I have LOVED this event. Even though it's been long and difficult. Even though I'm more knackered after these 7 days than I was after a 10day event. And even though I've felt slightly fraudulent at times when explaining to participants about advocacy and encouraging them to come up with campaigns, though I wasn't aware myself of what advocacy is (in a WAGGGS sense) until a few weeks ago.
It's been AMAZING. And it's been exactly the kind of experience I expected to gain from working at an international guiding centre.
On Tuesday, we had a panel discussion with a couple of our community partners who do work in the HIV/AIDS area. The participants got to visit 3 sites on Monday (I was off so didn't get to go - again! :( ) and we then invited two members of Deep Griha's 'Wake Up Pune', the amazingly inspiring Dr. Mune from Green Tara, and our very own DWCM Christa - who spent 2 years in Zambia working on this issue - to sit on the panel. Participants were able to ask questions about the work the organisations do, the challenges they face etc. Then after a break for chai, we split into small groups and got to spend time with each of the panelists. I learnt some really interesting things about the range of things being done in the area of HIV/AIDS prevention around the world, but it was almost more interesting just to hear the questions that some of the participants came up with. Their range of previous experiences ranged widely, so some had practical questions such as 'how do I encourage my married friends to use a condom' whilst others were more interested in the advocacy side of things and wanted advice on how to begin peer education programmes in their own countries, for example.
After a heavy morning's thinking, the afternoon brought the slightly more frivolous activity of the Laxmi Road Tour! Incase I haven't explained before, this tour takes us into the centre of old Pune where there are lots of nice cultural sites and facts, and even more great traditional shopping. It's the place where we give all participants a chance to discover the real Pune, but also to buy saris, punjabi suits, bangles etc. This tour was a bit different to the usual in 3 ways: 1, it was in the afternoon. 2, we included a 'see if you can find and purchase condoms' challenge. 3, we went to dinner in a restaurant afterwards.
I started with my group of 7 (plus Emily - have I told you yet that we're now training our 2 new SVs?!) at the Sari shop, and was cajoled into purchasing material for a new punjabi suit by the Indian girls, and the beautiful dupatta (scarf) that came with it! I haven't got it made up yet, but maybe I'll go to a tailor on my next day off. A lot of the participants also bought clothes, and then we headed out on the tour proper. It took FOREVER! I shouldn't really have been surprised; this group was so enthusiastic and very camera happy, plus they loved shopping. This meant that all the streets down which I'd usually just march to get to the next significant shopping place - as judged by us official Sangam tour-givers - had to instead be meandered down, stopping frequently for people to pay for various and sundry items. I was very good and didn't really get annoyed. Anyone who's ever dragged me shopping will understand how much of a feat this was for me! I think part of the reason for this was that I was enjoying myself as well. The participants were all so friendly and enthusiastic, and loving the experience, that it made me think of it less as work. Which was nice. This extended shopping time, together with an extra challenge (there's always a vegetable challenge in the market) did however mean that it was almost 7pm before I was able to gather everyone together so we could head to dinner.
Then we had to get rickshaws. This should not have been a problem at all, but I must have spoken to 20 drivers over about half an hour in order to find just 3 rickshaws that would agree to take us the short distance (maybe 2km) to my chosen restaurant. Which really was Jen's choice, as I wasn't aware of any restaurants in this area when planning the tour, so Jen provided me with 3 recommendations; one for each group to go to. It was a really nice change to have just a small group for dinner, rather than the whole team of participants, and we just chatted and had some fun; Jessica, Carol, Heidi and Saga came and joined us and we had SO much food between us it was definitely a bit of a party atmosphere. Then after another longwinded attempt at rickshaw calling, we returned to Sangam and flopped into bed.
On Wednesday morning, Jessica and I ran the WAGGGS game; the usual questions, dancing, craziness format. Very fun. Ellen's morning session then consisted of helping the paricipants to come up with their own advocacy plans for when they return home. We were using the SWOT system (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) and we SVs were there to help anyone who was stuck. I spent a long time with Amy, from Australia; she was struggling because she had big plans that she really wanted to put into action, but was unable to see how to start small and make it grow. We worked together on coming up with all the little essential steps that would be needed to get her bigger plans under way, and I felt a real sense of achievement and that I'd actually helped somebody to do something great, which was a very good feeling!
I then had a bit of a break during the day to make sure everything else was ready, before running a 'stop the violence' link-up to a webinar. This campaign has kind of become my special project here at Sangam; it began because I decorated a wall with lots of information on it, but as I went on, it became my 'baby' and I've also become really passionate about the project. This was helped along by some of the stories that the participants brought with them - particularly those from Africa - about violence that is still perpetrated in the name of tradition in some places of the world. The link up was a chance to see a video made by a very inspirational young woman from Zambia, and then join other girlguides around the world in a webinar to discuss the video with the filmmaker. You can see the video here - use password 'hiddentruth'. It's very moving. And inspiring. Even though it was on quite late (9pm) on day 5 of a seminar means everyone is totally knackered), most people stayed up to watch it, and we also gave them the chance to add pledges and lotus flowers on the wall, and to make friendship bracelets in the 'stop the violence' colours.
