Seeds For Change

Students with their packets of seeds after our final session in Satputiyaka

Seeds For Change is a book I read while in India about the lives and work of Dr. Surinder (Suri) and Mrs. Edda Sehgal. It was an inspiring tale of overcoming hardships, and, at least I found, of coming together in order to forward shared aspirations. The "seeds for change" referenced by the author here, Marly Cornell, are those that Dr. Sehgal helped to develop, further catalyzing the Green Revolution in India. Seeing as I'm working at the Foundation that the Sehgals established, I find it fitting to mention a very different set of "seeds for change" that I was fortunate enough to come across during my two months here. Allow me to elaborate:

Last Friday, for me, marked the final time I would be visiting any of the villages in Nuh that have made my experience here so impactful and fulfilling. It was the final vitamin A session at our final school, and with that now behind me, this week, my last week in India, is to be focused solely on my presentation for the S M Sehgal Foundation and my research paper for the World Food Prize.

Before I allow myself to succumb to the realization that my time here is nearing an end, I would much rather revisit the moment, rekindle the memories, and live out, once more, the dream of mine come true that has been working in these rural villages.

---------------------------------------------------

In each of the sessions prior to this, there had been a homework assignment. Today was no different. Well, actually, I do suppose that it was rather different---you see, in the assignments before, all the students were asked to take home was a sheet of paper. Today, they were taking home seeds. As our final farewell, we wanted to give these kids something lasting, something a bit more tangible, a bit more reminiscent of our time together. And so these seeds, pumpkin, tomato, and spinach, were what we found to be the best way to go. Once ripe, all three are rich in vitamin A and are excellent foods for eye health overall. It was the perfect culmination of our lessons dedicated to both those overlapping subjects.

The kids and I after the completion of our first session in Badarpur

As I began to hand out these seeds to each student, putting the final note on this final lesson, I thought back to my very first field visit---not here in Satputiyaka, but in nearby Badarpur. It was my first taste of what life was like here in rural India, understanding how these children lived, and seeing with new eyes how best to engage with them and interact in a manner that best reflects upon their lived experiences. That first visit is what grounded me, informed my opinions, and allowed me to craft a worldview that now incorporates these new experiences and understandings I've come across. I remember the moments of genuine connection after we had finished our lesson for the day, where the students gave me and the two other interns who had come along beautifully designed tattoos with mehndi. For a week, those tattoos stayed on my hands, but unlike my eternal memories of that day, they began to fade. I know that first session will stick with me for a lifetime, and as I snapped back to the present, feeling the small packets of seeds in my hands and handing them to each student, I hoped that I was truly giving something back after all these kids had given me.

The classroom and students in Ghasera

I hoped that I was giving them more than just knowledge. My second field visit came back to me as my mind lingered on that point. That session had been with a group in yet another village, Ghasera, and it was the first of a series. I remember writing up the lesson plan for that day, aiming not just to dispense information, but to form a genuine bond with these kids. Through activities, games, fun little vitamin A "Super Food Posters," and more, I hoped that my lessons would be memorable for more than just the educational content. That group in Ghasera was my first time truly teaching these sessions, and I learned so much from them. I just hope I was able to teach them half of what they taught me, and that they found enjoyment in the activities I'd dreamed up or devoted myself to designing. The smiles on that group's faces proved that at least the latter half of that hope was true.

By this point in my reminiscing, I was about halfway through the group. It dawned on me then just how well I recognized the faces of each of these kids. Of the 22 that sat in on the session today, I'd feel confident enough to pick every single one out of a schoolwide assembly. I found that realization to be striking, as in just four visits together, I felt I had gotten to know this group so well.

My first visit to Satputiyaka (above) and my second to Ghasera (below)

I couldn't help but think back to the first time I came to Satputiyaka, meeting with this particular group of children, during my third time visiting the field overall. We held two sessions that day, lesson two in the series for Ghasera and the initial session of a new, finalized series for Satputiyaka. After three visits, three villages, and three iterations of my vitamin A and eye health modules, we had finally arrived at something solid. The new group receiving our finalized sessions was dynamic, engaged, invested. They listened, they participated, they asked great questions and excitedly shared their experiences whenever asked. The kids of this village, as with the kids of all these areas, were truly something special. I ended my first session in this new setting of Satputiyaka feeling a certain sense of wonder, and a small pride and large joy in the fact that they had found my educational material and activities to be so engaging.

Two photos from the third/final session in Ghasera

I was almost finished handing out seeds by now, a package of pumpkin, tomato, and spinach to each student. I had finished with the first row of kids and was now well on my way through the second. As my reminiscing continued, I thought of my fourth field visit, which was the third and final session for Ghasera and the second for this group in Satputiyaka. With the kids from Ghasera, we had run a sort of "test schedule" by which we implemented and experimented with the activities and content of each session before we finalized them. In this light, the Ghasera group was the first to receive seeds. At the culmination of our time with them, as well, we had shared this lovely capstone. The kids were elated, excited, exuberant. They asked so many questions I could hardly keep up. They all wanted to know the best way to care for their young plants: how deep to dig, how far apart to sow, how much water and sunlight were preferable. We answered each question in turn and closed out the session. The sentimentality of that moment trickled into this one, then flowed. Not only was this my last time with these children, this visit in particular also marked the final out-of-the-office-and-into-the-village excursion of my entire internship. A little over a week ago, I had been in this same place, with two visits left ahead of me, and yet here I was now, living out the last moments of that daydream.

Some "Eye Yoga" during our third session in Satputiyaka

Two days ago, even, I had been here. Our third session with Satputiyaka had been the real icing on the cake: a test of the knowledge these children had gained throughout our intervention. Their homework assignments provided real data showing they had picked up what we had presented, as they were able to recognize the vitamin A present in their own diets with 100% accuracy at every meal. 80% of students had participated in the assignment, and 75% of them had filled out the sheet entirely, detailing their every meal over a period of five days. The results were astounding, and this was true too of the "pop quiz" we gave them, in which the students definitively proved their knowledge of vitamin A's many health benefits, the signs and symptoms of deficiency, the foods richest in the micronutrient, and the activities best set to improve eye health. Even then, I felt those kiddos were ready to graduate, and here I was now, giving them each their biological diplomas.

Handing out seeds (above) and posing together after the session (below)

My only hope, after this final session, is that these kids, like the seeds we gave them, will go on to grow, blossom, and lead fruitful lives. I hope those seeds will serve as a constant reminder of the lessons they learned, of the importance of vitamin A, and of the memories we crafted together. I hope that one day, those children will be able to enjoy the delicious, and most of all, nutritious produce that is eventually borne of these seeds. I hope, in my heart of hearts, that those seeds would be the seeds of change in these children's lives, planted in the soil of their minds, sprouting in the deeds and actions they take moving forward.

I do not hope, but instead know, that I have made a difference in these children's lives, and for that, I am forever grateful to them for allowing me to come into their villages, to speak in their schools, and to encourage their healthy tendencies all the while. So, to the children of Badarpur, Ghasera, and Satputiyaka, I devote this personal essay to you. You who have changed my life. You who have made my experience in India so unforgettable.

Thank you, for I can say without a doubt that you all have planted the seeds of change in my own heart. I will look after them with the same care you all have so wonderfully demonstrated, and I will continue to nurture them even as my plane touches down in the United States next week. Thank you for helping me plant my roots in India. Though I may be leaving, in my heart, I'll never be far.

An extra tidbit: Some of the boys and I in Satputiyaka