kanthari Blog

After Jethro’s dad lost his lucrative city job, the entire family returned to farming in their village in the Niger Delta. Due to the oil spills, the harvests were hardly enough to feed them once a day. At the age of 15, He relocated to Lagos in search of work to support his family, and […]

Solange grew up in Munyenge village in the Southwest region of Cameroon, where her parents were cocoa farmers. She was raped first at the age of 14 and again at the age of 16 and because of that victimized by the community elders. Through education, she has rebuilt her life. Her organisation “Solange Rising Star” […]

Building Resilience and Community with Talk Mental Health ID During her childhood, Fransisca grappled with anxiety and self-harm. She found art as an escape. In her youth, strong friendships, mentorship, and therapy helped build her resilience and she gained a clear sense of direction. Now, Fransisca is determined to inspire and empower others to overcome their mental […]

When her father lost his job, Susanna’s family was forced to move from the convenience of the city to a rural village without flowing water or electricity. There, her days started very early to gather firewood. This experience, coupled with her work with NGOs to uplift rural women, revealed a crucial need: empowering women with […]

Heritage and Struggles of a Tribal Life Tudu belongs to the Santhal tribe, one of the largest tribal communities in India. It is a tribe with its own language, cultural heritage, and religion. In school, he faced discrimination from students of other castes. In his own village, he observed serious problems such as alcoholism, poverty, […]

Gloria Anne Achieng’s life was shaped by an upbringing in the slums fraught with hardship – domestic violence, the loss of her mother to suicide, and her own battles with depression and anxiety. With no clear path forward, she was on the verge of dropping out of school, until a supportive faculty helped her regain […]

Kenneth Gitari reflects on how his father’s story of overcoming child poverty inspired him to dedicate his life to supporting vulnerable children. In this blogpost piece, he shares the transformative journey of young Chris and his family in Kisumu, Kenya, as they strive for a brighter future amidst the challenges of poverty. To learn more […]

Bound by Circumstance: The Tale of Two Lives Impacted by the Juvenile Justice System in Uganda Maria Aminat Opolot hails from Uganda. From personal experiences of abuse and harsh school punishments, and as a legal practitioner, she observed the gaps in support for children in the legal system. She is driven to make a difference […]

Prakash is on a mission to establish his organization, Swapnisthan (Hindi for “Place for Dreams”)in India’s Tribal Communities. His goal is to empower marginalized adolescents and youth to complete high school with essential 21st-century skills, enabling them to pursue meaningful careers. To learn more about Prakash’s journey and the inspiration behind Swapnisthan, keep reading: By […]

Cameroon faces a civil war between the Anglophone separatists and the Cameroonian government. By empowering internally displaced deaf/hearing impaired persons in Cameroon, particularly in the northwest region, Blaise wants to restore hope and confidence for the future. Since 2020 he has trained 49 young people in fashion design. Most trainees were IDP’s who have since […]

Akanksha always enjoyed the process of creating from scratch. She believes that working with artisans and embracing the basic principles of zero waste can significantly reduce waste generation, thereby addressing the root cause of environmental pollution. She started her project Baatooni Rang (talking colors) in August 2017.  To learn more about what motivates Akanksha to […]

Mala Sonawadekar hails from Ulhasnagar, near Mumbai. She aspired to pursue an MSW from Tata Institute of Social Sciences. However, circumstances led her to study law, hoping it would align with her passion for social work and enable her to make a positive impact on society. Having gone through a broken childhood Mala knows the […]

Growing up in Nyalenda in Kenya, Caren experienced firsthand the harmful effects of organic waste accumulation on health, environment, and community well-being. Her encounters with unemployment-driven criminal activities further fuelled her determination to start her organization. Caren initiated her project in September 2022. Interested to learn more, keep reading… By Caren Jobita The awful smell […]

Following their shared passion for nature, Maria Juliet (MJ) and her husband transitioned from corporate life to traditional organic farming and animal rescue. Health issues led MJ to realize the importance of reconnecting with nature, prompting her and her husband to pursue sustainable living. Drastic reduction in surrounding native flora & fauna, destruction of their […]

Today 20-06-2024 is World Refugee Day! This year’s focus is on solidarity with refugees – for a world where refugees are welcomed. According to the UN, in May 2024, forced displacement rose to 120 million people! On this special day, we share the story of a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo. (DRC). Eric, […]

Today, 13-06-2024 is International Albinism Awareness Day. What do you know about Albinism? And what are the challenges that people with albinism have to deal with? Keep reading to learn more. So, what is Albinism? Albinism is a rare, non-contagious, genetically inherited difference present at birth. In almost all types of albinism, both parents must […]

One Afternoon Under a Thatched Roof – a Tale from Rural Malawi – Susanna Simango In rural Malawi, the issue of energy poverty affects education, health, and productivity, particularly among marginalized women. Susanna Simango hails from Malawi and is the co-founder of Village Solar, an organisation registered in December 2022. Along with her co-founder, Susanna […]

For the past 10 days, it has been raining and the level of Lake Vellayani has risen, causing the lower part of the kanthari campus to flood. On the onset of the first of two annual monsoons here in Kerala, we witnessed a thrill, the kick-off of the 15th kanthari impact leadership course. This year, […]

“Is anybody out there?!” – Well connected, and yet cut off – that’s how online training feels. – By Sabriye Tenberken “Hello? Can you hear us? Is there anybody out there?” Nowadays, we are all well acquainted with the mutual assurances of being heard or seen; it has almost become a beloved ritual at the […]

From Comfort to Chaos: Navigating Resilience and Inclusiveness Through an Unexpected Diagnosis Anubha Singhal grew up in Delhi, India. She loves to travel. She always lived a comfortable life, until age 17, when she was diagnosed with a rare condition, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. Despite the challenges, she embraced the new obstacles and her entire outlook […]

Guest- blog: Sohan Tari from Mumbai, a student of the Travellers University is volunteering at kanthari for 10 days and herewith we share a blog post he wrote. Enjoy. Urban Roots, Natural Bonds Even though I grew up in the urban area of Mumbai, I was fortunate enough to have several experiences that kept me […]

Born HIV positive, Mutongi T. Kawara lost her parents to HIV/AIDS-related illness at an early age. From then onwards, she had to move into different relatives’ homes. There she was physically abused and constantly reminded through discriminatory comments that she wouldn’t have a future. This destroyed her will to live. Working with HIV-positive orphans who […]

As a survivor of sexual childhood abuse , Sara Tandel knows that child safety has to starts at home. Sara was taught to unquestionably obey elders, even if it meant silencing her voice. Adults unknowingly foster submission in children, making them vulnerable. Through Mukhlasi, she intends to change this attitude by empowering caregivers to encourage […]

Myat Tun grew up in a small village in Western Myanmar. No internet, no electricity, just the simplicity of rural life. In 2013, a child once without any dream became a nature enthusiast. With the experiences and knowledge in nature conservation, Myat returned to his home state, Rakhine to empower rural youth in sustainable agriculture, […]

Mary Mutua from Kenya has survived the slums, where drugs, crime, and prostitution were a daily companion. She tried to escape all challenges and was hired as a housemaid, where she was ill-treated. Despite all odds, she managed to study hotel management and worked in the hospitality industry and discovered the dark side of it. […]

Malak Alamar grew up in refugee schools in Jordan and witnessed how refugees have suffered from hate speech and poor living -conditions. Coming from a family with Palestinian roots, she faced the same problem of discrimination before. By identifying the impacts of climate change and the hostile relationship it would create among the people as […]

Kuyili’s Call Keerthi Selvaraj from Tamil Nadu, India grew up in a conservative religious family which restricted her opportunities to explore. Despite her limitations, she began photographing birds because their beauty captivated her. While recording them on an international data platform, Keerthi learned about their role in maintaining biodiversity. This inspired her to explore wetlands […]

Trauma to purpose – Paving the Way for Inclusive Early Childhood Education A fatal bus accident had caused his eyes to be temporarily blind for two months. This gave him a glimpse into what it feels like to be visually impaired. The experience formed Olakunle Joshua’s passion for special education. The training he had and […]

Leprosy is not our of the world… After his retirement as a medical doctor, Johny Sulistio from Indonesia decided to work with cows to regain some purpose in life, during which he encountered a leprosy patient with a late deformity. Because of stigma, they are late to seek diagnosis and treatment. This and their ostracization […]

