TEAM OF FK Preparatory Course

The Team

Johny Joseph, CSA – the man who started it all
The germ of the FKC idea was born when I met Sacha 3 years ago. Sacha gave the go ahead for the 8th FKC after going through the design of the program. We went to Bangkok for the 7th FKC in April-May 2007, and after that, we were ready to start work. The results are there for all to see.

Sacha Jotisalikorn, FKC – the one who knew the pulse of the course
I wish the participants the very best of luck and hope they don’t face difficulties they cannot solve. I hope the course was useful and they are able to implement concepts into practice. When people come at the beginning they are tense, by the time they finish, they are like family.

Nisa Chamsuwan, FKC – the woman who led from the front with a microphone
I echo Sacha’s thoughts when I hope that the participants utilize the knowledge they have gained here. On a personal note, this was a good trip for me, as I went for the first time on the social and cultural trip to Mysore. I enjoyed it very much.

Shaji Varghese, CSA – the quiet thinker who planned it all
The concept of a South-South exchange is a fantastic idea in the sense of promoting global understanding and peace. It was great to see young energetic people from backgrounds as diverse as media, fisheries and social work working together. The resource people also made the course very informal through their experiential methodologies in teaching their content.

Antony Raju, CSA – he was there all the time
It was a wonderful experience to see them start off as nervous participants sitting alone in front of their computers but finally ending up as one big family. People don’t want to leave now. It will be a great value addition for their work in their host countries.

Ruthy Rajan dreams of being a journalist who also works with under-privileged children.
(II Journalism)
'This is my second year in CSA so therefore I have more responsibilities this year. Learnt a lot while helping to organise this programme. It was quite an experience to delegate responsibilities to the first year students as well.'

Jofin C.V dreams of becoming a cricketer.
(I Computers)
'First year in CSA and I was able to communicate with such varied people and to get involved in this programme is really good.'

Prakash KN dreams of becoming an actor.
(I Sociology)
'This was a great experience and I liked the fact that there were so many people from different countries coming together.'

Arun Williams dreams of working in an airlines.
(I Political Science)
'I learnt a lot. Had a lot of fun. I got to make a lot of friends in CSA. The senior volunteers are very supportive and we learnt a lot of things.'

Santhosh M Katkurwar dreams of becoming the CEO of Google Search
(I Economics)
'It was a great experience. We interacted with different people, learnt various cultures. Exchanged ideas, different views…'

Peter Serjious dreams of becoming a football player, body builder & a social worker.
(I Botany)
'Excellent experience. I loved the interaction.'

Vandana R. dreams of becoming a journalist
(II Journalism) 'This whole experience has been a learning for us in terms of organization as well as attending some of the sessions. Great to meet so many people from different countries'.

Bharath N dreams of becoming a social worker
(II Sociology) 'It was a great experience because through these sessions I learnt very many things. Not only the participants but even the CSA volunteers found this very useful for our future.'

Mathews George dreams of becoming a Missionary, Psychotherapist & a counsellor
(I MSc-Psychology) 'It has been great knowing people from different countries working with them and for them. It is great working with this team of dedicated volunteers doing the background work. I also got to help in conducting the interactive games as part of the course.'

Nivendra Uduman dreams of becoming a social worker
(I Psychology) 'This was my first project that I was involved in and I really learnt a lot of things. I made a lot of new friends and the airport trips were great fun. I loved them the most.'

Ronald Joseph dreams of becoming a great manager also doing social work
(I Psychology) 'This was my first experience in CSA and interacting with so many people. I would like to thank CSA for making me a volunteer for this programme. I learnt how to communicate with people.'

Jaikrishna R dreams of becoming a social worker
(III Chemistry) 'I have been a CSA volunteer for numerous programmes before this. This was a different experience as it was for a duration of 20 days, the others were of a shorter duration. I liked the fact that there were participants from different countries coming together. '

SVATI M SATISH

My Ambition: I want to be a journalist and it has been a dream since as long as I can remember. Also I wish to do something for those living in the underlying sections of the society. It can either be through helping the children with their education or just by creating awareness among the people about various civic and health related issues.

For the Fk Programme:
FK has helped to better my understanding about various socially related issues and problems. Also it has given me an opportunity to interact with people from different countries and genres.

Concept, design and documentation for the 8th FKC by Theatre-in-Education, Script Peoples Theatre

12th October - Preparatory Course

Gender and Gender Relations

The day after the study visits, a dancing energizer, and a first aid session all participants seemed to be in high spirits. The penultimate day of the training program started with a session on gender & gender relations. The facilitator Dr Anitha from National Institute of Advanced Studies NIAS asked the group - 'what do you mean by gender?’ 'Is there a difference between sex and gender'? Gender roles should change depending on the changing situation. In most country laws, when carefully examined you will find a certain amount of gender discrimination. Stereotyping leads to discrimination, oppression and segregation.
Gender refers to relations between men and women. It is also the social meaning society gives. Gender relations are essentially relations of power. In all societies known to us, men and women have unequal power, and men, as a group, enjoy social and institutional power to command women's bodies, intellect, labour and fruits of their labour. Therefore gender relations are relations of conflict and not necessarily, nor obviously, harmonious or cooperative and are unlikely to be so as long as they remain unequal. Gender issues crop up primarily because the woman’s sexuality is the measure of family honor – if you want to dishonor a family you dishonor their women.
Three groups were formed to discuss gender issues in a variety of situations and present it to the rest of the class. Dr Anitha asked the participants to reflect on the norms for men and women at a) Home b) Office c) Public places.
From the discussion what emerged were the said and unsaid rules for women to move out of their houses, to go with an escort, to go with more than one escort etc. Examples from work places of participants were discussed with the ratio of men and women coming into focus. It was pointed out that negotiations for women in work related issues at the office seem to gain more strength if the number of women are more. Lack of mental and emotional strength from family and public places makes it challenging for the women to exert their viewpoint at the work place. Family problems, decision making, income sharing, distribution of income, choice of life partner, sharing responsibility etc all were viewed within the framework of personal experiences by the participants. Creating mental and physical spaces for women to participate was highlighted as the need of the hour. Dr Anitha asked participants to take a look at the stereotyping and ideology held by individuals and society with regard to gender.
To the question – Why do only women talk about gender? Dr Anitha mentioned, “if men talk, things will be easier”

Sujan Parajuli
An M A Sociology student from Chitwan, Nepal, Sujan is a man with a passion for organic farming. Describing himself as a farmer for the past 12 years he has already made three to four visit to India before. He finds the cultural diversity of the group very enriching and will be going to Hyderabad to work with Deccan Development Society. His aim is to go back to his farm and make it a resource centre and look at ways to save environment. A cricketer at heart his favourite player is Shahid Afridi. Sujan says he plays cricket regularly and is an all rounder and will be missing the game when he is working here.

Damayanthi Nandasena
A native of Sri Lanka Damayanthi is with the Green Movement there. For the past three years she has been promoting sustainable agriculture. “Marvelous” is the way she describes this training program as it is her first chance to interact with people from across 10 countries. She is traveling to Ilam in Nepal and has heard it is a beautiful place with misty mountains. Her aim is to look at income generating options through sustainable agriculture. A lover of music and handicrafts Damayanthi started off this journey thinking it would be easy, but finds it challenging especially because she misses her family.

Participants got together to make a presentation on their host country. After each of the presentations one person from that country add their “tips” on what they can expect when they reach their new home.







Who is my secret friend?

This long awaited moment finally arrived soon after lunch. A list of all 22 names was put on a board. Each one would come up and try to make 2 educated guesses about who their secret friend was, before this was revealed to them. People made some extremely clever deductions in getting their secret friend right – handwriting samples, spelling mistakes, confessions to neutral parties, spelling mistakes in letters and even guilty behavior! All of them then exchanged final gifts with their secret friends. One touching gift was Anita giving a silk scarf to Mathana – a Buddhist gesture signifying friendship. The excitement at discovering one’s secret friend was the apt finale to the 15 – 20 day long game.


