In 1990, 30 youth from various colleges in Chandigarh started a newspaper named Yuvsatta, which means youth power. The newspaper evolved into an organization (registered in 1996) that steers young people towards voluntary individual & community action.
Today, Yuvsatta is primarily a volunteer-run organization with a permanent staff of 20.
Yuvsatta’s activities are concentrated in Chandigarh. Activities vary from promoting: (a) peace education through peace clubs in schools and colleges; (b) environmental responsibility by advocating the use of bicycles and love for trees; and (c) public health awareness through initiatives focusing on HIV/AIDS, drug de-addiction, and counseling. The eclectic array of projects represents the breadth of Yuvsatta’s vision and its holistic perspective of development. Yuvsatta appreciates that economic, social and personal factors are inextricably linked and should be addressed simultaneously to have more impact.
In an endeavour to create a sense of ownership, responsibility and belonging for the youth, Yuvsatta started Jugnu, a monthly wall newspaper, designed to be displayed and read in public places. Published by children of Bapu Dham Colony, a slum settlement in Chandigarh, the newspaper is the children’s first lesson in participation, self-expression and grassroots democracy.
In 2007, Yuvsatta started an all-girls cricket team in the Bapu Dham colony. Prior to playing on the team, the girls had limited outside exposure to the possibilities for their own development. In addition to giving them a structured space to play cricket daily, this program has helped promote literacy and life skills training.
In the same year, Yuvsatta launched the Kitab Ghar (or house of books) to promote reading, inculcate morals, and improve educational outcomes of the children. Thanks to efforts by volunteers around the world, Kitab Ghar holds approximately 2,500 books – with subjects ranging from basic science to English to animation series.
In addition to these activities, Yuvsatta also organizes international conferences on peace-related topics. With the support of the state government, they have co-organized HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns in various slum communities of Chandigarh.
Need for Project:
In 2005, Yuvsatta volunteers launched the ‘Campaign for Peace-City Chandigarh’ program. The initiative spawned more than 100 “Peace Clubs” at major educational institutions of Chandigarh and the adjoining towns of Panchkula & Mohali. Many teachers and principals of the respective schools and colleges continue to dedicate their time and resources to ensure these clubs remain vibrant and active.
The main focus of the peace clubs program is to educate the peace volunteers on the positive aspects of non-violence through constructive activities, trainings of trainers, discussions, interactions and effective dialogue. At this point, Yuvsatta feels the need to formalize the structure of this initiative and reach out to more youth to spread the message of peace and non-violence.
As an August 2010 Indicorps Fellow, you will be expected to help organize and develop an overall structure for the peace clubs program.
You will be responsible for further development and implementation of various peace club activities and strengthening the network of institutions associated with it. Initially, you will spend time observing and understanding the ongoing peace club activities in local schools and colleges. Understanding the existing processes will mean attending sessions, meetings, and forums of the functional peace clubs. Investing efforts in existing clubs to solidify team bonding, session methodologies, and administrative processes will pave the way for the expansion leap. As a liaison between Yuvsatta and all the peace clubs, you will have a unique vantage point to coordinate city-wide activities and monitor the overall progress of the clubs.
Some of the key areas you may want to address include:
• standardize training for the student peace leaders and teachers
• provide advice on additional activities that students can do in the clubs, keep track of peace clubs and their progress
• develop peace clubs events, meetings and peace festival calendar
• training and development of the peace club trainers
You should be prepared to take a lead role in coordinating the annual peace festival. You should be able to take the best of other peace festivals and feedback from Yuvsatta’s previous events to create a “jewel-in-the-crown.” By making the peace festival a successful flagship event, you can rally the teams for collective action and follow-ups events on their own campuses.
You should consistently involve the local volunteers at each stage of the process. Additionally, documenting the processes will pull together different strands of your activities and help Yuvsatta learn from your experience(s).
Target Community:
Peace clubs have been created in schools and colleges. In schools, there are two different groups: 1st – 5th grade and 6th – 12th grade. There are ten clubs from 1st – 5th and one hundred from 6th – 12th grade. Schools vary from private schools to government run public schools. The number of clubs in colleges is 20. The majority of the college students belong to middle class families.
In the last peace festival, held in 2009, students participated actively. They hosted students from abroad in their homes, exchanged ideas with them, and lived up to the spirit of peace represented by the festival and their clubs.
Objectives:
• To strengthen and expand network of Yuvsatta Peace Clubs
• To assemble, compile, and apply best practices from peace programs worldwide
• To standardize and conduct trainings for student peace leaders and teachers
• To coordinate and execute flagship "Peace Festival" program
Challenges:
• Maintaining an equilibrium between your efforts and time at macro and micro levels of the program
• Engaging a cross section of age groups and profiles for a unified goal
Team-Based Model:
Each Indicorps 2010 project is designed as a three-way partnership between you, Indicorps, and a partner organization. Each partner organization – in this case Yuvsatta – will be hosting 2-4 Fellows. Consequently, the August 2010 Fellowship will have both an individual and a team component.
As a team of Indicorps Fellows, your focus is to revitalize Yuvsatta’s core activities. Team members will focus on different areas including development and implementation of the peace clubs program and enhancement of the community library to better serve the needs of the slum children.
You will be living in a shared accommodation. Simple vegetarian food will be provided. You will be expected to do you own laundry and chores, and assist with team responsibilities. Internet and international calling facilities are easily available in Chandigarh. For local transportation, you will be using government buses or bicycles. Chandigarh is connected to Delhi by road and railway network. Delhi is well connected to the rest of the country by train.
The language spoken at Yuvsatta is Hindi and Punjabi. For this project, a basic knowledge of Hindi is required. If you do not have basic knowledge of Hindi, you can still apply if you can commit to learning the language before the start of your Fellowship year.
Prior experience and interest in motivating and organizing youth would be beneficial.
Please explain the qualifications that make you a strong candidate for this project - be sure to elaborate on any experiences with community organizing and/or working with youth.
2.
What is your definition of non-violence? Why do you feel that it is important to teach the youth of the world the virtue of peace?
3.
Tell us about a time when you held yourself to a higher standard than your peers or colleagues. What motivated you then and how do you plan on sustaining this self-excellence while on this project.
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