Exploring Ahmedabad

On our day off, the interns decided to explore the city of Ahmedabad a little bit more. There are so many malls in Ahmedabad! And while it can be interesting to spend time in a foreign mall, we were a bit tired of them. We wanted to see the real Ahmedabad. A new addition to the ITSA library, 101 Ways to Experience Ahmedabad, gave us some good ideas on where to go and what to do.

First, we started off at Hansiba, the SEWA Co-op Shop. The shop was named after the oldest SEWA artisan. Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) is an organization based in Ahmedabad, which has helped women from surrounding districts get their wares sold. The store was filled with so many beautiful things! The pillow cases, the figurines, scarves, and clothes. It was hard to choose only a few things to buy for gifts! Sixty five percent of the profits of the store go to supporting the artists who made the artwork. We were all glad that we could positively contribute back to the artists.

Next stop was Gramshree, which we found all on our own! It was within walking distance, so we decided go for it. For those who don’t know, Ahmedabad is not a pedestrian city. Most of our transportation takes place in auto-rickshaws. Also, addresses are pretty difficult to find when you don’t know where you are going. There is no numbered system like in the States, and most addresses consist of nearby landmarks, like “near ISCON mall” and that’s it. Once you get to the landmark, you have to find the destination on your own. The address that we were trying to find was 4^th floor, Shopper’s Plaza, opposite Municipial Market, Vastrapur. But we found it, with the help of some people along the way.

Once we got there, we were pleasantly surprised again! It was a lovely store, with some really beautiful clothing. All of the profits went to Gramshee, which is a non-profit organization aiming to empower rural and slum dwelling women. , After the store, we went to a Havmur, right across the street. Most of us got to taste yet another Havmur flavor, Litchee Strawberry! We are on our way to tasting all of the flavors!  

 All in all, it was a great shopping day, with all of our money going towards good causes. 

Rain & Cricket

It’s RAINING!! Finally!!

For the first time in two weeks, the rain is coming down. Last night, at around 10:30, when all the interns were just sitting around in their pajamas, we heard the pitter patter on the roof. We ran outside to celebrate!

It was so freeing to be out in the rain, to just feel it on my face. It rarely rains like this in the city, with the rain just pouring down for more than a few hours. My favorite kind of rain is the summer rain. We were all a bit stir crazy from being inside all day, and working on curriculum. I think all the other interns felt the same. We had a little dance party outside, to let off some steam. It’s been crazy hot here, and pretty dusty. Now that the rain has come, things can cool off, and the air can be clearer.

We also played our first cricket game! Shuklaji, the security guard at Anand Niketan Bodakdev, taught us to play! There is a pretty big language barrier between Shuklaji and us. He speaks very little English, and we speak barely any Hindi. But with the help of Apurva, we were able to learn! Highlights of the game include three 6 hits in a row, and Shuklaji hitting the ball all the way over the school building. We were all laughing at Shukalji’s antics on how we were doing in the game.

“Good six!”, he would yell when one of us hit the ball out of the boundary line. (For those of you that may not be familiar with cricket, when the hitter hits the ball out of the boundary line without it touching the ground within the boundary, it is worth 6 points). He would dive to catch the ball, and try to teach us the correct batting stance. We all appreciate that he is trying to connect with us on a real level, and not just be the anonymous security guard.

The workshop leaders are still preparing for the opening ceremony on tomorrow. We still can't believe that they are starting tomorrow!

Field Trip, part 2

As I said in the earlier blog post, the people in the first “Hollywood” slum seemed to be optimistic, and united against the common enemy. However, in the other places that we visited, the same cannot be said.

After a traditional Gujarati lunch, we took a 30 minute rickshaw ride to the very edge of Ahmedabad. Because I was so full from the lunch, I closed my eyes for a short time in the rickshaw. One moment we were in the city, where everything smells like spice, with a small amount of exhaust. When I opened my eyes, I smelled chemicals. It felt like we had completely left the city. There were warehouses, and smokestacks that rose into the sky.

