The Orchha Home-stay – Linking tourism and development in Central India
“Since I've started receiving tourists in our home, I no longer need to worry about where the next meal will come from on days that I don't find work. Besides, interacting with people from other countries has been good for our children” says Rambabu, a carpenter and head of a host family.
About You
Section 1: About You
First Name
Asha
Last Name
D'Souza
Website
Country
India
Section 2: About Your Organization
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Organization Name
Friends of Orchha
Organization Website
Organization Phone
+91-9993385405
Organization Address
Lakshmi Mandir Road, Orchha 472 246, Madhya Pradesh
Organization Country
India, XX
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
How long has this organization been operating?
1‐5 years
Your idea
Name Your Project
The Orchha Home-stay – Linking tourism and development in Central India
Describe your Social Enterprise
“Since I've started receiving tourists in our home, I no longer need to worry about where the next meal will come from on days that I don't find work. Besides, interacting with people from other countries has been good for our children” says Rambabu, a carpenter and head of a host family.
Country your work focuses on
India
Innovation
What makes your innovation unique?
This is not just another B&B. We've had quite a few guests who intended to stay just a few days and have ended up staying for weeks with one of our host families. They were able to discover India from within, to experience the life of a family of small farmers, herdsmen or artisans in this picturesque town of Orchha. It's been a discovery for the host families too – they had never had a chance to get to know foreigners and are full of questions about what life is like in those faraway places that they've just learned to locate on a map. We sit in one of the courtyards in the evenings and allow the people of the neighbourhood and the visitors to talk to each other with us interpreting from English or French to Hindi. True cultural exchange! By providing accommodation and meals for about 15 days a month, eight months per year, the families have been able to double their incomes. The extra money has been used to repair a leaking roof or get a proper electricity connection. Besides, they now have an additional room in their houses and a nice, tiled toilet and bathroom that the family shares with their guests. Other families of this poor, low-caste neighbourhood also earn through providing services such as laundry, transport or selling their handicrafts to the guests. We have used ecological techniques for building that make the community conscious of the need to recycle waste and save water.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
Tell us about the social impact of your innovation. Please include both numbers and stories as evidence of this impact
Our innovation has allowed a section of the population that was excluded from the economic and cultural opportunities that tourism engenders to access them. They now have food security even when they don't find work, can pay for their children's education, meet their medical expenses, undertake much needed home improvements The women in particular needed to be able to contribute to family income without going out to work. Their spontaneous hospitality has charmed our guests many of whom have spread the word to other tourists they meet. Thus, in the past year 109 visitors have stayed in the home-stay for a total of 461 person-days. The host families have earned an average of Rs. 26,500 in the year and have been able to pay back 19 % of what was invested by Friends of Orchha in building and furnishing the guest room and constructing the toilet and bathroom in their homes.
The cultural impact of the Orchha home-stay on the local community has been tremendous. People no longer regard foreigners as persons to extract money from by any means. They have grown to appreciate them as friends and have learned about their countries, cultures and values. This includes seeing that women can be independent, can choose their own life partners, etc. While opening their minds to other cultures, this interaction convinces local people of the value of their traditions in housing, food and handicrafts, traditions that are adapted to the climate and now even have market value.
Environmental consciousness has grown too. The importance of cleanliness for guests has got host families to adopt more hygienic practices in their homes with regard to cooking, cleaning and dealing with waste. The need for water conservation and waste recycling is demonstrated through the new toilets and bathrooms that recycle water for irrigation and produce compost and biogas.
Visitors have realised that they can choose forms of tourism that help alleviate poverty and protect the environment. At the same time, they have discovered how the majority of Indians live and gone away with a much more positive impression of India than commercial tourism gives.
Problem: Describe the primary problem(s) that your innovation is addressing
1. Poverty and unemployment: After four years of drought (2002 – 2006) in the region, farmers and herdsmen could not eke out a living from the land. They were in search of daily wage labour to earn a livelihood. The innovation allowed them to add value to the resources they had to make a living.
