An evening of Andolan Geet @ Pravah
20 Jul 2011 4 Comments
Below, Shreya shares her experience of a summer hulchal devoted to revolution songs held on 16th of July. The space was faciliteted by Anchal Kapoor from Kriti.
All of us have a singer in us, some are closet singers and others are centre stage singers. With this event at Pravah the closet singer within me wanted out and I was more than happy to oblige.
When I first reached the venue the crowd was thin and I was hesitant about the ‘success’ of the event due to such a small number of people who had turned up. Anchal spoke to us about our first memories of a ‘movement’ song, it was amusing to see that most of us didn’t know many and patriotic songs were more deeply etched in your memories.
Freedom related songs are usually intrinsically patriotic whereas a movement song has more linkages with an issue and the struggle group. A movement establishes its identity and its roots vis-à-vis a song. We realized that it is essential to draw visuals as we sing to make connections with the song and derive strength, there is a need to recognize the struggle.
Le mashale chal pade hai log mere gaun ke,
Ab andhera jeet lenge log mere gaun ke.
Puchti hai jhopdi aur puchte hai khet bhi,
Kab talak loot- te rahenge log mere gaun ke.
Cheekhti hai har rukawat thokado ki mar se,
Bediyan khanka rahe hai log mere gaun ke.
Lal suraj ab ugega desh ke har gaun me,
Ab ikkatha ho chale hai log mere gaun ke.
Dekh yaara jo subah lagti hai phiki aajkal,
Lal rang usme bharenge log mere gaun ke.
Le mashale chal pade hai log mere gaun ke,
Ab andhera jeet lenge log mere gaun ke.
This song has many versions and it is a very powerful song. It seems that it was written with the sole reason to awaken and arouse the workers from their slumber and fight for their rights. And once risen they will be unstoppable. The imagery of the red sun rising denotes as much.
“Hum dekhenge,
Hum dekhenge,
Lazim hain ki hum bhi dekhenge,
Hum dekhenge”
A beautiful piece of poetry by Faiz Ahmad Faiz that has been put to music and it says that we have that much of strength to rise up against violence and we will rise up. As the musical evening moved along, it seemed as if the showers outside joined us in unison, eager to add its own nuance into the evening.
The session helped sensitize us that we must not dichotomize movement music, instead understand the ideology and history of the movement. Revolutionary music is a part of our heritage of struggle and we must not only promote it through modern means of communication but also explain the underlying cultural context.
We ended our session with Sahir Ludhianavi’s “Who Subah Kabhi toh Aayegi” which has been put to music. We heard it and joined in the singing of the song and as we sang I felt a consciousness in me. A slow realization that all of us have to work to get a new morn as we await the new dawn and work towards it. I had a profound realization..that the numerical strength of the people is unimportant, it is the strength of the words, the strength of the struggle and strength of conviction in each voice that makes a difference.
After this we all felt no need to say anything more and we ended with “We shall overcome.” This is a song which has been sung in many languages and we tend to engage in it not only as listeners but relate to its very essence. The whole musical journey come full circle as many of us related the experience to the Music for Harmony event. I nearly shivered at the strength a song can hold, and as I looked around some of my friends had their eyes closed while some just swayed to the music but one common factor was the confidence in each one to be change makers.
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Streaming collective- promoting youth active citizenship…
28 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
Patang (Orissa)- A snap shot from orientation camp of Patang’s path maker internship program held in Paitmal in Bargar district in December 2011. A total of 39 participating youth were divided into two groups and asked to interact with community using Volunteers try a Participative Rural Appraisal method with the community. Below, A snap shot from green smart campaign organized by Patang in collaboration with water initiative Orissa- in March 2011. The campaign included a range of activities like debate, poster competition, fashion show etc. In this picture volunteers are trying to spread the message of environment conservation by participating in environment fashion show.
Pravah Jaipur Initiative (Jaipur)- Altaf Bhat Chisto, a Kashmiri peace activist, speaking to PJI volunteers during a café meeting held on 7th of December 2011. His talk was followed by an intensive discussion on the issue. Below, Jaiveer Rathore, an active volunteer with Pravah Jaipur Initiative being is being interviewed by a reporter during Fly Peace Campaign. In his words- “Pravah has given me loads and loads of confidence every time. I also look at PJI as another home, where I can run to if I am suffering from any problems, any tensions or type of stress. I can come to Pravah and those stresses are relieved.”
