Project UNNAMED: Exposure Visit to Burmese Community in Vikas Puri




Project UNNAMED is an initiative by SMILErs to create awareness about the issue of asylum seekers in Delhi.

It was violence, massive violation of human rights and absolute power concentrated in a few hands which made them take asylum in respective neighboring countries, including ours. India is a home of lakhs of such asylum seekers from Burma, Afghanistan, and Somalia and many other countries facing civil war, dictatorship, military rule etc.

If you are wondering why we are not using the term REFUGEE for them. Reason is, technically, one has to have a certificate issued by UNHCR to be called a refugee and majority of them are not able to obtain that. And, Project UNNAMED is about such asylum seekers who are forced to live life of uncertainty and helplessness.

But the worst is when they are not accepted by the society giving asylum, like ours and further victimized by the hatred and ignorance.

So, Project UNNAMED aims at creating awareness about such asylum seeker communities in our city and country through film screenings, discussions and getting associated with the organizations already working on the issue.

So, this exposure visit intends to help us in understanding what the issue is, and what we feel about it once we interact with asylum seekers. And, the initiative has been intentionally named "UNNAMED" since the issue is not just about lack of some facilities these people are deprived off but also the issue of identity, and their inability to associate themselves with the asylum giving society. its almost like a person without a name, without any identity!


we are meeting at Janak puri west metro station at gate no.-3 at 12.30pm on 7th of August .We can gather over there and can go to the other media office togethe.its mandatory to be in time.if you are late ,following are directions for reaching the venue
1. by bus
Nearest bus stops–Janak puri, C-1(bus route no. 724 and 711 can be taken from ring road)bus and Dhauli Pyaau ,take a rickshaw for asalatpur.

2. by metro
Janakpuri west,is the nearest metro station(it’s on blue line),take a rickshaw from there(pay 15-20 rupees)

NOTE: ask rickshaw wala to take you to gurudwara in asalatpur.Get off at gudwara. Opposite to gurudwara is, Maharaja Banquet, take the path beside the banquet to reach the venue.

Hope to see you all there

Regards
SMILE

Posted in: on Friday, August 6, 2010 at at 12:05 PM 0 comments  

Youth Adda



Pravah


SMILE


invites you to


Your own space


"YOUTH ADDA"


for a day of learning, Sharing and fun
Come and join other young people like yourself
for
Exploring the meaning of

" FREEDOM "


The Youth Adda includes intereresting activities like the Kite Making Workshop by professional Kite Maker....
MAKE YOUR OWN KITES



explore what else is coming up in SMILE
Remember the Youth Adda is your space.. Come and own the space



The day: 8th August Sunday
The Place: Bal Sahyog, Opp. L Block Mkt. Outer Circle, near Kake Da Dhabha
Timings: 10:30am onwards

We would request you to bring your own food and water.


Kindly confirm your participation

Call Sonal at 9990162481 or Lokashish at 9999609980 for any info and confirmation...
And please DO SPREAD THE WORD AROUND!!!!!

Posted in: on Wednesday, August 4, 2010 at at 4:52 PM 0 comments  

Project UNNAMED:A TALK WITH ACHAN MUNGLENG

Project UNNAMED:A TALK WITH ACHAN MUNGLENG

15th July'10
at Pravah conference hall

They are homeless, poor,helpless and vulnerable.No,it's not the city's slum-inhabitants we are talking about,It's'Asylum seekers.Today at PRAVAH , human rights activist Achan Mungleng gave us an insight into the pathos of the lives of refugees.An Indian Naga by birth, the activist has been working for the amelioration of the living conditions of Burmese refugees in India and Thailand since 2003.The talk was organised to have a better understanding of the issue of Asylum seekers in our city with a view to use that in project UNNAMED.Having discussed the political crisis of Burma which was the cause of large-scale exile for millions of Burmese people, she went on to relate the desperate conditions the asylum-seekers are forced to live in.Not only is the procedure for application for the grant of asylum an extremely tedious one but it also proves to be a very expensive one as a refugee first has to come to New Delhi and bribe officers for verification of his legal documents.The refugees are paid minimal wages and they find it difficult to make ends meet ,leave alone providing their children with a good education.They also have to face a lot of antagonism from the natives and being a vulnerable group become easy targets of violence. Another reason for this reluctance is their inability to speak and write in English or Hindi, which proves to be a bane in other ways too.
Possible courses of action to help mitigate the sufferings of Burmese refugees in India were also discussed.Since,through this discussion we also wanted to explore how we can engage with the such communities. Achan feels that the support for refugees is generally sporadic.To make it more consistent she suggested that some workshops be held for the asylum seekers to make them aware of the provisions for refugees in Indian law so that they can benefit from the same and become more confident as a group. As many refugees die of curable diseases like Malaria, Dysentry and Typhoid, healthcare facilities are indispensable. Furthermore, to be a self-reliant people,when they do get to go back to a democratic Burma, they need to be educated so that they can take responsibility for themselves.These, among others, are the ideas that we,the SMILErs ,are going to work on as a part of our 'project'UNNAMED' in which A campus campaign for spreading awareness and consolidating support is also in store.
If you are wondering if you can be of any help, stop wondering and come straight to PRAVAH !! There's a lot to be done!
Next....we are planning for an exposure visit in collaboration with 'The Other Media' to Burmese community in Vikas puri somewhere around end of this month or first week of August(we still have to finalize the date for that!!!!!) if you are interested in joining in for this great learning experience.Please conform it by sending a mail with your name,contact no. and email address on sonal.sharma@pravah.org.