2. Caste and gender discrimination: Most of the host families belong to lower castes with whom others would not share a meal. Being able to receive foreigners and Indians from big cities in their homes has boosted their self-image. Women were confined to the home without any decision-making powers. Now they have assumed an economic and social role that has improved their status in the family and community.
3. Lack of sanitation: Open defecation was the norm in this area. Most families did not have toilets and women could relieve themselves only before sunrise and after sunset, risking snake bites and even sexual harassment. Having to bathe in the open with their clothes on, skin infections and boils were frequent. Availing of a toilet and bathroom has had a positive impact on their health and personal hygiene.
4. Almost no general knowledge: Illiteracy is high particularly among the women. Even those who have been to school have little knowledge of geography or current events. Living with people from other cultures and finding out about life elsewhere has been a 'window on the world' for people who have so far lived in closed societies.
Actions: Describe the steps that you are taking to make your innovation a success. Include a description of the business model. What might prevent that success?
We have a niche market of people who are genuinely interested in the people and culture of places they visit and who take the time to discover them. We depend on our web-site and certain responsible travel sites for marketing our business. We do not enter into the commercial tourism circuits of tour operators and travel agents.
We believe that a guest who has enjoyed his/her stay is the best publicity. We go out of our way to spend time with our guests and give them information about our region. We also explain the social and environmental objectives of our work and invite them to join Friends of Orchha. The children of the host families immediately make them feel at home. Our young, foreign interns often take them to nearby villages and good picnic spots along the river or for cycle rides through the Nature Reserve. And of course, we make sure that the rooms and linen are spotlessly clean.
We have adopted a cooperative model with regular meetings with the host families during which they receive feedback about customer satisfaction and about finances. Decisions about repairs and maintenance of the infrastructure and about new services that can be offered are made during these meetings. Our policy of transparency on rates which are posted on our web-site builds trust between the visitors, the families and our organisation.
Our philosophy is that the benefits should accrue to the host families and others in the neighbourhood in exchange for work. The income from guests allows the families to gradually reimburse the investment made in their homes and covers the expenses incurred by Friends of Orchha for cleaning and washing of linen. The risk of a fall in occupancy rates is borne by Friends of Orchha as host families are not expected to reimburse the investment from other sources of income. Families with almost no financial reserves are unable to assume normal business risks.
Lastly, we maintain e-mail contact with those who have visited us and take every opportunity to showcase our work at meetings, conferences and through the internet.
Results: Describe the expected results of these actions over the next three years. Please address each year separately, if possible
Over the next three years we expect the first group of families to have reimbursed the investment made in their homes. As the investment is administered as a revolving fund, there will be a 20% increase in the number of host families each year. This growth will also depend on whether we can assure a 50% occupancy rate over 8 months of the year to the existing host families.
Secondly, we intend to undertake a major cleanliness drive in the neighbourhood by improving water supply, sanitation and waste management. We are working with the municipality on the renovation of an ancient water tank from which water can be supplied on a 24x7 basis to the whole neighbourhood. We have received a grant that allows us to subsidise the construction of toilets and bathrooms for all 60 families living there. In this way, Ganj should become an open defecation free area in the coming year.
The following year, we will make Ganj a pilot area for ecological waste management and reforestation. We believe that this is necessary to keep the neighbourhood attractive for tourists as well as for better public health.
In the third year, we plan to expand livelihood opportunities by building a crafts village where tourists can see quality handicrafts being produced. This will also be a training centre for craftspersons as well as a fair trade sales counter for them. The crafts village will have a small restaurant run by a cooperative of women from the neighbourhood that serve traditional Bundelkhand food and drinks prepared from organically grown grains, vegetables and fruit. We intend to organise music and theatre festivals in this space so as to conserve the performing arts of Bundelkhand and support artists
How many people will your project serve annually?
101‐1000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$50 - 100
Does your innovation seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
If your innovation seeks to impact public policy, how?
Friends of Orchha has been nominated as a member of a local committee that is responsible for the city development plan. We have prepared a plan for better waste management for the whole town with the help of a Swiss environmental engineer and are lobbying the municipality to adopt it.