Itohan Iyawe is from south-west Nigeria. Her childhood experience with water scarcity negatively impacted her education and health. However, while working with an NGO she got an opportunity to learn more about the struggles of rural communities and farmers who are affected by lack of access to water. This became a major concern for her […]

Restoration from isolation – Born with albinism, Ifeoluwa faced rejection and isolation. Her mother’s unwavering love protected her from societal prejudices. However, after her passing, living with relatives worsened the isolation and discrimination. Meeting and interacting with parents of children with Albinism, made her understand that she was not alone in facing all these challenges.This […]

kanthari auction: a bid for change supporting kanthari’s Vision In Trivandrum, South India, a unique initiative known as kanthari is shaping the future of social change. A few months ago, a symbol of dignity has made its way into the hands of those willing to contribute to this transformative cause – a statue of a […]

Empowering Single Mothers – the Story of a single mother. Bosede Nwachi faced rejection and negligence from her father all through her childhood. Right after giving birth to twins, her husband left her and her three children. She had no choice but to struggle running multiple small businesses to provide food for them. Despite discrimination […]

Dear Friends, Greetings from kanthari. How are you? We hope this message finds you well. The picture above shows some of the participants of the kanthari course 2023 in a team building session. They are given a raw egg, for which they need to create a cover, that will protect the egg from breaking when […]

Empowering Rural Lives- The remote location of the Oda village poses challenges in accessing healthcare and quality education in Kalikot, Nepal. The death of Karan Singh’s father due to lack of access to medical care forced Karan to quit school as a young child and work as a dish washer in India to support his […]

Embracing albinism-A painful discovery: Sherleen’s 25-year journey of Denial to Embracing Embracing albinism-It took Sherleen Tunai 25 years to accept that she has albinism. Sherleen grew up in Kakamega, Kenya. She yearned to belong, and she hated how she looked. As a child, she started designing clothes for herself because she wanted to look as […]

The Spirit of Peace There has been ongoing armed conflict in Cameroon since 2016. Politicians and warlords are inciting and instrumentalizing youth into acts of violence. Therefore, Emmanuel Lumumba is engaging idle youth in peace building activities his organisation Ndabuchiseh (Training Center for Peace builders). by Emmanuel Lumumba Mindset and a Path to Peace If […]

food literacy: Nelson Kamoyo’s journey from hunger to empowerment Growing up in rural Malawi, going to school hungry and having one meal per day was the norm. As the last-born in a large family, Nelson Kamoyo often skipped school to work in support of his family. Witnessing his siblings thrive after completing their education inspired […]

Empowerment-Life as an Experiment I arrived for the first time at the taxi stop to pick up passengers in my car. Passengers would stop at my Toyota Corolla, which was admittedly a little fancier than the rest of the taxis parked there, look into the tinted windows, see me, a person with albinism, and quickly […]

Growing More Than Crops Introduction A vibrant community, thriving in the hills of Sindupalchoak, Aarukharka, Nepal, where greenery meets mountains and a nearby river serenades the landscape. Families work together during the planting season, children play in the muddy soil, and laughter fills the air … This is Krishna Hari Dulal’s dream. Surviving in the […]

Determination and Disability When I was just two years old, a doctor gave me an expired polio vaccine. After three months, I was diagnosed with polio, a disease that affects the bones and movement, and I lost my ability to walk for the rest of my life. The Supportive Mother: A Backbone for Education My […]

Blind youths Myanmar  A Life-Altering Accident: From Football Dreams to Blindness I remember the incident as if it was yesterday. When I turned 17 years old, I had enough. Enough from being prepared for a future without an interesting job perspective. I wanted to quit high school and, like many other blind youths, learn massage, […]

Breaking Barriers – The Uplifting Journey of Kavya Poornima Balajepalli Meet Kavya Poornima Balajepalli, a 27-year-old young woman with a bright smile, filled with a passion for art and a love for life’s little joys like gazing at stars, observing skylines, smelling Petrichor, or driving vehicles. Trained in Bharatanatyam, she is an art enthusiast, involved […]

A Journey of Resilience and Hope “It was a beautiful morning when I was sitting in my small office when my friend, Dominic, a social worker in a certain church group called me. “Good morning Mary……. I have a case which I know will be of much interest to you.” Dominic knows the passion I […]

Rekindling Hope “If we don’t end the war, the war will end us” – H.G. Wells The Plight of Bobo in Conflict-Stricken Bamenda Bobo, a 22-year-old young man is one of the many youths between the ages of 15-35 living in the conflict-stricken town of Bamenda. Bamenda also known as Abakwa, is a city in […]

by Itohan Iyawe How water shortage drowns education opportunities in Nigeria During the course of one of my fieldwork for the identification of problems/challenges in rural communities, I visited the Irese community in the southern part of Ondo State, Nigeria. There, I met with Alice, a fifteen-year-old girl, looking way older than her age. As […]

by Johny Soelistyo, “One day, during Ramadan, I was on my way to meet Fat, a lady in her 50s, when a call for mid-day prayer sounded over the village. When I knocked, her son opened the door. He said that his mum was taking a rest. ”I am sleepy, because of fasting” she shouted […]

Martin Buber Plaque 2022 for Sabriye Tenberken and Paul Kronenberg The name “kanthari” was carefully chosen by Sabriye and Paul. They say: “kanthari is a chili that grows wild in the backyards of Kerala. Once rooted, it survives droughts and floods. The small ‘kanthari’ looks harmless but it is one of the spiciest chilis in […]

We stayed in the guest rooms of the school and enjoyed Samuel Odwar and his team’s gracious hospitality throughout the time we were in Gulu. Of all the wonderful children there, Sunday and James turned out to be our favourites. Both are physically disabled with all their limbs being affected. But these two are the […]

By Riya Orison und Chacko Jacob We are in Gulu, Northern Uganda. The anticipation on a Friday night among the disabled and non-disabled students of Thumbs Up Academy for the next day is palpable. Faruk comes along with a dedicated coach every Saturday to Thumbs Up Academy to play a bunch of adaptive sports and […]

The Kenyan portion of the trip was very tightly scheduled. We were to visit Eltrud for a couple of hours in the morning and then together move to Steven Onyang’s (a 2013 kanthari graduate) Albert Schweitzer School which is close by. We were looking forward to seeing someone so fresh from the course, struggling to […]

“There is no such thing as ‘away’. When we throw anything away, it must go somewhere” – Annie Leonard Waste Not, Want Not ‘Taka’ means waste and ‘kazi’ means jobs or employment in Swahili. Together it forms the name of and organisation that was started by Emmenual Mruu, 2015 kanthari graduate from Kenya. We travelled on […]

(Read Part 1 here )  PART 2: … When Nancy was only 16, she married a school headmaster. She laughed when she told me about her choice. “I believed he was my ticket to more education. But that hope remained unfulfilled!” Soon enough she had two children in quick succession and adopted four more children […]

by Sabriye Tenberken “When the quest for knowledge tramples poverty, then Zimbabwe can change for the better.” Says Nancy Mbaura, and she not only says it, but she also acts accordingly. About seven years ago, in 2016, she and single mothers ensured that a beer hall located in the centre of the small town of […]

Last month on February 23rd bon completed her first official year. In my last post, I told you how this one year was not easy at all for me. One part of that struggle was that I could not visualize where we are going. More than often when I fulfilled a dream, I would be […]

The struggle within by Biman Roy “If you want something, reach out and grab it”. This has been my attitude toward life. Irrespective of whether I got what I wanted, I always got lessons out of those pursuits. These made me seem like a bit less of an idiot than I was! Of course, the […]

The wild world – After visiting organisations that were founded by kanthari graduates in 2015, we are back on another tour. This time, however, not only Paul and I. We are 2teams of catalysts: Paul and I visit projects in Zimbabwe and  Chacko and Riya started last week with the East African round. They arrived […]

– by Charlotte Cotton I grew up believing that men were dangerous. From my early childhood, I knew I had to be careful around males. I learned this the hard way because of a family trauma that happened before I was even born. When my grandmother was 38 years old, she got brutally physically abused. […]

