May-July, 2010 Gyan Shodh 3

In Nov 2009, Honeybee AP was contacted by BITS, Pilani Management for conducting “Gyan Shodh” as part of “Practice School I” curriculum. Something the participants of Gyan shodh I felt genuinely was shared with BITS faculty and to their generosity, maturity and progressiveness made them include Gyan Shodh in the curriculum. Brig Ganesham visited Pilani and having discussed the details, consented. Thus, an initiative of few students and honeybee network has turned into a regular activity for students.

26 students from three campuses of BITS, Pilani, Hyderabad and Goa opted for Gyan shodh and reached the venue at Warangal on May 24, 2010. Three days “Unlearning session” was conducted to prepare the students for collection of knowledge from villages.

The activity was organized in three districts of Andhra Pradesh. One group consisting of 10 participants was earmarked to Warangal dist and the other group of 16 were assigned to Visakhapatnam and srikakulam districts. Cordinator Honeybee AP visited 200 villages in these districts before short listing the villages for Gyan shodh 3. Local NGOs assistance was sought to identify villages and coordinate logistics for the visit of students. Lot of planning and effort had gone into selection of villages and also ensuring the safety and security of the participants.

Visit to villages by participants was planned in three phases. Each phase consisted of 7-9 days. During this period participants will stay in a base village and cover 3-4 villages surrounding it. 4-5 days period between the phases was spent on preparing the report and complete the documentation on their own. Feedback between the phases was conducted to identify the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches and tried improve upon them. Students traveled a lot and reached the next location on their own.

Finally, three days were spent at Rajam, dist Srikakulam, listening to the presentations of three phases by eight groups. This was the most significant event in the entire activity. Three days were spent very fruitfully by all of us learning about over hundred villages visited by the students. A feedback was obtained in writing and orally.

During the period of Gyan shodh 3, participants also interacted with local NGOs and met eminent persons such as Sh Dr Parameshwar Rao and DR PDK Rao.

Salient achievements by the participants during the Gyan Shodh are:

• 117 villages visited
• Over 200 Traditional knowledge documented. Samples collected
• Almost 1000 pictures taken
• 2000 Hand outs for 7th Campaign distributed.
• 1000 Palle srujana magazines distributed
• 200 Honeybee magazines distributed
• Interacted with almost 100 persons over 70 years
• Lived in the villages for 21 days at a stretch 7-8 days
• Prepared a detailed report on the Gyan shodh village wise and group wise.
• Each participant walked at an average of 10 kms a day. Total walking of each participant at an average is over 200 kms. As a group, it would be 7200 kms.
• The coordinator visited almost 200 villages, traveled more than 5000 kms and spent 60 days in coordinating the Gyan Shodh 3.
• The cost to the students is approx Rs 7000 per head and the expenditure for coordination is Rs 75000 for the entire project.
• Final presentation went for three days.



Organisations assisted

Such an event spread over three districts and involving over 100 villages could have not been possible without the generous assistance from the volunteers, local organizations, and social workers. To name a few:

• Bhagavatula Charitable Trust, Dist Visakahpatnam: Dr Parameshwar Rao, Sriram Murthy
• TERDS, Araku, Dist Visakhapatnam: Sh Venkat Rao, Chitti Babu
• GMRV Foundation, Rajam, Dist Srikakulam: Sh Balaji, Sh Prasad, Sai Kishore
• Masterji College , Hanamkonda, Warangal Dist: Sh Sundar Raj Yadav,
• Sh Gopala Reddy, Hanamkonda
• Kartik and Rajesh – Student Volunteers from Warangal Dist
• Harish – an IITM student Internee
• Suresh – driver
• Many others who worked for the success of this event


Coordinators
HoneybeeAP coordinators- Mr P Chandra Kanth Sharma, J Durga Prasad, Mrs Aruna Ganesham supported Gyan shodh immensely. Without their constant physical and moral support, this event would have not seen the light of the day.

The objectives of the Gyan Shodh 3 as set prior to the event have been achieved to a great extent.


A detailed report will be placed on the website shortly.

                                                           -Brig (Retd) Pogula Ganesham, VSM