The rickshaws took a turn off the main road, and there was row after row of warehouses, with not a person in sight. Then, huge gray concrete angular buildings appeared out of nowhere. Honestly, I felt that it was a bit futuristic, in a bad way. The buildings looked modern and functional, but the society was not as advanced as the buildings seemed to be. The buildings were very imposing, and seemed to be the complete opposite of the community we had visited a mere 2 hours ago.

When we got there, people began to crowd around us, much like the earlier community. Small trundle-like beds were brought out for us to sit on, while on lookers crowded around us to listen to the conversation Beena Mam was starting. The whole conversation was in Gujarati, so the interns only understood what was being translated for us. We heard them talking about how they got uprooted from their homes on the riverfront, and the community that they belonged to. Many of them did domestic work in homes nearby. But because of their relocation and where they are now, the cost of going back into the city for work is more than what they would actually be making. This forces them to work in the factories, which are very dangerous, and they do not know how to navigate. Their water is extremely dangerous, and makes them sick. It was a lot to take in as an outsider, and as someone who is not in the powerful position to help them.

As a team, we all felt that there was some miscommunication to the people on what our role there was. While we were just visiting, the people may have misinterpreted “foreigners” with “help”. While they were telling us about all their hardships, we felt as though there was nothing that we could actually do. Debriefing with the team this morning, I think we all felt better discussing the point of the field trip, which was not to feel pitiful about how we can’t immediately help them, but savor the fact that ultimately, the more people that know about their hardships and spread the word is better than none. 

Field Trip!

Today was quite a day, and I am still in the process of thinking about it. I will try to paint a clear picture to all of you.

           

We got up, and went to St. Xavier’s College to meet up with the rest of the ITSA team. We met up with Bina Mam, who helps slum dwellers fight for their land and rights. The government is constantly trying to destroy the slums, and relocate the dwellers, but she tries to get legal aid to those living in the slums, so that they can take the government to court.

The first stop on the trip was the “Hollywood” slum, as they are called because the women that live there are especially beautiful, and their amazing jewelry (nose rings, toe rings, anklets, bracelets; you name it, they were wearing it). They told us the history of how they came to be on that spot of land, and their struggles with the government. Many of their houses have been torn down, but they just keep rebuilding. They don’t actually know who owns the land that they are living on, and the government still hasn’t told them. But they are the seventh generation of people in that slum! They also said that they were known for being very honest people, which has helped them in the eyes of the law.

They have upcoming trials, which they have been preparing for. We wish them the best!

They were all so amazingly warm and kind. They were very open about the struggles they have faced, but they still were optimistic about the future. Compared to some of the communities that we saw later today, and which I will talk about in a different post, these people were very united. They acknowledged that there are several different denominations within one slum, but they all agree to come together and join forces against the government who is trying to destroy all of their homes. This was a sharp juxtaposition with other internally displaced people that we also visited later in the day. 

Their trade is to make Ganesh idols, and other Hindu gods. The city needs them to do this, but they just want to get rid of their "ugly" homes. 

Slums do look ugly from the outside, but once you are inside, you can see that it is a lively thriving community. People were happy to show us their homes, and allowed me to take pictures of them. I will leave you with some of the best from the day!

The Two-Week-Iversary

Hello readers, I am a new addition to the ITSA travellog! My name is Sadie, and I am a rising senior at Bard High School Early College. I'm excited to be working with ITSA this summer!