– by Oluwakemi Odusanya “Camera rolling! Three, two, One! Action!” The Studio Signal blinks, and a special button vibrates to indicate that all microphones are ready. “Good day, listeners of Dare to Differ! I am delighted to welcome you to our show today! And again, we have a special guest in our studio …” Listeners […]

By Nduku Louis Tebi It was Monday, the 16th of July 2018, I got up early to prepare for my examination and by 6:30 am, I was walking to the University of Bamenda when several young men pointed guns at me. They blindfolded me, placed me on a motorbike, and raced off to a camp […]

– By Claude Angwere Imagine a miniature Biennale, an inner-city outdoor exhibition, covering dark corners, tree trunks, and junctions with paintings and sculptures. Imagine a city that wakes up to the sounds of street theatre and traditional music, with video walls that show short art films and documentaries!  These are activities that will be conducted […]

An Unbreakable Bond – By Bibek Magar Nervous and excited, I met Chandra in a busy public park after much texting back and forth. He was the first gay man I had ever met in the 18 years of my life. Through his charming and humorous way of conversation, Chandra made me realize that there […]

– By Eltrud Okeyo If I had a choice, I would have reversed the situation that led to the death of my grandmother. Unfortunately, I only had the will but not the power. At the age of eleven, I decided to live with my grandmother. Life was full of meaning. I felt protected and loved […]

By Anbalagan Hari What comes to your mind if you think of a rag-picker? Let me have a guess: A man, dirty, poorly clothed, roaming around to search for waste material in a pile of trash? Now, what’s the reality: most rag-pickers are not men, they are women or young children who are hard-working to […]

Wings to Life – by Deepu Kiran Why should parents send their children to an inclusive day-care center? If children already learn in their early childhood how important it is to face challenges and not to give up, they will be much better prepared for living an independent life and for contributing to positive changes. […]

Back to Papuan’s paradise – By Johan Andres Serhalawan Fresh air and blue skies, chirping birds, shady trees, and dense forests was the view in my grandma’s village, which is 40 km from Merauke. Spending my school holidays there, felt like living in a different world. That was my childhood experience, a long, long time […]

– by Nancy Mbaura After hard work of gold panning, fish poaching, and tilling farmland, men from all walks of life in my district Norton, usually go to the Ngoni beer hall to take a drink or two to cool their throats. Some come to make friends, others are running away from responsibilities, or hide […]

by Nduku and Oluwakemi Saturday 15th October 2022 was a remarkable day for us, the 2022 participants of the kanthari leadership training for ethical social change makers in India.  We come from eleven countries and three continents, and we hosted a one-day exhibition on ideas for social change tagged “Spread the spice”.  The event took […]

by Robert Malunda My name is Robert Malunda. After having 2 girls, my parents were very happy to get a baby boy. I was born as a sighted child in 1988. When I was 3, I was affected by glaucoma. Doctors tried to cure it, but I eventually lost my sight at the age of […]

by Kerlinda War “Monkey! Monkey!” Little children and some adults would scream as I walked by, bursting into laughter. This got on my nerves. it wasn’t a compliment; it only demoralized my spirits. Completely rejected and bullied by my friends and even my siblings, I became a black sheep. Not having anyone to play with, […]

Crops as a mean for Peace: PEACE CROPS “YEAH!! YEAH!!  YEAH!! Allez les Blue!!  Allez les Blue!! Allez les Blue!!” (Which in French means “Go Blue, go!”). This was what we chanted that night of the world cup soccer finals while driving home on the 12th 0f July 1998 in Cameroon. We had just had […]

by Gumbo Majubwa – Tanzania When I was 24 years old, the forest of my happy childhood in Bagamoyo, on the east coast of Tanzania started to be degraded. Every time, I see trees being cut down, anger haunts me so much, I could cry. This was what motivated me to start the organization ambakofi, […]

A Priceless Trip 20 changemakers and kanthari staff, from 10 different countries, traveling 4000 km, visiting 20 different organizations. It was a wild ride. We traveled by train, bus, tuk-tuk, and even in the back of a truck. We spent the nights at hostels, hotels, lodges, open-air sheds in the jungle, and once even on […]

by Josephine Esperanza Malan, I had sympathy and pity for the blind. Not anymore. I grew up in a middle-class family in Iloilo city. Being the only girl among five siblings, I was pampered by my parents. My family is everything to me. The death of my father while I was in college, turned our […]

I was a curious child and asked a lot of questions. Being blind, many times people would demonstrate the answers to me than just simply answering my questions. E.G., when I got a bit older, my mobility instructor let me shift gears on his car while he was driving. I can tell you his car […]

Back to the Papuan roots by Johan Andre Serhalawan “Fresh air and blue skies, accompanied by chirping birds, shady trees, and dense forests” was the view in my grandma’s village, which is 40 km from Merauke. Spending school holidays in the town feels like living in heaven. Yes, that’s my childhood experience, more or less […]

By Israel Balogun I awoke abruptly to the sharp sting of a cane on my back. “Stand up! Give me all you have! Now!” But I had nothing. I almost passed out from the consequent beating. I was not always on the street. My father, a Muslim priest, had four wives and 26 children. My […]

waste as a resource to get dignity What comes to mind if you think of a rag picker? A man, dirty, poorly clothed, roaming around to search for waste material in a pile of trash? However, in reality, most rag-pickers are women or young children who are hard-working to feed their families. Perumugai is a […]

by Claude Angwere Azah On the 28th of March 2015, I was in Bamenda Town in the Northwest region of Cameroon at the Mankon-Ringway Rehabilitation Centre. The reason I was there, was to attend my regular counseling sessions on drug consumption and abuse. On my way out, I saw a young man lying on a […]

By Gautham NC When was the last time you saw a firefly? Where do they go? Where do they come from? Ever thought about it? It’s only during the dark, that we get a chance to see them, right? Their light isn’t that bright to erase the entire darkness and show us the path, but […]

Cameroon has seen quite some challenging times and due to internal conflicts, more than 700,000 people have been internally displaced. Besides the conflict, many other challenges on a personal level have affected most of the population. Mafah Cornelius Kuta has been affected as well and because of this, he now wants to focus on providing […]

Advocacy for better access to mental health for the LGBTQIA+ community in Nepal. Bibek is an intersectional Queer youth activist and proud gay man, who grew up in a supportive family. However, he witnessed the plight of the LGBTQIA+ community within the society and realized that interventions are lacking when it comes to access to […]

Oluwakemi’s life changed drastically after she turned blind at the age of 13. The world as she knew it changed and suddenly was not as easily approachable as she had thought. At the early stage of blindness, she experienced social exclusion which resulted in low self-esteem. Yet, her zeal to change the narrative led her […]

Nduku has first-hand witnessed the consequences of the Anglo/ Francophone conflicts in Cameroon. One day coming back from school he was kidnapped by rebels, chained, and tortured. The culture of divide and this terrible experience inspired him to work on curbing hate culture and crimes towards youth. He became an advocate for peace, and through […]

Eltrud Okeyo hails from Kisumu County in Western Kenya which borders Victoria Lake. Kisumu County has the third-highest rate of HIV/AIDS in all of Kenya. According to the International Center for Alleviation of Poverty, Inc., 22-25% of Kisumu’s population is HIV positive. A high number of  the population has left behind many orphans and elderly […]

A few weeks ago, we started a blog series about the beneficiaries of kanthari participants. Today we will read an interesting story from Nancy Mbaura from Zimbabwe. We will soon also learn more about Nancy and her walk of life, however today the blog is more focused on her beneficiaries. Tamiranashe – meaningful education for […]

My name is Charlotte Cotton, originally from France, I lived and worked for a long time in Hong Kong and in 2019, I ended up on a special train named Jagriti Yatra. A train that took 400+ entrepreneurs on an 8000 km Journey through India. On this special trip, I met Laad Lohar, who is […]

Now that the 2022 edition of the kanthari course has started, the blog posts will be mainly about those who benefit(ed) from their initiatives. We learn more about their (future) beneficiaries, after all, the positive impact that will be created in their lives, is also the goal we have here at kanthari. Today’s blog is […]

from Sabriye Tenberken and Deepu Kiran Our thirteenth course, which we call “The green room”, has been running for a few weeks now. In television studios and theatres, the “green room” is the room where the performing “stars” can prepare themselves. And here, it is also a kind of preparation place before the rather intensive […]

by chacko Jacob “If you think we can’t change the world, it just means you’re not one of those who will.” – Jacque Fresco It is easy to dismiss someone as overambitious when you hear them pitch a lofty goal with absolute seriousness. For every famous quote like “Aim for the stars and maybe you’ll […]

by sabriye tenberken Today I would like to introduce an ambassador for a somewhat disreputable species: an advocate for insects, specifically, flies. Flies are actually in dire need of an advocate. They have a truly bad reputation. Whenever there is news about an outbreak of diseases or a failed harvest, flies and grasshoppers often have […]

