IngentaConnect Host families

Authors: Birch, Izzy; Gauriben; Ramilaben; Shantaben; Kamlaben; Gariba, Ama; Mpanga, Sam; Kumar, Saurabh

Source: Participatory Learning and Action, Volume 57, Number 1, December 2007 , pp. 42-46(5)

Publisher: IIED - Participatory Learning and Action

Abstract:

The voices of those who host immersion participants are seldom heard. The visitors leave and write their reports, in an attempt to describe for a wider audience what they felt and learnt, and what the implications might be for development policy or practice. But the thoughts of their hosts rarely leave their villages. In order to try to redress this imbalance, the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) and ActionAid were asked to carry out some interviews with host families to hear what they had to say. 1 The following conversation took place between SEWA staff and a group of four SEWA members:

• GAURIBEN, a salt worker from Bharada village in Surendranagar district and a SEWA member for 15 years;

• RAMILABEN, a mason from Juna Vadaj, an urban area of Ahmedabad, and a SEWA member for almost 30 years; and

•SHANTABEN and KAMLABEN, tobacco workers from Mehalav and Rasnol villages in Anand district, and each of them SEWA members for 20 years.

All four had hosted several Exposure and Dialogue Programmes (EDPs), mostly for staff from the World Bank (see Section 1).