Today is the two week anniversary of arriving in India! It is crazy to think that it has only been two weeks—it feels like it has been so much longer. My first impression of India is that it is a vibrant culture, with the old traditions mixed right in with the new. This was exemplified when I went to the Ghandi ashram and saw business men walking around Ghandi’s house, talking on their cellphones. Or to see some women dressed in shorts, while others are wearing full saris. Also, as an outsider, you simply have to surrender to the culture of India. An example of this has been eating with no utensils. At first, I was a bit squeamish about eating with my hands. It wasn’t that I was grossed out by it, but I was just a bit confused. Will I pick up my cup with my dirty hand, or with the clean one? Can I lick my fingers, or is that rude? During my first real Indian tiffen meal, I finally just gave up on trying to keep my fingers somewhat clean. I surrendered into eating with my hands, and now enjoy stuffing my mouth with delicious pahi pouris in one huge bite!

We’ve been exploring the city as much as possible. We went on the beautiful Heritage Walk through the old city of Ahmedabad. I thought that it was a wandering walk through a beautiful neighborhood that otherwise would have gone unseen by those who are interested. We’ve gone shopping, getting some beautiful pants with crazy prints. We’ve been eating ice cream (I highly recommend Almond Carnival at Havmur), and enough lychees to feed a village. We’ve been watching hilarious Bollywood movies that are over 3 hours long. We have funny, and sometimes exasperating, rickshaw stories to tell. Now, we have more than enough inside jokes to keep us laughing for a looong time.

It’s been great to go through training with the other ITSA interns, and getting to know each other. Personally, it was comforting to go through some aspects of a Bard Thinking & Writing Workshop. The free writes are a time to just let the mind wander, and it really helps me organize my thoughts and to get them down on paper. Once they are there, it makes it so much easier to sift through them. I associate these free writes so closely to BHSEC, and to home, it felt like I brought a part of by daily New York City right into India. Also I highlight for me was getting an in depth lecture on the Indian education system. Honestly, I had no idea how it worked. After getting a lecture from an English teacher from Anand Niketan Silaj school, I had a much better perspective on what ITSA was trying to change, and had a betunderstood the kind of pressure students my age are under to perform well on the Board Exams.

Some of the best moments that have happened these past two weeks were during the discussions that have happened when the whole group was together. We got into some deep topics like violence, safety, and a multitude of others that I can’t remember anymore. It was gratifying to be in a space where everyone is bright, and excited to talk about social issues. The discussions were a great pre-cursor to starting the workshops, and brainstorming ideas to talk about with the students. I feel like everyone is happy to be here, and pumped to facilitate with the students.

Now it is time to get down to business! Putting training to the test, the workshop leaders are beginning to develop their curriculum. It’s going well, and from what I am eavesdropping from the meetings going on around me, they will be thought provoking, inspiring, and fun! There are some field trips in the works, and some mural painting as well. We can’t wait to meet the students this Friday!

Article about ITSA published in the Bardvark!

Reflections upon Summer 2012 - Natalia Choi

Team member, Natalia Choi reflects on her experience in India working with ITSA Summer 2012

I guess the word I would describe my overall experience with India would be “Up Close.” This word has been in my head since the first day of the trip when little kids came knocking (and some climbing) on our van for money until the last night when our group gathered in a circle at night to share things we appreciated about each other. Being with around 12-20  people throughout the trip (I realized just how around people I had been when I was waiting alone in the Delhi airport for 12 hours…), we were first of all, physically “up close.” Everyday, we shoved ourselves into the 9-person “tourist vehicle” van, squeezing in and sitting on top of one another. Our record I’d have to say was the time when we left the drive-in theater when we fit 10 people in a small compact vehicle meant to fit maybe 5~6 people at most. And since we stayed together as a group most of the time, we spent A LOT of time with each other especially at Riana’s grandparents’ apartment which acted as the headquarter office for ITSA in India.