Part One By Chacko Jacob My first encounter with a stammerer happened when I was 14. I accompanied my parents and siblings to a religious gathering of families. Spaced out and biding my time until we had to leave, my ears perked up when I overheard the beautiful young woman to my right speaking to […]

by Sabriye Tenberken The English term “survivor” is used too often and too lightly. These days, everyone who has surmounted a minuscule difficulty like overcoming a cold or passing an exam is a “survivor”. While we effortlessly incorporate these terms into our daily communication, it is easy to lose the deserved respect, both for the […]

By Chacko Jacob As we pulled into Akhina’s house, we were met with a yard full of exotic plants and creepers that covered every inch of available space. Her mother’s love of house plants, which Akhina wrote about in her personal profile, was now before my eyes. Akhina’s love of flora differs from that of […]

by Sabriye Tenberken A few years ago, I overheard a conversation between my brother and my mother. My mother had bought pens, brushes, and colours, stretched a canvas and was about to start painting. But there was the fear of starting, the fear of defacing the immaculate white canvas. My brother is an artist and […]

“I hope so…” By Chacko Jacob, It was a quiet Sunday morning at the kanthari campus on September 5th,2021 when Joseph Christophe Kone awoke to news of trouble back home in Guinea. The country’s armed forces had captured the president after gunfire in the capital. A special forces commander then announced the dissolution of the […]

“Accessibility for the disabled can only be considered in times of peace. To survive during disasters, we have to be prepared beforehand to live under all thinkable circumstances.”  – Nematullah Ahangosh. By Sabriye Tenberken I still remember the day our blind students returned somewhat confused from a city tour with the Lhasa Disability Bureau. The […]

by Sabriye Tenberken Many kanthari graduates who have managed to overcome the first hurdles, feel just like we did back in our early years in Tibet. Even when we have clarity in our direction and successfully overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles, sooner or later we all fall into a hole that is difficult to get out […]

by Sabriye Tenberken “Everything is difficult, and every day there are new challenges. But luckily there are two of us. When one gives up, the other has still enough energy to push us forward again.” Their accounts remind me of our own start-up phase, almost 25 years ago. Back then, Paul and I had the […]

by Abhilash John – founder of Khoj India has the highest number of youths in the world. But Indian culture is known to be conservative. That means that it is, in general, clinging to traditional values and that it is averse to change. The socio-cultural upbringing, combined with the education system, plays a huge role […]

Puneet Singhal talks about growing up with a stammer in a poor part of New Delhi, and how it and his mentor inspired him to start an initiative aimed at empowering people with speech differences. My life journey has been a rollercoaster so far. I was born in New Delhi, in one of Asia’s largest […]

Scaring a Dead Man By Nematullah Ahangosh The women were pacing in peace, Big smiles on their faces, Their distant laughter faded, Heading to unknown paths. I asked, Oh sisters, pray for me, Yet they didn’t hear. The men came marching, Big bodies carrying their heads, Long hands hanging from shoulders, Big steps speeding up, […]

Everyone, everywhere and every day is affected by their direct surrounding. Over the years it has become visible that something has been and is happening with our climate. Climate change is a hot topic that has gotten a prominent place in the daily news. Now here is a blog in which David Marshall, Chief Executive […]

Abhijit Sinha is the creator of Project DEFY, which enables underserved communities to create an education for themselves, through self-learning spaces called Nooks. He believes that education should be brought back into the hands of the learners and the onus to choose what, when, and how they learn should be a decision left to them. […]

Biman Roy grew up in rural India, West Bengal, in the 90s. Having studied all over India and abroad in Sweden, Biman is well aware of what we lose when we disconnect ourselves from nature. According to him, diversity of food is one of the most important connectors. With his organization Bon (which means forest […]

Nothing makes Akhina Mohan more furious than the mistreatment of our environment. But she never had the courage to stand up and speak. She was pushed out of her silence only by the 2018 Kerala floods. The relief work made her understand that her actions could make a difference! Therefore, she is starting “alarmo”, an […]

Taboos That Haunt Us for Life Juliet Omondi is from Homa Bay in Kenya. She addresses a taboo that is widespread in Eastern Africa as well as in many other countries in the world. We say we are in the twenty-first century, and still girls and women face exclusion from schools and community events while […]

Adegbite Tobi Gabriel is from Nigeria. Tobi has studied biology and has practical experience as a farmer. Farmers in Nigeria face many challenges, and because of inadequate practices, many are in debt. An additional problem is organic waste that is left to rot, contaminating the environment, releasing methane (a greenhouse gas) and causing odor. Being […]

Amos is from Nyanga, Zimbabwe, a country that is known for homophobia driven by the political leadership itself. Being gay and being a Zimbabwean, Amos has experienced how challenging it can be to access friendly healthcare services that cater to the specific needs of the LGBTQI+ community. But he is young and healthy. Now imagine […]

A Special Style of Co-Co-Communication Puneet Singh Singhal is from New Delhi, India. Witnessing violence in his personal surroundings shook him and took him to an island of isolation and loneliness. From a child who loved to be in the spotlight, he changed into a stammering, timid boy who tried to avoid conversation. Today, Puneet […]

WINDS OF CHANGE It was mid May 2021 when immigration officials of Thiruvananthapuram Airport couldn’t stop to be surprised. India back then, was worldwide branded the hottest Covid-19 red zone. People would leave in a haste, not arrive with a smile. Usually visitors hear a friendly “welcome to India!”, but now a slightly changed question: […]

Geeta Dangol Maharjan is from Nepal. She grew up in a Nevari family in Kirtipur, a town next to Kathmandu that is famous for its traditional beauty. Suddenly, there were bombs everywhere, and Nepal was no longer safe. The Nepalese Civil War (1996 to 2006) started due to political conflicts and left Nepal in a […]

Aisha Abdullahi Bubah addresses an important topic: the state of mental health in today’s society. Her home country, Nigeria, with a population of over 212 million people, offers only 250 psychiatrists and an even lower number of psychologists. Roughly, only one out of a million Nigerians has access to mental health support. Aisha’s organization Idimma […]

Precious Kiwiti is from Zimbabwe. She was known as a strong woman, running restaurants and catering services successfully, and starting a kindergarten for single mothers. But hardly anyone knew about her well-hidden tragedy. In one of her marriages, Precious was raped, choked, and chained. She even became the victim of a mock execution, where her […]

Imagine. During an armed conflict, you are tied to a tree, which makes it impossible for you to escape violence. You see death hanging on the shoulders of angry men in the form of a rifle. Your heart is racing, and you fear for your life. Nematullah Ahangosh comes from Afghanistan and is now unable […]

Shivani Shivani Kumari is from Jharkhand in the east of India. Her partial loss of sight made it difficult for her to keep up with mainstream expectations. But she found inner strength within nature. Shivani promotes natural agriculture, creates awareness regarding indigenous and uncultivated crops (native and free from biotechnology) and fosters harmonious living with […]

Abhilash John is originally from Kerala in the South of India, but he grew up in Ahmedabad, in Gujarat. Locked in a cage of constrains and expectations, Abhilash was not able to dream and follow his personal path. A street child helped him to challenge his fears, to set him free to explore his strengths […]

Frank Ekow Arkorful comes from Ghana. Growing up in the slums, Frank’s teenage dream was to become a gang leader. But observing the hard work of his mother to save her three boys from becoming criminals, he became a women’s activist. Frank is interested using the Shea butter production, a sector mainly occupied by more […]

Joseph Christophe Kone is originally from Liberia, West Africa. At age seven, Joseph witnessed rebels capture the city of Gbarnga in Liberia. His mother fled together with him and his sister to a village, where he was forced to watch how the rebels committed atrocities against women. The little family sought refuge in a nearby […]

