Introduction
November 2008
Lisle International awarded a grant through its Global Seed Fund program through the Education Resource Center (ERC) to the MCF in November 2007. A group of Lislers and Sharada Nayak of ERC personally delivered the funds to the MCF during a visit to India in January 2008 when the Lisle team visited the MCF in Dehradun and participated in the first workshop held in Tehri. The grant was for a series of nine community engagement workshops with young people in rural mountain communities in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The purpose of the workshops is to help young people see themselves as agents for change in their villages, identify issues they want to address, and develop strategies for how their children’s group can begin solving the problems.

This grant also provided an important opportunity for the MCF to reach out to new partners with a concrete, inspiring project to help build energy around their nascent children’s groups. It has energized the children and even inspired some partners to encourage children in other villages to set up Baal Panchayats (children’s groups) of their own. In the past few months the MCF has facilitated 10 workshops and 9 follow up visits. The workshops were attended by a total of 330 children, far more than the 270 that we had expected to participate.

In the follow-up visits we found a definite difference among the children who had participated in the workshops. They had become more active and aware of the situation in their communities and the role they could play. We saw greater cohesiveness among the village-level children’s groups and evidence that the young people were using the ideas and skills they had learned in the workshops to talk about issues in their community. In many groups, the children had also started local activities such as cleaning up the village, gender sensitization, birth and death registrations, immunization of children, reforestation, awareness against alcohol and drug abuse, availability of school teachers, quality of the mid day meal, to name a few.  r there any more examples?. We also found our partner organizations far more enthusiastic about working with young people and taking a more active role in facilitating and growing their children’s groups. Through these workshops and follow up visits, they began to understand better the concept of working with young people, which made them stronger and better partners for the MCF

Following is a brief overview of the workshops and the follow-up visits:

Details:

District: Tehri
Partner organization: RADS
Date: 20 -22 January 2008

Thirty two children from the villages of the local area Ranichauri, Thagdhar, Dharkot, Dargi, Nawagar, Mudiygown, Kot, Jagdhar, Kotigar, Chamni, Khurait, Jakh, Arakot participated in the workshop. This workshop taught the use of illustrations and cartoons as a way for the young people to raise the issues of their community. The MCF brought in a special facilitator, Mr. Sundar Mohan, from World Comics India to teach the children about the art of illustration. Read more .......

Follow up Visit
13 July 2008
Follow up visit by Dwarika Prasad Nauni, Sudhir Bhatt, Sushil Bahuguna and Kumbhibala Bhatt took place in Ranichouri, Kot and Dharkot villages of district Tehri Grahwal. During this visit the children told the team that they were beginning to generate awareness in the community through cartoons and comics. Arti from Ranichouri village tried to describe the water crisis in her village through cartoons. Kavita from Dharkot village said that she felt very happy when her cartoon on road security was published in PABAM magazine. The children from Kot village have created a new children’s group, called “Durga Baal Sangathan” there are approximately twenty members in this new group. The other children of village were also interested in the cartoon training program. The children who participated in the workshop promised to teach the other children so that they too could make cartoons like their friends.

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District: Dehradun
Partner Organization: Adopt Management Society
Date: 23-24 March 2008:
Thirty children participated in the first day of the workshop. The participants were from different villages - Joggiwala. Ranjhawala, Adarsh Colony, Raipur, Natthanpur and Nehrugram. The second day 68 children participated. This workshop focused on discussing the importance of collective action and the rights and responsibilities of young people. The importance of birth registration and its process were also an important part of the agenda. During the workshop, the young people committed to working to generate awareness in their community about the importance of the birth registration. They also participated in a poster competition on the strength of collective action “Sangathan ki Shakti” (the power of collective action). The children were determined to create children groups (Baal Sangathan) in their own villages.

Follow up Visit
1st August 2008:
 Follow up for this workshop was conducted by Dwarika Prasad Nauni, Neeraj Kumar, Harish Singh and Sikha Kashyap. The team found that the children had created two new children groups (Baal Sangathans), the Nehru and Jagriti Baal Sangathans. The members of the Nehru Baal Sangathan have already created an emergency fund by contributing Rs.10 per month per child. The children said the money was to help needy people. The children also want to open a library in their village so that all the children can access that library and get knowledge through reading books.  Pravin of the Nehru Baal Sangthan is a very good painter and he makes lovely cartoons. He wants to spread his group’s messages through cartoons and comics among the community. Unfortunately, due to upcoming exams not many young people were able to attend this workshop so we are planning another follow up visit.