During my time in India, I also met wonderful people like my host family, Riana’s family, the ITSA India team members, and my workshop students. From them, I got to learn a little more about the Indian culture and also realize the culture I’m coming from. I’ve especially enjoyed meeting Riana’s grandmother “Dadi” who has fed us (almost literally since she stood over us at each meal to make sure we were getting plenty of chapatis to eat). Though I wasn’t always able to meet her standard for eating enough, we bonded over time and made chapatis together during the final week. My host family was also amazingly sweet and made me feel right at home making me the best masala chai and packing me a delicious tiffin (a stacked metal lunch box) full of yummy vegetables, rice, and chapatis for lunch. The many Indian college students who also volunteered with ITSA were also really vital part of our “ITSA family.” As our guides, they helped navigate the crazy-ness that is India by helping us bargain, to not get lost in the streets, and to take rickshaws. As our friends, they introduced us to the latest bollywood hits which we danced to together and celebrated festivals like Holi and Diwali.

Riana's Family, and their home crashers

The students I worked with in Ahmedabad and Rajkot also made this whole trip experience rewarding and inspiring. It was amazing to see how the lesson plans which we imagined were actually implemented to give ideas and thoughts for the students. I was especially excited for the lesson plan on modern day slavery since it is an issue that I had been much interested in. In this lesson, we first started by asking the students whether or not they thought slavery still existed in India. We had mixed opinions, some saying a definitive yes, some maybe in certain areas of the world, some “not in India.” So when students were given a fact sheet statistics and facts on modern day slavery, many were surprised by the magnitude of the problem. Through watching a video on child trafficking and continuing discussions about the effects of poverty on the security of human rights, students gained a deeper understanding of the complexity of the issue. Students also created a web with words like illiteracy, corruption, and globalization connected to slavery in order to learn about how interconnected issues were in society. I also shared my experience on leading a Fair Trade campaign during my high school to show them that high school students are very much capable of contributing a positive impact on the world. It was exciting to see how much students progressed throughout the workshops in understanding issues we discussed (slavery, corruption, gender discrimination, and environmentalism) and also in gaining a sense of social responsibility. Students cumulated so much energy to do something for the world that all the 60+ ITSAprenuers (workshop students) signed up to pursue social action projects at the end. Having worked with such an enthusiastic and bright group of students like our ITSApreneurs, I have gained more faith in the power of education and also hope for a better world.

How could I not? Doing my classic Natalia presentation spreading awareness about Fair Trade

Often times it seems that it’s the sites, the great monuments and museums that we pose in front of that we remember most after travelling. But I think once we get to spend more time in a place, it becomes the people we interact with and get to know that we remember most. Travelling with a large group in the second most populous country for five weeks, I think I’ve gotten to encounter people who’ve left a mark on the way I see the world. I’m grateful for having had such opportunity to meet such a fun and eclectic mix of people whom I’ll miss, but at least I have plenty of wonderful pictures (2000+) and unforgettable memories to look back on and smile on.

The Social Action Team in front of our 60 foot long mural!

My lovely host family!

Celebrating Diwali on our last night

Celebrating Holi, the festival of colors!

A day of ITSA-ing!

Just another day at the ITSA headquarters in Ahmedabad by team member, Arden Feil:

        This morning I arrived at Riana’s apartment around 11am to find the rest of the interns busy working on their curriculums for this Friday’s workshop. I quickly joined up with the rest of the Social Action and Justice team and we got to work planning for the workshop. 

Squeezed into the ITSA mobile!

Our upcoming session will cover gender issues and we made considerable progress in designing activities around the topic. After a nice lunch we all headed over the apartment in Paldi to continue working. Admittedly, by that point we were all a bit exhausted, so we were not nearly as productive as we had been in the morning. We relaxed and napped for a while (some of us even went in search of coconuts!) 


We did get a good amount of work time in too, and our lesson plan is pretty much complete for Friday. At about 6pm Riana and some of the India interns came and drove us over to Law Garden—a big outdoor market with vendors selling tapestries, clothing, and jewelry. It was definitely hectic and overwhelming, but also very exciting and exhilarating. A lot of the interns, including myself, found nice gifts to bring back for our friends and family. 

Colors! Colors! Colors!