Niwas Kumar is from Bihar in the north of India, and he is focused on a rather sensitive topic that is right in the heart of Indian culture, which is very much characterized by gender norms. From early childhood onwards, every aspect of daily activities is clearly defined to girls or boys, men or women. […]

By Mirranda Tiri, Zimbabwe During a camping trip in Namibia, my parents found paradise in a place that Livingstone once described as ‘the garden of Eden.’ It was a beauty, with amazing scenery, wildlife, and pristine surroundings. The only human-made structure there was a little mud hut. We spent so much time on mokoro (canoe) […]

Odunayo is a 2018 kanthari alumni who founded and runs Bramble learning space, an open learning community which provides quality and lifelong education in a fun and engaging way. It is the first alternative learning space in Nigeria. Bramble learning space focuses on mental, social, physical, and emotional development of every child. With the support […]

By Akhina and Biman, 2021 kanthari participants Every year, at kanthari there is an exciting journey to look forward to; the Exposure trip. As the name suggests, it is a learning experience for all kanthari participants by physically visiting different non-profits across the South of India. They interact with the founders, beneficiaries, stakeholders, ask lots […]

by Karthikeyan. Ojok Simon and I come from two continents, and we first met at kanthari nearly a decade ago. Since then, we have been working on the realisation of our dream projects. Ojok comes from Gulu, a city in the Northern part of Uganda. As a young child, he grew up in war torn […]

ADAPTING AN INCLUSIVE LENS TO UGANDA’S SEXUAL OFFENCE BILL By Harriet Kamashanyu “Uganda’s Sexual Offenses Bill, 2019 both criminalizes consensual sex acts and would allow some non-consensual acts to go unpunished.” – Human Rights Watch The bill has been pending for more than a decade, approved by parliament on May 3, 2021 leaves a lot […]

Rwanda Nook Hub showcases various youth talents from self-learning by Norman Manzi A couple of years ago, Ananias Tuyisenge was doubting about his future and with mixed self-questions as a physically-disabled person he could give himself a response that ‘disability is inability!’ which is totally negative. In July 2020, Tuyisenge was informed that there is a […]

Farming Blind, Honey!  by Ojok Simon – HIVE Uganda – founder and ceo Just close your eyes for a minute and think about how you would farm and keep bees if you cannot see! You probably think that this is impossible… However, it works! Digging the soil, getting dirty, practicing crop husbandry, and keeping bees […]

Rume Rimwe Harikombi Churu – Impact trough Collaboration By Trevor Molife – Purple Africa – Zimbabwe “Rume rimwe harikombi churu” This is a famous proverb in my home language of Shona, the proverb is translated as, “A single person, no matter how big, does not encircle an anthill alone”. This is the same with social […]

Kirtipur, the City of Glory by Geeta Dangol Maharjan – Nepal “Boom!” What was that? It was a Saturday, early in the morning, when we heard this loud sound. My sisters and I were sleeping when our father came rushing into our room to check on us. It was a bomb that had exploded, and […]

From an observer to becoming an actor by Puneet Singhal, 2021 kanthari participant My journey from a mainstream jobholder to becoming a social change maker, from an observer to an actor, starts with questions: What is the purpose of human existence and how can I make my life more meaningful? Unfortunately, the Indian education system […]

The podcast to restore your faith in humanity. By Yampier Aguiar Durañona You might think that writing about your own podcast is an easy homework. Well, no it isn’t. At least not for me. When I was searching a catchy slogan for the podcast “Stick Your Neck Out!”, the Podcast of the Giraffe Heroes Foundation, […]

My rainbow experience by Amos – kanthari 2021 participant I used to be afraid of embracing the true nature of myself not realizing that I hold magic in my feet. The unshelled individual who not only is unapologetic but vigorous towards life and its beauty. Slapped down many a time by the community and family, […]

No school, no Meal. The National Food Security Act (2013) says, “The basic concept of food security globally is to ensure that all people, at all times, should get access to basic food for their active and healthy life. Though the Indian Constitution does not have any explicit provision regarding a right to food, the […]

The plight of migrant workers By Meghana Raveendra Learning about the situation of tribals during the covid pandemic, I asked myself the following questions: Had I ever had to depend on others to receive food for an unknown period of time? Did I ever have to struggle to get basic health care access? Did I […]

Covid Tsunami hits India. By Meghana Raveendra Due to the current crisis in India, the focus of our blog will now again be mainly on kantharis who are suffering and yet still empowering others. In this post we shed our light on Bharat who is amidst the crisis, trying to do relief work for Dalit […]

Title: Covid19 and Generation Z – One year after lockdown One year ago, after a 3-month lock-down, we spoke to Abhijit Sinha, a 2015 kanthari graduate and the Founder of Project DEFY (Design Education for yourself). (Read last year’s Covid and Generation Z blog post here) Abhijit builds nooks in India and Africa. These are […]

A Journey back home Today we publish an essay from a participant of kanthari 2021 course. Nematullah Ahangosh is from Afghanistan.  (This essay was written by him as a part of his application to kanthari.) On a summer day, I was 13 years old, I remember that I didn’t sell enough on the streets. I […]

Is healthcare equally accessible for all? by Meghana Raveendra. Every year, the 7th of April is celebrated as World Health Day to create awareness and bring to the front important health issues across the world by the World Health Organisation. On this occasion I thought it is relevant to share about the lack of access […]

Another kind of mentor by Meghana Raveendran, a kanthari graduate of 2019 “If you cannot see where you are going, ask someone who has been there before.” – J Loren Norris This quote by Lorena Norris is a peak into what we at kanthari believe mentoring is all about. For years we have seen that […]

Networking for Social Change & Personal Development. By Peter Adeeko, founder of Soulace Africa The world we live in is entangled in a huge web. To think of untangling it is to create further chains of complexity. This fact is what explains my connection with Mayuri Joshi Dhavale, whom I popularly call as “Mayor”. In […]

Sustainable design – the kanthari campus   By Pragya Raut, architect, Nepal. A severe earthquake of 7.8 magnitude hit Nepal on 25th of April 2015. It was the greatest of the century in which more than 9000 people died, 20,000 people were injured, and more than half a million houses were destroyed. Now 6 years […]

knock knock knock   – By Meghana Raveendra “Networking is not about just connecting people. It’s about connecting people with people, people with ideas, and people with opportunities.”  – Michele Jennae And now imagine, if these people are ethical social change makers! Wouldn’t that bring about spice in different parts of the world? COVID-19 has […]

Water, water everywhere… Recently, something remarkable happened in our lake Vellayani. Here is the tale from two perspectives. The shishyan perspective  (Shishyan means disciple in malayalam, ശിഷ്യൻ) By Salini John, Admin and Academic Supporter “I love to be at the beach, at waterfalls and riversides, but I was very fearful to go into the water. […]

Learn to say “no” in order to say “yes” at the right time.   by Chacko Jacob People often wonder why Trivandrum was chosen as the location for kanthari. Why not a big city like Mumbai or Delhi? There is something different about the state of Kerala. It constantly ranks high when it comes to […]

Micro-credits – a blessing… or a curse? Part 5 “Whenever I see a Problem, I start a business to solve it.” – Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank, and poster-boy for all who believe that doing good and getting rich in the process is not a paradox. Just like in the last chapter, my […]

Microcredit, a blessing… or a curse? – A multi-series essay about microfinance, Part 4 – by Sabriye Tenberken Last week I had thought that today’s chapter to be the final one in this series, but the more I dive into the topic of microfinance, the louder my alarm bells ring. I cannot help but vent […]

Microcredits, Blessing or curse – A multi-part series about the pros and cons on micro finance, Part 3 by Sabriye Tenberken After having examined the opportunities and challenges of micro finance in the first two blog entries, in Chapters 1 to 4, I will now focus on possible motives of the lenders and their business […]

Microcredit, a magic wand to fight poverty or profitable business at the cost of the poor? – Multi series on microfinance, part 2 by Sabriye Tenberken “The poor themselves can create a poverty-free world. All we have to do is to free them from the chains that we have put around them.” – Muhammad Yunus, […]

Microcredit, a magic wand to fight poverty or profitable business at the cost of the poor? – A multi-series blog with proponents and critics of micro finance by sabriye tenberken A springboard to get out of poverty “Things are never as complicated as they seem. It is only our arrogance that prompts us to find […]