Posted in: on Monday, July 26, 2010 at at 3:05 PM 0 comments  

Reconnection Camp of the Urban Volunteers

On the 14th of July, Pravah organized a feedback camp for all the urban volunteers. Because of “traffic jams”, everyone landed up at least an hour late, and the session for the ten volunteers who made it finally kicked off.

The session started off with the volunteers getting to know each other, through activities like name-games and sing-alongs. Then, we broke into two groups, and “Pravah Idol” commenced, which was something like a socially relevant version of Antakshari… the two teams were the ‘Yo!Girls!’ and ‘Break Free’, and we had to choose songs to sing that represented our own volunteering experiences.

Both teams sang their hearts out, and then talked about what each song represented.
After the singing, we started working on giant collages, also depicting our experiences, expectations, challenges, and impact stories.

Because of all those “traffic jams”, we had less time on our hands and had to finish in a crazy rush, and by the end of it the collages looked like a messy explosion of colour and random objects thrown together.

Despite the apparent chaos on the chartpapers, there was a method to our madness; as each cut-out represented some aspect of our journey. Inside each of the footprint stencils, we wrote individually about our experiences, and after we were done, we shared our experiences in a presentation for all of the people at Pravah.

I learnt a lot from hearing about other people’s experiences and frustrations; some of them that I had experienced myself, and others that were new to me. It was great me be able to talk to other volunteers as well, at the end of their journeys, and share what we were all taking back.
We also watched a movie about Pravah and active citizenship, and discussed what it means to us and decided to take up an action plan of our own soon!

Interacting with the people at Pravah was great too; we found that in a few hours the office began to feel like home. We were able to talk to people who also started off as Smilers, and they gave us a broader perspective on what we were going through.

The entire day was full of laughs and fun, as well as a lot of learning, and I hope to join the other volunteers for the next Youth Adda, and get together like this again soon

Radhika Chakraborty

Posted in: on Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at at 3:42 PM 0 comments  

THE PROJECT UNNAMED : AN INTERACTIVE SECTION WITH ACHAN

THE Project "UNNAMED", which came out of the last youth adda on 20th june on International Refugee Day, where we screened a documentary movie"In search of my home" by Rintu thomas and Sushmit Ghosh .

The project aims at creating awareness on the issue of asylum seeking community (refugees) in Delhi and India within us, among us and through us via various mediums like DOCUMENTARY, BOOKS, BLOGS, DEBATES ETC....... but before actually starting an action project on this issue we, SMILERS have decided to deepen our own understanding about the issue and as part of this learning exercise to understand the issue better, we have scheduled an interactive session with a Burmese human right activist,Achan Mungleng!
She has been active with Burmese community in Delhi since 2003 and in 2007 joined Euro-Burma office as co-ordinator of India office.Euro-Burma office aims at promotion democracy in Burma. So, we think there will be a lot to learn from Achan's experiences, which she'll be sharing with us.
So, all of you are openly invited for this learning space by US, The Smilers,
The Venue for the INTERACTION
PRVAH, Conference Hall
15th July' 2010 at 2.30pm

Posted in: on Thursday, July 15, 2010 at at 12:52 PM 0 comments  

YOUTH ADDA:Fun,Masti and Film

Youth adda,the monthly meeting of SMILE,was organised on 20th june'10 on the occasion of international refugee day at hope project charitable charitable trust.
 The theme of the youth adda was to explore the various aspects of the term Refugee.Event covered a range of activities ranging from fun games, group activities such as skits and also the screeniong of the documentary "In search of my home"by Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas.Sushmit has been a smiler. Film was a moving experience for some participants and led to 2 hours long discusion between participants and film makers.
Participants have shown their willingness to take the action forward in the form of movie screening and discussion in other spaces.For planning out the action project,participants have decided to meet up at pravah office in kalkaji.at 11am on 24th june.
The next youth adda is due to take place in August. For further information ,keep checking this space out.

Posted in: , , on Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at at 3:42 PM 0 comments  

Youth Adda

Dear All,

SMILE

Invites you

To your own space

YOUTH ADDA

For a day of learning and sharing

On the occasion of World Refugee day

Come and join other young people like you

for

A documentary Movie Screening

- In search of my home -

A documentary made by

Sushmit Ghosh
&
Rintu Thomas

Sushmit is an old smiler and he, himself will be present there for a talk
apart from that there will be a workshop on kitemaking
and A LOT OF FUN!!!!!

Remember the Youth Adda is your space.. Come and be a part of it!

The day: 20th June2010, Sunday

The Place:Hope project charitable trust,127,basti hazrat Nizamuddin
Timings: 9:30 am - 5.00 pm

We would request you to bring your own food and water.

Kindly confirm your participation

Call Sonal at 9990162481 or Sulab at 9971158313 for any info and confirmation...

And please DO SPREAD THE WORD TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE!!!!!
Directions to the Hope Project Charitable Trust:

1. From Moolchand Hospital side: After Moolchand Flyover
a) Take a U turn from under Lodhi road Flyover
b) Take first left turn near old Shiv Mandir
2. From National Zoological Park (Zoo):
Come straight towards Oberoi Hotel/ Blind School. Cross the Red light in front of Oberoi Hotel and move towards the Electric Crematorium. Take first left turn at the Shiv Mandir
3. From Ashram: Take a left before the Lodhi Road Flyover to go towards Electric Crematorium. Take first left turn at the Shiv Mandir.
General Note: Come Down from that road and take right turn from the T point and ask for Hope Project or Just opposite to Electricity transform climb their stair and enter to the project office.

Address:
127 Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin
Near Alvi Chowk
New Delhi 110013
Thanks!!!

and hoping to see you guys soon...
with love, peace and energy ...


SMILE

Posted in: on Thursday, June 17, 2010 at at 5:32 PM 0 comments  

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