Tejas helping navigate multiple sellers at the same time!

Neil getting his bargain on!

 We left the market just as it was getting dark and went to Swatti Snacks for dinner. We ordered a bunch of different dishes, which were all delicious and interesting to try. I’m now back at my host family’s house where I am enjoying some of my last nights before I move into the apartment in Paldi with the rest of the interns. Today was pretty calm and easy going; we got time to just hang around as well as have valuable preparation time. I think I speak for all of the interns when I say today was one of many great days we’ve had in 

Riana demonstrating to us the special technique to Pani Puri eating!

The Swatties (Swarthmore College students) pose under Swati snacks!

Heritage Walk: First Experience of Old Ahmedabad for ITSA's International Interns

Team Member Natalia Choi reflects on her day:

It was an especially hot day today in Ahmedabad. I mean everyday is hot, but today we didn’t have as much air conditioning since we were out and about the city unlike the past few days when we mostly stayed indoors resting and preparing for our workshops).

Guide, Nirav Patel, explaining the history of the Jumma Masjid
(Mosque) on the Heritage Walk in Ahmedabad

The day started out early at 6am because we wanted to avoid some heat and crowd for our Heritage walk through the old city of Ahmedabad. [We avoided neither the heat nor crowd…] As we waited for Aiyub, our driver to come pick us up, we spotted several monkeys on the roof of a building nearby. They were huge! I expected to see the little monkeys like Abu from Aladdin, but they were close to human-size (maybe I’m exaggerating a bit, but they were not small cute creatures). Then came my turn for the rickshaw ride! Karen, Pavithra and I loaded up in this yellow-green rickshaw and our rickshaw weaved and honked our way through bikes, motorcycles, and cows toward the Old City of Ahmedabad. Because I didn’t have a layer of glass separating me from the outside, I felt that everything was even closer. I must say I am amazed that I have not been in or seen an accident yet given the chaotic nature of the streets. The cars seem to build their own system as they go. There seems to be no marked lanes, and rarely do we run into traffic lights. Here, our tour guide told us that to drive, one needs three things: good breaks, a good honk, and good luck. And from what I’ve seen, that seems to be true.

Though it was before 8am when we arrived at the temple (the starting point of our walk), there was no time for the morning calm. The place was packed with vendors selling their fresh produce, women in their beautiful saris, men biking through the crowded street. I had expected to encounter more tourists in this historic attraction, but soon realized that we were the only ones. We had become the focus of attention and many curious gazes followed our group.

We waited for our tour to begin upstairs where we had some distance to look at the site from a birds-eye view. It was nice to see and taken in everything and not be seen. Our tour guide arrived with a huge eager smile and began a presentation introducing Ahmedabad’s history dating back to the 15^th century. He was proud of the city’s smart planning (ex. buildings made of stone-wood walls which survived major earthquakes; doors leading to secret passages that only locals would know) and peaceful state (there are no “defensive” architecture). It was interesting to learn about how commerce and business helped maintain peace in the region because they formed business partners. For example, because the British relied on Ahmedabad’s textile industry, they developed and maintained a friendly relation. The Old City was divided in “pols” which are little neighborhoods that was originally organized based on profession/religion but later came to be based on class. Each pol has a gate, a public board, a temple, and a bird feeding tower. I was impressed by how people were sensitive enough to build these bird feeding structures to compensate for the birds losing their homes as the city expanded and cut down trees. Our walk took about 2-3 hours and we saw temples, a plethora of stray dogs, beautifully colored walls (very pastel-ly I thought), and then ended our tour at a mosque.

The rest of the day was spent viewing some Indian paintings and sculptures at the Institute of Indology, eating a scrumptious lunch at Havmor, a nicely air-conditioned restaurant, and resting at Riana’s great aunt’s house. Then we headed back to Riana’s apartment and dinner (a salty popped rice dish called bhel and sev puri, a taco-like dish) and returned to our prospective homes (for some, their host family’s house, for others, the ITSA apartment or Riana’s place) afterwards. Whew, what a full, wonderful day!  

