The monsoon has arrived and affects daily life in India. Mainly during the night it rains cats and dogs. The usually already lush landscape turns into a glowing splendor of colors. The average temperature is app 28 degrees Celsius. The mood on campus is high. Everywhere small groups of participants can be found, busy discussing, debating, and laughing. The days and months are flying by and it’s time for another quarterly report (2nd Quarterly newsletter 18):
Start of 2018 kanthari course
for the 2018 kanthari leadership training course, we received more than 350 applications from all over the world. Out of these, 23 participants were selected. They come from 13 different countries which are: Argentina, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe. All of them brought ideas that, once realized, will make a positive impact within their communities. The course started on the 30th of April and will end on the 7th of December 2018.
First Act
During the initial phase, the participants become familiar with each other. The different cultures can be an advantage, but of course also be a source for challenges. To prevent any possible cross-cultural conflicts, we start the course by creating a Code of Conduct. This is done as a group. The participants take responsibility to solve conflicts and other problems.
In the first act the participants deal intensively with their project ideas. This year the target groups and the topic areas are very diverse; cultural taboos in Thailand, homosexuality in Zimbabwe, critical thinking in Tunisia and Nigeria, and chess as an engine of integration in Tajikistan. The sessions are interactive and created in a ‘learning by doing process’. The participants constantly wear a ‘founders hat’. This means that all skills and the way training takes place helps to set expectations of what will need to be done once they start their own social impact making ventures.
Through hands-on exercises, participants create a problem analysis, build a profile of their target group, and work on relevant solutions. In the setting of a fictitious country that was specifically designed for this act, participants learn about problem definition, concept transformation, media work, public speaking, finance/accounting and fundraising.
updates kanthari graduates
Uganda: Thumbs Up! Uganda, Samuel Odwar
“Thumbs Up Uganda continues to strive against negative social-cultural behavior and increased marginalization. We are happy that an increasing number of children attend our Thumbs Up Academy; our VERY SPECIAL SCHOOL! This is a sign that parents are becoming aware of the importance to educate persons with disabilities. We now have 160 children with different disabilities that are enrolled in Thumbs Up Academy. “- Odwar Samuel – More at http://thumbsupuganda.org/
India: Lets Live! Sherin Noordheen
Monsoon Café – a project of Let’s Live that advocates for suicide prevention- was held at the kanthari campus on June 9th,16th and 23rd. The 2nd version had a special focus on issues faced by teenage boys that could push them towards suicidal ideation. The top 3 issues that came up were 1. Relationship failures, 2. Addiction to alcohol and others, 3. Family issues such as lack of parental support and understanding. Through open discussions and role plays, Let’s Live hopes to facilitate an open platform in Trivandrum for these youngsters to share their thoughts and feelings. More at www.letslivekerala.org
India: Snehan, Anumuthu
Anumuthu, founder of Snehan, an organization that works to bring value in the lives of homeless beneficiaries, initiated income-generating activities for homeless beneficiaries in Pondicherry. The homeless who take part in this activity need not to hunt for their survival but are given a chance to sell Eco-friendly cotton bags around Pondicherry to earn their livelihood. At the end of the day, 50% of the profit will be given to the seller 50% of the profit goes to the Home for dying destitute. Snehan. more info at www.snehan.org
Kenya: Positive exposure, Jayne Waithera
People who live with Albinism face many challenges, not only the sun, but in many parts of the world they face discrimination and/or are even risk to be killed. Jayne Waithera is a woman with a mission. She has been fighting for the rights of people living with Albinism for a long time now. For the International Albinism Awareness Day Jayne was interviewed: Have a listen to Jayne’s inspiring story of triumph in the face of adversity. See the video here.
Nepal, HEAD Nepal, Chhitup Lama
Chhitup Lama is the founder of HEAD Nepal, an organisation that provides education/training to visually and physically disabled children in the remote Humla district. HEAD Nepal runs two residential education centers for 24 visually impaired and 21 physically disabled children.
Additionally 300 families who have children with disability are benefitting from the “children and hunger” program. These families are supplied with materials and receive training to create own greenhouses to grow healthy vegetables. More information about HEAD Nepal can be found at: http://headnepal.org/
Visitors at kanthari
– Kerala is the home of Vava Suresh, a well-known snake whisperer. We had the honor to welcome him along with some of his close friends… a viper, a python and a cobra. All participants learned many new and valuable facts about snakes which lead to a better understanding about these amazing reptiles.
– Students of the Bishop Vayalil Memorial Holy Cross College department for social work, Pala, Kottayam district visited kanthari on June 3rd where an interaction and exchange with several kanthari participants gave them a better insight about the kanthari Curriculum and how Change from within is turned into impact making social ventures.
Annual kanthari team-building trip
This year the team building day-trip was made to Allepey where many of the kanthari colleagues, despite the fact that they come from Kerala, experienced a houseboat trip for the very first time in their lives. The highlight of the tour was the “Do you know kanthari Quiz”. Many questions around the kanthari course and its alumni were answered with extraordinary precision! Several colleagues were able to list the names of all 20 participants of 2009 including countries and the names of their projects! It was a memorable day that strengthened the team spirit even more.
kanthari website
kanthari’s website has been renewed. Thanks to the dedication and hard work of kanthari’s IT coordinator Mr Aravind Bala, the website is now more accessible and works on all platforms: Mobile, tablets and PC’s. We herewith invite everyone to visit the website to have a look at what’s new. We hope you enjoy the read… https://www.kanthari.org/
Speaking
– In April, together with Sherin Noordheen, founder of Lets Live, sabriye and paul spoke about kanthari to an interested audience at the Linkedin quarters in Bangalore.