Reliving the past and looking to the future
Sacha presented a slide of many beautiful photographs taken during the prep course – a reminiscing of the memorable past. He then showed a video of other people who are part of the South-South exchange already working in various host countries. He said that this would be their future – not a lonely one when you remember that there are a few thousand others like you who form the extended Fk family.

The Fk code of conduct

Respect for Human Dignity
Cultural Sensitivity
Security aspects
Environmental considerations
Corruption (against the practice of)
Confidence and good will

11th October - Preparatory Course

Navadarshanam symbolises the best example of a study visit. It is the story of a visionary and how he along with a group of people got together and used the land as it was always meant to be used. Organic farming is his mantra. Meet Mr. Anantu and his dream.
‘Chemicals in farms have only been introduced in the last 50 years. Before that since thousands of years we have been into organic farming. I would like to devote more in the spiritual realm than in the physical realm. My work is that. By doing what Iam doing, it can generate a lot of interest in others and people will be tempted to follow it. The whole world is involved in running the race – that is the goal…running. In a rat race, even if you have won a race you are still a rat. That’s what makes a social worker different. We work for humanity. It’s a selfless journey’. When asked whether it was an expensive proposition to switch to organic farming on a large scale, he replied ‘in the beginning it was difficult for us. Eighteen of us stayed in two mud houses and we have built this farm over seventeen years of hard work. Those were the best years of our lives. Today, this is a completely self-sufficient place. Nothing is procured from outside. Everything is obtained here. This can be replicated by anybody but it depends on the person, his background, his conditions, the society he lives in among other things.’
Finally he said, ‘this is not a farm, this is a research and development initiative. There are always challenges. If you don’t want challenges you cannot live anywhere. If you really want to help the earth you have to develop that subtler force within you. It is not about using chemicals or not using chemicals. Human beings are trying to conquer nature, this is against that subtler force.’

Drik

The Drik team had an interesting day as well. They went to Visual Search and met the documentary filmmaker, KP Sasi. KP Sasi showed them his documentary film, “Redefining peace”, about women’s rights. He then discusses with them techniques of approaching a topic, how he chooses his topics, and his interests. The most exciting thing for the Drik team was getting autographed cartoons from KP Sasi who is also a well-known cartoonist. One common complaint all voiced was the problem of funding for making documentary films
The second stop was CIEDS who focus more on development work regarding women’s rights. Ms. Madhu Nagabhushan, the co-ordinator welcomed them and had an informal chat about conditions that they would face in their host countries, as well as making them reminisce about home. The most memorable thing for the participants was the beautiful design of the house, as well as the bookstore there.

Inland Fisheries Unit

Genomar visited the Inland Fisheries Unit of Karnataka. They were shown many types of fish starting with the carp – common carp, grass carp. They moved on to ornamental fish – goldfish, molly etc, along with guppies. There was a discussion on breeding and seed production and along with growing commercialised fingerlings for sale. They were shown how cow dung is used to produce natural food – plankton, in the water. The Inland Fisheries Unit also has Genetics and Pathology as fields of study. An important fact was that tilapia is banned in India, as the fish supposedly breeds to quickly and destroys ecosystems. This was a little disappointing as tilapia is the basis of study for Genomar.

Pourakhi

Pourakhi visited SPAD – Society for Peoples Action for Development, where they watched a slide show on the various activities of SPAD. The thing that impressed them the most was that SPAD was an umbrella covering organizations that covered every facet of HIV and AIDS right from care, counselling and reduction of stigma to advocacy of rights and law. Particularly impressive was the MILAN project, started to reduce stigma about AIDS.
Swasthi was Pourakhi’s next stop. Swasthi is a rest house for operating sex workers, offering them food, stay and bath facilities during the day. Swasthi even has some HIV infected sex workers who still ply their trade, but making using of condoms. The Pourakhi team were very impressed by Swasthi’s work.

Thaicraft

Members of team Thaicraft visited Shilpa Trust. They got to see different aspects of art – woodwork, pottery, silk dyeing and printing, sandalwood statues and toys. There were also machines for woodworking. The 280 workers of Shilpa Trust seemed to be technologically as well as aesthetically conscious. The Trust workers are now trying blend classical ideas with modern ergonomic design. It was a feast for the eyes.

10 th October - Preparatory Course

Interesting Re-cap
Kaushik and Ragni had a very interesting re-cap of yesterday's learnings. They used very interesting visuals, a brief lecture and a game which concentrated on bringing out gender inequities which was all geared towards their task. All in all it was a great session and hats off to the two of them for being creative and bringing in a new dimension into what was just essentially a re-cap.

Take care
Kulwinder Brar from RedR India conducted today's session on security perspectives. The objectives of the session were to understand the need of security procedures, to be able to analyse risk, to be able to analyse operating context and to be able to assess security on country visits. He then played a game called Snow Ball fight. He asked participants to write on a sheet of paper about what they thought the word 'security' meant to each one of them. Once they did that, they were asked to make the paper into a tight ball and then hit the other pariticipants with it. Once the participants had played a little then he asked each participant to collect one ball of paper each and open it. They were then asked to share whatwas written with the others in the room.
He underlined the fact that your personal behaviour underlines all aspects of security. Therefore, he said, security is a state of mind. He handed out handouts of an imaginary situation where participants were located at an unsafe place with real threat situations in various places. They were first asked to identify the areas that they were most vulnerable at and then asses their personal risk. Participants were then asked to make a presentation to present their learnings. The participants shared that women faced a higher threat than men in various situations. There was a necessity for participants to be prepared from within which would reduce personal vulnerability greatly. Access to information greatly helps reduce the vulnerability. This information can be obtained either through embassies or government agencies.
Kulwinder then played a game with the group. This was a team-coordination exercise. Participants were divided into four teams . Each team stood in a line in front of an empty bucket. A bucket filled with water was placed behind the last person with a mug. Participants had to pass the mug filled with water over the heads of the participants and fill the empty bucket in front. There would be no communication between teams during the exercise. The exercise was great fun for the participants. Banda emerged the most wet person as a giggling Shopna emptied mugs of water on him.

Key Learning Points
• A security threat is a danger in your operating environment flowing from ill intent.
• Risk is the impact a threat may have on you.
• Vulnerabliity is the extent to which you are exposed to a particular threat.
• You control some aspects fo your own vulnerability.
• Security is more about the right behaviour.
• Team effort can help build better capacities and reduce risk.

Good Security
• Keeps stafe and assets safe.
• Maintains sustainable and effective programmes.

Risk
The likelihood and impact of encountering a threat (a combination of the threat and vulnerability level)

Safety and Health Hazards in an operating environment
1. When there is a grenade thrown, never touch it and hit the ground if you feel a grenade has been thrown as it throws shrapnel at a distance of 30 metres.
2. Land mines can be set off with a pressure of a few pounds. It is best to avoid areas which are suspected to have land mines completely.
3. If you encounter a mine - do not touch, do not approach, mark it (but at a distance) and only if this is your agency policy, report it.
4. Good security involves NOT being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

At Checkpoints
1. Never make any sudden moves

2. Be patient
3. Obey all instructions
4. Be clear in your communication
Tip
Carry a water sterilization kit with you when you travel to remote areas. It takes very little space and ensures that your drinking water is safe.

Health
Always immunize yourself for Hepatitis A &B, Typhoid, Diphtheria, Poliomyelitis, Tetanus, Rabies.