Thoughts from ITSA 2012 team members on the “Institute of Writing & Thinking” workshop & "Training For Change"

May 18^th – May 21^st was a busy weekend for ITSA team members. Congregating in New York, the team took part in a “Training for Trainers” workshop, taught by veteran educators Betsy Raasch Gilman and Diana Gonzales from the Philadelphia-based organization Training for Change, a leading name in educating for democratic, nonviolent social change. Participants gained valuable skills in the areas of facilitation, teambuilding, teaching and communication. Julia Meyer was there for the ride:

“After months of anticipation, on Saturday, May 11^th, training finally began. Indu Chugani, one of the co-founders of Educators for Teaching India, led a creative thinking workshop at Bard College. As a student at Bard, I was already familiarized with the atmosphere and teaching style – classes went for the entire day and were intellectually challenging. However, the format was different from the typical discussion-based classroom. Instead of having an open discourse, students responded in writing to what they had read.  Then, in no particular order, everyone shared what they had written. While there was an assortment of exercises, some more complicated than others, they mostly followed this format: reading, thinking, writing and speaking. While all my courses at Bard had required active participation, critical analysis, and creative thought, none of them had been structured quite like the experience of L&T. I remember a couple of L&T exercises, but one in particular that I’ve enjoyed both times: Poetry Explosion.  (…) Its conclusion resembled a cubist painting: rather than simply seeing the poem from our own perspective, the various viewpoints layered on top of one another.  The subject was no longer clearly identifiable. It became both an amalgamation of thought and a divergence of ideas, taking the poem into new, uncharted territory. (…)

By the end of the workshop I was completely rejuvenated. In school I can feel my mind stretching, bending, and twisting in every direction until there’s no where else to go. It’s satisfying, illuminating, and I love it, but it can also be an exhausting, even painful experience. The workshop reminded me that intellectual thought doesn’t have to be this taxing. By the end of Indu’s workshop I felt as though my entire mind had been reopened. Strain was replaced by freedom. I had the understanding that nothing I wrote could be wrong; I simply responded with my first thought, an idea that I would normally dismiss, and explored where it could take me. (…) Indu reminded me that thinking doesn’t have to be exhaustive, but can be quite energizing. We are always thinking something; it is just a matter of freely accessing these thoughts. Any idea that is seemingly simple or dry can open a window into an entirely new mental landscape.  And with that, there is always another place to go.”

ITSA in article by Newsroom America!

Click on the photo to see ITSA mentioned in this wonderful article by Newsroom America! We're honored to be counted as an organization that is changing the world for the better for women, among all the other incredible initiatives!

Huffington Post Article talks about ITSA!

In advance of the G20 Leaders' summit scheduled for June in Mexico, 21 young women representing the G20 nations and the African Union will gather in Mexico City from May 23rd to 31st, for the third annual G(irls)20 Summit.

Launched in 2010 at the Clinton Global Initiative, the G(irls)20 Summit highlights ways in which girls and women can play a leading role in global economic development and progress, and generates tangible, practical recommendations for the G20 leaders to act upon.

The G(irls)20 Summit is made possible with the assistance of corporate partners from one of the world's fastest growing law firms like Norton Rose, to innovators in their respective industries like Google and Nissan. Foundations alike support it -- Nike and Novo. Together, these partnerships make possible an array of guest speakers from the realms of economics, business, not-for-profit organizations, foundations, communications and politics.

But why bother? What is the Summit's allure? Simply put, organizations around the globe are quickly realizing that there are compelling arguments that make the case for investing in girls and women around the globe.

