Kula Manch Team learns as it plans Youth Festival

The Kula Manch team, while planning for and designing the upcoming Youth Jumbish Festival on November 20th, is also going through a process of learning and self-development about the topic of active citizenship.

Yesterday, the team rehearsed their plays and skits on a number of social issues: domestic violence, alcohol abuse, government corruptions, police violence, blood donation, and child labor. These will be performed at the festival to educate and provoke conversation. The group then discussed how the issues related to the concept of "active citizenship"--how exactly, in these situations, they could play a role as active citizens.

The discussion moved towards the idea that active citizenship can often mean something much bigger than typically thought--it can be much more than social service or working in the NGO sector. Oftentimes, being an active citizen is about self-development and becoming more aware of one's own actions. An example was mentioned: what about a teacher who pursues extra training and research about educational methods? He is developing his own skill set, but many felt that he is also an example of active citizenship.

 
The issue of child labor was also examined from both sides. It's very common, for example, many argue that it is wrong in all cases, but very few offer practical solutions. For many children, not working means not being able to eat. Just telling them to go to school doesn't lead to an actual resolution. So what is the next step? People offered a number of creative solutions--maybe it could be some sort of vocational training, which would enable kids to move on to a better life at some point without a formal education.

Later, others spoke about how active citizenship fits into their own personal conflicts. In many places, females are under pressure to marry and have children at a young age, when they still want to pursue education. How can they, along with their families, serve as active citizens in this situation? Similarly, many are pressured to choose a career that is high-paying, instead of following their passions in life. Conflict within personal relationships can be a significant part of being an active citizen via developing one's own self.

As they are finding out, planning the Youth Jumbish Festival is as much about the process as the result. For the Kula Manch team, teaching others about active citizenship requires for them to look inside and examine how they can be active citizens themselves.

Youth Jumbish Team Hard at Work

The planning team for this year's Jashn-e-Jaipur Youth Jumbish Festival is hard at work! They've been working on the design for the festival, reaching out to partner NGOs and colleges for collaboration, and securing official sponsors for the show. Get ready for great performances by local Jaipur youth bands and other groups. Here are a few pictures of the team in action:

And remember, if you have any nominations for the annual Youth Changemaker Awards, please download this form and submit it to richa.sharma@pravah.org

Taazaa Khabar: Oct 17-24

This past week at PJI we hosted a Peer Educators Workshop on HIV in collaboration with the University of Rajasthan's Department of Adult and Continuing Education. We worked with 69 participants from the university to raise awareness of the HIV issue, help educate about the details, and enable young people to serve as peer educators to further spread knowledge about this disease.

HIV and AIDS are important social issues facing India, but a surprisingly large amount of educated young people lack crucial knowledge about these health concerns. The foremost goal of the workshop was to allow expert facilitators such as Mr. Pradeep Chaudhary, Ms. Kavita A. Verma, Ms. Mona Balani, and Ms. Neelima to share their knowledge about HIV with participants and dispel many of the myths associated with the disease. The workshop also included acting out HIV scenario role plays, discussions of HIV services available in Rajasthan, and talks about the various stigmas and discrimination faced by HIV-positive individuals. The potential role of youth volunteers in HIV prevention programs was an important component of empowering the participants to play an active role in solving this enormous social issue.

Coordinator Richa Sharma felt the workshop was a big success in raising the knowledge level about HIV/AIDS. "The participants had never talked about AIDS/HIV issues, so the biggest achievement was that they spoke about the issue and they raised their concerns and questions. Most of them were bachelor of education students, and they are the future teachers, so it was nice to answer their queries and they understood their responsibility to educate more people about HIV/AIDS."

The workshop included a pre-test and a post-test to evaluate the participants' existing knowledge of HIV and how much the activities were able to improve from this base. The participants demonstrated much improved knowledge about misconceptions and facts regarding the HIV issue.

Jumbish Youth Festival: Nov 20

PJI will be holding its annual Jumbish Youth Festival this November 20th!

The event will be held in collaboration with Umang, a local NGO that works as "an initiative towards rehabilitation of persons with disabilities," at Jawahar Kala Kendra. We welcome Pravah volunteers and anyone else interested to take part in this workshop celebration. The festival will focus on the potential of youth to engage in and lead social campaigns and movements, and we will felicitate youth who have successfully served as role models in this capacity during the past year. If you would like to nominate yourself or someone you know for an Active Citizenship Award, please complete this form and submit an electronic copy to jaipur@pravah.org or bring a hard copy to the Pravah office.

We have the ability to shape our society for the better, and we want to spread this message to young people by felicitating those who have sought to fulfill this potential. This one day celebration will be centered on the theme of Active Citizenship and Disability. Along with the felicitations, performances, skits, and other activities, we invite local youth music groups to perform songs on the theme of active citizenship. If you are interested in performing, please contact Richa at richa.sharma@pravah.org