Saher (Mumbai)- A session being facilitated on taking stances by Seher (A Mumbai based organization working with children and youth from slums). Below, Children, Youth and Community elders participate in Marathon for Peace
Commutiny- the Youth Collective (Delhi)- Core Group of the ‘Must Bol Campaign’ at the Reclaiming the Night Event organized in collaboration with Saathi – All for Partnerships in Delhi to demonstrate their opposition to crime against women in the city. Must Bol is a youth led campaign against gender Based Violence , facilitated by CYC. Below, Community Cookout at the Learning and Leadership Journey program’s orientation event as part of a group building and learning exercise.
Parth Laxami Vikas Trust (Gujrat)- Ankit (in pink) , founder of Parth Laxami Vikas Trust facilitates a session on conflict positive model with his team of volunteers in Gujarat as Pravah representatives participate to support him and give feedback. Below, Ankit shares his thoughts with the group as part of an exercise during foundation retreat of ‘Ocean in A Drop’- a learning voyage for youth facilitators initiated by Pravah (February 2011). The retreat was a capacity building cum selection space for streaming program.
Pravah (Delhi)- The gang from the second batch of SMILE In-turn-ship (4-6 weeks Internship Program for young people) during their four day Orientation camp in Manthan (Rajasthan). Below, Volunteers share their food-memories during a summer hulchal named ‘food for thought’ that helped people in exploring some issues concerning food.. market influences on what we eat, food distribution, environmental impact of what we eat/ drink..
Ocean in drop..15 inspiring co voyagers already on board.. come join the crew ;-) by PRAVAH
16 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
in Partners, Teachers Training, Volunteer, Youth
Consolidating 18 years of deep experience in life skills, active citizenship and youth development, Pravah is offering a learning voyage called Ocean in a Drop for facilitators, educationists and program leaders working with young people.
The voyage begins on 19 July 2011 with a foundation retreat for 6 days at Delhi and traverses four core terrains:
a) Youth Development b) Instructional Design and Facilitation c) Systems Thinking d) Deep Self Awareness
We are delighted to announce the participation of the following organizations as co-voyagers so far confirmed for the July batch…
1. National and International Support Organisation:
- IGSSS-India,
- National Foundation of India
- OXFAM-India
- Fiedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES)-India
·
2. Youth-led organizations
- SAHER-Mumbai
- Thoughtshop Foundation-Kolkatta,
- YAAR- Mumbai
3. Youth-for-development organizations
- Abhivyakti Foundation-Jharkhand,
- Harsha Trust –Orissa
4. International participation
- The Voice Inc.-Papua New Guinea
In the previous batch we have had participants from NACDOR, IGSSS, YUVA, Patang, National Foundation of India, Breakthrough, ComMutiny-The Youth Collective and Pravah, as well as independent professionals, who are continuing their journey.Cohorts of these two batches will meet for an advanced retreat in October as a collective to explore further this field, enhance their personal and professional competencies and build a learning network.
The voyage is structured such that the inputs can be applied in the real world of the participants. Number of participants have already integrated their learning into their real life programs impacting not only their youth programming, but larger organizational direction.
Sharing some examples to illustrate:
Bharat from YUVA, Mumbai designed and co-facilitated training on youth development using learning materials from OID with 8 of his partner organizations from rural and urban Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, inspired by his now strengthened belief in capacity building of others, along with him, to ensure growth and development.
mainstreaming youth development into all thematics at NFI including community heath, governance and other portfolios. One clear shift in perspective in not only her, but other team leaders, that she has been able to inspire is, of making real efforts to move youth from beneficiaries of programs to partners in development. The process has strengthened her commitment for youth work.
Mashkoor from NACDOR used the design and facilitation principles at OID to conduct a 3 day training on youth leadership for 25 dalit youth social activists from Bundelkhand, U.P. He shares that he relates with people better and has a renewed focus on design as against action/facilitation.
Rama from Commutiny-The Youth Collective feels more equipped in creating learning environments for young change agents demonstrated in the last 3 key events organized by her, enhancing focus on participation, inclusiveness, experiential learning, collective engagements along with fun and celebration. Also one tool (Vyaktitva Self Explorer) introduced at OID has emerged as a great reflection instrument for them that supports evidence based deep self reflection for young people and she has been able to use it successfully with 30 young change leaders from across India in two phases of the leadership program.
We request nominations of facilitators from organizations working with youth for the July batch which starts with foundation retreat workshop scheduled from 19 to 24 July, 2011. Please revert by early next week as the early bird discount is till 20th June only.
