| In Focus |
 |
 Community Profile
The Kolam Tribe
About 800 kilometres from Mumbai near Nagpur lies the Yavatmal district of Maharashtra. The district, whose name literally means "mountain row", is home to a little more than 24,00,000 people according to the 2001 census. This includes some of India´s most ancient tribes - Gond, Banjara and Kolam. Of these, the latter, a Dravidian tribe with their own language called Kolami, are a small but significant percentage. Tribe members call themselves "Kolavar" and there are two sects among them: the Metla Kolavar who live in the mountains and the Maduka Kolavar who inhabit the plains.
The tribe depends on cultivation during the crop season but this is not enough to wrench them out of the stranglehold of poverty. During the rest of the year, they are forced to turn to the forest for their survival. Sometimes, the men cut down trees so that they can sell the expensive teak wood in nearby towns. Women hunt for "moha" fruits in the jungle from which they extract liquor. During April and May, they pluck leaves which are used to make beedis for smoking. Despite all of this, they often have to depend on money lenders to tide them over sickness, festivals and marriages. This reduces them to little more than bonded slaves, forced to work in back-breaking jobs to pay off their debts.
The Kolam are an interesting people with many vibrant customs. Traditionally, the bridegroom gives dowry to the bride and women have a greater say in family life than men. Families typically consist of two to four children and there are an equal number of boys and girls visible in the community. Nowadays, many families are adopting family planning practices. Divorce is a frequent occurrence and remarriage is common. The downside: children are easily neglected and often bear the scars of families in flux. After a divorce, the children are sometimes exploited by their new guardians and made to work for landlords, who engage them in gruelling tasks.
Kolam children speak the Kolami language at their house and village. When they go to school, they have to learn the state language Marathi. Some find it difficult to understand and drop out of school. However, the state government runs an attractive programme - there are "ashram" schools in many of the villages where these children can stay and study. In such schools, all their needs are taken care of. The parents are also given incentives to send their children to these schools. Although there are facilities for higher education (often available for free to the Kolam as part of the government´s affirmative action strategy), few study beyond 12th grade. The community needs greater awareness and sensitization on the importance of education and enough incentives to send their children to school so that they will not put them to work for extra income.
The Kolam are a religious community and they have many festivals, some of which involve hunting and dancing. During religious functions, men and women dance together and there is a lot of drinking. There is a goat sacrificed at the end of the function and then everybody eats together. The community is extremely dependent on traditional healers and "witch doctors" and prone to superstitious practices. Tuberculosis (TB), anaemia, gastroenteritis and malaria are common illnesses among the tribe. When a traditional healer is unable to heal a sickness, it is termed "Kolava Rog" (a sickness that even God cannot heal) and the patient is kept outside the house in a hut or cattle shed. Most people suffering from tuberculosis or malnutrition fall in this category. Although there are government - run Public Health Centres (PHCs) in the area, people prefer to consult traditional healers and the PHC plays an active role only in the area of family planning. Because members of the tribe are steeped in superstitious customs, many die during epidemics.
The Maharashtra Village Development Project (MVDP) started work in the area in 2008 and is looking forward to give hope to this community and helping them with the Community Health Education (CHE) program. In keeping with the principles of CHE, the village committees will decide on the project thrust areas.
|
|
|
|
