Quarterly newsletter 3-2017
Act Three is almost over. Everywhere you find participants with headphones and recording devices. From the sound studio we hear drums and a flute playing. All are in Radio-fever. The participants are working hard on the preparations of a 12 hours radio Marathon to save Vellayani lake, the beautiful fresh water body that borders the backyard of the kanthari campus.
Dear readers, supporters, companions of kanthari, it is time for the third quarterly newsletter.
Please find below the highlights of the past three months as well as updates on kanthari graduates’ projects.
2017 kanthari course
Act One: Participants who are taking part in this year’s kanthari journey are progressing in full speed. 24 participants from 12 countries, all of them brought inspiring project ideas. During the first act of the kanthari Curriculum, “a journey in five acts”, they receive all basic tools and learn new skills to establish their initiatives. Since everything is based on experiential learning, the first act is placed in a fictitious country with the name Tansalesea. Here they are challenged to understand the actual problem, to detect their target group and potential beneficiaries and to develop their vision. Additionally all have the chance to practice fundraising.
Act two: Why re-inventing the wheel when so many organizations are already doing great work. Therefore during the first few weeks of act two, exposure visits are organized. Three interest groups were formed: One group with a focus on alternative education visited a maker space of Project DEFY (Design Education For Yourself). This project has been set up by 2015 kanthari graduate Abhijit Sinha.
Another group focusing on sustainable Agriculture travelled to SLRM (Solid and Liquid Resource Management Centre). This well-functioning waste management program is managed by the Kurudanpalayam Local Self Government in Selam, Tamil Nadu. They work on waste collection/ segregation, bio gas production, vermi-compost preparation, animal husbandry (cows, chickens and ducks), composting methods etc.
The same group also visited Puvidham, an alternative school in Dharmapuri. Their educational environment is modeled around Mahatma Gandhiji’s Nai Talim Curriculum. Our participants learnt a lot from interacting with the children, teachers and Ms Meenakshi, the founder of the organization. And a third group, with a focus on disability and integration visited Sristi Village, an inclusive village that was started by 2012 kanthari graduate Kartikeyan.
All participants were introduced to the work of several other social ventures where they had opportunities to meet with- and learn from social visionaries. A big thanks to Kudumbashree, Action Council Vellarada and Sebastian Indian Social Project and Centre for Internet and Society in Bangalore for sharing their experiences.
During the second part of act 2 all participants worked on a personal venture profile; a toolbox that includes many elements that are needed for various forms of communication such as: website, proposal writing, social media, fundraising etc.
Act 3: Currently Act three is moving on in full swing. During this act, the participants are in charge to organize the ‘Save Vellayani Lake’ campaign. The kanthari campus is located on the banks of this unique fresh water lake that offers a great bio-diversity. Unfortunately, there are several threats to the existence of the lake that many people are not aware of. The participants are working together with the local community to raise awareness and to take action to save the lake!
On the 12th of October a 12 hours Radio marathon as well as the #SaveVellayaniLake campaign will take place will be held.
kanthari graduates
To learn more about the impact of kanthari graduates we wish to share some updates about already established initiatives;
Kenya: Positive exposure: Take a few minutes to learn about the important work of Jayne Waithera, a 2009 kanthari graduate. Jayne is giving people with Albinism a voice! Learn more about Jayne’s work and what a video here
India: Sristi Village: “Changing our perception of Intelligence: We can All learn from this village of people we shun”. Sristi Village is a unique place where it is about integration of all; people, flora and fauna! 2012 kanthari Karthik founded Sristi Village with the goal to connect and empower! Read the article and you will discover how an idea of one person can make a big difference
Uganda: Hive Uganda Limited: We congratulate Ojok Simon who is one of the winners of the 2017 Holman Prize! Ojok plans to bring honey production and beekeeping training to blind and low vision communities of Uganda. See article. Well done Ojok! We wish you success with the training of more blind people in beekeeping!
Nepal: ‘Embrace the Change’: Amrita Gyawali from Nepal faces many barriers, however, her wheelchair is not one of them! The attitude of and the inaccessibility to society however are!
Amrita started ‘Embrace the Change’, an organisation that wants to improve the conditions of people in wheelchairs in Nepal. Enjoy a video that she created as part of an awareness campaign
Nigeria: The Lolo Initiative: Mary Ero, 2016 kanthari graduate from Nigeria, started the The LOLO Initiative Mary’s vision: “We dream of a Nigeria where HIV status places no limitation on our present and has no bearing on the future; babies will not know it and adults will not fear it.” Mary wrote an article that was published as part of the World Pulse Story Awards program. Have a read and get inspired!
Nepal: kanthari Spice in Nepal. During a visit to Nepal. Sabriye and Paul met with 5 Nepali kantharis; Khom Raj Sharma, Sarita Lamichane, Lila Nath Pahadi, Rajendra Dhital and Nagendra Rijal All gathered for a press meet in order to create more visibility of their projects in Nepal as well as providing information for those in Nepal who want to create a social venture of their own and who are looking for training.
2017 kanthari participants
“My name is Rahel Zegeye and I am a human rights activist. 17 years ago I moved away from my home country Ethiopia to work as a domestic migrant worker in Lebanon. Since then, I have experienced firsthand the violence and injustice that migrant workers face on a daily base. Today, I run an organization that stands up for the rights of migrant workers.“ Rahel Zageye is one of the 24 kanthari participants. Get to know all of them and their project ideas here
kanthari in the media:
– Change from Within.. Get to know the amazing work of two kanthari change makers here.
– A film team from China visited kanthari for a follow up on a documentary that was made of the Braille Without Borders project in Tibet in 2004. The documentary can be seen at “China Right Here”
– Author and Journalist Minu Ittyipe wrote an article for the well-known Magazine Outlook. The full article can be read here
kanthari campus
Due to the tropical climate, the kanthari campus required year-round maintenance. In addition, our gardeners Ravi and Rajan produce healthy organic vegetables that can be found in the daily cuisine. Over the past few months new nets were installed around the fishpond to prevent the fish to leave into the lake during the raining season when the water level rises beyond the banks and new nets above the fishponds were installed to prevent the birds eating our fish.
Intake 2018
The next kanthari leadership training course will start in May 2018. The intake process is coming along well. We are grateful if you can help by spreading the intake flyer within your network so it can reach potential social change makers who are looking for a course that will empower them to start their own social initiatives and programs.
Dear Friends/supporters,
the kanthari leadership course would not be possible without your help. Therefore, on behalf of all our participants, we say thank you very much for your ongoing support.
Thank you also for helping us by sharing this newsletter.
With warmest regards,
the entire kanthari team, paul and sabriye
Do you want to support the work of kanthari?
You can do this here – THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
www.facebook.com/kantharis – localhost/kanthari
This newsletter is also available in German and in Dutch
You can find:
an English PDF version at: http://media.kanthari.org/pdf/en/QN3-2017.pdf
a Dutch PDF version at: http://media.kanthari.org/pdf/nl/QN3-2017-DUTCH.pdf
and a German version at: http://www.media.kanthari.org/pdf/de/QN_3_2017_kanthari_GER.pdf