HIV/AIDS Awareness
Dr. Shalini from Bangalore Medical Services Trust conducted a short session on HIV and AIDS awareness. She explained that HIV is called the Human Immuno Deficiency virus. It is only present in human beings. It leads to AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome) which is the last stage of the disease. AIDS spreads through blood transfusion or sexual intercourse or through using drugs using previously used needles or from an infected mother to a newborn child. This infection is now shifting from 'high risk' populations like truckers and prostitutes to 'low risk' general population like house wives.
HIV is a problem because it gives no indications for a very long time. It lies dormant for a period of 2 weeks to 6 months and it spreads without both partners knowledge. This period when it lies dormant is called the 'window period'. After this period is the silent infection stage, this could be from 6 to 12 years. The person will look and feel healthy but within the system a war will be goin on with the immune system. A blood test can show the existence of HIV virus at this stage. The last stage is for 6-12 months this is the stage where the patient if exposed to a simple infection like TB can die from it.
Any AIDS test should be accompanied by counselling sessions before the test and after the test. The blood test used to test for AIDS is called ELISA or Rapid HIV test.
The basic symptoms of AIDS are a significant weight loss in a month, chronic diarrhea that lasts for over a month, prolonged fever, severe TB, fungal infection in the mouth and throat. Again all these or any one of these symptoms should be supported by a blood test, only then can one confirm if the patient has AIDS or not.
There are two strains of the HIV virus - HIV1 and HIV2. HIV1 is quicker while HIV2 takes a longer time to act.
Insist on HIV tested blood, for blood transfusions and always use new blades or sterilised blades for activities like shaving etc. Abstain from sex before marriage. Be faithful to the partner and correctly and consistently use condoms.

Interesting Re-cap
Kaushik and Ragni had a very interesting re-cap of yesterday's learnings. They used very interesting visuals, a brief lecture and a game which concentrated on bringing out gender inequities which was all geared towards their task. All in all it was a great session and hats off to the two of them for being creative and bringing in a new dimension into what was just essentially a re-cap.

Take care
Kulwinder Brar from RedR India conducted today's session on security perspectives. The objectives of the session were to understand the need of security procedures, to be able to analyse risk, to be able to analyse operating context and to be able to assess security on country visits. He then played a game called Snow Ball fight. He asked participants to write on a sheet of paper about what they thought the word 'security' meant to each one of them. Once they did that, they were asked to make the paper into a tight ball and then hit the other pariticipants with it. Once the participants had played a little then he asked each participant to collect one ball of paper each and open it. They were then asked to share whatwas written with the others in the room.
He underlined the fact that your personal behaviour underlines all aspects of security. Therefore, he said, security is a state of mind. He handed out handouts of an imaginary situation where participants were located at an unsafe place with real threat situations in various places. They were first asked to identify the areas that they were most vulnerable at and then asses their personal risk. Participants were then asked to make a presentation to present their learnings. The participants shared that women faced a higher threat than men in various situations. There was a necessity for participants to be prepared from within which would reduce personal vulnerability greatly. Access to information greatly helps reduce the vulnerability. This information can be obtained either through embassies or government agencies.
Kulwinder then played a game with the group. This was a team-coordination exercise. Participants were divided into four teams . Each team stood in a line in front of an empty bucket. A bucket filled with water was placed behind the last person with a mug. Participants had to pass the mug filled with water over the heads of the participants and fill the empty bucket in front. There would be no communication between teams during the exercise. The exercise was great fun for the participants. Banda emerged the most wet person as a giggling Shopna emptied mugs of water on him.

Key Learning Points
• A security threat is a danger in your operating environment flowing from ill intent.
• Risk is the impact a threat may have on you.
• Vulnerabliity is the extent to which you are exposed to a particular threat.
• You control some aspects fo your own vulnerability.
• Security is more about the right behaviour.
• Team effort can help build better capacities and reduce risk.

Good Security
• Keeps stafe and assets safe.
• Maintains sustainable and effective programmes.

Risk
The likelihood and impact of encountering a threat (a combination of the threat and vulnerability level)

Safety and Health Hazards in an operating environment
1. When there is a grenade thrown, never touch it and hit the ground if you feel a grenade has been thrown as it throws shrapnel at a distance of 30 metres.
2. Land mines can be set off with a pressure of a few pounds. It is best to avoid areas which are suspected to have land mines completely.
3. If you encounter a mine - do not touch, do not approach, mark it (but at a distance) and only if this is your agency policy, report it.
4. Good security involves NOT being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

At Checkpoints
1. Never make any sudden moves

2. Be patient
3. Obey all instructions
4. Be clear in your communication
Tip
Carry a water sterilization kit with you when you travel to remote areas. It takes very little space and ensures that your drinking water is safe.

Health
Always immunize yourself for Hepatitis A &B, Typhoid, Diphtheria, Poliomyelitis, Tetanus, Rabies.

HIV/AIDS Awareness
Dr. Shalini from Bangalore Medical Services Trust conducted a short session on HIV and AIDS awareness. She explained that HIV is called the Human Immuno Deficiency virus. It is only present in human beings. It leads to AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome) which is the last stage of the disease. AIDS spreads through blood transfusion or sexual intercourse or through using drugs using previously used needles or from an infected mother to a newborn child. This infection is now shifting from 'high risk' populations like truckers and prostitutes to 'low risk' general population like house wives.
HIV is a problem because it gives no indications for a very long time. It lies dormant for a period of 2 weeks to 6 months and it spreads without both partners knowledge. This period when it lies dormant is called the 'window period'. After this period is the silent infection stage, this could be from 6 to 12 years. The person will look and feel healthy but within the system a war will be goin on with the immune system. A blood test can show the existence of HIV virus at this stage. The last stage is for 6-12 months this is the stage where the patient if exposed to a simple infection like TB can die from it.
Any AIDS test should be accompanied by counselling sessions before the test and after the test. The blood test used to test for AIDS is called ELISA or Rapid HIV test.
The basic symptoms of AIDS are a significant weight loss in a month, chronic diarrhea that lasts for over a month, prolonged fever, severe TB, fungal infection in the mouth and throat. Again all these or any one of these symptoms should be supported by a blood test, only then can one confirm if the patient has AIDS or not.
There are two strains of the HIV virus - HIV1 and HIV2. HIV1 is quicker while HIV2 takes a longer time to act.
Insist on HIV tested blood, for blood transfusions and always use new blades or sterilised blades for activities like shaving etc. Abstain from sex before marriage. Be faithful to the partner and correctly and consistently use condoms.

9 th October - Preparatory Course

Egg Game
Participants were grouped together based on their gender in two groups. Each group formed a little circle with a volunteer in the centre. The volunteer had to fall over with his/her feet firmly planted on the ground. It was the responsibility of the group to ensure that the volunteer did not fall down. It was a trust exercise and all partcipants had a go at the exercise.

Resolving C onflicts
Christopher & Rachel conducted an interesting session on Confict Resolution. Christopher started off by exploring what a conflict really was all about. A conflict creates tension or discord. It is caused by real or believed opposition. It usually concerns the needs, values or interests of a person or a group of people. He got the participants to discuss what happened in a conflict in terms of physical as well as mental condition. He stressed the need to address conflicts. Otherwise they would get out of hand and create a point of no return for both the parties involved.
A conflict, he said, was the result of differences. One must celebrate the differences and realise that they provide opportunity to develop newer perspectives. However when differences grow and they are not addressed, they can turn into a conflict. He said there were three stages to a conflict - when the conflict starts, when the conflict grows and finally resolving the conflict. In a conflict one is basically addressing emotions and it is good to keep that in mind.
Very many conflicts can be identified and resolved through nonverbal communication. Body language can be a true reflection of what everybody is communicating. Studies show that 80% of our communication is nonverbal. They include eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, posture, body orientation, closeness and vocal expression.
Through role-play techniques he and Rachel set about creating different situations and also demonstrating tools and techniques about conflict resolution. The main aspects that came acrosss were when one stepped into the other person's shoes and approached the issue from there. That could help alleviate the conflict.
During the session Christopher announced an interesting exercise. During the days' session everybody would take turns being his interpreter. This way everybody would be on their toes and would be forced to listen very carefully. He asked the participants how they felt in a conflict. The responses were - irritated, angry, aggressive, tensed, nervous and a general indifference to other people. He then asked them why it was necessary to avoid a conflict. The responses were to avoid misunderstanding, decreased productivity, to avoid tension, to avoid affecting friendships, to avoid disrespect, as it creates insecurity and to avoid stress. He then asked the participants why they needed to address the conflict. The responses were - that would enable them to solve problems, would help maintain the relationship, help understand a point of view, they could learn from experience, it would prevent discrimination, keep people happy, and it would maintain better physical & mental health.
Three skills, he said that would help resolve a conflict when used together were a) Asking questions b) Showing understanding c) Saying your position. Questions like open-ended questions can make the beginning of a dialogue possible between two people ina conflict. It paves the way for basic communication to take place. Showing understanding provides an opportunity for empathy to establish. This provides the basis for conflict resolution. When you can state your position and be clear and share as to what is really affecting you or preventing you from functioning to your best potential then you are on the path to resolving your conflict.

