ECO TOURISM- A win win situation

Our gang went to experienced Eco tourism from September 23 to 27, 2008. Understanding the wild life and get motivated towards wild life conservation was the main purpose of this module. Cultural tourism and heritage tourisms were also involved in this module. Adventurous team was organized this whole 5 day module.

We left Hubli at 5-30 in the morning and reached Honnamaradu at 10 -30 am, where Adventurous team is situated. Honnamaradu is a beautiful village of Sagar taluq. This village attached to western ghat, lot of birds, trees, and some wild animals available here. More than this backwater of Sharavati River and beautiful islands formed by Sharavati River are the most interesting things here, which make visitors very happy.

Swim… Swim ……Swimming

First day’s interesting thing was swimming. Some people were getting into the water for the first time, some were fearing very much to enter into the water although wearing life jackets. It was really nice experience to swim in the Sharavati back water which river is surrounded by nice natural sceneries. Enjoying with swimming in such a holy river made us very fresh and Sharavati washed all our tensions of our city life with her blessed water. Then we never think of our home and lost in the nature for next 5 days.

Camp fire in the darkness of the forest

In the evening we enjoyed campfire in the Honnamaradu forest. Camp fire was not new to anyone but what way we did campfire that day under the guidance of Namito was really different and new to every one of us. We followed least impact method; we did not cut any tree, but collected woods which already fell down from the trees. We use very less wood and learn how to get longer light from less wood. Then we enjoyed the night with jokes, songs and dances. Next we cleaned the camp place by pasting the ass to our friends’ faces.

Pyar ki kasti me………. Lehero ki masti me…..

On the second day we enjoyed boating in the Sharavati back water. Boating was a new experience to all and by this boating we also knew the importance of team work, because in boating both people have to paddle with balance.  Balance is the very important in every stages of the life; we experienced the balance by paddling in the water. Everybody enjoyed a lot in this activity.

A night in the island

In the evening we went to a new world of island Korigudda, which is surrounded by Sharavati back water. We left Honnamaradu in the lovely evening, went to island by paddling in the water, enjoying the beautiful nature. We reached the island by 6-30 in the evening; we put the tents and have camp fire as the last evening. We enjoyed more than the yesterday because we were in the island. We sang, danced, laughed, hear the sounds of the birds, had dinner and slept on the shoulders of the forest. Next day morning we came back from island and went to Keladi.

KELADI DYNASTY:  “A forgotten Empire”

On third day, we visited Keladi, where a great Keladi dynasty has existed long time ago. There is a nice historical scent in the soil of Keladi. Everyone has to salute Keladi dynasty because it gave India a great Shivappanayaka, who introduced much disciplined tax system which is called as “Discipline of Shivappanayaka”.  One more great name in Keladi history is Rani Channamma; she was the first women in the Indian history who ruled the kingdom. We had visited Rameshwar temple in Keladi and understood the historical back ground of Keladi form Sri, Venkatesh Jois.

Traditional Brahmin meal.

Then we had traditional meal in Venkatesh Jois’s home. The food was nice that everybody slept for half an hour after the lunch. After this Anatarao explained the importance of having balanced food. He also told that how science is linked with the religious beliefs.

KINDARI JOGI: A long story

In the evening we enjoyed Kindari jogi, it is a very popular folk art in which they go on telling a story for a long time and entertain the audience. On that evening they presented the story of Dharmojaraja for 3-4 hours , they also told some nice jokes in the middle of the story and also sang some very interesting folk songs. After watching that great folk art we left to Kanur, reached there by 12 O’ clock in the night and stayed there in Ramnaik’s house.

LOVE WITH LEECHES: Trekking to Kanur Fort.

Trekking to Kanur Fort was a great experience in this Eco tourism, main reason for this was the leeches in the forest. We had to trek from Ramnaik’s house to Kanur fort; we had to go by forest only, but there were lot of leeches in the forest. Every minute at least 10 leeches were attacking on us. Some fellows were very much tensed, frightened to leeches and failed to enjoy the forest beauty because of leeches, but who walked without caring for leeches were beaten by them and lost their blood. It was a great and horrible. In the middle of the path we had a bath in the stream, had lunch and continued the journey.

Any way we reached the Kanur fort by the evening. The fort was built in the time of Rani Channabairadevi of Gerusoppa kingdom, and it has some specialties. First thing is it is situated in a very safe place, no one can recognize it from long distance. Second thing is it has 7 entrances; no one can enter into the fort easily. Third thing is there is very scientific method of water conservation.  If Indian Archeology department neglected it for some mare years, probably we may lose a great historical fort.

We spend that night in Mr. John’s house. Next day we left at 8 O, clock in the morning and reached Ramnaik’s house at 12 O’ clock. After having some discussions with Namito and Swamy, we started return journey at 2 pm.