Investigative Journalism – The marginalized 4th pillar. By Chacko Jacob It is hard to comment on journalism as a whole, as it is too wide a profession. There are types of journalists that have a regular schedule, there are types who’s lives are at risk for what they report about, and a thousand other variants. […]

Why should you scale up? by Chacko Jacob Growth is inherent in everything around us. The universe is constantly expanding. Most lifecycles of organisms involve mitosis which leads to an increase in size and strength. Humans refer to striving towards personal betterment as growth. Increased revenue through expanding geographical area of operations and customer base […]

Imagine jails without inmates Paul and I vividly remember a very special event many years ago, a reading of my third book “The Seventh Year”. The book is a description of a cinematically documented climbing blind expedition, a journey leading up to an altitude of more than 6500 meters that came along with risks, and […]

Stairways to change 2020 was special in many aspects. At the beginning of the COVID crisis, we were wondering what this year has in store for kanthari. Questions and concerns ran through our minds: Do we have to close down? How can we keep the team together? How can we justify our existence without the […]

OMLA, the future of Africa? The following blog post was sent to us by Lawrence Afere, from Nigeria. Lawrence, an energetic organic farmer, environmentalist, and catalyst, graduated from kanthari in 2012. 2012 was a special year. A year with ups and downs, crises, and many success stories. Most kantharis from his generation have realized ground-breaking […]

The inner child by Chacko Jacob Keep your inner child alive. Let creativity, curiosity, wonder, and openness always be part of your life. Well, we south Asians might have slightly misunderstood this saying. We seem drawn to the worst attributes of a child: dependence and submission. In some cultures, 18 (or 16 in some cases) […]

Taboos in Thailand (Part 2) Can it be said that cultures that are greatly influenced by taboos and superstition are not ready for democratic processes? In the last blog post, I wrote about taboos in Thailand. Due to the current changes in the romanticized holiday paradise, I would like to follow up on this topic […]

Taboos in Modern Thailand (Part 1) by sabriye tenberken Life and work in an intercultural context, as we experience it here at the kanthari Institute, is very inspiring. But if one is not prepared for this diverse atmosphere, it can also backfire and thus end in utter chaos. For this reason, in the first weeks […]

A Quest for Kids’ Literature in Tamil By Akila Surendran, As a kid, I grew up reading English books like the Ladybird series, Disney’s fairytales, Aesop’s fables and Enid Blyton’s. Other memories are of my grandmother relating Hindu mythological stories to me in our regional language, Tamil. These stories were mesmerising. They fed my imagination. […]

The State of Affairs – Why Civil Courage is Important by Karl Amadé Giraffe Heroes Foundation Europe and kanthari The world has come to a point where it has clearly shown us that the ever-growing population, paired with a hunger of consumption have caused a multitude of  challenges. Additionally, there is a constant increase of […]

An everyday struggle with patriarchy Every now and then, we like to post articles from the blogosphere that catch our attention. Disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to kanthari. This article has made some of us reflect on the nature of parent-child relationships […]

Nigeria erupts Imagine the following scene. A group of well-dressed educated teenagers, armed with nothing but their smart phones, stroll along a highway somewhere in urban Nigeria. Suddenly a car stops right next to them. Armed men jump out and approach the youngsters, surround them, and force them to hand over their mobile phones. The […]

Unity in the absence of calamity By Chacko Jacob The blogpost on 24.04.2020 talked about the incredible way in which all the pillars of society came together to deal with the current Corona crisis. Government bodies, non-profits, philanthropists, selfless citizens, corporations etc. joined hands to mitigate the enormous existential threat posed by the pandemic to […]

A silent crisis, civil war is COVID resistant by Sabriye Tenberken Corona has had the world in its grip for more than nine months and looking back, we are wondering, what are the major changes worldwide? For sure, people all around the world become more health and hygiene conscious which could result in lesser infections. […]

The diaper dilemma… part 2 – Come, dream with me… by Chacko Jacob – catalyst at kanthari A month Ago, Sabriye wrote about the diaper dilemma: the unlikely connection between water hyacinths and disposable diapers. It also served as an introduction to the kanthari diaper project. I have been excitedly telling everyone I know that […]

The outsider advantage by Sabriye Tenberken I was born in a family of outsiders. When I was two years old, my parents moved into a village that was located approximately 12 KM south of Bonn, back then, the official capital of West-Germany. A lovely little place, with a forest, a creek, an old church and […]

Children of the Indian Railway By Sabriye Tenberken Every now and then Sanoj visits the kanthari campus to get to know the new kantharis. Two years ago, he took my then 80-year-old mother for a motorbike tour through Kerala. It was just towards the end of the second monsoon. It had been raining all day […]

Unconstructed Freedom by Chacko Jacob – kanthari catalyst I joined kanthari as a catalyst two weeks after the 11th generation of kantharis started the course. Having gotten to know this generation and a few alumni well, I sometimes look through the profiles of kantharis from the past 10 generations and wonder what their personalities are […]

Fight back by Chacko Jacob – kanthari catalyst A woman scrambles to get on a bus before it leaves; she barely makes it. Stumbling around to grab onto something while the bus bounces along a busy Kathmandu road, she suddenly senses a helping hand guiding her towards a grab handle. Her gratitude is short lived […]

The diaper dilemma What connects disposable nappies to water hyacinths? It’s neither a Bollywood classic nor love at first sight; we are talking about an arranged marriage between disposable diapers and water hyacinths. Being such different candidates, readers will wonder, how can such a marriage work? What are the commonalities and motives? We don’t need […]

And then there were tools…   By Chacko Jacob – kanthari catalyst Around a million years ago, the Homo erectus discovered fire, changing the course of history. They gained control over something dangerous and powerful to their advantage. It helped them take on vast expanses previously unexplored, due to hostile conditions. Up until recently, we […]

The handshake – an endangered ritual We all remember the time when a handshake was a common first gesture to get to know each other, even among peers. Today, in times of social distancing, the usual handshake feels like a relic of another century. Will this be our future? Are we losing something so important? […]

Fit for post Corona   My call got her out of a rehearsal for a reality dance show, a telecast competition which will be on TV soon. In this show, famous dancers from across Nepal participate with a dance-partner. They compete in front of a critical television audience who decide which couple advances to the […]

The Vellayani Lake Challenge By Ajith Kumar, Manager Administration at kanthari Once upon a time, we had a lake that had sparkling fresh water. The Vellayani area and its lake was one of the best hotspots for photographers and cinematographers, its ambience being one of the most beautiful in Kerala. Years later the scenario has […]

Challenges offer chances, Alternative learning in rural Nigeria     By Odunayo Aliu, a 2018 kanthari graduate and founder of Bramble. Somewhere in a village, in the middle of a thick forest, young girls and boys experience learning by playing with wood, insects, plastic waste and whatever they can lay their hands on. They watch […]

Examinations – A consistent reason for student suicides since 2000.   – by Meghana Raveendra, founder of moringa As per the National Crime Records Bureau, ‘Exam failure accounts for 2% of the total number of student suicides in India’. This category was specifically included by Ministry of Human Resource Development as more and more cases […]

Yes, Sierra Leone! (part 2) “When we got there, we were relieved, we thought we had done a good job. What we didn’t know is that things would get much worse. There were other rebels who welcomed us by whipping us so hard that we still have those scars.” This kind of brutality became a […]

Yes, Sierra Leone! (part 1) In the far east of Sierra Leone, in the three-country corner of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, you can find the Manor river. This border river separates Sierra Leone from Guinea. This is the first hurdle for many refugees making their perilous journey to Europe, a journey in which many […]

‘Switch off Video’: On Caste, Cameras and an Unexpected Perk of Online Education     From a LiveWire post, dated 24th June 2020. Original article: http://livewire.thewire.in/personal/switch-off-video-on-caste-cameras-and-an-unexpected-perk-of-online-education/ In the past we had written two posts dealing with digital classrooms: Day 23 (Meghana Raveendra, founder of moringa) and Day 47 (Abhijit Sinha, founder of Project DEFY). Here […]

Agro-forestry   A glimpse of a selected 2020 kanthari applicant into his future vision, before the dream is going to be transformed into reality. (By Biman Roy) “I have been selected for the 2020 kanthari course. Even though, due Covid-19, our program has not started yet, with the help of our catalysts (that is how […]