Exploring Conflict
After tea, Christopher divides the participants into pairs and asks them to think of a conflict that they have had with a person in power and not to share it to their fellow participant. Then the participant becomes that person and reacts accordingly. The fellow participant has to guess who this person is by asking suitable questions and observing body language. This was an exciting game for the participants as they had great fun exploring the roles.

Quote for the day
It takes two to speak the truth. one to speak and one to listen.

4 Stage Communication Exercise
Participants were divided into pairs and asked to find their own space. One of them had to be a listener while the other would be a speaker. In the first stage of this game, the speaker would talk about a conflict from personal experience, while the listener would remain quiet and listen carefully. Then after a while Rachel would ring the bell which would signify the beginning of the second stage of the exercise. During this stage the speaker would continue talking about the conflict and this time the listener would ask good questions. In the third stage, the speaker would be quiet while the listener would reflect back what he/she has just heard. In the fourth and last stage, the listener would help the speaker with solutions to the situation. Once a pair went through one complete round they were then asked to switch roles where the speaker would become the listener and the listener would become the speaker.
The responses shared were interesting - 'I was feeling like a king', 'I remembered my wife. She is the speaker and Iam the listener', 'in order to give solutions shouldn't the listener be someone who has some experience about the subject?', 'it was difficult to listen and keep silent', 'I spoke about astrophysics and I was happy he didn't laugh'.

While resolving conflicts
- Pay attention to the person's feelings through the conflict.
- Do not show any disrespect at any point of time.
- Respect the identity of the person.

Spotlight
Mathana Aphaimool is from Thailand. She has been actively involved in Social work for the last 5 years. She finds the sessions 'very good and gives a big thanks to fk'. She says 'the activities are very entertaining' although she has a difficulty because she is not fluent in the language. Although she is homesick and misses her family and her pet dog a lot, she is happy about going to Nepal where she has her project. Her biggest dream is to help all the farmers in her village in organic farming. Her interests include trekking, rowing, basketball, geography, watching National Geographic. What does she hate? Nothing, really.

Nahyan Shahed Alam is from Bangladesh. He has just completed his BSc in Computer Science and got into his first job with an NGO when he got this opportunity to be a part of this project. He finds the entire training experience 'pretty good, the participatory group work method was completely new for me and I found it very interesting. I liked the way Christ College & FK took care of us. They were constantly taking our feedback and ensuring we were well'. He loves fast cars, travel, Cricket and has been wanting to learn the guitar although as he admits he has been quite lazy in that respect so far. He hates people who 'backbite' and absolutely can't stand hatred.

Anoop Kumar is from India. He has been working in social work for the last 4 years. About the workshop he says, 'I feel good, I have got clarifications for my idea of sustainable development and I have learnt how to cope up with stress. I found today's sessions especially very important. This is a good platform which provides great exposure to work in a new environment and culture and Iam looking forward to travelling to Sri Lanka for my project.' His biggest dream is to run his own NGO in the interest of the poor which will enable him to run multiple programmes that will help a person. He loves reading, watching cricket on tv, catching up on new practices that are followed in the development field. He hates hypocrisy and people who show disrespect.

8 th October - Preparatory Course

Act out
An interesting energizer was played by Banda. Each participant had to enact something and then that person would move onto a new participant and this person would have to enact it back and then create something that was totally new and then move onto a new participant.

Wow
Anita Gurung’s and Suraj’s presentation about their learnings in the earlier session was brilliant to say the least. They used interesting visuals and crisp summaries to underline their learnings. What added flavour to their presentation was interesting short videos on human rights which was simply superb to say the least.

Feedback on the ‘America…America’ Song
- The song was anti-American rather than anti-Bush. It was awkward.
- That message was mis-directed. Creating negative attitudes against a specific country rather than a specific government.
- Personally I agree with Sacha.
- There are very many American nationals who protest against the policies of Mr. Bush. Therefore it is not nice to target the American public.
- The video focused not only at Americans but also various other aspects of American policy. It showed the fact that Americans value freedom but deny it in other countries through their actions.

What’s in a name?…A lot actually!!!
Christopher Macmillan & Rachel Burgh from Metaculture conducted the session on Cross Cultural Communication & Conflict Resolution. Cristopher started the session by asking each person in the room to stand up and give his/her full name and then share the full history of the name, how one got the name, the meaning of the name and anything else to do with the name. Cristopher wanted to explore the history behind each name and the findings were interesting to say the least.
‘Su in my name means good but Iam not a good person’.
‘I don’t know the meaning of my name’.
‘We provide milk for generations to the King in Lanka.’
‘My name means Prince’
‘My name means Arjuna from the Mahabharata. The second part of my name is the title given to our family by the British.’
‘My name means fresh water.’
‘My name means beautiful, but Iam not beautiful.’
‘My name is typical of the farming community but our grand parents are not into farming so they changed my name.’
‘My name is taken from Sanskrit and it means song.’
‘My name is taken from a famous character in Indian culture.’
‘My name means nation’.
‘My name means dream.’
‘I was born during sunrise and therefore I was named after him.’
‘My name means the breeze and Kshatriya which is a fighting clan.’
‘Iam named after a flower.’
‘Iam a bridge.’
‘Iam named after the night. A monk named me.’
‘Iam named after truth.’
Cristopher asked the group ‘what did you notice from this exercise’? The group responded with, ‘names reflect our culture’, ‘a lot of people had their grandparents names’, ‘where the names were different to pronounce, there were nicknames’, ‘lots of different meanings for names’.

Identity Wheel
Cristopher gave a brief overview of Transactional Analysis by Eric Berne (‘I do something to you, you do something back.’) Then he distributed sheets with what he called Identity wheels. These were circles, which were divided into 8 equal parts. He then asked participants to list different aspects of their identity (social, religious, cultural roots), which they felt very strongly about onto that sheet.
Strong images emerged with regard to gender, cultural identity, defining interests and multiple identities.

Doors and walkers exercise
This was an interesting energizer with participants divided into ‘doors’ and the ‘walkers’. The ‘doors’ were participants who created doors by holding hands with each other. The ‘walkers’ were the others who had to move about slowly with their eyes closed, their key to going through the doors were the warning sounds made by the doors when they were going away and encouraging sounds made when they got it right. This energizer paved the way for the session on cross-cultural communication.


5 stages of culture shock
Stage 1 – Settling in (Incubation)
Stage 2 – Adapting (Transition)
Stage 3 – Insight
Stage 4 – Mixing (Integration)
Stage 5 – Re-entry Shock

Stage 1 – Settling in
Symptoms – Bliss, Pleasure, Excitement, Everything is new.
Solutions – Build solid foundations- good living situation, personal social network (old & new), bring select items from home.

Stage 2 – Adapting
Symptoms – communication difficulties, Discontent, Impatience, Anger, Sadness, feeling incompetent. Danger – Expressing feelings as facts.
Solutions – Support systems, understanding feelings as messengers, take action.