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District: Nainital
Partner Organisation SARAL
Date 24-25 March 2008

Thirty children participated in the two day workshop. The workshop focused on the rights and responsibilities of the children and their communities as well as how community groups are formed and how they can be strengthened. The children also discussed what affected their village the most and what affected children in the village the most – prime amongst them were addiction in the family (alcohol and drugs), poor quality schools and the lack of teachers, and the quality of the mid day meal given in schools, discrimination, migration, and deforestation, etc. They also took out a rally where they shouted slogans on the rights of girl child and against alcoholism.

Follow up Visit
19th August 2008
The field area Baldiakhan was visited by the members of the follow-up team, Dwarika Prasad Nauni, Sudhir Bhatt, from the MCF and  Hema Kabadwal, Renu and Leela from our local partner. They met the children who shared their experiences of the workshop. They also said that the workshop guided them on building new groups. Punam Arya, is associated with a group called Sathi. She said “we are working together and help those girls who are in trouble.”  The adolescent girls groups had also become involved in helping infants in their village receive their immunization doses.  Sapna said that in her village, Jagatpur, gender discrimination still exists, Sourav from the Pahal Baal Panchayat Devidhura wants to open a library in their village.  Hridyesh, of the Bikash Baal Panchayat says that “Female foeticide is a horrific crime.” The children agreed that only awareness and sensitization will help to remove such negative practices from society.  Puja Bisht  of the Vikas Baal Panchayat in Papri village said they organized their monthly meetings regularly.

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District Nainital (Jeolikote)
Partner Organization: Chestha Vikash Kalyan Samiti
Date 26-27 March 2008
Thirty children from Jeolikote, Aalukhet, Ganja and Belwakhan participated in this 2-day workshop. The workshop focused on getting the children to understand the strength of working as a group and how groups are formed as well as the rights and responsibilities of children towards themselves and their community.

 Follow up Visit
19th August 2008
The follow up was conducted by Sudhir Bhatt, Dwarika Prasad Nauni of the MCF and  Hema Kabarwal from the Chestha. The impact of the March workshop was that the children set up four new Baal Sangathans in their own villages. Jagrukata Baal Sangathan in village Belwakhan group has 15members. Jagriti Baal Sangathan in village Bhaluti has 12 members.  Roshni Baal Sangathan in village Ganja has 25 members. And Unnati Baal Sangathan, Pratapgarhi village have 22 members. It is heartening to note that children of other villages are enthusiastically taking the initiatives to set up their own Baal Sangathans. The children from the newly formed Baal sagathans are taking part in the various programmes of the villages such as working with the Mahila Adhikar Manch (women’s rights group) and helping the Self-help group members in their meetings and also helping the community to organize such events. The team also spoke to the community and the villagers were also very happy with the performances of the children and they are giving space for the opinion of the children.

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District Rudraprayag
Partner Organistion: Gramin Sudhar Avam Shramik Seva Sansthan  (GRASS)
Date: 17 and 18 May 2008

A two-day workshop was organized at Omkaranand Himalayan Montessori High school, Jakholi. A total of forty children from different Baal Panchayats of various villages participated. The purpose of the workshop was to highlight the issues that the children felt affected them the most and which they could raise awareness about.  Pooja Negi from Lok Kala Manch Kapniya (Baal Sagathan) said physical disability of a child affects can affect the child’s confidence and the ability  to adjust and make friends. Shobha Rana said that the family atmosphere of the children affects them at home. Dhanpal Negi from Lok Kalyan Baal Manch, Kapniya said alcohol is a major problem of the mountain villages.

Follow-up visit
11th August 2008.
During this visit children shared their opinion with Dwarika Prasad Nauni of the MCF and Sudha Saklani of the partner organization. The children said that there are twenty Baal Panchayats functioning together and have setup an umbrella Baal Sangathan called “Sangam Maha Baal Sangathan.”  Some active member of the Baal Sangathan said that they have already worked on the alternative report of UNCRC state report. The principal of the Omkarananda Montessori high school, Mr. Govind Singh Negi, said “a positive impact of the workshop can be seen in the children -- their confidence has grown. The children are taking on the responsibility to organize such event like Independence Day, and Republic Day”. Sudha Saklani, who works with the MCF partner GRASS said that the kids of the Baal Panchayat take part regularly in village-level activities and spread awareness in the community. They also give training to other children of the village. This Baal Sangathan has set up an office with the help of the villagers. Here they give training in illustration and cartoon-making to their companions, and hold regular meetings.