JOG FALLS…… JOKE FALLS……..

We went to Jog and had great pleasure after seeing Jog falls. It was really great moment to all fellows who came from all parts from India. All enjoyed a lot and left Jog at 5 O’ clock. After seeing Jog falls there were lot of Joke falls in the van while coming back to Hubli. We really learned a lot things and understanding between our team members increased. We are really thankful to Adventurous group, especially to Mrs. Namito and Mr. Swamy.

Tippanna Dasanakoppa

Date: 25^th to 27^th August, 2008

Introduction:

    Kamadhenu village is 25 km away from Hubli, the taluq place of the village.  This is a small village having about 300 houses and 1800 population. Ugganikeri is the gram panchayat of this village and there are 4 gram panchayat members in the village.Village having good basic facilities like water, electricity, primary education etc.

Purpose of the village study:

   Purpose of this village study is to understand the dropout rate of girls after 8^th standard and the reasons for it.

Education in Kamadhenu village:

}  School up to 8^th std.

}  6 teachers including head master for 8 classes.

}  270 students. Daily attendance will be around 250.

}  School and teachers are good and drop out is too low till 8^th class.

This is the situation of primary education in Kamadhenu village. The school is up to 8^th standard and the dropout rate is very low till 8^th standard.

High school:

}  For 9^th standard students have to go to Mishrikoti village, which is 3 km away from Kamadhenu village.

}  It is a private high school. Fee is 700 per year. So very poor people can not bear it.

}  No convenient buses available to go to Mishrikoti village.

}  Government has provided bicycles to students.

Dropout rate after 8^th std

If we look at the above table we will come to know that there is a high rate of school dropouts of girls after 8^th standard. In 2005-06 there were 15 girls in 8^th standard in Kamadhenu, but next year only 6 girls took admission in Mishrikoti for 9^th standard. Next year also there were 8 dropouts. Overall the dropout rate of girls in Kamadhenu after 8^th standard.

Reasons for dropout of girls after 8^th standard:

}  Non accessibility of high school.

}  Maturation of girls.

}  Early marriage.

}  Stop learning start earning.

}  Economical problems.

}  No government high school: No free education.

}  Village culture- less imp for girls education.

}  Disinterest of child.

Conclusion:

As for the above reasons the dropout rate is high in the village. Till 8^th standard they are not having any problem, but there are many girls dropping out after 8^th standard. Although dropout rate decreased in the last year due to government has provided bicycles to the students, but still it has to improve a lot.

From last two months I am in this progrm and really enjoying learning new things in Deshpande Fellowship Program.

Name of the village: Tirumalakoppa

Date: 21-07-2008 to 23-07-2008

Team members: Tippanna Dasanakoppa

 Introduction:

         Sikandar and I went to the village Tirumalakoppa. We had been there for 3 days and experienced the village life. We really enjoyed a lot in the village life. Here there are some experiences and learnings at the time our village study.

Introduction of the village

    Tirumalakoppa is a small and beautiful village attached to NH-4, is 20 km away from Hubli, the nearest growth centre.

Rough map of village

History of the village:

There is a small and believable history behind the name of the village Tirumalakoppa.

      Tiru- Three (3)

      Mala-corner

      Koppa-village

This village is in the corner of three taluqs namely Kundagol, Kalaghatagi and Shiggavi. This village belongs to Hubli taluq, but it is in the corner of three other taluqs, so it is called as Tirumalakoppa.

Demography:

·        There are 170 houses in the village

·        20 SC and  ST houses are there

·        5 joint families are there and rest are nuclear families

·        Population: as per the census 2001 the population of the village is 738.now it is around 1000 and the voting is 610.

·        No any Muslim families are there

Resources:

There are a lot of resources available in the village.

Ø  Live stock- ox, cow, buffalo, goat, sheep and hen and others are the main livestock of the village

Ø  Hills and a stone quarry surround the village

Ø  2 ponds and 1 wells are there in the village

Ø  Trees- Mango, chikku, neem, teak and tamarind trees etc available in the village

These are the important natural resources in the village

Facilities available in the village:

  There are some facilities available in the village. They are:

ü  1 anganawadi school is there

ü  1 primary school is there and 120 students are studying in it.

ü  High school is 2 km far away from the village and hostel facility is also there.

ü  8 mini water tanks and 5 hand pumps are there

ü  24 hour electricity facility is there and its really helpful for irrigation

Facilities around the village:

Not only in the village but also in surrounding villages there are some facilities available for Tirumalakoppa people. They are:

§  Primary health centre is available in Aralikatti village which is 8 km away from village. But it is far from the peoples reach

§  Veterinary hospital is available in Varur, which is 4 km far away from village

§  Gram chetan office is in nearby village Surashettikoppa

§  Gram panchayat is also in Varur.