Stage 3 – Insight
Symptoms – Gain some understanding, Pleasure, Sense of humour, Psychological balance.
Solutions – Keep an open mind, seek out different perspectives, hold the complexity, be flexible.

Stage 4 – Mixing
Symptoms – New culture has both positive and negative sides, double or triple integration, Feeling of belonging, self-definition, goals for living.
Danger – exoticism or avoidance.
Solution – find the value in each culture, try to view the culture from it own perspective, find a place for your authentic self in each culture

Stage 5 – Re-entry shock
Symptoms – Person who goes home isn’t the person who left.
Danger – Reacting to family or situation negatively.
Solutions – Consciously balance new parts of you with home culture

General Recommendations
 Don’t forget the good things you have
 Have a hobby
 Be constructive
 Avoid unfavourable or hostile environments
 Don’t try too hard.
 Have regular physical activity or exercise.
 Have time for relaxation and meditation
 Maintain contact with your new culture
 Maintain contact with your ethnic group
 Set simple goals and check your progress
 Be patient, and stay confident

Framed
‘The conspirators at work’

Spotlight
Shopna Akther is from Bangladesh. She has been working in the area of social work for the last 8 years. She is also a freelance photographer. She has jointly developed three documentaries. Regarding the workshop she says, ‘this workshop is challenging. The homestay was a challenge. I didn’t understand the language at all’. She likes the fact that the workshop is based on real-life experiences. However she prefers if it was more visually supported than just remaining lecture-based. Her loves watching Tom & Jerry and reading Harry Potter. She also loves watching Indian movies. She hates ‘bad behaviour’ and ‘unsafe people’.

Gaurav Gurung is from Nepal and as he admits, ‘Iam a shy person. I don’t like to talk too much. But he isn’t too shy talking about his girlfriend. He finds the workshop ‘very helpful as it has exposed me to various situations. It helps me to communicate and has improved my presentation skills.’ His biggest dream is to build a hydropower in Nepal. He loves the sharing of cultures that this experience has brought about. Gaurav loves playing football and his guitar. He hates selfishness and ‘backbiting’.

6 th October - Preparatory Course

Protection and Promotion of Human Rights

Mr. Henri Tiphagne, the executive director of Peoples Watch, and board member of the National Human Rights Commission of India, along with his colleague Mr. Subroto, presented an extremely powerful first session on Human Rights. He started off with saying that Human Rights does not belong in courts of law or constitutional articles, but it is something that is personal to each human being. Human Rights is a basic need, and the three keywords for Human Rights are knowledge, skills and action.
He then screened a film – “I am Dalit, How are you?” It reflected the conditions of Dalits (Broken People) in India. It was a movie that the audience squirm in their seats, tear their hair out in anger, and feel terribly ashamed and surprised about Untouchabilty. The film awoke people’s consciences in various forms. This, said Mr. Henri, was what he wanted, because Human Rights is all about the passion to see things put right. It is this anger that caused the United Nations to recognise caste discrimination as a blatant violation of Human Rights. Therefore anger and passion are also the hope for the future, and Human Rights needs people who are willing to pay the price to get it.
There was a slide presentation about the Principles of Human Rights. It made it clear to all of us that human rights are
o Inherent to all beings without any distinction, legally guaranteed by human rights law
o Place an obligation on governments to act in some ways and prohibit other ways
o Inherent entitlements based on the respect and dignity of human beings
o Universal, inalienable, indivisible, interrelated and interdependent.

First, Second and Third Generation Rights
Ist – Civil and Political rights
2nd – Social, Economic and Cultural rights
3rd – Solidarity rights, which include right to peace, to a clean environment, to the equal enjoyment of the common heritage of mankind.
4th – Right to self-determination
5th – Right to development (right to development as a collective as well as an individual right – individuals regarded as primary subjects of development).

Discussion on Nandigram - ‘human rights is also linked with politics, they go together’ ‘Human Rights are universal. Speak strongly. Keep the politics out. Speak consistently and speak collectively.’

Humanitarian Law
- Also referred as law of armed conflict or the ‘law of war’.
- Intended to limit human sufferings in times of armed conflict.
- Seeks to protect persons who are not, or are no longer, taking apart in the hostilities and to restrict method and means of warfare.

Even during a conflict, humanitarian law should be followed.

A short musical video ‘America America, American war paar da…’ was shown to the participants. The hypocrisy that exists in the U.S war on terror was highlighted through catchy lyrics and hard-hitting visuals.


‘So free Iam dying to see
Disneyland and…’


Human Rights in India encompasses four words – Right to Life, Right to Equality, Right to Liberty, Right to Dignity. This is also the core of the United Nations declaration as well.

Tip: Listen to your conscience and then respond appropriately.

Spotlight
Bal Kumari Ghimire is from Nepal. She has been in the area of social work for the last 9 years. Speaking about the entire experience here, she says it is ‘nice and gives me an opportunity to learn. It teaches me skills – how to communicate…’ It also provides her an opportunity to make friends. According to her, all the sessions were very nice. She dreams of becoming a woman leader in the area of social work in Nepal. She loves reading, music and singing. She hates discrimination and people who hate each other.

5th October - Preparatory Course

What do you think was the purpose of the home stay?

This question of Sacha’s had answers like “ I might face the same conditions out there” “After the home stay I am confident that I can manage any where” ”Taking on the challenge of communication in an unknown environment”

Sacha said the main point of the home stay was to see if individual was ready to take on the challenges of the real world, to see if one could adapt to a new environment, and finally, looking at bridging the gap between theory sessions and field experiences.

Another question of Sacha’s was – Did any of the sessions help you in your home stay? Daniel found the session on discrimination very useful, because he met people who “did not like black people”. Other sessions that helped were those on stress management and the session on personality development and understanding. Sacha capped it off with telling participants not to romanticize the community life and not expect extreme good or bad experiences in a community stay.

Media and communication development

Mr. Ashish Sen from VOICES, a community radio program service, started off this session in a very interesting manner. After asking what the participants expected from his session, he stated what he had come to deliver, and created a common ground of expectations. Then he made the participants play Marshall Mcluhan’s communication paradigm game. Banda was given a picture that he had to describe to the participants, who all had to draw their idea of the picture based on what Banda was saying. For the first round, no one was allowed to clarify doubts with Banda. Then Banda described the picture for the second time, but this time the others were allowed to ask questions that would help them clarify the picture. Needless to say, the first round produced varied pictures, and the second round, because of its participative nature, got everyone to create pictures that were very close what Banda had in his hand.
Mr. Ashish used this as an example for basic media communication, and talked briefly about the sender-receiver message/media model. He said that for effective communication for development, the receiver of the message needed also to be the producer of information, and not just remain a consumer. He gave the example of Budikote, a village on the border of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. This combination produced interesting linguistic and cultural mixes. The local Karnataka radio, Akashvani, though it broadcast community development messages, could not address this mix of culture. He then talked about how creating a community radio station addressing the needs of the locals made a huge difference to the community, simply because the model had created a feedback mechanism of relevant information for the locals themselves. They have appropriately called their radio station Namma Dhwani – Our Voice
For his second session, Mr. Ashish started off with a small discussion on the three types of media – Public, Private and Community. Public media is usually one-way communication, private media has its agenda for profit, and therefore the hope for change lies with community media. Since community media is driven by the needs of the community, fastest social change is possible this way. He gave several examples of how community radio showcases the power of the people – how monarchy in Nepal could not stifle the voices of people and radio stations like Radio Sagarmatha and Radio Lumbini were so powerful in community reach that they forced the authorities to change the law for the benefit of the people.
The highlight of the session was a little demonstration of a mobile radio station, a simple briefcase model that runs on a car battery. When connected to an antenna it can broadcast to a range of 3-4 km. Mr. Ramamurthy from All India Radio demonstrated the set, and excited participants heard themselves on a small radio. Mr. Ashish finished with several brilliant examples on the power of community radio. The most powerful one was the example of Budikote, where for the first time Panchayat elections were covered live on a mobile phone and broadcast and cablecast to the community. It was truly a marvellous session that opened people’s eyes to the power of community media.

