Matiyas – A Changed Person

Transforming the doubt and suspicion of the villagers into trust, their inability to capability, and poverty to self-sufficiency requires patience, perseverance and perspective…Matiyas’ is one such story.

Introduction

A gram sabha meeting is on in a remote village; suddenly a man calls out in a harsh voice, “Ni hodo ko loan re phasowako aar ko seno ga, kabua abu ko. (These people will trap us with a loan and they will move on)” And the meeting is over. That was the first time that I heard Matiyas’ voice. I thought he was impressive—a person who just speaks once and a meeting is called off. What was going on over here? It is all over within a minute. I had not even brought up the word ‘loan’ in the gram sabha.

One-and-a-half years later, on a Saturday, at Bandgaon bazaar, I heard the same voice saying, “Dada tisin do aam ke mithai jom kate sen howa ga! (Today you have to eat sweets and then only you can go anywhere!).” I smiled and went with him to the hotel.

What a transformation in one-and-a-half years! Matiyas had changed. Let’s trace what happened.

Matiyas’ Terrain

Matiyas is considered to be a very influential person. He lives in Tuyugutu (a remote village, barely connected by road). This village falls under Erki block of Khunti district. Erki is one of the poorest (by government estimates) blocks of Jharkhand. The terrain is hilly and 90 percent of the area of this block is covered with sal forests.