§  Lot of job opportunities in Varur VRL company, which is 4 km away from village

Livelihood:

·        Agriculture is main occupation of this village, more than 70% people practices it

·        Dairy is also well developed business in the village

·        Some people do self employments. 5 people have kirani stores, 2 people have hotels and 1 one person is running his cutting shop

·        Some people are working VRL Varur and some people are going to Hubli for work

Agriculture:

As there are lots of people involved in agriculture, we discussed with the farmers about the land, soil, irrigation facility, fertilizers, crops etc. Some outcomes of our discussion are:

·        Soil- There are 3 types of soils available in the village. 75% is red soil, 10% is black soil and rest 15% is red and black mixed soil

·        36 bore wells and 14 farm ponds are there

·        Major crops- Their major crops are maize, soabin, cotton and sun flower

Only less than 30% lands are having irrigation facility and it needs to be improved

Self help groups:

·        There are 11 SHGs in total. 1 men SHG of 20 members formed by BAIF is very strong group and 15 members of this SHG have got the plantation facility.

·        3 women SHGs formed by CHINYARD NGO and 7 strishakti sanghas are there and all are doing well

·        Women are socially and economically empowered because of these self help groups.

Success story of an SHG

There is one SHG called Ishwarling SHG, which was formed by CHINYARD NGO 11 years back. The women of this SHG start saving from 10 rupees and now they are saving 100 rupees per month, they have taken lot of loan from bank and repaid it also. If they did that much only it would not be success story, there are two more reasons for calling it a successful SHG. First thing is some days back one of their SHG member was losing her land and that time SHG members gave her 75,000 rupees loan and saved her land. Second thing is some days back one of the villagers had attempted to suicide and his family members did not have money to take him to the hospital, at that time SHG members gave them money and saved his life. Overall idea is they haven’t give importance only for their development but they also shown concern about others also.

Participatory tools

      We conducted 2 Group Discussions on two different days for different group of people on different topics

—  Men, women, students and gram panchayat members were participated in discussions

Group Discussion-1

On 21-07-2008 we conducted the group discussion in Basaveshwar temple. 14 men, 11 women and 4 students were participated in this discussion. Topic of the discussion was “What makes you feel proud about your village?”All women discussed themselves and list out the points.

Outcomes of the discussion

—  Sufficient drinking water

—  High school and hostel facility

—  24 hour electricity

—  Transport facility

—  Empowered SHGs

Group Discussion-2

On 22-07-2008 we conducted another group discussion in Basaveshwar temple. 15 men, 12 women and 5 students were involved in the discussion. Topic of the discussion was “What changes do you expect in your village?” The group members discussed themselves and listed the points.

Outcomes of the discussion

—  Need PHC and veterinary hospital

—  Drainage and toilet facility

—  Dairy must needed

—  Roads has to be repaired

—  Need library, play ground and sports materials

—  Self employment trainings

—  More Plantation

                                  The gram panchayat member was also presented in the meeting and at the end of the meeting he spoke to the people and told them about his plans.

Some observations about the village

—  No drainage facility in the village except SC colony

—  Toilets are being used for storing firewood

—  Most houses does not have toilet facility

—  Open defecation beside the road

—  Waste water management is poor

Future plans needed

—  To provide drainage facility

—  To provide toilet facility to every house

—  To conduct awareness programs on sanitation

—  Improve waste management and waste water management

Conclusion:

Overall the village is very small and nice one. The people are very hard working and innocent. Agriculture is backbone of their income and most of the agriculture is depended on rain water. Although there are some good facilities like school, hostel, electricity and sufficient drinking water but also facilities like hospitals for both human and cattle are must needed and drainage facility and maintaining cleanliness also needs to be improved.

VILLAGE STUDY

Name of the village: Tirumalakoppa

Date: 21-07-2008 to 23-07-2008

Team members: Tippanna Dasanakoppa

                            Sikandar

 Introduction:

         Sikandar and I went to the village Tirumalakoppa. We had been there for 3 days and experienced the village life. We really enjoyed a lot in the village life. Here there are some experiences and learnings at the time our village study.

Introduction of the village

    Tirumalakoppa is a small and beautiful village attached to NH-4, is 20 km away from Hubli, the nearest growth centre.

History of the village:

There is a small and believable history behind the name of the village Tirumalakoppa.

      Tiru- Three (3)

      Mala-corner

      Koppa-village

This village is in the corner of three taluqs namely Kundagol, Kalaghatagi and Shiggavi. This village belongs to Hubli taluq, but it is in the corner of three other taluqs, so it is called as Tirumalakoppa.

Demography:

·        There are 170 houses in the village

·        20 SC and  ST houses are there

·        5 joint families are there and rest are nuclear families

·        Population: as per the census 2001 the population of the village is 738.now it is around 1000 and the voting is 610.

