Sakshi VP Ms. Jaya Tandon conducted a Virtual Workshop on "Sustainable Development" for the 10th Hear Us Out Conference (HUO 10) organized by Taylor's College, Malaysia. The conference promotes social awareness among students and comprises workshops by development experts as well as student-managed fundraising activities for various causes. Photos

Taylor's College is part of Taylor's University, one of Malaysia's top education institutions with two campuses and more than 70,000 graduates since it was established in 1969. Along with emphasizing academic excellence, Taylor's encourages its students to be socially aware and actively supports their learning and efforts in this area. The flagship program is the "Hear Us Out" conference by the World Issues department which has both educational and action-oriented components:

• A 2-day event where workshops are held for students by outside experts and NGO's on various topics related to development so students can learn more about social issues and solutions.

• A number of student-organized fundraising activities preceding the conference like paintball competitions etc, where the funds raised are then donated to various causes.

This year's conference was the 10th one and it's theme was "Pushing the Limits" which reflected the limits we have pushed our social and environmental systems to but also the limits that we need to breach in order to make meaningful changes in our global society. The conference included workshops by eminent social workers in the field of women's rights, animal welfare, reproductive health, conservation etc and from organizations like World Wildlife Fund, Protect the Family,       .

Ms. Jaya Tandon, who is an experienced social worker and Sakshi's Vice-President, was invited to conduct a workshop and she worked with Taylor's to set up a Virtual Workshop, through a webconferencing portal. Ms. Tandon is well experienced in conducting Virtual webconference and workshops both as a corporate leader managing a global team and in the development world conducting workshops, but this was the the first time Taylor has ever held a Virtual Workshop.

 

"Sustainable Development and the Development Trifecta: Poverty Alleviation through Health, Education and Community Development"

Ms. Tandon chose the topic of Sustainable Development for the workshop because it is a subject that is close to her heart and by exemplifying how to push beyond one-dimensional thinking to sustainably resolve the problem of Poverty, aptly fits into the conference theme "Pushing the limits".

Ms. Tandon explained how many efforts to alleviate poverty fail because they are not set up to empower the poor comprehensively and sustainably and how a model of Poverty Alleviation, to be effective, has to be holistic and address not one or two needs but simultaneously all the needs of the beneficiary population on three dimensions - Health, Education and Community Development. 

In Ms. Tandon's words, "Although the interaction of the three platforms and their compounding effect on the final impact can be the subject of complex research - the simplest, most intuitive way to understand is this - if there are schools but no healthcare, a child who is always falling sick and missing school will not gain a proper education. If there is healthcare but no schools, a child who is healthy but not educated will not be able to earn a regular living as an adult. And even if there are schools and clinics, a child cannot be healthy and educated without the support of his family and community which is sometimes hard to gain, for example, when communities feel a girl child does not need to study or when parents do not have the financial wherewithal to support their family. 

So it is important to work on all three platforms, what I call the "Development Trifecta" -Health, Education and Community Development to accomplish true individual empowerment and societal progress."

Slide 3: Many attempts to eradicate poverty fail because they are not set up to empower the poor sustainably. Sakshi VP Ms. Jaya Tandon described the Sustainable Development model, as exemplified by Sakshi, where a model of Poverty Alleviation to relieve poverty comprehensively must address not one or two but all needs of the beneficiary population on the "Development Trifecta" - Health, Education and Community Development. Learn more at www.archive.sakshingo.org/projects. Photos

Ms. Tandon went on to talk about Sakshi as a successful working example of this model, being a "full spectrum grassroots NGO" which achieves sustainable poverty alleviation by addressing specific needs in Health, Education and Community Development for poorest-of-poor beneficiaries in urban Indian slums. She drew out the "Comprehensive path from Poverty to Prosperity" that Sakshi provides through its 18+ projects in Health, Education and Community Development which individually address different needs of its beneficiaries, with a special focus on Girl Child and Women, and together compound each other's impact so beneficiaries are comprehensively and sustainably empowered to break the cycle of poverty they have been stuck in for generations.

Ms. Tandon brought the whole model and Sakshi's work alive to an audience thousands of miles away through her succint but vivid descriptions and a visually rich presentation full of images and video. 

You can read more about Sakshi's projects, the development needs they address and the impact they have at www.archive.sakshingo.org/projects.

(Update: In addition to the above projects, Sakshi has since then launched Leadership Training of Women Project in partnership with Ministry of Minority Affairs, Mahila Panchayat Project in partnership with Delhi Commission of Women, Avaaz Uthao Project in partnership with Dept of Women and Child Development, Government of Delhi and Environmental Awareness Project in partnership with Ministry of Environment and Forests.)

 

Group Work: "Masihgarh" Case Study in Development

Following Sakshi's "Joyful Learning" model of teaching where education is imparted through interactive engaging activities, Ms. Tandon conducted two interesting and informative group activities to give the audience, students and their parents, newbies in the development world, a practical taste of making a difference.  

The first group activity comprised an interesting case study based on a real-life Sakshi experience, where the audience had to put themselves in the shoes of a Sakshi social worker and identify the reason why the Masihgarh community had a significantly higher proportion of sick population than its neighbouring communities. Of course no medical knowledge was required to resolve the study. The answer could be reached if one carefully observed the visual map of the area and applied some common sense. The answer seems very simple and intuitive when one learns what it is but human tendency is to think complexly rather than simply! So the activity was designed to help the audience to get a glimpse into development problems but while doing so, also learn to think insightfully and develop clarity of thought and analytical skills. 

Can you solve it below ?

Can you solve this case study based on the map above? You are a Sakshi social worker trying to figure out why Masihgarh has a much higher proportion of sick people than its neighbouring communities. No, it is not because of the industrial area which is equally close to Alampur as well! Photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Group Work: Online Advocacy and Donation "One Click to Change the World"

The next group activity and final component of the workshop was designed to help the audience take a baby step towards actualizing their good intentions. 

Ms. Tandon introduced the group to online advocacy and support and how it was so simple, in this interconnected digital age, to find work going on in causes that were close to one's heart, either global or even in one's local communities,and to support them through votes or funds. In her words, this was "One click to change the world". How much simpler can it get to make an impact and get informed at the same time ?

Wrap-Up

The workshop broadened the horizons of the student audience in more ways than one. The audience had a number of "aha" moments during the workshop, both as the intuitive and effective model of Sustainable Development and Sakshi's work unfolded before them and during the interesting case study which was rather like a detective mystery besides giving them a glimpse into a new world. The interaction also gave them a close encounter with a country other than their own, India, and to cap everything, they took away the encouraging realization that they could make a difference with a few clicks on the net which translated into tangible action and positive impact somewhere else, and was an easy first step to learning and doing more in their area of interest.

All in all, the experience was a positive, enjoyable and fruitful one for all concerned, the students expressed their appreciation and Taylor's invited Ms. Tandon to speak at the next Hear Us Out 11 Conference as well.

(Update: Ms. Tandon will be conducting a Virtual Workshop for the Hear Us Out 11 conference which has a theme very appropriate for our times - "Peace, Unity and Justice".)