Please feel free to contact Ritikaa at 09910299661 for further understanding of the voyage.
“Strengthening Self Development processes among student teachers of B.El.Ed program” – A Reflection on Pravah’s journey with B.El.Ed students
15 Jun 2011 1 Comment
in Partners, Teachers Training, Volunteer, Youth
In the month of May 20th, 2011 Teacher Training Intervention organized a consultation. Faculty members from various DU B.El.Ed colleges were invited. Out of 8 B.EL.Ed colleges, faculty members from 4 colleges participated. The consultation focused on how we can strengthen and evaluate the current Self Development processes in the B.El.Ed curriculum. The faculty members identified the need for themselves to go through similar self development processes and suggested that Teacher Training Intervention of Pravah could host a platform where students and teachers can come together and through the method of Appreciative Inquiry design a process which will strengthen the Self Development processes and also suggest possible ways of evaluating these processes. Suggested date for this event: 1st or 2nd September 2011.
Faculty Members present- Monica Gupta(Gargi College), Megha Dhillon(LSR), Priyanka Padhy(JMC), Shalini andRavneet Kaur(Mata Sundari).
Pravah members present – Ishani Sen and Srinjoy Ghosh.
Active Citizenship Club at Shafiq Memorial School Delhi set up by Pravah
27 Apr 2011 Leave a Comment
in Children, Partners, Teachers Training, Volunteer, Youth
The Active Citizenship Orientation workshop at ShafiqMemorialSchoolwas organized from the 23rd of March to the 26th of March. The workshop was attended by a total of 11 students out of which 9 students remained continuously engaged with the programme while the rest were floating in and out. The group also had 2 girls which was an indication of their interest in participating in the club. All the students except one come from the Muslim community. One student comes from the Hindu community. Almost all the students come from low economic profile and also have their own shops at Old Delhi. The group is comfortable with hindi. The group is also open and very curious to learn and passionate about initiating a change.
Process : In the first week of March we visited the school and shared with the students the idea of starting a club in their school. The students were excited about the idea and were keen on working on issues like school cleanliness, addressing the issue of late comers, securing the school property and giving equal rights to the girls in the school. Some of them also shared that they wanted to build their confidence levels and their communication skills. We also had a small discussion around why the students wanted to give time to a club apart from their school time. One common reason that came out of the discussion was their vision of a school that helps students discover and nurture their hidden potential such that every student feels proud to be part ofShafiqMemorialSchool. After the initial discussion we designed an orientation workshop where the chief components were exploring self, building skills (listening, assertiveness, communication and goal setting) and drafting an objective and plan for their club. The design was shared with the principal and the school management after which the workshop was implemented in the above mentioned dates.
Workshop Analysis : The students were a highly motivated group which was indicated by their presence on all four days of the workshop despite having a vacation. The strength of the workshop was that the group emerged as a very strong team who spent a lot of time understanding each others perspectives and building sensitivity towards each other. The students came up with ground rules for their group. Some of them were no cross talking with the group, trusting each other with honest sharing, attempting to change oneself before trying to change someone else etc. The discussions on trust enabled the group to come together as a strong team. The workshop also managed to develop confidence and communication skills among the participants as shared in the feedback. The session on self awareness enabled the students to reflect and share their strengths and areas of improvement. This gave them an opportunity to understand oneself and also each other. The students shared that they were participating in this discussion for the first time and that this has helped them understand the value of sharing. The students also shared that they also got to know new things about the different facilitators. 
The interaction with the students ofBharatNationalPublic schoolprovided an opportunity to the students to develop their communication skills and their confidence levels. For the students ofShafiqMemorialSchoolsharing before a group of students who are from another school was a huge struggle. However interacting with them and sharing ideas with them enabled the students ofShafiqMemorialSchoolto build their confidence. The interaction also enabled the students to exchange their ideas and get to know more about each other. The discussion was also facilitated around some notions that the two groups had for each other that has changed after this visit. The session on goal setting helped the students to understand the characteristics of a good goal and enabled them to come up with their six months goal for their club. The students have called their club as “The United Students Club”. Their six months objective for the club is creating visibility of their club and working on projects to initiate change. Some of their planned activities are: - Cleanliness drive in the school - Initiating a competition on clean classrooms in order to secure school property and keep the classes clean. - Taking ownership of the assembly. - Presenting articles related to school issues in the newspapers. - Conducting a community mapping projects in order to understand the local community
Action Forward : The students have presented their plan to the school principal who had also given a lot of valuable inputs to the students. The students have also shared the need for a room to conduct their meetings and a locker to keep their resources. The principal and the students are working towards creating a space for the club. Meanwhile the students are working on building a system to stock list the resources and access those resources. We also feel that though the students are passionate about the work some structured mentoring is still a requirement. Hence the idea is to zero down on a month wise theme and work on it in three phases:
1) Perspective building ( film screening, reading, exposure etc.)
