“If you want peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.” – Desmond Tutu
“Can our attitude affect our survival?” was one of the questions that Nematullah Ahangosh asked the participants of the first-ever Lifesaving camp held in the kanthari campus in February/ March. Nematullah who has Muscular Dystrophy comes from Afghanistan and knows first-hand that in times of crises and war, disabled people are often overlooked and must find their own way out of the mess. That’s why he started his organization Stretch More. Four blind Keralites participated in the camp where they learned swimming, first-aid, and survival/safety skills.
Dear Friends and supporters,
As the world has been facing an unprecedented challenge in the form of the Covid-19 pandemic, another crisis is on everyone’s mind… war. And even if it seems that the only war is currently happening in Ukraine, we would like to remind you of the many locations, across the world where long-term conflicts have been going on in the name of religion, national interests, or natural resources. Innocent civilians are dying, landscapes are being destroyed and then on top of it all, the climate is drastically heating
up. With this bleak outlook, the question is, can we do something about it? Well, we remain positive. Each year a new generation is joining the kanthari network, change-makers that inspire us not to give up, who through their own survival demonstrate that it is worth fighting for this planet, for marginalized groups, for accessibility, and a more just world for all. Here are a few examples of kantharis who are working hard to bring about a positive change in their communities:
Marvelling Roots – India – Kerlinda War – 2018 kanthari
When growing up, Kerlinda War from Meghalaya experienced bullying and marginalization. Therefore, she could easily connect with those children who are pushed to the edge of society, children with disabilities. After a specialized course in rehabilitation and therapy, she decided to start a project for children with slow growth and physical impairment. Her organisation Marvelling roots provides training to parents and works on early intervention of disabled children. Kerlinda and her team have registered 80 persons with disabilities in her rehabilitation program and right-based activities. And the organisation has benefitted more than 200 people in spreading awareness on mainstreaming children with disabilities into the general society.
Jipange – Kenya – Mark Sabwami – 2019 kanthari
Although Mark grew up in a family where blindness and visual impairment were common, initially he found it hard to cope with the onset of visual impairment in his teens. He experienced first-hand how much blind people are marginalized by society in Kenya. During the kanthari course, he founded Jipange, an organization dedicated to the blind and visually impaired in rural areas. He is now the happy leader of a very lively team, including training personnel in computers, Braille, mobility, and knitting. Covid had delayed the start of his facility, but Jipange has already trained seven blind people from rural Kitale, Trans Nzoia County in Kenya, and currently, eight more are being trained.
Khanya Africa – Zimbabwe – Mirranda Tiri – 2021 kanthari
Sexual abuse, abandonment by family, and withdrawal from society marred Mirranda’s childhood.
She, therefore, started “Khanya Africa”, with the goal to restore young women and girls’ dignity and self-esteem. To renew their motivation and self-confidence, workshops and wilderness camps are organized. At the beginning of this year, Mirranda already organized her first Khanya-Africa workshop with 14 youth between the ages of 9 and 20. Many of the teenagers shared about their emotions, their fears of not being loved, their worries about the future, and of their hopes of finding suitable solutions for their problems. Ruvimba (name changed), 18 years old, for the first time in her life, shared about the sexual abuse she had experienced. And just like Mirranda, she does not want to be a victim but wants to help other children to fight back.
ambakofi – Tanzania – Gumbo Majubwa – 2017 kanthari
Gumbo shared the following: “Over the past three months, 24 small-scale Farmers in Mihuga villages, Chalinze District, Tanzania have been busy preparing their fields. The farmers divide working hours between preparing their family plots and our ambakofi regenerative agroforestry project. The group cleaned two-and-a-half hectares of land to start the model farm supporting different conservation technologies.
Meanwhile, in Ushongo village Pangani District, the fishing community existing of 31 Fisher families, started Community based ecological mangrove restoration work. Sustainable fishing needs healthy mangrove forests. With our supervision, they play an important role in supporting nature to do its job. The work includes removing mud and solid waste in the water channels to allow a sufficient hydrological cycle. Another activity we are working on is to raise 1000 trees seedling before the end of April. These seedlings will be transplanted in our projects in Mkange and Mihuga villages, and in the primary schools here in Bagamoyo Town.”
kanthari campus
The past three months were filled with many activities as there were our three days annual review- preview Curriculum development meeting, in- and out-door maintenance work, lake cleaning, intake-outreach, selection process, and after a long time, we were able to welcome several groups of architecture students, Social Work students and the Institute of Management in Government (IMG) brought a group of government workers to kanthari.
kanthari and kantharis in the Media:
– The Indian vlogger Sai Sharma, made a video clip about kanthari
– Local TV covered kanthari on International Women’s Day
– Jane Waithera’s fight against the stigma of albinism – Deutsche Welle-TV
Yampier Aguiar Durañona interviewed some kantharis for the Giraffe Heroes
“Stick Your Neck Out Podcast”:
– Breaking out of binary concepts -Niwas Kumars Gender-Free Learning Centre
– To hell and back – Precious Hearts Haven rescue and shelter.
– In January kanthari was awarded the Bharat Sevak Samaj Award
– And you can find all weekly blogposts here
Dear friends and supporters,
The world is going through a difficult time right now. It is important that we do not lose hope and show solidarity with those who are in need and stand side by side with those who have the courage to actively participate in a healthier, more peaceful, more sustainable future.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude for any support that helps us to continue our work.
If you enjoyed reading this newsletter, please forward it to others who may be interested.
With very best regards from Kerala, stay safe, stay healthy!
sabriye and paul
If you want to support the work of kanthari, then you can do that here –
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
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