Five takeaways from Mr. Ashish

People centred communication
Principles
Two-way communication
Three tiered communication – pubic, private and community media
The power of Community Radio

As responsible people, let us ask ourselves, “Do we get the change we deserve or do we deserve the change we get?”

Where does the media stand on development?

Here are some statistics about how much attention the media pays to development. The Centre for Development and Learning conducted a survey on how much coverage development gets from mainline newspapers in India. Watch the numbers over the course of a year.
8549 articles concentrated on Foreign Investment. In contrast only 988 articles talked about education, out of which 288 articles focused on elementary education, and only 59 articles even concentrated on rural education.
The Times of India, out of its 24 daily pages devoted 4% to development, The Hindustan Times had 3% coverage, Deccan Herald had 4% and The Pioneer stood at 8 %. Coverage on craft, gender and the girl child was the least, followed by drinking water and NGOs.
As Mr. Ashish put it, “Statistics don’t bleed, people do”. Time to wake up?

Spotlight

Norman Nacion from Philippines says “Mabu Hay Pilipinas” – Greetings from Philippines in Tagalog, the language spoken in the country. Norman is a Tilapia specialist, and tilapia is a kind of freshwater fish, which is big business in the Philippines. He is a graduate of fisheries from Central Luzon State University, and has been tilapia specialist for 8 years now. He is going to Angola to train the people there in new methods of tilapia culturing, harvest and growth. He finds the course very helpful, especially the session on stress management. He is an extensive traveller and loves basketball. He finds India a very hospitable and friendly place. On being asked for a quote he says, “Take care of your health, because people lose their health to make money and then lose their money to restore their health”

The basics of communication

Mr. Suvendu, the director of Drik, India took a session that took participants back to the basics of communication. He started off with the example of Maggi noodles, a two-minute meal that is very popular today in India and many other parts of the world. Nestle, the makers, came to India with a marketing campaign that turned out to be a disaster. They decided to consult Alyque Padamsee on why the product had failed. Alyque, India’s ad guru, quickly spotted the problem. The British company in charge of the ad campaign had targeted women as the primary consumers. Alyque said that this was a faulty approach, because in India women are expected to cook for the family, and cooking is a service provided to the rest of the family. Women are not expected to serve a meal in two minutes. He suggested that they target the product as a quick after-school snack for kids. The campaign worked admirably after they changed the target group. This got Mr. Suvendu to the basics of media strategy

Defining the problem
Finding targets of opportunity
Assessing feasibility of activities

All communication arises from these eternal questions-
Who am I? Who needs to know? Why do they need to know? How will they find out? How do I want them to respond?

And communication is defined as, “Any act by which one person gives to or receives from another person about that persons needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge or affective states.”

Finally he made the various groups discuss the following questions - If you have to communicate the message of your org to the host family, what factors would help you? What factors would obstruct you?

4 th October - Preparatory Course

Looking back

Back from home stay in a village, participants reflect on an important learning of the last session. - “Development should be sustainable”. If it destroys environment then that is not the right kind of development.


Sustainable Development – State, Private Sector and Civil societies

Dr Gopakumar the director of Public Affairs Centre started off his session by linking it to the previous activity of “Looking back”. The focus was on understanding the evolutionary map of “Sustainable Development”. While the 50’s & 60’s focused on Productivity as an outcome of world war, the 60’s & 70’s was aimed at State Action through good policies and governance. 80’s brought the voice of Sustainability into focus. Early 90’s focussed on Participation through decentralisation. Accountability/Transparency were the hallmark of late 90’s, Dr Gopakumar brought the session focus to the concept of Sustainability.
It was pointed out that civil society has always been an advocate of Sustainable Development, although it came into official government corridors in the 80’s. To substantiate this stand the example of 1977 Kenyan green belt revolution was cited – a good three years before the government and other caretakers of society laid their claim to it as policy matter.
It was mentioned that there are 70 official definitions of Sustainable Development revolving around the three domains – Social, Economic and Environment. Dr Gopakumar challenged the participants to improve on the model. The Fk participants came up with the following additions - technology, political guidelines, role of institutions, human resource and education, making it the unofficial 71st definition for Sustainable Development.
The pictorial representation of SD along with Rule of Law and Quality of Life standing on a structure of Governance caught the attention of all participants. The need for political will through public awareness and societal values was shown as the foundation necessary for SD to take place. A global map of red and green showed how corruption and economic development are related.

The question raised today was – What is good society?

Shocking news

$ 50 Billion in aid is required to have global poverty eradicated by 2015
$ 1 trillion is paid as bribe globally by household and small firms (200 times more that what we require to eradicate poverty)

“Rural Haryana has more millionaires than urban Bangalore – This is not an economic situation, it’s a social situation”


Dr Gopakumar pointed out that The State, The Corporate and The People have to work together to achieve set objectives. Social audit – Businesses being open to auditing by the society - an emerging concept. The new question being raised is how are corporate’s and NGO’s being accountable to society.
In the second part of the session the participants were divided into three groups and asked to create roadmaps on how to contribute towards sustainable development through the a) State b) Business and c) Civil Society

Sabrina Sharmin

With her head cover you cannot miss her in a crowd, Sabrina from Dhaka, Bangladesh. A geography lecturer from University College, her aim is to relate geography and migration. This is her first visit to India. Before embarking on this journey she was informed that people from Bangalore are simple and English is the main language spoken here! A traveller at heart, she has travelled widely within Bangladesh and is going to Nepal after this training. She is very interested in working with returning migrant workers and women. Her hope is that during her one year in Nepal she will be able to acquire enough knowledge, which she can use in her country. A lover of handicrafts, she also designs clothes and is a shy singer. The one thing she misses the most is her family.


The Roles and Responsibilities of a Development Worker

Mr. Vijay Kumar from Society for People’s Action for Development (SPAD) facilitated a much-needed session on the roles and responsibilities of a Development Worker (DW). He started off with a question on what they thought were the characteristics of a village. Fresh from their home stay in villages in Hoskote, the answers came flying from the participants – No bed, no toilet, no schools, animals in the house, division of labour in a family and so on. After listening patiently to these replies Mr. Vijay Kumar came to the crux. He listed out the basic/universal characteristics of a village.

o Primary relationships – Everyone knows everyone else.
o Open society – There are no secrets, everyone knows the state of affairs
o Closed society – at the same time, the village is resistant to change and development. This, said Mr. Vijay Kumar, was very important to keep in mind.
o Joint Family system – Again the strongest and weakest point, the joint family creates harmony and division of labor, but is also patriarchal, and therefore resistant to new ideas. Mr. Vijay Kumar asked the participants to look out for such fine social fabrics.
o Feeling of oneness – The entire village is represented by one or two leaders. Antagonising one will antagonise the whole village, which again is very important for a DW to note.
o Sharing – Every little thing that happens is known, so every one reacts to any issue.

What are the problems of a village community?

…was the next question. They were divided into geographical groups for this, and were asked to list answers specific to their country. Again lots of common answers came thick and fast – lack of hygiene, lack of education, infrastructure, gender bias and so on. When all this was discussed, Mr. Vijay Kumar again summed it up in one perfect insight – “the biggest problem is to get people to talk about their problems. So the change agent, that is you, will have to have a specially sensitive heart to read the unspoken problems in the eyes of the people.”

Mr. Vijay Kumar posed the next question

What is development?
The answer had been given in a previous session, and he summed it up as development that concerns economics, politics, culture as well as environment i.e. both material and non material.

