.”

Based on what children have said about the absence of light and the need for alternative fuel, we are now creating 50 Be! books and 10 movies – the first, is a story about a young woman called Tara, who builds a solar light business to bring light to her community.

Tara’s ‘Bolt of lightening’ Business

Tara, age 18, lives in a crowded slum without electricity. She lives with her younger sister Rani and her father who is a carpenter. To support her family and in order to send her sister to school, Tara makes packed lunches and delivers them to people’s homes and offices. She never makes a mistake about whose lunch it is. One day, Tara’s father, defeated by world around him, does not go to work. Tara sees Rani trying to study by kerosene light, and finds herself standing in line the next day for hours, just to get enough kerosene so Rani has light to be able to study. The loss of her father’s income and her desire to see Rani stay in school drives Tara to find a new solution: she needs a business she can run from home, that makes money and provides light.

Rajkumar - Tara's Father

Tara delivering the lunches

With the help of Tar Babu, a local electrician, she discovers, step by step, what she needs to know to solve the problem of electricity. She rents out solar lamps to street vendors, providing them with a dependable and clean source of energy and creates an enterprise that supports her family while solving the big problem of light for everyone in her community.

Tara’s story in the form of a graphic novel is a work-in-progress. Meet the characters, and do check back in soon, so see more of the graphic novel emerge.

Rani studying by the light of a kerosene lamp

Taar Babu with a solar lamp

Summer, Rajasthan… outside it was dry, still and hot, but inside, our workshop room was buzzing with excitement. Khatija, age 15, Rehana, age 16 and Asifa, age 15 were telling us how they negotiated, as a group, with their parents to let them continue going to school.

Exciting times in the workshop!

The girls were from a small village outside Jaipur called Bandhyali where they attended a school run by Digantar Shiksha Evam Khelkud Samiti. The school had classes only up to grade eight. “After grade eight my family said that I should study at home because Digantar school did not have higher classes and they were not going to allow me to go to the school in the city. But I wanted to study further. Two of my friends and I went to Digantar’s office and requested them to upgrade the school so that we could continue studying. They said it was not possible to hold classes for just three girls but if we were a bigger group, they would think about it. We decided to get together and convince the people in the village. I would tell everyone at home that I am going to school but I would go to another girl’s house and talk to her parents. I would make up stories and tell them that all the other parents are ready to send their daughter to school, why don’t you send your daughter too? On hearing that the rest of the community had agreed, they would agree too. This way we became a group of 18 girls. Once again, we went to the office. We said now we are a big group so now you have to help us. That was when they started grade nine and ten.”

Be! an Entrepreneur

Children across India are faced with multiple problems: from no water in the shared community tap to arguments that break out as a result, to not being able to go to the local government school if they have migrated and have no fixed address. Life is a constant struggle. In the midst of these large problems, children have their own day-to-day problems that they are constantly trying to solve: from not being allowed to go to a fair, to not being treated equally at school; from a broken radio to the danger of a sparrow’s nest being destroyed – their problems are many and varied. Just like entrepreneurs, children recognize the potential and the skills that they have. They negotiate and bargain with their parents, teachers and other authority figures in their lives and actively use these skills to solve the problems that they face in their lives.

To see the girls tell their story of making sure they could go to school, please watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GSkC3ADu40

Jyoti Somani

Hello and welcome to Going to School! It is February 2010 and sunny Spring is here in our bright stripy office. And with Spring we begin to create 50 Be! books, each communicating an entrepreneurial skill for children in India.

The Be! Book Universe...creative chaos!

So what is ‘Be!’? Be! an Entrepreneur is a multimedia movement of 50 books, 13 epic movies and a 15 part radio series to inspire young people from low income groups to choose to become entrepreneurs and transform their lives and the lives of people around them. Our media is based on extensive research with over 700 children across India…

“Who do you know?” The social connections web; Amina Kidwai in workshop with girls in rural Uttar Pradesh

We spent two years talking to children and young adults about who they think is an entrepreneur and children told us amazing stories of their lives and people they know and how they believe they are entrepreneurs.

Kajal, age 14, from Goyla Village, Haryana, said, “I want to be like Kamalesh ma’am. She rides a scooter and doesn’t cover her head. She is not afraid of talking to anyone, be it man or woman.” For the girls in Goyla, Kamalesh is an entrepreneur because she does things differently from the other women in the community and she inspires them to do the same. The Be! Books and films feature hero entrepreneurs and role models like Kamalesh.

Raju, age 13, from Dumpalapally Village, Andhra Pradesh had a quirky definition of who an entrepreneur is. He said, “Entrepreneurs make toys from stones, twigs and leaves.”

Children see entrepreneurs as people who take initiative independently by ‘going first’ to solve problems, they have a plan for how they will build relationships to form a group to solve a problem – whether it’s income generation or water.

One of our biggest challenges during the research was to communicate the idea of ‘entrepreneurship’ to children because there is no word in Hindi or other Indian languages for the word entrepreneur. The closest words translate to mean a business person or an industrialist and they do not convey the sense of having a new idea or venture or of the accountability and the risks involved in the venture. Or the fact that ‘business’ can do good, i.e. be a social enterprise.

Starting now, every two weeks, we will share our wonderful learning journey…watch this space!

Jyoti Somani