2) Skill building (Comics, Theatre etc.)
3) Implementation in the school.
Click Click moments form the workshop!
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The SMILE In-Turn-Ship is here!!
26 Apr 2011 1 Comment
in Volunteer, Youth Tags: active citizen, Delhi, india, New Delhi, NSS Pravah Youth, Pravah, rural india, self, SMILE, urban development, youth, youth action
Hi,
Since the sun is shining bright, and holidays are not far away, what are your plans for the summer? Do you want to make new friends, explore the world, get out of the city, be with yourself? What if you could do all, at the same time??
We have an offer that has excited many…
“This internship of 4 weeks taught me much beyond my educational career of 14 years. It was not just working with an organization, but an opportunity to discover one’s potential as well. The journey was worth the experiment, as I came to discover myself… the real me….” – Ratnpriya, Miranda House, 3rd year History Hons.
Like her, do you also:
- Want to know yourself and create a new identity for yourself?
- Like to explore and make diverse relationships?
- Want to understand the issues around in the world?
- Feel the need for a space where you can be yourself?
- Want to engage in real action at the grassroots level?
If the answer to any one of the above is yes, then what are you waiting for? Just apply for the SMILE In-Turn-Ship programme that will give you a chance to work with organisations/ movements in various parts of the country for a period of 4-6 weeks. We are offering this programme in 3 batches of May, June and July.
Interested?? Then just fill and e-mail the First Interaction Form to sulab.kumar@pravah.org/ youth.pravah@gmail.com. We shall be in touch with you shortly, for further interaction. If you want to know more, feel free to contact Sulab/ Shilpa at 011 – 26440619/ 26213918/26291354 or email them at the above mentioned IDs.
Along with this mail, we have also attached a newsletter that will tell you about experiences of the batch of 2010 (of which Ratnpriya was a part). You can also have a look at the poster and information leaflet, to understand the processes and also get a tentative idea about the dates for the programme.
Thank you!
Love, peace and energy
The YI team at Pravah
P.S: Please note that we will only be able to accommodate 25-30 young people in a batch. Please enroll yourself as soon as possible and we will then share the further details such as the meeting point and time with you.
P.P.S: We are currently reaching out telephonically only to those people who have clearly indicated that they would be interested in the Internship through the First Interaction Form. However if you are interested, please feel free to call us or mail us.
“City slickers have a way about themselves” – An article by Rudrani Dasgupta, a volunteer at the GX programme this year
21 Apr 2011 1 Comment
in Volunteer, Youth Tags: active citizen, global xchange, youth, youth action
City slickers have a way about themselves. Armed with a battery of degrees and taught beliefs, everything that they say is right. Labels are right and so is a snap judgement. I was no different. When the London phase ended, I landed in India with certain arrogance. How alien could my own country get? I had never been to Rajasthan before but I had heard plenty about it. Rajasthan is known for its discriminatory attitudes towards caste and women, among other things. So, I already had my guard up and ready by the time I landed in the little town of Phalodi.
Sure enough, the stereotypes did not disappoint this time. From the very beginning, I had to field off innumerable questions about which caste I hailed from. Not a day would go by without a curious stranger coming up to me and randomly asking me about which caste I was born in. I never told them. I had a standard answer which went something along the lines of “I don’t know which caste I am from. “ This would inevitably pave the way for a second question. “Why?”
“In the city, caste is not important.” Pat would come my reply. This would be followed by a moment of intense goggle-eyed staring at my offensive self. Then there would be other questions about why I was not married and a mother, being 22 already!
As if this was not enough. Living in a city often makes one forget about the baggage of gender. Not always though. In the village, this baggage came tumbling down like a sack of bricks. If the casteism was a mere annoyance, sexism would make me see red. Anything that was even vaguely feminist in me would cry out at the way women would recede into the corners the moment any man appeared on the horizon. Our host mothers would retreat under the veil and go into mute mode. Everything would be communicated in whispers and gestures. Among us, the girls were looked upon with a condescending eye.