·        No any Muslim families are there

Resources:

There are a lot of resources available in the village.

Ø  Live stock- ox, cow, buffalo, goat, sheep and hen and others are the main livestock of the village

Ø  Hills and a stone quarry surround the village

Ø  2 ponds and 1 wells are there in the village

Ø  Trees- Mango, chikku, neem, teak and tamarind trees etc available in the village

These are the important natural resources in the village

Facilities available in the village:

  There are some facilities available in the village. They are:

ü  1 anganawadi school is there

ü  1 primary school is there and 120 students are studying in it.

ü  High school is 2 km far away from the village and hostel facility is also there.

ü  8 mini water tanks and 5 hand pumps are there

ü  24 hour electricity facility is there and its really helpful for irrigation

Facilities around the village:

Not only in the village but also in surrounding villages there are some facilities available for Tirumalakoppa people. They are:

§  Primary health centre is available in Aralikatti village which is 8 km away from village. But it is far from the peoples reach

§  Veterinary hospital is available in Varur, which is 4 km far away from village

§  Gram chetan office is in nearby village Surashettikoppa

§  Gram panchayat is also in Varur.

§  Lot of job opportunities in Varur VRL company, which is 4 km away from village

Livelihood:

·        Agriculture is main occupation of this village, more than 70% people practices it

·        Dairy is also well developed business in the village

·        Some people do self employments. 5 people have kirani stores, 2 people have hotels and 1 one person is running his cutting shop

·        Some people are working VRL Varur and some people are going to Hubli for work

Agriculture:

As there are lots of people involved in agriculture, we discussed with the farmers about the land, soil, irrigation facility, fertilizers, crops etc. Some outcomes of our discussion are:

·        Soil- There are 3 types of soils available in the village. 75% is red soil, 10% is black soil and rest 15% is red and black mixed soil

·        36 bore wells and 14 farm ponds are there

·        Major crops- Their major crops are maize, soabin, cotton and sun flower

Only less than 30% lands are having irrigation facility and it needs to be improved

Self help groups:

·        There are 11 SHGs in total. 1 men SHG of 20 members formed by BAIF is very strong group and 15 members of this SHG have got the plantation facility.

·        3 women SHGs formed by CHINYARD NGO and 7 strishakti sanghas are there and all are doing well

·        Women are socially and economically empowered because of these self help groups.

Success story of an SHG

There is one SHG called Ishwarling SHG, which was formed by CHINYARD NGO 11 years back. The women of this SHG start saving from 10 rupees and now they are saving 100 rupees per month, they have taken lot of loan from bank and repaid it also. If they did that much only it would not be success story, there are two more reasons for calling it a successful SHG. First thing is some days back one of their SHG member was losing her land and that time SHG members gave her 75,000 rupees loan and saved her land. Second thing is some days back one of the villagers had attempted to suicide and his family members did not have money to take him to the hospital, at that time SHG members gave them money and saved his life. Overall idea is they haven’t give importance only for their development but they also shown concern about others also.

Participatory tools

      We conducted 2 Group Discussions on two different days for different group of people on different topics

—  Men, women, students and gram panchayat members were participated in discussions

Group Discussion-1

On 21-07-2008 we conducted the group discussion in Basaveshwar temple. 14 men, 11 women and 4 students were participated in this discussion. Topic of the discussion was “What makes you feel proud about your village?”All women discussed themselves and list out the points.

Outcomes of the discussion

—  Sufficient drinking water

—  High school and hostel facility

—  24 hour electricity

—  Transport facility

—  Empowered SHGs

Group Discussion-2

On 22-07-2008 we conducted another group discussion in Basaveshwar temple. 15 men, 12 women and 5 students were involved in the discussion. Topic of the discussion was “What changes do you expect in your village?” The group members discussed themselves and listed the points.

Outcomes of the discussion

—  Need PHC and veterinary hospital

—  Drainage and toilet facility

—  Dairy must needed

—  Roads has to be repaired

—  Need library, play ground and sports materials

—  Self employment trainings

—  More Plantation

                                  The gram panchayat member was also presented in the meeting and at the end of the meeting he spoke to the people and told them about his plans.

Some observations about the village

—  No drainage facility in the village except SC colony

—  Toilets are being used for storing firewood

—  Most houses does not have toilet facility

—  Open defecation beside the road

—  Waste water management is poor

Future plans needed

—  To provide drainage facility

—  To provide toilet facility to every house

—  To conduct awareness programs on sanitation

—  Improve waste management and waste water management

Conclusion:

Overall the village is very small and nice one. The people are very hard working and innocent. Agriculture is backbone of their income and most of the agriculture is depended on rain water. Although there are some good facilities like school, hostel, electricity and sufficient drinking water but also facilities like hospitals for both human and cattle are must needed and drainage facility and maintaining cleanliness also needs to be improved.