District :Tehri Garhwal
Partner Organisation: Mount Valley Development Association
Date 17 and 18 May 2008:
A two-day workshop was held at the Jakh primary school. Thirty five children from nearby villages participated in the workshop. The aim of the workshop was to explain ‘Baal Adhikar’ (child rights) to the participants. Ms. Laxmi, facilitator of Mount Valley, talked about the rights of the children. She told them that the children have four main rights - right to education, right to live, right to safety, and right to good health. She also told the children about the Shiksha Samiti (Village Education Committee) and explained its role and responsibilities. She said all the participants should speak with their parents on this issue. Along with the discussion, the children participated in poem competitions  and cultural activities. This workshop enabled the MCF to facilitate our partner to focus closely on the children and provide the children the platform they need.
 

Follow-up visit
9th August 2008:
The follow up team of Dwarika Prasad Nauni and Laxmi, Dhirendra Negi and Pancham Singh from MCf and the partner organization reached to the primary school at 10 am. They discussed the feedback of the workshop with the children. The children said that they had learned a lot about child rights. The Baal Panchayat members said that after the workshop they have personally visited various local bodies like MMD (Women’s group) and YMD (Youth Group) and discussed their experiences with them. The principal of the school Mr. Birendra Dangwal said that a workshop like this not only gave the children knowledge, but also increased their confidence. After the field visit, the representatives of Mount Valley and Mountain Children Forum discussed the achievements of the workshop. Mount Valley decided to organize this type of child oriented programs at the village level and also guide the Baal Panchayats in their endeavors.

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District: Uttarkashi
Partner Organisation: Gramin Mahila Vikas Samiti
Dated 30-31 May, 2008:
Thirty-five children from different villages of block Purola participated in the 2 day workshop. The main purpose of the workshop was to unite the children and to help them set up new children’s groups in their villages. Facilitators introduced the MCF as a platform for the children through which they can interact on a national and international level. The participants discussed and made presentations on issues that impact them including: lack of knowledge about basic health and hygiene, child marriage, female foeticide, child labor, caste discrimination, gender discrimination, etc. The children not only discussed the problems but also talked about solutions. They decided to generate awareness in the community by discussing the problems with the people of their villages. At the end of the session the children wrote an essay on the topic of the environment. All the participants expressed their views. The children described in their essays what the factors are that affect the environment and how the environment can be saved.

Follow up visit
Date 14 September 2008
The children sharing  their experiences with the follow up team members said that they had become very confident after joining the baal Panchayat.(child group)
Anil Thapa a member of Sakti Baal Sangathan (Which village) said that “Earlier we were very self-centered but after we became the part of the baal sangathan we now think for the betterment our sangathan as well as our village.” Some of the important acivities carried out by the sangathan were : A rally organized by the Sanki (difference in spelling or is it a different sangathan?) Baal Panchayat to generated awareness against the use of plastics, A tree plantation programme in Mori block with the help of forest department,  Filing an application with the  SDM to complain against the bad traffic situation area near their school.

Adarsh Baal Panchayat members mentioned that they had arranged birth registration camps in the village and cleaned the road, ‘Nala’ and ‘Dhara’ (various sources of water) in their  village. The children said that they would like to eradicate all the social menace like child marriage, female foeticide, and child labor from the society.

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District: Champawat
Partner Organisation:  Kagas
Date: 8 -9 June 2008
A two-day workshop was held in village Dhakna. Thirty children from Ekta Baal Panchayat, Dhakna Shiv Shakti, Maa Bhagwati Baal Panchayat, Chaukhi Ghatotkatch Baal Panchayat and Jigyasa Baal Panchayat attended the workshop. The children learned about   the Right to Information Act. They also learned about different media tools like news writing, story writing, how to make comics, how to make radio programs and how to take photographs. They learned how to generate awareness in the community using these tools. They then practiced how to write stories and make cartoons on various issues.The training was carried out by young children of the organization who had already learnt about the different media tools.