“After all, you are women.” This seemed to be the unspoken and sometimes oft spoken refrain among the men. We weren’t allowed to go out after dark, which set in approximately around 7 pm.
They say that time always teaches you things. After sometime, those labels that I had so lovingly set up in my head started to dissolve.
Sexism?
Casteism?
The age-old debate between nature and nurture reared its head again. We come from a very different reality altogether. We come from a society of options and choices. Of theories and of movements. Of glib justifications.
What about a reality that does not think in greys but blacks and whites? Do we place ourselves on a pedestal because we think we know better? Or is it just that we know different, which does not necessarily have to be better?
It is extremely easy to put your narrative over somebody else’s; just because you think that your books have enlightened you. However, what about those lessons that you have never learnt? Those lessons of primal survival?
There were these questions and more, sending my “little grey cells” into a tizzy. If we had been brought up in a society where women are treated as inferior beings, would we have thought any different? The people in the community knew no different. It was a tradition and a culture going back hundreds of years, with little or no exposure to outside beliefs. It’s not about being better or worse. It’s all about being different. We were different and not better. We did not come from a superior reality, but from a different one, with different symbols and reference points.
It probably sounds “Us and Them”. Isn’t that better than “Us OVER Them”?
It’s very easy to think you are right and to believe in it. Sometimes however, you need to take your spectacles off and see the world the way you would never have thought you would. It’s not about looking at the other side of the coin from this side. Get up, walk to the other side and take a good long look through their lens. If possible, take off your well-worn shoes and stand in theirs.
- The views expressed in this article are Rudrani’s own. She is currently working at the Druk White Lotus School, Ladakh as a counsellor.
Flowing Together – A Pravah Partnership Study (2011)
15 Apr 2011 Leave a Comment
One of the core strengths of Pravah has always been it’s partnership and relationship orientation and the sheer number of partners we relate with is itself an indicator of how much time and energy we invest in people and institutions across the country. The relationship orientation is an extension of our deeply cherished organizational value- Personnel connect in the external world.
Pravah has been doing regular work to review and replenish it’s partnerships in each function and this role is led by each member of the Pravah team. Team Leads and Directors including members of the Board also play a key role to provide inspiration and strategic direction to these partnerships.
Our reports/ documents demonstrate partnership orientation by having shared credits for partners. These documents not only exemplify our orientation but also help in strengthening reciprocal nature of our partnerships.
In the past few years we have done two intensive processes around bringing together knowledge of partnership building in the organization. In 2006 we conducted an appreciative enquiry of our partnership processes, the responses of the team and our partners (Non-profit organizations, funders, schools, young people, teachers and adolescents we have worked closely with) helped us in analyzing our partnerships and drawing significant guidelines for future. An outcome of this exercise was a beautiful document called ‘ Reflections’ which compiles letters written by our partners to share their journey with Pravah.
Based on Pravah Partnership review (July 2006) and a meeting on partnership in 2008, following have been identified as some of the indicators of a good partnership at Pravah:
- Belief in Vision of the organization and values alignment
- Comfort with working styles/ approach
- Initiative by both partners
- Transparency
- Approachability and accessibility
- Openness to new ideas and criticism
- Good (trust/respectful) relationship with the organization (not just one person)
- Good/ frequent communication
- Understanding of organization’s work beyond the project engagement
- Mutually enriching engagement and willingness to collaborate in future
- Shared Credit
- Ability to confront and discuss and resolve differences as they come up
We have now decided to continue the process of learning by doing another partnership review… We are in process of collecting critical insights from internal team on the partnerships they deal with- each Pravahan is filling up a form that seeks analysis on- nature of engagement of partner and person holding partnership, achievements of partnership (for Pravah and for partner), critical incidences for both and rating of partnership. Similar form will be sent to partners for their analysis- this process will help us understand what are some of the things in Pravah and individuals that partners appreciate or have problems with? Which partnerships are being given high priority, which are being neglected? Which ones have potential? How can we enhance the quality of our partnerships such that the relationship nurtures symbiotic growth, not just of organizations but through their work growth of common good in society…
Making NSS a “5th Space”
29 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: NSS Pravah Youth
In the pilot of Pravah- NSS (Delhi University) partnership (May to February 2010), Pravah has been able to engage with the NSS programme coordinator (Dr.Lyall), programme officers and student leaders (intensively 15 and extensively 28), who are the torchbearers of the NSS programme. The idea of this partnership has been to bring into NSS (D.U) a deeper learning and leadership building focus. Our efforts have therefore been geared towards facilitating leadership journeys of students through workshops and action projects of each college team so students can apply learnings of the workshops in real world- NSS work. Program officers and Pravah mentors of each college have supported students in making action project an enriching experience for them.
