Annual Change Looms Public Recognition Event by CYC & Pravah

Report by Santanu Ganguly: The Annual Change Looms Public Recognition Event organized by Commutiny – The Youth Collective (CYC) & Pravah, on 14th June '13 at Vishwa Yuvak Kendra, Circular Road, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, where young social entrepreneurs who are leading inspiring social change initiatives will come together to share their work and ideas which they have developed and strengthened in this year long fellowship program.

Change Looms: Learning and Leadership Journey (CL-LLJ) supports, encourages and recognizes young people who have started, and are running independent social initiatives. It provides skill and capacity building, mentoring support, financial support and networking opportunities. Every year, 20- 25 social entrepreneurs learn together through a Chai, Charcha and Change process that involve workshops, learning experiences, one on one mentoring and peer connections.

Instead of pursuing careers in the mainstream, these courageous youngsters have chosen to walk down a different path to bring about social change in their regions. They come from different corners of the country .... Gujarat, Nagaland, Karnataka, Lucknow ... and have set up their own social change initiatives working on different issues, such as sex workers and gender based violence, HIV AIDS prevention, migration and communal harmony. Some of these inspiring initiatives include Diksha Foundation (Patna), Youth Alliance (Delhi), Kat-katha (Delhi), Safe Safar (Lucknow), Youngs Club (Nagaland), Sauhard (Ahmedabad).

The event will bring together 20 outstanding youth leaders who have completed the Learning and Leadership Journey this year. A chai charcha and change interaction with fellows will be conducted followed by a Talk on the Role of Youth Participation in Civil Society by Amitabh Behar, Executive Director, National Foundation of India.

Pravah and Commutiny - The Youth Collective (CYC) believe that if young people are supported at the right stage to put their ideas into action, they can get a head start in not only leading social change but also being at the forefront of a movement and culture of social entrepreneurship among youth.

Through Change Looms - Learning and Leadership Journey (CL-LLJ) they offer strong leadership experiences for young social entrepreneurs and also ensure the sustainability of this journey by inspiring these young leaders to set up and facilitate more 5 spaces with the youth participants of their initiatives.

1. Organization: Sauhard; Anchor: Gaurang. Location: Ahmedabad

Communalism, particularly in Gujarat has created enormous tension between Hindus and Muslims since decades affecting young minds on a very large scale. The educational institutions, play grounds, even the hang out zones of youth are divided on the basis of religion. For these reasons it becomes really easy for religious extremists and political parties to influence young minds to take up violence for their own benefits. As a 10-year old boy, Gaurang found himself in the company of RSS members who influenced him greatly. He began viewing Muslims as parasites and even started calling the Muslim neighborhood “a mini-pakistan”. It was during his college days in St. Xaviers college in Ahmedabad, when the Godhra riots took place, that he went through a major transformation and changed his perceptions of the “Other”. Amidst all the conflict and hatred, Gaurang found himself questioning his beliefs. Although still confused, he was clear that violence can never be a solution. Today his organization, Sauhard engages with youth and works towards building peace and harmony via workshops, cultural events, festivals, and film clubs.

2. Organization: Young’s Club; Anchor: Jenpu Rongmei. Location: Dimapur

Jenpu couldn’t continue his studies due to financial problems. He himself being a school dropout related to the frustrated youth of his locality who were also dropouts and therefore engaged in anti-social activities and substance abuse. Jenpu lost his younger brother due to drug abuse. This was a turning point in his life and since then he has been building awareness among youth about the dangers of substance abuse and motivating them to stay clear of drugs. He also works with individuals and families affected by HIV AIDS and spreads awareness about the same.

3. Organization: Arzoo; Anchor: Sulekha Location: Ahmedabad

Sulekha is a girl from a middle class Muslim household from Ahmedabad. She is the first girl in her family to get a college education. To support herself financially during her college years, she did needle and embroidery work. The experience that changed her perspective about life and a host of other things was the 2002 Gujarat riots during which she was forced to live in a relief camp. There she saw people dealing with trauma and the loss of dear ones. Sulekha started playing with and teaching children in the camps and when the riots ended, she continued her studies against her family’s wishes. Today Sulekha has a learning centre for children who go to municipality schools in her locality. Her main aim is to improve the relations among people of different religions and spread a feeling of peace and harmony, where no one is afraid. Even after all the difficulties she has suffered, she still dreams. She would love to be a writer some day.

4. Organization: Diksha; Anchor: (Gautam Gauri). Location: Patna

Gautam studied Computer Engineering at BIT, Ranchi and earned a post-graduate degree in Management from IMT, Ghaziabad. He then worked for Cognizant as a business consultant for three years. About two years ago, Gautam had, what he calls, an “enlightening experience”. While interacting with Prof. Anil Gupta, IIM Ahmedabad, he discovered what he really wanted to do with his life. Giving up his career as a business consultant, he along with some friends established Diksha Foundation with the objective of working with underprivileged children. He set up a school in Gangadhar Village in Bulandshahr district which aims to create a fear-free environment and foster creativity and innovation. Today he also has learning centres for children in Nalanda and Patna.

5. Organization: Reap Benefits; Anchor: (Kuldeep). Location: Bangalore

After graduation, when most 21 year old youngsters work to secure their future and join corporate jobs, Kuldeep decided to take the road less traveled and do an individual project on solid waste management on a piece of land for 6 months. This experience convinced him of the need to educate young people on environmental issues. It was a long struggle but Kuldeep didn’t lose faith. Today he works with several schools where he and his team are helping students to reduce the carbon footprints of the school by saving electricity and water. He hopes to make “going green” a habit among students who can then influence their families and practice green habits at home as well. His team has attracted the attention of media and IT companies in Bangalore.

6. Organization: InSIDE-Integrated Social & Institutional Development for Empowerment; Anchor: Jamkhojang Misao (Hejang). Location: Manipur

Hejang was born and brought up in an environment full of ethnic violence, hatred and conflict. He grew up seeing households burning, people being killed mercilessly, mother’s crying for their children which had a devastating impact on the youth of the area. Young people were dropping out of school and taking up arms to fight for justice. Hejang and his friends decided to organize SMILE concerts for peace, and workshops to pull the youth out of this distress. When his friend was killed on mere suspicion of a being a revolutionary, he decided to continue his work to bring peace to the region and create alternative opportunities for young people. Hejang says he won’t rest till his dream “living in freedom, free from fears” is achieved in the North-East.

7. Organization: Peace Team; Anchor: Sarah Phangchopi. Location: Assam

Sarah comes from Karbi Anglong district in Assam which has witnessed horrifying ethnic violence and unspeakable suffering including destruction of homes, hunger, disease, underdevelopment, and loss of resources. According to Sarah, violence fuels deep hatred, create situations of injustice and tramples upon people’s dignities and rights. She believes that violence is a defeat for the entire humanity. Her organization works to spread peace and harmony and to empower people to participate actively in the shaping of their society.