In the shadow of war and Corona Perhaps some of you who have read our earlier blogposts remember the articles from March 31st and April 1st, 2020. It was about war in times of the corona pandemic. Or rather, it was about the absence of the civil war between the French-speaking and the English-speaking parts […]

Pride in Isolation by Chack Jacob, kanthari catalyst “Would it bother you if your roommate is from a completely different culture or belief system?” “Absolutely not, I love working with different kinds of people” “We also have participants from the LGBTQI community, who face a lot of discrimination in many African countries, what’s your opinion […]

Time to be Frugal (By Olubodun Akinyele, 2019 kanthari) As I boarded the plane from Trivandrum airport last December, I was filled with mixed feelings. I was not only leaving my Kerala friends behind, but I would also see my new global network of social change makers travel to their different abodes to change communities […]

What can we learn from a Colibri*?   The hummingbird is known to be the smallest and, in terms of its body size, the fastest bird in the world. The Colibri however is less known for its incredible flying skills: with 40 to 50 wing strokes per second, it can hover to access Nectar. It […]

Documentary “KANTHARI – change from within” now online     The documentary “KANTHARI – Change from Within” about Nobel peace prize nominee Sabriye Tenberken and Co-founder of kanthari institute Paul Kronenberg has been released online and is free to watch. In 2016 the film, directed by Marijn Poels and produced by Tomek Kozakiewicz, was screened […]

Durian, for a more just world (by Tony Joy, 2017 kanthari graduate) During times of crisis it is sad that people use it as an opportunity to exploit others. I was thinking, why have the prices of locally grown food suddenly tripled? We keep complaining that the government is doing us no good, but are […]

Looking back… and forward…   By Chacko Jacob (catalyst at kanthari) In India we have moved on to nationwide Lockdown 4.0 till the 31st of May. Under new slightly more relaxed rules, interstate and intrastate road travel; opening of markets and e-commerce; and even sports in stadia (without spectators) is allowed; all, of course, under […]

Just don’t relax too soon!       All over the world, it looks as if people are slowly getting used to the new ‘normal’. News of new infections and deaths have become one ingredient of our everyday life. In India, regions are divided into colors. Red means alarm, infections are still the order of […]

Vahani, scholarships for equality   by Jaishree Misra When Savej Hassan was finishing high school, he confesses being frightened to look too far ahead. He breaks into Hindi to express the view he saw as a 16-year-old, even though he had consistently been a good student – ‘The road ahead was completely dhundli-dhundli-si (Hindi for […]

Let’s convert the hamster wheel into a carousel     By Viviane Ruof. Viviane hails from Switzerland, graduated last year, and on her India trip, just before the Indian lockdown, visited the kanthari Institute for 3 days. Like sprouts that tentatively pierce the foliage in spring, more and more people are now daring to take […]

It is okay to say that you are not okay!     By Anand Mathew – former kanthari volunteer I hail from a small town called Kottayam in the state of Kerala, and we had been relatively fortunate to have missed the initial wave of the virus, with only three or four cases in our […]

A view from afar     By Priya Mohan, former kanthari Intake-Coordinator, nowadays she works with Deutsche Welle in Bonn.   For a Keralite living in Germany for the last couple of years, though more of a lifetime considering the changes it bought to my life, my roots yearn for those simple earthly pleasures from […]

Three days at kanthari by Ananya Ayasi, a Make A Difference volunteer Make A Difference is an NGO that works around India in 23 cities, to foster children from shelter homes and help them achieve equitable outcomes. Every year, dream camps (DC) are conducted for the kids, away from their daily routines and lives, for […]

Another virus that people have to live with   kanthari TALKS, December 2015: After a brief introduction of the next speaker, the audience is prepared for what is coming. Suddenly the hall is filled with silence. It seems that even the crows in front of the auditorium have stopped their eternal croaking to listen to […]

Covid-19 and the generation Z   Who would have thought this? Just when we started to look forward to the worldwide relaxation of lockdowns, the next damper is already on its way: Generation Z, so, those born between 1997 and 2012, will ‘never be able to recover’ from the consequences of the Corona crisis. What […]

A new silence…   By Teresa Millich, (former intern) There it is again, the harrowing reminder that we have not yet mastered our humanity. The pursuit of control, the illusion of superiority, in the end just distanced us from it further. Humanity, our most essential, arguably most important characteristic. Buried under the flood of information, […]

Food for thought   “WE FELL ASLEEP” by Haroon Rashid “We fell asleep in one world, and woke up in another. Suddenly Disney is out of magic, Paris is no longer romantic, New York is a city asleep, the Chinese wall is no longer a fortress, and Mecca is empty. Hugs & kisses suddenly become […]

Sports: Entertainment? Social Glue? or Lifesaver? By Riya Orison The pandemic has made people question the importance of many activities. One such question is, how essential is watching sports live on TV? During one such discussion in kanthari, Paul, who is an avid football fan, feels that sports events are not as important as many […]

Corona and the bees   Does it feel like an overdose of Corona news? Well, here is something different: KILLER bees! They are spreading all over the American continent. 50 people a year die from stings, and entire regular bee populations are literally being turned into ‘minced meat’. So? Do you have an appetite for […]

Corona makes it possible: the anxious relax and the strong are losing it! By Meghana Raveendra, 2019 kanthari graduate and founder of Moringa, an organization that cares for anxiety disorder of students by offering alternative learning possibilities. With 45 thousand+ cases nationwide, and with 6500 confirmed cases, Mumbai is currently the epicentre of Corona in […]

What if….   We sometimes wonder how many people are actually driving themselves crazy because nothing went according to plan this spring. All events, examinations, building projects, trips and upcoming medical interventions have either been cancelled or postponed indefinitely. How many people are probably have the “Corona Blues” because nothing is the way it should […]

Winds of Change By Chacko Jacob In the last couple of days, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the “papal almoner”, has made headlines by wiring money to a small community of transgender women in a beach town near Rome. The lockdown has affected their most common form of livelihood – sex work. Struggling for food, and unseen […]

We still have to stay inside “It’s completely absurd. Now, while everyone slowly gets their old lives back and people are allowed to go out again, there is a rule that says that old people, people with a disability, and we the blind have to remain indoors.” Lorena starts to laugh loudly, “Are we, the […]

Corona frees the modern slaves from Lebanon….  making them homeless… From modern slavery to homelessness: the tale of foreign domestic workers in Lebanon They had faced tough times for quite a while already… For nine months, since the internal political crisis in Lebanon, and the economic crisis due to a dollar shortage, most have not […]

Today’s blog post is from a volunteer who was ‘trapped’ in kanthari during the Corona outbreak. However, hor her apparently, it didn’t seem the worst place to be trapped in. Lockdown in a lake   (By Riya Orison) After I quit my corporate job last year, I was looking for opportunities in the social sector. […]

A view from Spain, one Covid-19 epicentre in Europe Dear readers, yesterday we received the news that the nationwide lockdown has been extended until at least May 15th. Many kantharis are actively continuing their support to several groups of people who are facing existential needs such as stranded migrant workers, disabled people, widows/single women, tribals, […]

About frogs, beavers and eagles (Part 3) In this “series” of three blog posts, I compare three different film projects. All of them have the goal to initiate positive change but were initiated from different perspectives. One of them is from the frog’s perspective, he sits in the middle of the challenge and has two […]

About frogs, beavers, and eagles (Part 2) In today’s blog post we further explore the different kanthari types and their specific approaches problem solving. I’ll use three different film projects that were initiated out of very different motivations. Yesterday, I wrote about the Mukuru Angaza Film Academy. An initiative for film-loving slum children. Gikufu, the […]

About frogs, beavers, and eagles (Part 1) Imagine there is a problem, and nobody can really describe it. Why not? Because we are all located in the very middle of it. In kanthari jargon this means we are all ‘frogs’ and we only see a problem from a limited perspective, the frog’s perspective. Normally, however, […]

School closures, a curse? Or a blessing? By paul kronenberg and Ashu Egbe Marlyse ” The best teachers are those who show you where to look but don’t tell you what to see. “ – Alexandra K. Trenfor The Corona crisis has severely impacted learning institutions across the world. As of 21 April 2020, approximately […]

