Kanthari Institute for Social Leadership, in association with the Manaveyaam Street Collective, will organise a day-long NGO festival titled “Spread the Spice — An International Expo of Social Change Ideas” at the Manaveeyam Veedhi from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on October 6.
The festival aims at showcasing social change ideas on themes such as alternative education, critical thinking, disability and inclusion, environment sustainability, and women empowerment. The projects of social change-makers from 13 countries, including India, will be showcased at the fest. The festival would provide an interface for the public to engage with these themes locally and globally.
HIV in fisherwomen
The exhibition is expected to draw visitors from different walks of life who are interested in questions of equity, justice and sustainability. One social project will be presented by Cavin Odera from Kenya, who belongs to a fishing family. Cavin lost both his parents to HIV-AIDS and became an orphan at 12. Later, he lost his elder sister too to HIV. Most fisherwomen have to engage in unprotected sex in exchange for buying fish from local vendors which in turn has led to high prevalence of HIV-AIDS in the fishing community. Through his project, WA-WA (which means fisherwoman in Swahili, his mother language), Cavin wants to empower fisher women who are vulnerable to sexual exploitation by providing them skills in fishing, fish-harvesting and boat-building.
Chess in Tajikistan
Sohibjamol Rakamova, an international chess champion from Tajikistan, through her project titled ‘Vilka Chess Club’ wants to provide chess coaching to children with physical and intellectual disabilities in Tajikistan. Persons with disabilities are treated as objects of sympathy, contempt and ridicule in Tajik society. Sohibja wants to challenge such prejudices and aims to tap the potential of chess as a game that could enhance the cognitive, motor and social skills of children with disabilities.
Delhi-based Priyanka Singh plans to start a social enterprise to allow rural and urban women to interact with each other. Kakembo Galabuzi Brian from Uganda is planning to study why farming yields have fallen back home and to start a clean energy company. In Thailand, Ruangtup Kaeokamechun wants to break taboos against sexuality and usher in a more inclusive society.
Kanthari’s seven-month annual training programme was launched in 2009. Over the years, it has trained 183 people from 41 countries, who have launched 130 social initiatives.
Writer George Onakoor will inaugurate the festival at 9.30 a.m. It will end with a musical concert at 7 p.m. The entry is free for all.