Follow up Visit
Date: 21 August 2008

Sudhir Bhatt and Dwarika Prasad Nauni of the MCF and Subhash Joshi, K.K. Chaubey, and Ashok Joshi from Kagas were the follow-up team. They met several children who said that they were now very confident about making cartoons and that they would work together to prepare cartoons and write stories on various issues. Deepa Vishwkarma from Jigyasa Baal Panchayat said, “we focused our cartoons and story writing on local issues, and it builds awareness amongst the community members.” She told us how she had drawn a cartoon depicting gender inequality and pasted it on the wall of a house in the village. An illiterate village lady on viewing the cartoon commented that gender discrimination needs to be removed from society and that both boys and girls should have equal rights and should be given equal opportunity.

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District: Udham Singh Nagar
Partner Organisation: Kagas
Date 9–10 June, 2008
40 children from the different villages including Shiv Colony, Naugwathaggu, Melaghat, Khetal Sanda Kham, Mudeli and Bhurai participated in the workshop. The workshop was held at Radhaswami Satsang Vyas. The children discussed child rights. They also discussed media tools such as photography, cartoons, radio program and how to write news items and stories. They discussed how these tools could be used for the betterment of the community. One of the earnest young participants, Saurabh Sharma, said children could solve their own problems with the help of their Baal Panchayats. Some ways to help could be by ensuring their participation in the various activities in the community, generating awareness in their community through rallies, awareness campaign, cartoons and comics. Another member, Kuldeep, said children should know about their rights.The training was carried out by young children of the organization who had already learnt about the different media tools.

Follow up Visit
 Date: 22 August 2008
Sudhir Bhatt and Dwarika Prasad Nauni of the MCF and  Subhash Joshi, Bhagwan Singh Bohra, and Vinod Chandra Pathak of Kagas were the follow-up team. They met several children who said that they were now very confident about making cartoons. Kiran from village Khetal Sanda (Kham) said that the advantage of being part of the Baal Panchayat was that the children could put their point of view across to the community easily. Their self-confidence had grown tremendously. Rajkumar from village Khatima, said that before they do any program they take the children’s parents into confidence so that the adults in the village know what the children are involved in. From time to time they also ask the parents and elders of the village for their suggestions. Devender Ojha from village Khatima, said they were able to generate awareness –“ A boy burnt down a man’s hut. I drew a cartoon depicting that and pasted it on the wall. I did not write the boys’ name but everyone guessed who it was. That boy came to fight with me.”  Devendra discussed the issue with the boy who realized he was at fault. The children also said that they had displayed their cartoons in the Intermediate school and children and teachers appreciated the display. Pradeep, Gudia Rana, Amarjeet Singh, Charanjeet, Kanhaiya Lal,  Hari Om, Malwati Rana and  Jagriti also said that there was a village called Sisayya where the children swore not only at each other but at their teachers also. They said that they will go to that village and form a Baal Sangathan there to encourage those children to change their bad habits.

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 District: Chamoli
Partner: SIMAR
Date 13 June, 2008
A two-day workshop was organized by Simar at village Haat Kalyani in the district of Chamoli. Thirty five children participated in the workshop University lecturer Mr. Naveen Chandra Mishra discussed social problems such as dowry, child marriage, female foeticite, alcohol abuse etc. He said that only awareness can remove these problems from society.  The children discussed the issues relating to them and their village amongst themselves and then organsied their issues under the following points – 1) Problem / Bad practice;2) Solution of the problem; 3) Name of government department/ organization for support; 4) Role of the Baal Panchayats to solve the problems

 The three main points that the children felt they had to work on were
1. Lack of clean drinking water
2. Problem of environment and pollution
3. Problem of alcohol

The children decided that they would find the solution of the above problems. They planned to meet the village panchayat members and visit the related government departments. They hoped to involve and take the support from the other sangthan like M MMD, (women’s group) NYMD, (youth group) SHG,(Self Help Group) Village Panchayat and Van (forest) Panchayat

Conclusion :

The workshops funded by this grant have helped change the way young people in rural mountain villages see themselves and their role in making life better for everyone in their community. The fund has helped to lay the groundwork for youth community involvement. This is an ongoing effort. Through this project, the children who participated have begun to see how they can make a real and tangible difference in their own lives. They are experiencing the first thrill of empowerment and others in and around their villages are taking note. But in order for this change to take root, the young people will need continued support and the effort will need to reach out to many more children and communities.

- by Dwarika Prasad

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