Interconnection by Chacko Jacob There are an estimated 10 million NGOs worldwide. Some champion the causes of the marginalized; some bandage wounds while others work for lasting peace in war torn regions; and some feed the hungry while empowering them towards a life of self-reliance and dignity. In crisis situations like the present one they […]

About SARS, toothache, and frogs Do you remember the SARS outbreak about 17 years ago? In those days, Paul and I were in the country of its origin, in the People’s Republic of China, albeit geographically, we were a bit on the sidelines of the SARS epidemic. We were living in the Tibet Autonomous Region […]

Thumbs up for an open society (Part 2) “The weeks he had spent in captivity, and especially the images of the murdered disabled, did not let him go, they changed his life. “I didn’t just want to be a teacher. I wanted to work with disabled people. So, I switched to special education and became […]

Thumbs up for an open society (Part 1) During the recent weeks, we have contacted 150+ of our 226 kanthari graduates who are working in 40+ countries. Although everyone has to deal with the same crisis and experience similar restrictions such as more or less rigorous lockdowns and/or food shortages, it is astonishing how differently […]

The crisis from a different angle,   “Dear ladies and gentlemen! The next speaker is Amrita Gyawali from Nepal!” Applause fills the theater… but the stage remains empty. Yet, we hear a clear voice that says: “And now?” Right in front of the first row Amrita sits in a wheelchair and smiles at the audience, […]

Day 26 19-04-2020 “Cleaner air, more vibrant wildlife, quieter surroundings… Isn’t this time such a breath of relief for mother nature?”, I wondered out loud. “Mother nature??”, exclaimed an annoyed and ever-vigilant-feminist Aparna, “Why not the environment? The earth? Or maybe just… nature?” My first reaction to this inquisition was to brush it off as […]

Albert Schweitzer School in Kisumu County, Kenya “Who among us has ever heard about this? The school is closed because of the Corona Crisis, but the students just don’t want to go home!” Andrea, a good friend of ours, told me about an organisation she supports in Kombewa in Kisumu County in Kenya. She describes […]

What does ’empowerment’ mean? A famous proverb says “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime”. I already hear you saying… Uh oh, not that one again! I know it is completely overused, like an old favorite shirt that has […]

The virus and the digital trap? While students studying in Central, international boards and a few premier institutions attend online classes, the rest of India’s children are on what is essentially an early summer vacation. But not all are in holiday cheer. Covid-19 has been a stress test for the education system just like other […]

‘Rural is cool’ – or – the transformative washing machine Over the past decade, around the world there has been a rather suspicious attitude towards non-governmental organisations. Speaking with many kanthari graduates, we feel that the number of challenges is increasing, especially for “grassroot” initiatives in several countries in Africa as well as in Asia. […]

What to eat? Today is the 21st of the India-wide lockdown and it was supposed to be the last one. We just received a confirmation that the lockdown is now extended until the 3rd of May. Over the past three weeks, several hundred thousand daily laborers and their families have tried to reach their native […]

Day 20: Corona Racism; additional stigmatization for people with Albinism There are two possible scenarios of how the world could change once the pandemic is over. Would all the “social distancing” actually bring us closer together?  Or would it result in the opposite? For some groups, a new threat has become a reality; Corona racism, […]

Another Death Toll By Chacko Jacob, a kanthari catalyst (At kanthari instead of teachers or professors, we work with catalysts. Catalysts are not teachers in a conventional way, they are experts in one or the other subject, willing to exchange knowledge with participants who strive to becomes experts in their chosen fields.) With cases of […]

“No water, no farmers. No farmers, no food.” John Mwangi, a 2016 kanthari, grew up in Kibera, one of Nairobi’s largest slums. His family, father, mother and 7 more siblings lived a little tin hut. John’s father often told the children how the family had ended up in the slum. They originated from a very […]

Finding Purpose Eight years ago, at the kanthari campus, we had a lively discussion about the question “what is meaningful work?” Many of our graduates set up their own training programs and centers for very specific target groups. They ask themselves what kind of training is meaningful and sustainable. How can I convince young people […]

What happens if the information flow is disrupted? In a crisis, those who cannot be informed through regular media channels are particularly disadvantaged. It’s about people in our society who speak a completely different language. We live in Kerala, where people speak Malayalam. My Malayalam skills would not be good enough to draw detailed information […]

Imprisoned Yesterday we saw a video on CNN that was smuggled out of a prison in the US. The prison inmates talked about their fear of sitting in a corona death-trap. “We were not sentenced with the death penalty, but now it feels like we are.’ A New York Times article with the title “Jails […]

Hunger: a crisis within a crisis   I cannot stop thinking about the issue of hunger in the heavily populated African country of Nigeria. Despite the nationwide curfew, many panicked people took to the streets in Abuja. They are anxious about the lack of food. “Don’t lock us up, we get sick.”, they say. Peter […]

Turn trash to treasure On the 12th day of the lock-down, I actually wanted to talk to Tosin about domestic violence. But instead I got information on a different and also very pressing topic: The hunt for food. But first about Tosin, a very interesting woman and founder of the organization “Turn Trash To Treasure”. […]

In the safety of the family? I have spoken to some of our kantharis about impacts of lockdowns on family situations. Ruang from Thailand, a 2018 kanthari graduate said: “Family and home takes on a whole new meaning in times of the lockdown. The home can become a prison, everyone is at the mercy of […]

Vision 2020, THE RIGHT TO SIGHT! Twenty-one years ago, when we had just opened our preparatory school for the Blind in Tibet, we were invited by ICEVI to attend a conference in Beijing, with the promising name “Vision 2020”. ICEVI, the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment is a network of organisations […]

The good ones go into the pot, the bad ones go into your crop? Karthik, a 2012 kanthari graduate, sent me an article this morning titled: “People with Down syndrome could be left to die of Corona virus to ‘save’ medical supplies”. The article, published in Metro reads: “New guidance published by Alabama officials says […]

Back in India We were quite prepared for a lockdown, but on the ninth day the restrictions are noticeable. Since we have only recently started to plant vegetables, we are now slowly running low on vegetables and fruits. Meat has not been around for a while already, but we can do well without. The authorities […]

War in times of Corona (part 2) Peace Crops is an NGO of a 2019 kanthari graduate from Cameroon. In his 10-minute kanthari Dream speech, he describes a life beyond peace. It was on July 12, 1998 that Joshua Njeke drove home with his father and younger brother. They had watched the football World Cup […]

War in times of Corona (part 1) Whenever we think of kantharis in times of crisis, we mainly remember catastrophies such as Fani, a destructive cyclone in Odissa, the 2018 and 2019 floods in Kerala, the 2015 earthquakes in Nepal, and we think of wars, especially the rather unnotified civil war in Cameroon, an armed […]

What about Children in times of Corona?   According to WHO data, the Corona virus doesn’t seem to affect children so much. However, children without family members are facing a lot of challenges too. Gouri Shankar Mishra, a 2015 kanthari graduate is the founder or An-Anya, an organisation that advocates for children’s rights and that […]

And who benefits? If we didn’t know better, we would believe that we are in the middle of a jungle. Crickets, frogs, birds of all kind, no airplanes, no trains, hardly any other traffic. When I am on the phone with kantharis, friends and family, I hear everyone saying: “The sky was never as blue, the […]

Groups at risk Everywhere, medical doctors are talking about the special care that needs to be given to persons with preconditions, to high risk patients. Many of our kantharis are globally working with exactly such target groups. For example, Henry, a 2017 kanthari graduate. Henry founded Kick-start-Kilifi, an alternative learning centre for the many school […]

Lockdown in rural areas The question that is asked everywhere in India: how does a complete lockdown work in remote areas? Where people live in small shelters and have to leave their huts for every personal need, whether it is cooking food or basic hygiene. Many people don’t have toilets or running water inside of the […]

kantharis in times of Corona We started a global campaign, every day during the lockdown period, we introduce a different kanthari with a short (video) message on our Facebook page. The kantharis talk about the challenges in each country, about specific difficulties of their target group or group of beneficiaries and what is/can/could be done. […]

Nationwide Lockdown in India Today is the first day of the 21 day lockdown. So far, all decisions that impacted us regarding the Corona outbreak were made by the Kerala state and they were on top of the situation. Last Monday, a one-week statewide lockdown was announced. All our colleagues, who could still travel, were […]