Finally Mr. Vijay Kumar finished with the role of the DW or as he framed it

What are the roles a DW needs to play?

o Respect yourself – the most important message of the day, a DW is a professional in his own right, on par with any engineer or doctor.
o Function like a change agent – work with individuals, groups and communities, look at the larger picture always
o Friend/philosopher/ guide – you need to be a resource bank with the knowledge to solve the problems of the community.
o Catalyst – Be the link that bridges the people and the external services, link the people with the program
o Management expert – Adapt to playing the roles of HR, understand finance and organise people
Involve people to create sustainable development for a long term future

As a final exercise, he made the participants ask themselves about the qualities and limitations of a DW, a fine way to create the introspection that comes with being a change agent

Final say

On being asked about what he would like the participants to take home from his session, Mr. Vijay Kumar quoted a Chinese poem, which he felt summed up the entire truth of being a social worker

Go to the people
Live among them
Learn from the people
Plan with the people
Work with the people

And finally when there is positive change, credit it to those who made it possible, the people and not you.

1 st October - Preparatory Course

First exercises - 7 Stretch energizer

Daniel is given the lead to “energize” the group. Small whisper from one of the facilitators and Daniel is all smiles to start. Everybody follows Daniel in stretching one limb at a time “7” times. This is followed by a stretch for “5” counts. The first day after a Mysore trip is tiring but all participants are ready to start on time.

Review of Saturday

o Screening of the movie – Dear Mom
o Stereotypes, Prejudices etc
o We can be discriminated
o We should not discriminate and put people in difficulty
o Adjustment, Adaptability and Accountability
o How will we adjust with the host country – culture, language
o Not to be nervous, but adjust using the skills taught during FK training
o Symbolic meaning through a drawing
o Maintaining personality – through funny games

Two names are picked at random for next review.

Poverty, Well-being & Sustainable Development

The second week of the program and the participants are asked to understand “thought processes” which influence how people respond in the real word.
The facilitator for the session is Mr Sharachchandra Lele, an Indian Institute of Science graduate with a Phd in Forest and Ecology from the U S.


Mr Sharad started off the session with a question. – What is development? Each participant had his or her own notions of development - Infrastructure, Education, Improving standards of living, moving towards peace. The next two questions formed the crux of the session - “Where to go” and “How do we want to get there”
The example given was everybody agrees that water for ‘A’ group is necessary but the question is should it be at the cost of group ‘B’ and therein lies the problem. The next question was – Should everyone have a car? No one seemed to agree in the group. A few felt that its “ok” to have a car as long as it doesn’t cause problems like pollution, extra consumption of fuel etc. Mr Sharad tried to make the participants question themselves with the thought. Is it “ok” to have solar powered cars? If “yes” can I have 10 cars because it is my requirement. If “no” are you not trying to impose your idea of well-being on me?
With these questioning examples the participants were made to understand the issues of poverty, well-being and sustainable development critically, instead of following set notions.

The classification of Material and Non-material things came into focus. The concept of “Good Life” being different for different people was brought to the forefront. While one participant noted that Food, Clothing and Shelter are basic necessities, the facilitator pointed out that the basic necessities apart from clothes are requirements of animals also. What differentiates us as human beings is that we like to have music, dance, culture, freedom, independence etc. “Good Life” and well-being have multi-dimensional aspects. The question is what is minimum for things like food, shelter etc for an individual.
The next topic was “how do we measure”. The common notion is to measure by per capita income. This is done because it can be “calculated”. The argument against income measurement is that it is difficult to measure. Women’s right issues, independence etc cannot be easily measured. A country with high per-capita income might have low on independence hence the term “good life” is relative to context and conditions. The topic of environment was brought in. In environment, the issue is not only air, water etc, but also access to these things, animals birds and their effects.
These issues - content, context and environment with their relativity need to be taken into consideration at the decision making level.
In the second part of the session four groups were made and each group asked to answer a question related to four dimensions of poverty, well-being and sustainable development.
Focusing on environment, it was pointed out that what is good for one person might not be good for the other and has to be checked in relation to context. A landslide for uphill farmers might be bad, but good because of the silt to the downhill farmer. This is also relative, because excess landslide is harmful anyway. People usually find a way around these things. E.g. how terrace farming reduces landslides.
While discussing developed areas the term “Global North” and “Global South” was highlighted. Global North refers to developed areas with Global South being underdeveloped areas. E.g. Bangalore being a “Global North” as compared to villages nearby which are “Global South”
Participants were asked to see how they would formulate policies at the national level or during implementation of programs at the NGO level itself.


Shoes

A circle was made with everyone’s footwear and participants were asked to stand outside the circle. The leader says “in” and “out” continuously and suddenly stops at one of the words – all participants have to jump in or out of the circle accordingly. The last person to do so is asked to come to the centre of the circle and be the leader repeat the instructions of “in” and “out”.



Participatory Approach in Community Development


Mr Jangal, one of the pioneers in the Participatory Rural Approaches (PRA) method, divided the participants into three groups to get their idea of “participation”. Concepts that emerged were - assessing the problem, preparing a plan, contribution, joining, working together, taking part in decision-making etc.
In the context of development PRA is defined as “ collective effort by people concerned to pool their effort and resources to attain objectives they set for themselves”. What interventions have to do is facilitate this process.

The types of participation highlighted were
o Passive participation
o Participation in information giving
o Participation of consultation
o Participation for Material incentives
o Functional participation
o Interactive participation
o Self-mobilization
Self-mobilization is considered the ultimate aim of PRA. The others are considered means towards achieving it.

Creation of Social Map with the help of the community is an important aspect of PRA. Social map is used to depict the habitation pattern of the region/village. It provides a useful base for understanding and identifying problems at various levels for intervention. The local people with the facilitators help do this. The three L’s to be followed are Look, Listen and Learn.

Suraj Ratna Shakya

Having spent his growing years in Kathmandu, Suraj likes everything except the uneasiness of politics. Having been a Sound Engineer for five years with an FM station, Suraj is at present helping establish the first student FM station in Kathmandu. Freelance photography, playing the keyboard and working on the computer keeps him excited. Suraj says he spends more time with this computer than with his family. He is ready for the adventure of going to his host country Bangladesh. A lover of music, he supports music for peace and has also composed two songs for his FM station.

29th September of Preparatory Course

My Secret friend
A very interesting game that is turning out to be a huge rage is the ‘secret friend’. Each participant has a secret friend they don’t know of and they in turn are secret friends to somebody else. Notes & small gifts have been exchanged. It has made some of them blush in embarrassment; some of them are obviously delighted. Some of them are waiting endlessly for their secret friend to wake up and deliver. All in all, when the gifts are announced, that’s the moment everything pauses for a while.

Dancing feat
Latecomers have to be ready to dance or sing a song to the whole group. This novel idea is keeping chronic late-comers on their toes. For the others it is great additional entertainment.

This is my song
This is my song
And this is the song of my people
When the sun sets
And the moon rises
I know I am home.

Trainer Madhu Smriti Shukla took a wonderful session on ‘Personality & Understanding’. Participants were asked to draw a symbol in relation to themselves. Then, on paper using sketch pens participants found their own place and to the accompaniment of soothing strains of instrumental music prepared to create their works of art.

There were interesting designs that were created. Some of them were abstract, while others were realistic. Nearly all of them spoke of home and a longing for the motherland. The artwork was simple and the sharing was very honest. There was tranquillity in the group as they listened to each person’s idea behind the creation. What was very visible was the bonding and respect and interest shared by all. It was truly touching.

Missing home
And the smell of flowers
I dream of my land
And the thousand flowers I will plant

There were pictures of strength and intense understanding, a coconut tree in all its splendour. Giving support, useful to the community. ‘I give you my leaves, my bark and fruit. I give you myself.’ It seemed to say. It said a lot of the participant. Another art emerged of squiggly lines, seemingly emerging from a point. ‘Iam confused but I emerge from this point’ and that was important.