It's been AMAZING. And it's been exactly the kind of experience I expected to gain from working at an international guiding centre.
On Tuesday, we had a panel discussion with a couple of our community partners who do work in the HIV/AIDS area. The participants got to visit 3 sites on Monday (I was off so didn't get to go - again! :( ) and we then invited two members of Deep Griha's 'Wake Up Pune', the amazingly inspiring Dr. Mune from Green Tara, and our very own DWCM Christa - who spent 2 years in Zambia working on this issue - to sit on the panel. Participants were able to ask questions about the work the organisations do, the challenges they face etc. Then after a break for chai, we split into small groups and got to spend time with each of the panelists. I learnt some really interesting things about the range of things being done in the area of HIV/AIDS prevention around the world, but it was almost more interesting just to hear the questions that some of the participants came up with. Their range of previous experiences ranged widely, so some had practical questions such as 'how do I encourage my married friends to use a condom' whilst others were more interested in the advocacy side of things and wanted advice on how to begin peer education programmes in their own countries, for example.
After a heavy morning's thinking, the afternoon brought the slightly more frivolous activity of the Laxmi Road Tour! Incase I haven't explained before, this tour takes us into the centre of old Pune where there are lots of nice cultural sites and facts, and even more great traditional shopping. It's the place where we give all participants a chance to discover the real Pune, but also to buy saris, punjabi suits, bangles etc. This tour was a bit different to the usual in 3 ways: 1, it was in the afternoon. 2, we included a 'see if you can find and purchase condoms' challenge. 3, we went to dinner in a restaurant afterwards.
I started with my group of 7 (plus Emily - have I told you yet that we're now training our 2 new SVs?!) at the Sari shop, and was cajoled into purchasing material for a new punjabi suit by the Indian girls, and the beautiful dupatta (scarf) that came with it! I haven't got it made up yet, but maybe I'll go to a tailor on my next day off. A lot of the participants also bought clothes, and then we headed out on the tour proper. It took FOREVER! I shouldn't really have been surprised; this group was so enthusiastic and very camera happy, plus they loved shopping. This meant that all the streets down which I'd usually just march to get to the next significant shopping place - as judged by us official Sangam tour-givers - had to instead be meandered down, stopping frequently for people to pay for various and sundry items. I was very good and didn't really get annoyed. Anyone who's ever dragged me shopping will understand how much of a feat this was for me! I think part of the reason for this was that I was enjoying myself as well. The participants were all so friendly and enthusiastic, and loving the experience, that it made me think of it less as work. Which was nice. This extended shopping time, together with an extra challenge (there's always a vegetable challenge in the market) did however mean that it was almost 7pm before I was able to gather everyone together so we could head to dinner.
Then we had to get rickshaws. This should not have been a problem at all, but I must have spoken to 20 drivers over about half an hour in order to find just 3 rickshaws that would agree to take us the short distance (maybe 2km) to my chosen restaurant. Which really was Jen's choice, as I wasn't aware of any restaurants in this area when planning the tour, so Jen provided me with 3 recommendations; one for each group to go to. It was a really nice change to have just a small group for dinner, rather than the whole team of participants, and we just chatted and had some fun; Jessica, Carol, Heidi and Saga came and joined us and we had SO much food between us it was definitely a bit of a party atmosphere. Then after another longwinded attempt at rickshaw calling, we returned to Sangam and flopped into bed.
On Wednesday morning, Jessica and I ran the WAGGGS game; the usual questions, dancing, craziness format. Very fun. Ellen's morning session then consisted of helping the paricipants to come up with their own advocacy plans for when they return home. We were using the SWOT system (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) and we SVs were there to help anyone who was stuck. I spent a long time with Amy, from Australia; she was struggling because she had big plans that she really wanted to put into action, but was unable to see how to start small and make it grow. We worked together on coming up with all the little essential steps that would be needed to get her bigger plans under way, and I felt a real sense of achievement and that I'd actually helped somebody to do something great, which was a very good feeling!
I then had a bit of a break during the day to make sure everything else was ready, before running a 'stop the violence' link-up to a webinar. This campaign has kind of become my special project here at Sangam; it began because I decorated a wall with lots of information on it, but as I went on, it became my 'baby' and I've also become really passionate about the project. This was helped along by some of the stories that the participants brought with them - particularly those from Africa - about violence that is still perpetrated in the name of tradition in some places of the world. The link up was a chance to see a video made by a very inspirational young woman from Zambia, and then join other girlguides around the world in a webinar to discuss the video with the filmmaker. You can see the video here - use password 'hiddentruth'. It's very moving. And inspiring. Even though it was on quite late (9pm) on day 5 of a seminar means everyone is totally knackered), most people stayed up to watch it, and we also gave them the chance to add pledges and lotus flowers on the wall, and to make friendship bracelets in the 'stop the violence' colours.
