Seeing Sustainability in a New Light

by Addie Morrisette

Sus-tain-a-bil-i-ty (noun): the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level.

Until this trip, my definition of sustainability was simple: being sustainable meant doing work that would not harm the system in which it was being done. I mostly associated sustainability with the environment, for I didn’t see many examples it in a societal or political context. Sustainability existed within YouTube, where so many make videos documenting their trash-free lifestyles and how they were working in their way to prevent the further deterioration of the earth. I was neutral on my feelings about sustainability before we left for India, to me it just seemed like a “do no harm” approach rather than a proactive effort towards improvement. The NGOs we visited in India changed my definition. Now, sustainability means working on all sides of an issue to create a long term solution. It is one of my favorite words at the moment, because I think that most of the problems the world faces (simple OR complex) can be approached with a sustainable mindset in order to create a true solution to the issue, not just a temporary fix.

Here are the different models of sustainability we witnessed that changed my mind:

Butterflies School for street and working children:

The story:

- Butterflies was founded by Rita Panicker in 1989. It is an organization that focuses on protecting the rights of street and working children. Over the years, Butterflies has developed a wide variety of programs that help all children in need such as financial education, savings accounts, sports programs, mobile schools, a culinary school, a health care system, a helpline, and a media program.

The model:

- Butterflies uses a democratic system centered on the accountability of the children. It provides health care, education, life skills, vocational training, sports, financial management, and a child protection system to the kids living on the streets. Here are some of my favorite systems they have in place:

- The Children’s Development Khazana (CDK) is a banking system managed by kids and utilized by kids. Education accompanies this program, where children learn how to save and when to spend, how to withdraw loans to start their own business venture, and how to hold each other and themselves accountable when it comes to money.

- The Children’s Health Cooperative (CHC) provides the children with health care. Some kids are trained in first aid so that they have the skills to treat their peers and know when they need the help of the hospital.

This organization was striking because of its creativity and faith in the children. The democratic way in which Butterflies is run encourages children to engage and lets them make decisions in order to better their own lives. I loved how they turned everything into a learning opportunity. They didn’t only have adults doing first aid or banking, they had the kids participate and take leadership. Furthermore, you could tell that this organization had the child’s best interest in mind. In the US, the first step in child services is institution. Rita Panicker’s vision with this organization was to do everything she could to avoid institutional care.

Dastkar Ranthambore:

The story:

-The establishment of the Ranthambore National Park, a wildlife reserve, displaced many people from their homes in 1980. In 1989, Dastkar Ranthambore created a plan to provide income to the people who had lost their home and way of life.

The model:

- Educating women from the communities affected by the establishment of the national park in artisanal techniques in order to produce quality products and create an income

- The income that the women receive not only goes to them and their families, but it also goes towards a community account that can be used for loans and 12% of their income goes into a retirement fund to ensure stability.

What inspired me most about this organization was the creative way in which they tackled the problem they faced. This story struck me as an optimistic one. The founders saw a problem in the displacement of indigenous people, and they used their opportunity to solve the issue to empower women, create financial stability, and revive fading artisanal techniques. The story of Dastkar Ranthambore is one which proves that complex problems can begin to be solved with a sustainable model, and that you don’t have to solve the whole problem to make a difference.

Wildlife SOS:

The story:

- In India, animals such as elephants and sloth bears have traditionally been used for entertainment and income. The process of habituating these animals to riders, circuses, or street entertainment involves physical and mental abuse.

- Wildlife SOS was established to protect a variety of animals by removing them from their previous owners, providing medical care, and allowing them to live content lives as far removed from human contact as possible.

The model:

-Wildlife SOS creates a sustainable model by providing support for the people who were reliant upon the animals for income

- They sponsor the education 1360 children of families from communities traditionally dependent upon the animal entertainment business.

- Women are trained and given the resources to start their own businesses in an effort to discourage child marriage and empower women by establishing financial independence.

- Former owners of the elephants or bears are educated on the impacts that their actions have had, and given a second chance. Wildlife SOS hires them as keepers where they receive a steady income and are still able to work with animals.

The thoughtfulness with which this organization works to assist abused animals spoke to me. They are truly empathetic to the people who have been inflicting pain upon the elephants, and this is what will allow them to end the cycle and be sustainable. Simply removing the animals from the bad situations would make life extremely hard, and people would just find more animals in order to provide for their families. Using education, Wildlife SOS creates a true solution to the problems in the animal entertainment industry.\

Pardada Pardadi:

The story:

- Founded in 2000 by Sam Singh, Pardada Pardadi (PPES) is a school for rural girls under the poverty line.

- In Uttar Pradesh (the state in which PPES is based) about half of girls drop out of school before 8th grade and 72% get married before turning 15.

- Mr. Singh grew up in village near PPES, and after having a successful career in the US, he felt a calling to promote education and girls empowerment in the place that he came from.

The model:

- Girls receive payment, food, uniforms, health care, and transportation in exchange for attending school, which relieves concerns that parents had surrounding safety, sustenance, and income.

- Women from the nearby villages are employed at the production center where they have a steady income and can attain financial independence.

- The life-changing education that the girls have access to is spread throughout villages and families.

- PPES gives girls the opportunity to pursue their dream careers and an alternative to child marriage.

What struck me about PPES was the way that education was spread. When we visited, we were paired with a student at the school. I was paired with Sonam. Sonam told me about her home life, and one part of that was teaching her nieces and nephews things that she learned at school. Also, I just loved to witness how this place changed lives and inspired everyone learned about it. Nothing seemed unattainable there, there was so little room for self-doubt. Sonam was so confident in her dreams, she had a plan for her future, something that neither I nor my friends have.

The four NGOs we visited each had a sustainable model unique to the issue they were focused on solving, but a common thread I observed between them was the use of education to create a long term solution. These organizations created true sustainability by utilizing something more endurable and shareable than money. Education can be passed on through generations and spread to entire villages. As an American teenager who has had education handed to her for her whole life, I feel as though I often take my valuable learning opportunities for granted. However, when I witnessed the passion the children at Pardada Pardadi and Butterflies had for their education, the way that training in artisanal techniques gave the women at Dastkar a livelihood and a steady income, and the way that learning could fund the rehabilitation of abused animals while giving people a second chance through Wildlife SOS, I realized just how valuable education is, because it’s not something that you can take away.

Money is not always the best solution to the difficult and complex issues our world faces. In America, there are a multitude of examples of people trying to solve problems by throwing money at them, Trump’s wall, for instance. The solution to the immigration issue is not simple, and it doesn’t lie in a physical structure that will cut funds from vital departments and agencies (including a 12% budget cut for the Department of Education). Money is not sustainable. It gets spent. These organizations helped me see an more beneficial alternative, and I am inspired by the opportunities that my generation has in America to create sustainable solutions of our own.