When the world is a cricket field
And I have a ball and a bat
Then, I can go to sleep at last

A simple response emerged - I live near a cricket ground where I visit everyday. Now I miss it. Another spoke of a lens eye and that being the central theme of her life. Yet another became a kite that soared high. Another had a path leading from his home. As one participant shared, ‘he knows his way home.’ There was another person who described life like a burning candle. Another spoke of her intense love for her homeland.

Bangla…O Bangla
The land of golden paddy fields
The land, this my very own

From music for peace to soccer to ‘just do it’ to positive thinking to a little bit of mathematics. This was a session where the participants got together and shared their deepest feelings and thoughts. There are some things that change the character of a group forever. You can’t go through an experience like this and not feel connected. These were certainly moments like that.

Big 5 Personality traits
1. Extraversion
2. Agree/ableness
3. Conscientiousness
4. Neuroticism
5. Openness to experiences

Dear Mom
There was a very good documentary that was screened. It was made by Daniel from Africa. The documentary featured Daniel’s stay in Norway. It gave the participants a first-hand feel of the country and it’s people. The participants also got a glimpse of the possible follow-up activity they could do after their stint in the foreign country.

Positive Action
In the event of finding yourself among two colleagues who don’t like each other –
a) Reduce the tension
b) Don’t pick any sides
c) Be friends with everyone
d) Play an energiser
e) Don’t expect a 100% change. Be prepared to accept the challenge.

In the event that your boss is not interested in becoming friendly with you and has not assigned you your role –
a) Identify key people who are close to your boss and communicate with them.
b) Adjust to the office culture.
c) Observe office situation first & learn how people work.
d) Bond with people who are not hostile.
e) We are going there to learn as well as teach. Don’t assume something is wrong.
f) Find solutions through team building.
g) Initiate your own ideas and put down your proposal in writing and show it to him.

In the event of people not being able to speak English –
a) Use common words and common language.
b) You can start learning their language and if you are interested teach them English.
c) Learn to greet them using their way of greeting.
d) Buy a lot of small cheap gifts and that will help you make friends.


Spotlight
Anita Gurung is from Nepal. She is a first year Masters student in Sociology. She says, ‘I am a migrant worker returnee.’ She finds the training here very interesting. She says she feels very empowered. She likes the fact that the trainers are very friendly and not strict. Her biggest dream is to open a High school. If it is successful she wants to take it a step further. She wants to establish a university. She also dreams of opening an old age home. Her interests include learning classical music, volleyball, painting, cooking Chinese food and making handicrafts. She hates people who gossip behind her and also those who are selfish.


Kaushik Sengupta is from Kolkata, India. A photographer by profession, Kaushik loves meeting different kinds of people. He has taken a lot of good pictures at this training meet, so therefore he loves it all the more. As far as the sessions go, Kaushik is quite candid when he shares that he has felt bored sometimes but he quickly adds, ‘there are good things also’. His biggest dream is to become a filmmaker. His interests include literature, travelling, listening to classical music. His biggest bugbear is anybody criticising his work.

Ragni Kidvai is from Karachi Pakistan. She is a filmmaker. She finds the entire training a ‘good experience and useful for all participants’. She also adds that, ‘I think it can be a lot more fun & sometimes it takes too long to get to the point.’ She observes that interesting people come with different language capabilities and she loves the variety. To list her dreams, she has too many of them. One of them is to have more conversations around gender.
Her interests include painting, printmaking, drawing, political theory. She is also a confirmed bookworm and loves being a facilitator. She hates the army in any form.

H.M Senevirathna Banda is from Kegalle, Sri Lanka. He sums up the training here in two words – ‘great experience’. ‘I got a lot of things here. I liked the volunteers who are very helpful. I also got an opportunity to meet Dr. Abdul Kalam which was great.’ This man is brimming with energy and positivity as he speaks. He shares that he poverty as a child and now his energies are fully utilized towards helping helpless people. His hobbies are reading and again this is towards social welfare. There is nothing that he hates, because as he reasons there is always somebody who will love what other people hate.

28th September of Preparatory Course

Insight
Nahyan and Sujan made a presentation of the learnings from the session, yesterday. Although their presentation was very exhaustive and it was evident that they had put in a lot of hard work, it was suggested to them that maybe they should have presented it more creatively and with the focus on their insights and learnings.
Sacha then told the group, ‘you don’t need to be afraid. After this prep course, you will be confident when interacting with others in a foreign country’.

‘Everyone has a right to live…’
A very interesting case study was presented to all the groups. Six people were profiled and the group was asked to choose in order of acceptance, who they would be more acceptable to have as tenants. The profiles were as follows – a) Ruth (35 years and a social worker), b) Mona (38 years) & Ali (44 years) and their 8 year old son, c) Hans (20 years) student of medicine, d) George (56 yrs) and a sailor who will be away at work for several years, e) Nora (22 yrs) & Fatima (39), Nora works in a nearby school and Fatima is selling cars, f) Tom (40 yrs) & Lisa (19 yrs). Tom works in a farm and Lisa is at home with their 4 months old daughter.

The participants then got into a discussion within their own groups. A lot of interesting data was presented. Two groups said their first preference was Tom & Lisa. They felt that they liked somebody who owned a dog. It gave a picture of security and dependability. One group pumped for Nora and Fatema, while the other group went with Ruth.

In the next round, a little more information was given about the characters. For instance Ruth turned out to be a black American social worker who had previously been to jail. Nora and Fatima were discovered to be Lesbians who were in a steady relationship. Mona & Ali were in a live-in relationship. Hans is a student who wears Nazi insignia on his clothes.

When this information was shared with the group, prejudices and beliefs slowly started emerging. One group relegated the lesbians lower down the order. Another group stuck to the same list even after the new information. Their criterion was priority to women, regular income generating clients, and the specific needs of the client. Two groups put the social worker on top. The medical student looked less likely to get accommodation. The sailor was relegated to the last spot.

Gently the participants were forced to examine their standpoints. There were various debates and discussions that took place. ‘You have moralised lesbians very badly.’ ‘That lady committed a crime for which she was sent to prison.’ ‘Why are we thinking of her past?’ At moments Sacha would intervene, ‘you are making a lot of assumptions based on limited information’. Somebody said, ‘we are impressed with Ruth’s achievements.’
Another response was ‘how does the church validate living together?’ Another person said ‘people who are not married and are living-in a relationship are very likely to separate.’ At which there was a retort, ‘but what about all the divorces that take place.’ The perfect response was this, ‘marriage is not something that is signed in a register book it is more than that.’

This truly powerful session was summarised this way by a participant, ‘I am from a conservative Bengali family and when I came here Iam beginning to see new view points and realize that everyone has a right to live’.

Be Aware
Sacha had this to say, ‘There will always be disagreements in society. The world is never perfect. This is the reality. When you go to another country you are a stranger and they will judge you. The opinions, judgements that you made about others; people in a new country will be judging you. Ask yourself if the judgements and opinions they made about you are fair! Therefore be sensitive of your opinions.’

Follow up activities
What kind of follow-up activities would you do to share your experiences?
1. Photography exhibition
2. Multimedia workshop
3. Documentary
4. Photoshop workshop for rural photographers
5. Video documentation
6. Develop content for a website
7. Seminars
8. Video clips
9. Presentation
10. Group work
11. Demonstration
12. Case studies

Spotlight
Prathapratim Roy Choudhary is from Kolkata, India. A textile engineer by profession he moved into social work to help improve the conditions of the textile weavers and dyers. He says that this workshop is very important for him. Citing an example of this morning when he was forced to view new viewpoints in the landlord and tenant exercise, he found it moving. His biggest dream (hold your breath) is to study Philosophical Mathematics. Apparently it forms the original rules on which the mathematical formulae is constructed. He loves to read books on Philosophy and to listen to Rabindra Sangeet. Being a peace lover he hates all wars.