An Account of a KSSS Volunteer:

Compassionate karma yogi warriors unite!

Besides the common good one can do every second of every day
everywhere...India offers a huge opportunity to touch
lives of some of the most courageous common sense real
accepting loving simple and beautiful shining
economically poor  people on the planet.

KeralaSSS.......Kerala Social Service Sanghom is where
I had my official 'full on' volunteer experience in
India.  I wouldn't have found this organization nor
have known where to begin if it weren't for charity
focus.org and  propoor.org.  It turned out that I was
the first volunteer and the first westerner to ever
work at KSSS.  They don't come much whiter and blonder
than me so my presence called attention on many
different levels throughout my stay in
Thiruvananthapuram.  Yes that is the longest name of a
city that I have ever lived in!  Say it with me
"Tee-roo-von-on-tah-poor-am".  Very good.
Thiruvananthapuram is the base for the board of
directors of KSSS, it is the capital city of the state
of Kerala located in South west of India.  The base is
there but the organization reaches out to poor
villages in all parts of Kerala. It has some 10,000
needy people formed into self-help groups which is the
medium through which KSSS works throughout the
villages.  Imagine  the board members- a group of 10
very dedicated passionate Indian men who themselves
haven't got much money or material backing, running an
organization with a very Indian style disorganization.
It is extrememely difficult to communicate with all
the villages, from the fishermen to the farmers to the
backwaters to the mountain hillsides, they personally
have to bring any information or resources.  The life
of the villagers is without telephones, computers,
fax, and often times electricity.  The only way for me
to meet with the villagers and be able to organize
self employment strategies for each group was to go
there.  It was an intense road trip done on local
transport (packed in like asian sardines on the dusty
roads on buses and trains) that stopped in little
niches that no tourist would've found if they tried.

I was the first non Indian that 99% of the people had
ever met and just thinking of the feeling at each
arrival....it was an overwhelming mix of joy and
sorrow.  They felt so happy that someone cared enough
for their problems to come out and see them, and I was
so happy to be able to meet them.  The warm glow in
their eyes, the bright genuine smiles, the firm
handshakes and tight hugs that trembled wtih gratitude
and awe for the moments shared.  Then there's the hope
I represented for them.  It was so wonderful but at
the same time bittersweet as I am not the solution; I
was there to look into ways of getting them to climb
slowly out of their distressed situations...step by
step.  I listened to people explain their particular
needs and problems to me one by one. (translated by
Director Victor John from Malayalam, the official
language of kerala). 

I met in town halls, board rooms, and the humble
cement or dirt floor of the every sort of village home
one could fathom.  I feel like the work I began during
this month volunteer experience was a start to a life
long journey.  It was a learning experience that
bombarded my mind, body, and soul.  The family I
stayed with were of the most hospitable people on
Earth.  Even the villagers made sure I drank and ate a
coconut with them at every meeting.  On days with
multiple meetings I often felt coconut overload. 

I find my Indian experiences very hard to summarize
because for every statement I make the opposite
statement is also true.  The true Indian experience is
one of relativity.  I can't say that economically poor
people are happier or more spiritual than rich people.
Of course sometimes that is true but many times it is
not true.  They do make the most of what they have and
remain firmly grounded in the universal laws of karma.
This leaves for an air of acceptance of circumstances
that you dont find in the west very often.  However,
this also means that the idea of bringing about change
to their distressed situation seems far fetched if not
impossible to most of these people who have been
literally outcast for generation after generation,
since the days of the Indian caste system.  Some
villagers offer everything up to God and other
villagers waste the bit of money they make on alcohol
and hang out on the local corner or beg at the railway
station.  Some groups pool their money, putting past
differences aside and see that solidarity is the only
way to rise up against the oppressive system; others
prefer to do it on their own and not risk giving their
savings to the others.  

KSSS has amazing potential to reach large quantities
of poor people in Kerala but they need our help. 
They would greatly benefit from anything anyone might
like to offer including time, organizational or
technical skills, material or monetary donations.
I've photographed several of the children who I worked
with and I'd like to find them sponsors.  A few
dollars could bring clothes, school books, and open up
a whole new world of opportunity to a child living in
such distressed situations. 

Please get in contact with us!  There are thousands of
beautiful Keralan people waiting to meet you, and
wanting to work hard towards their upward social
mobility.

(Written by Sarah I. Parriott)