Cord

Hello all. It's Jazmyn here! 

 

      This morning we visited the village of Sidhbari, Kangra District, Himachal Pradesh to learn about the CORD organization. CORD's initial goal when it was founded in 1985 was to provide maternal and child healthcare. Today CORD's mission is "to facilitate integrated and sustainable development in Rural India through Self Empowering processes." CORD goes beyond just providing villagers with fleeting means. The organization empowers women through promoting unity among women within their communities while simultaneously encouraging a woman's independence. Together women advocate for their rights, and they form self-help groups in which they generate funds amongst themselves for the purpose of helping each other.    

 

     We started off our day at CORD by sitting in on a Hindu morning prayer service, and two of The Modern School girls that were with us participated in performing the rituals.  While at the CORD location, we toured the center and learned about the many programs the organization offers, which supports more than 550 villages. I will refrain from going into detail about the large variety of training opportunities that CORD offers, but I will name a few examples. We witnessed young ladies learning how to sew clothing, bags, etc., and in addition to receiving this free training, these seamstresses also have free access to CORD shops in which they can sell their goods. The CORD concept for these artisans is "earn while you learn." We also watched the process of transforming colorful threads into beautiful pieces of fabric using the hand loom. It is a very intricate and time consuming process indeed, and it requires quite a bit of patience! But CORD doesn't limit it's training to only women. Men can participate too. 

 

    I was fascinated by the beautiful artwork produced by the deaf men and women. They craftily produced pieces with a traditional Indian influence, and they sell their artwork in shops. CORD also provides onsite healthcare and physical therapy for the disabled and mentally challenged, and members of the organization are very proud of those disabled individuals who represented India in the Special Olympics for the mentally challenged. 

 

     After our tour we had a question and answer session with their Senior Program Manager, Dr. Didi. Our talk with Dr. Didi motivated me to ponder on the comparisons and contrasts between myself as an American individual and the native Indians. Although our lives, cultures, and beliefs differ, we are all still one people. We are united as human beings by not only our shared basic necessities in life such as food and shelter but also by the emotional aspects of life including those things which make us happy and not so happy. "In life, be happy." The former quote is the advice that Dr. Didi gave us in response to the question I asked during our Q&A session. After thanking her for her extensive and passionate support in the CORD organization, I asked her a question to the effect of: "We are the future leaders of our various nations. If you could give us one piece of advise, with respect to helping others, what advise would you give?" Dr. Didi reminded us that we cannot obtain happiness through obtaining material possessions. She also illustrated that feeling happy is a choice. She beseeched us to not accept the "rubbish" that people might throw at us in life in order to maintain a state of happiness. Joy will propel our ability to have a positive impact in the life of others. We will feel a personal reward for our genuine generosity. 

 

     Similarly, the previous day Jeremy Russell, the son of the founder of Norbulingka Institute, spoke to us on the idea of happiness and charity during his Introduction on Buddhism talk. The Buddhist philosophies that he presented compare with Dr. Didi's ideas because according to Buddhism, being nice or kind is not a favor. Rather we should be good for ourselves and in turn this will be good for society. 

 

    My iPod was on shuffle, and a song started playing that relates to and enhances the importance and relevance of world unity, an idea which the Global Education program promotes. Michael Jackson made popular a song called "We Are the World," and a variety of artists remixed the song in support of raising awareness and funds for victims of the earthquake in Haiti, in 2010. The chorus of the song is as follows: "We are the world. We are the children. We are the ones who make a brighter day, so let's start giving. There's a choice we're making. We're saving our own lives. It's true we make a better day just you and me." Despite our differences, we have a duty as people to help those in need.

 

India is a religiously diverse nation, and in addition to the Buddhist philosophies of goodness mentioned above, many other religions practiced in India value kindness. In the Bible I have come across many scriptures pertaining to charity. The Word teaches in 1 Corinthians that with charity comes edification, and throughout the scriptures we learn that God has an even greater reward in store in heaven. Still, extreme poverty exists in this country. Therefore,  once we become aware of the issues that occur, we must take action in order to resolve those issues. 

 

     CORD is successfully addressing the needs of the people in Indian villages, and wishes to further expand their initiative. For more information about CORD Training Center, Sidhbari, please visit www.cord.org.in or email: cordsidhbari@gmail.com. 

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post with my thoughts! 

 

- Jazmyn M.