It seems that I am well over due for an update. I’ve been lacking the inspiration for a new posting because life here has become rather status quo. My internship at Cecodecon is 9-5 five days a week. This forty-hour week work is generous in comparison to some of my classmate’s internships who require that they come in on Saturdays and the occasional Sunday. My NGO, as with most NGOs in India, does not have a specific focus and instead works on “all things”. I pass my days researching about the Kyoto Protocol and the legal framework of international climate change policies. Interesting stuff, but definitely hard to stay focused for eight hours a day. I luckily did not end up moving to the accommodations at the work-site. Cecodecon is located in a very small town with absolutely nothing to do. One of the host fathers has graciously agreed to give my classmate Tiffany and me rides to and from so that we are able to stay in our original home stays.
A highlight of my internship will be a climate change tribunal held in Delhi on November 16th. There will be testimonials from villagers whose lives have been substantially degraded by climate change. A jury will judge these testimonials and “verdicts” will be given. The main goal of this tribunal is to increase awareness and hopefully get some more attention to the reality of the immediate impacts that climate change is having on people in the rural areas. I’m very interested to see how this tribunal actually plays out and what the actual outcomes are.
The most aggravating thing to me about working in this organization, and more specifically working with Indian climate change policies is the lack of accountability that they take. Article after article emphasizes that the developed world has exorbitant GHG emissions and that they need to take more proactive approaches to mitigating these as these emissions are directly degrading their citizens’ quality of life. They following then note that India indeed is in the top of the world in regards to GHG emissions, but that they cannot possibly be asked to set lower emission standards for their own country as it would dissuade from the development process. While lowering emissions would slow the development process initially, if they were to successfully do this they would in turn be developing in a sustainable manner. Furthermore, if they were to set their own standards for lower emissions it would show the rest of the world that they really are feeling the degrading affects of climate change and will do whatever is in their power to mitigate their losses and it will exemplify their willingness to take a leadership position in this issue that so readily affects their country. Needless to say, every time I read a new document I get a little be riled up.
Since the majority of the students remaining in Jaipur have to work on Saturdays it doesn’t really look like much more traveling is in the cards for us until the end of the program. This, however, is a nice change of pace from the constant stressful going, going, going. We’ve now given ourselves some time to collect our thoughts, do some reading, do some sleeping, and I even joined a gym. It’s a much more livable lifestyle. However, I am bursting with excitement for my travels after the program. I have officially booked my flight down to Goa, where I will be staying for four days, and then I will spend the next four days in Mumbai, and then fly on back to Chicago. And how time flies. I will be embarking on this journey on December 11th, a little over a month away.
This week is Diwali, a holiday that I do not fully have a clue what it is about. There is a religious aspect in the Hindu religion, but since I don’t really know much about that I haven’t exactly followed. One thing that I have gotten loud and clear is that it is a festival of lights. The whole city is being transformed, similar to our Christmas decorations. Everyone is excited and there is are fireworks going off quite regularly. I’m mostly excited about it because I get the rest of the week off of work. It sounds like I should expect more fireworks, more lights, and lots of eating. I guess, like pretty much everything else here, I will discover that when the time comes.