Now we arrive at Thursday, 1st December. World AIDS Day. This was a crazy day. We had planned to join Wake Up Pune on a march through the city, but they changed the time which mean we were in a rush in the morning. The SV team was working from 7:30, and we had breakfast at 8 instead of the usual half past. Then it was straight into rickshaws - having ensured we were all wearing red ribbons and headbands, and carrying the posters the participants had made the night before - to go to the fort at which the march was starting. There were quite a few people there from a number of organisations. We joined the Deep Griha group, and added our own chants ('spread the message - not the virus' and 'don't compromise - be condomised!' eg.) to the marathi ones that were going on already.
(More photos on flickr)
The atmosphere was awesome. So much enthusiasm, energy and passion for the cause. We certainly turned a few heads, and Deep Griha gave out a lot of condoms, so I guess at least it did some good. I'm still not sure I can say for certain how much of an impact a march like this has, but I know that it was really great to see and take part in Advocacy in action, having spent the last few days talking about what this involves.
We also had another job to do on this day... when we got to the ground where the march ended, we had to do the cha cha slide! This is because WAGGGS sends delegates to all sorts of exciting things, and at the moment we have members at COP17 in South Africa. (In fact, our new CRI is there, and will be coming to join us at Sangam directly afterwards!). The WAGGGS branch requested that on this day, girl guides and scouts all over the world join them in speaking out and demanding a change for the climate. We chose to do this with a new version of the cha cha slide, and we were also determined to do it with some energy (unlike some examples which I won't name and shame here!). We'd practised hard for all of about 10 minutes the day before, and now the time had come. With Net leading and Jen filming, all the participants and SVs performed in the middle of the playing field, and this is the result!
This completed, we returned to Sangam, and while the participants went to explore Wadi, we did some tidying of the much-neglected programme room, before walking down the road to a wonderful restaurant, Aangan. This is where we'd instructed the participants to meet us for lunch, and they did all, eventually, turn up! The food at Aangan is delicious, and I ate far too much. Net and I also treated ourselves to an icecream for the walk back home. Then when we got back, it was time to get ready for Indian Afternoon. This was really fun as well; again the participants were really enjoying it and there were loads of photographs and excitement. This also meant Maha dinner which is again really good food, and again I probably ate too much. This time, Jessica was on the other side of the hall so we couldn't swap food like we did before (which is probably very bad decorum anyway), but I did succeed in sliding my bowl of very sweet shrikhand across the floor to Net, who is very fond of the stuff! The evening brought bollywood dancing, but I was so knackered that I excused myself and went to bed. This means I still haven't done bollywood dancing here at Sangam - I was ill last time - but I'm sure I will do before I leave.
After a (comparatively) good sleep, I was up at 6am again, as our special guest Sally, who is in charge of all the world centres, was leaving. She's really awesome and I'm looking forward to welcoming her back in January when the Centre Team (kind of like the board for Sangam) has a meeting here. Net and I decided it wasn't worth going back to bed, so we sat an chatted for an hour or so, then did some early prep work for the Sangam Tiffin session before showering and getting ready for the day.
Sangam Tiffin is great fun. It's a skit that tells participants about all the ways that they can stay in touch or be involved with Sangam. It currently features Jessica as the Tiffin man; she's doing a great job of following our previous 'man', Sophie, who was very very funny! A tiffin, for those who don't know, is a cylindrical metal lunchbox with many layers. We put some crisp-like snacks in it, along with lots of information about Sangam, before giving each participant a mini tiffin so they can remember their time here!
The seminar then ended with an extended closing ceremony. Jen gave all the participants white shirts on which they could write their 'pledge' on the front, and what they had learnt from the seminar on the back. Everyone then shared their pledges as well as their advocacy plans we'd helped them create as a part of the closing. It was really really awesome to see concrete examples of what the seminar had achieved, and how much everyone was going to be taking away from it. My favourite t-shirt pledge was 'I pledge to Change the World' - from Anastsiya, Ukraine. Even if only a few people actually achieve their goals, the fight against HIV/AIDS will have benefitted hugely from a single jam-packed week of information and activities for 21 people from across the globe.
This was also reflected in the scores we received from the evaluations we always ask participants to fill in - we had loads of positive comments, and also smashed our benchmarks for the second event in a row! Needless to say we're all on a bit of a high, but also of course still working hard to make the next events even better!
This blog post has taken me 3 days to write - I apologise for the delay - I kept getting distracted or working late so I had to go to bed! I've thought of some other things I'd like to blog about, so maybe another one will come along soon. I taught Jessica today that great British phrase of something 'being like buses' meaning none for ages, then loads all at once; I think this sums up my blog well!
TTFN
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