We also run a Youth Club that is campaigning for a 'polythene free Orchha'. They are at present preparing to perform street theatre on environmental issues such as waste management, water conservation and deforestation.
We have got visitors to Orchha to sign petitions against the construction of mobile telephone towers near to the monuments and submitted them to the Department of Archeology that is responsible for preserving the monuments.
Sustainability
What stage is your Social Enterprise in?
Operating for 1‐5 years
Does your organization have a board of directors or an advisory board?
Yes
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with businesses?
No
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with government?
Yes
Please tell us more about how partnerships could be critical to the success of your Social Enterprise
We have approached the Tourism Development Corporation of the State for support in developing the crafts village and for a link to their web-site. This official recognition is necessary for us to get better cooperation from the municipality.
We also need to create a network of similar enterprises so that a 'responsible tourism itinerary' is available across India. We have started this on a small scale with partners in Khajuraho and Kalinjar, two other places of tourist interest in the region.
At an international level, we intend to link up with networks promoting links between tourism and development in order to exchange ideas and be present at trade fairs that promote this.
We would like to learn more about how your initiative is financially supported. Please explain your business plan/revenue model
We conducted a market research before starting our enterprise that allowed us to fix rates and determine the number of host families we should start with. More than 80 groups of tourists coming to Orchha were interviewed for this. It gave us information on the criteria they use for selecting a place to stay and on the Guide books we should target.
We have prepared a cost-benefit analysis that shows that with a 50% occupancy rate over 8 months of the year the host families will be able to double their incomes and at the same time repay their loans within 5 years. Results from the first year of operation show that we will probably exceed the 50% occupancy rate. In which case, the breakeven will take place sooner.
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
June 2007 - It was our third meeting with the Self Help Group of women in Ganj. They desperately wanted to start some kind of business but everything they suggested had already been done by others and the market for those products was already saturated. They didn't have many skills except those of caring for their families and farming. But water scarcity had put an end to their crops. They lived on the outskirts of the town and had no connection at all with the booming tourist trade in Orchha. This was understandable since they did not speak any other language except Hindi and Bundelkhandi and would not be permitted to go out to work.
When we suggested that they could keep tourists as paying guests if they had space for an extra room in their homes, they were interested but afraid. Who would stay with low caste families and eat meals prepared by them? How could they communicate with foreigners? Where would they get the money to build a room nice enough to compete with local hotels? We convinced them that caste did not matter to foreigners and even to some enlightened Indians. We had the language skills and experience of life abroad and would take responsibility for marketing the home-stay. That reassured them and ten families were willing to start if we could find the funds.
It took us six months to raise the necessary funds. In the meanwhile, we started our search for ecological techniques of construction and linked up with the Ecosan Foundation in Pune and Development Alternatives that had trained masons in the area. Bricks, stones, cement and sand were ordered, the masons were hired and the families provided the unskilled labour. It took us a whole year to build the rooms, toilets and bathrooms, then design our web-site. Orchha Home-stay was launched in February 2009.
Tell us about the person—the social innovator—behind this idea.
I spent half my life in Europe working for development aid agencies and then for the International Labour Organisation. Throughout that time I returned to India almost every year to monitor the development projects we were funding. However, the urge to return to my home State in India and work directly on the ground was always there. Finally, at the end of 2006 I gave up a lucrative job and returned to India with my Dutch husband. He is an anthropologist and a film-maker with a passion for India, so convincing him to settle here was not difficult. A few years earlier we had discovered Orchha and decided we would settle there one day. We had prepared the ground with a local NGO who had done some amount of community mobilisation in Ganj. Starting up was easy thanks to the spade work done by them. Connecting with the municipality was more difficult and finding the human resources necessary to move forward even more. The move back hasn't always been easy. One thinks one is returning home but one is perceived as a stranger because the years abroad have left their mark. They have also brought certain skills that would not have been acquired if I had remained in India. This combination of the two worlds to which I belong has proved particularly useful in managing Orchha Home-stay. So I guess I have found my niche and hope to become a successful social entrepreneur.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
College or university
If through another source, please provide the information
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