Facts and figures make a difference in how we make decisions, so let's review a few in the context of the economic spin offs of empowering girls and women:

• In Kenya, adolescent pregnancies cost the economy $500 million per year, while investing in girls could potentially add $32 billion to the economy. (NIKE Foundation, 2009, Girl Effect);
• If men and women had equal influence in decision-making , an additional 1.7 million children would be adequately nourished in sub-Saharan Africa (International Labour Organization, 2009); and,
• According to Plan UK, an extra year of education increases a girl's income by 10 to 20 percent and is a significant step on the road to breaking the cycle of poverty.

The G(irls)20 Summit is about showcasing how girls and women can impact a country's economic prosperity, political stability and social innovation. To be in a position to provide G20 Leaders with advice, the 21 delegates attend workshops, participate in panel discussions and caucus to discuss and promote tangible, scalable solutions which culminate in a delegate-led press conference and communiqué that provides a blueprint on how the G20 Leaders can utilize and engage one of the best resources in the world -- girls and women. This year the G(irls)20 Summit will focus on the Opportunity Gained when women are economically empowered in agriculture and the Opportunity Lost because of gender based violence.

This isn't a normal summit. It is actually quite groundbreaking. We work with over 40 partners -- private and public sectors, foundations and host governments. Hundreds of girls from around the world apply and only 21 are chosen -- I am pleased to say that the delegate selection process is very difficult because young women today are powered by ideas and courage and are not held back by borders.

Take for example our 2010 delegates July Lee of the United States and Noma Sibayoni of South Africa who partnered and together launched an initiative called Write With A Smile to get teens into school by providing funds for uniforms and encouraged them to continue with their education. Or the 2011 delegate from India, Riana Shah who co-founded Independent Thought & Social Action (ITSA India), an education reform organization that aims to empower socially responsible youth leaders through critical thinking and social action. And of course there's the African Union's Lilian Kithiri who continues to persevere creating awareness around reproductive health to communities living in the rural areas of Kenya. Despite stumbling upon numerous funding roadblocks not uncommon in her area of the world, Lilian has lined up an exceptional programme of activities and already held two successful information sessions for girls and women in remote rural communities of Kenya.

As WEF founder Klaus Schwab said, "A world where women make up less than 20 percent of the global decision makers is a world that is missing a huge opportunity for growth, and ignoring an untapped reservoir of potential." There are a few ways to experience the Summit. You can join us in Mexico City on May 28th, you can sign up for your number in support of girls and women, or you can join the conversation via our livestream on www.girls20summit.com on May 28th, 29th and 31st. Whether you are a girl, boy, woman or man... we all have a role to play in empowering girls and women.

Social Change through Ninjas & Valentine's day love!

Hey there everyone!

This is Phil Chodrow, a senior at Swarthmore College. For the last three years, I’ve served as the director of NinjaGram, the world’s only ninja-powered Valentine’s Day card-delivery service / improv comedy group. Each year, NinjaGram delivers hundreds of sneaky cards, and raises over $1,300 for a charitable cause. You can learn more about NinjaGram at our Swarthmore College info page, in this photo-essay with Swat’s Daily Gazette, and in this recent Gazette interview. Also check out some videos of us in action!

What is NinjaGram doing on ITSA’s blog? The answer is exciting! This year, I was pleased to team up with ITSA India by sending all our proceeds to ITSA’s programs.  You can see the teamwork in action at our card-selling table this year (check out the ITSA poster in the back!):

After we sold all those cards, it was up to us to deliver them (video). And here’s the result!

 

$1,360 for ITSA’s expanding efforts in Ahmedabad, India. Sweet!

So, what ties NinjaGram to ITSA? If you ask me, a lot! NinjaGram is all about taking a creative idea for an unorthodox service project (ninjas? With cards?) and making it the biggest and best it possibly can be. I see exactly this spirit in ITSA’s mentoring program: ITSA mentors are helping students all over Ahmedabad to find their voice through innovative social action initiatives. I’m proud to have used my unorthodox service project to help students across the globe realize theirs.

