In the remote areas of Tamil Nadu lives the Irular people. They are one of the many tribal communities of India. Historically, they have always had a very low position in society, and sadly they still experience discrimination. The community used to live a simple lifestyle in the forests, but were displaced and forced to adapt to the rest of the Indian society. This has created a lot of socio-economic challenges for them, and they don’t always enjoy equal opportunities within education and employment. Because even though equal rights for all are implemented in India’s constitution, it is not always the case in the real world. Corruption in the systems is one of the reasons for that.
Luckily, there are efforts to empower these tribal communities. NGOs have done a variety of things to empower the tribal people. However, I remain skeptical of many of the methods that NGOs use to develop what they may consider to be backward societies. I think it’s important to have an open discussion about the actual effects of their work, if what they do really is helping the people. Including the tribal people themselves in discussions and decision-making is crucial, as they know their needs better than any social worker.
We visited the village of the Irulars in Gingee, where an NGO called RISE is present. It was a unique opportunity for us to get to know the community, as well as learn what NGO work looks like in the field. A group of elderly ladies greeted us, and were happy to show us around. Open and humorous, they made us feel comfortable and very much welcomed as they gave us a peak into their everyday lives. We sat down and had a talk in the end, where all of us got to ask all kinds of questions. I was happy to find out that RISE have succeeded in empowering the Irular people in many ways, even though they still face a few challenges. The women asked us to perform a song for them before we left. We landed on “Pippi Langstrømpe”, since that is common knowledge for both Norwegians and Swedes! One of the ladies sang for us as well.
I appreciate being able to travel and meet people who’s life situations are so different from my own. But the most important thing I have learnt from it is that, in the end of the day, we are all the same!
Helene