A result of this program, student leaders articulated learnings specifically in the area of team work, ability to motivate and lead others, and thinking out of the box. A big revelation for some people was around how to inspire others to join and work for NSS with commitment. It was the first time that they experienced NSS activities that were ‘fun’, learning oriented and highly engaging. Taking a cue from this, they felt that it was simply a question of offering interesting opportunities that were different from the mundane, in order to excite and inspire more and more students to stay actively involved with NSS.
Dr. Vandana (Kirori Mal College, PO) shared that Student leaders have demonstrated better planning, designing and execution of the various NSS activities. In her opinion, this comes from an understanding of themselves as individuals, and the clarity as to ‘why’ they want to do it; they have started to answer these questions for themselves, rather than just doing it. What has also changed is how NSS programmes have been designed, the methodology with games and action, is so much more fun, interesting and provides a great learning experience.
Dr. Nadira (Zakir Hussain College, PO) mentions that both workshops where they got any opportunit y to articulate themselves and action project where they managed a large scale event has boosted their confidence. Usually, she or other faculty persons plan NSS events and allocate roles and responsibilities to volunteers; this was the first time students lead the event with minimal outside support. She says ‘in this process; I have learned to involve students intensively and play the role of a guide instead of leading events’.
Consultation with Program Officers of Delhi University colleges
Dr. Basra (Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, PO) opines that workshops that students attended on design gave student leaders clarity on other projects/ activities that they organized in NSS. This partnership, she shared has brought a significant shift in her approach towards student l eader s in NSS. “I feel I can afford to take a back seat and not give my opinion to students but let them decide for themselves what they think and let them decide on their own… it is then that creativity emerges”.
Following are some verbatims of student leaders who walled their leadership journeys with us…
Rifakat from Zakir Hussain College-
“Pravah ne humein bataya ki kis tarahse apne vicharon ko vyakt karna chahiye… aur khud ko samajh mein aaya ki hum kaun hain or hum kya kar sakte hain.. Pichle 6 mahine meri zindagi ke sabse acche din the jisme maine apne andar kuch baton ko apnaya.. mein aage bhi NSS aur Pravah se jude rehena chahta houn.”
Sandeep from Kirori Mal College-
“I don’t make an opinion of people because of their views (which I earlier did) but see where the person is coming from, I realise the only difference is merely because of a different value prioritisation.”
Amit Kumar Jha from Acharya Narendra Dev College-
“Before six months, I was full of ego and attitude and never tried to take others along in any work I did at NSS and outside. In these six months I have dropped a lot of this by seeing myself in mirror”
Aisha Rani from Zakir Hussain College-
“Pravah mein kaam karne se pehele mein aise seep ki jaisi thi jo moti ke andar band hota hai…Pravah ke saath kaam karne ke baad aatm vishwas, samooh ke saath karya karne ka dhang, PSMART padditi ke saath karya karna kargar siddh hua”
To read stories of some student leaders and their action projects click here!
little inspirations
26 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
in Partners, Youth Tags: changelooms, partners, youth
I have always enjoyed being in ‘action mode’ and not so much in the zone of reflection, planning or thinking. As such, being part of workshops and events has always been a happy experience, something that I eagerly look forward to.
Meeting and making friends with young people, sharing stories from their lives and other unending conversations kept us busy during the Change Looms Development Centre (DC). One challenge, which I have liked to face time and again, is inspiring some of the shy participants to open up and speak freely. One of our friends Vipin Ram from Bihar, co-founder of Jan Adhikar Kendra was somewhat reserved and silent throughout the sessions.
However, something on Day 5 of the DC struck a chord with Vipin – a session on Leadership by Gouran Lal, where she demystified leadership by explaining how anyone could be a leader. This is what he had to share on the last day,
“Before coming here, I was a bit scared that there might be people more knowledgeable than me, however after coming here I realised about my passion and potential. The leadership session made me realise that I too am a leader. Overall, I gained lots of learning and new confidence.”
Little things like this make my day… and give me the kick to continue doing my work and forming new bonds……..
- Navneet, who works with Pravah as Co-ordinator of the Changelooms Programme