I’m even more proud to announce that NinjaGram’s involvement with ITSA isn’t over! In the next few months, I’m going to be working closely with ITSA to help bring NinjaGram’s success as an organization, as a messaging campaign, and as a charity drive, to student entrepreneurship projects through ITSA’s mentoring program. I hope to see ITSA students driving social action projects that are even more successful than we’ve been, and I’m going share all the lessons I’ve learned from running NinjaGram in order to help make it happen. My major project is going to see me working with some of the most committed members of my NinjaGram team, as well as some of Swarthmore’s coolest videographers, to create a video about NinjaGram and how it works. We’re hoping to communicate just what goes in to running a campaign like this: how to organize teams, how to motivate volunteers, how to create strong branding, and how to make complicated decisions on the fly. My ninjas are pretty revved up, and we’re looking forward to bringing our skills to a whole new field. As I do that, I’ll also be helping out with ITSA’s own messaging and content-generation, so you just might be hearing from me again.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks for supporting ITSA!

Peace all,

Phil 

Empowering Incredible Minds Who Can Work Towards A More Incredible India

Juliana (on the right) in action, talking to a group of  attentive students.

Traveling to India last summer as an Intern for ITSA has been one of the most significant and enriching experiences of my life. Besides encouraging critical thinking among young Indians, I had the opportunity to learn about a part of the world and a culture that was almost completely foreign to me.

Initially, it was evident that the kids participating in the workshops were students in a system that does not enable them to think creatively nor critically about themselves and their surroundings. Most of them described themselves as “disciplined”, but had a hard time identifying other idiosyncratic qualities in themselves. Encouraging them to write about their interests and curiosities was very interesting and fun, especially because they were very willing and excited about participating in the workshops everyday.

It is gratifying to know that education reform is not desired just by those who support global education reform and those who work with ITSA. It is also relevant to educators in the current Indian education system and most certainly by the kids themselves, who have come to realize that they are empowered by their own brilliant minds. 

During my time in India, I worked with Riana and Jwalin on ITSA’s workshop curriculum. The curriculum was mainly made of a series of writing exercises and group activities primarily centered on topics of identity. I revised the plan for each workshop before it happened. I made sure that the activities and writing prompts would be clear and appropriate for the kids. When discussing the plan for a workshop on spatial identity, or the different perceptions of a person, I brought up the idea of talking about stereotypes in Indian society with the kids. I thought it would be important to start promoting social awareness because social justice activism is another one of ITSA’s undertakings. As a team of interns and directors, we decided to do “the boat activity” with the kids: to expose them to a series of Indian stereotypes by asking them to save ten imaginative characters out of thirteen on a boat that was, fictitiously, about to drown. The characters could only be differentiated by single traits and social labels such as “beggar”, or “7-year-old maid who dropped out of school”. We wanted to make the kids think about themselves in relation to how others perceive them in their society, and how they view others based on societal stereotypes.

My host family was very loving and caring, especially Pavithra; my host sister. They were from Tamil Nadu, a state located on the tip of South India. Their food was very different than the North Indian food I had in restaurants. South Indian food is more spicy but equally delicious. My host father and I read the Indian news every morning over South Indian coffee, and showed each other family photos while sharing life anecdotes.

I enjoyed walking in the old city of Ahmedabad and observing people’s daily lives -women selling colorful vegetables that made an interesting contrast with the colors of their dresses, women cooking and washing their clothes while talking to their neighbors, and people meditating at various local temples. I remember smelling a Jasmin flower that a Hindu Pujari put in my hair after caressing one of his Gods with oil. 

Being able to appreciate and value Indian culture strengthened my sense of global diversity and inclusion. Besides, promoting critical thinking that will help young minds address social concerns in a country that is so rich in many other ways has encouraged me to continue to pursue youth empowerment. 

~ Juliana Gutierrez      

ITSA Intern-2011