Kandgaon village builds its common dream for children & youth
The Avani facilitation team conducted SALT conversations (mainly home visits) in 5 villages of the Kolhapur district, Maharashtra, India, in the past few months. On the 4th of April 2023, Kandgaon weaved its dream for youth and children of the village. The Avani team invited the local elected leader, a female sarpanch, local grassroot level workers, men, mothers, grandmothers, children, and adolescents.
They listened and cheered for each other. Men urged for organic farming for the health of the children, and women wanted children to get educated. Boys are concerned about the environment, and girls want an equal place in the community: “We want to be economically independent.”
The headmaster got emotional: “We need to do this in the school.” An 11-year-old girl said: “I am very happy with this process, adults need to listen to us, and children need to have a say in the functioning of the village.” The elected female head assured that she will involve children in future conversations. The aanganwadi workers said: “We have been doing what we are trained for, we have never thought about what we could do for our village. This process has shown us the way.”
As I said goodbye, one of the grandmas approached me and appreciated the process. She commented:
“It took outsiders to come and ask us what our common dream is! We should have done it on our own years ago!”
Dr Balaram from a nearby district, and Rupa and Deepa from the nearby Village Nandwal encouraged the villagers to work towards their dream. Ravi sat with the children and urged them to dream big. The event was facilitated by Vikrant, Jayshri, and Koushalya.
Concluding Reflection: Ex-President of India, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam gives us the reason why we need to dream: “You have to dream before your dreams can come true.”
The project is supported by the Global Fund for Children.
By Rituu B. Nanda.
Originally posted on The Constellation’s online community.
Photo courtesy of Kaushalya Sumedh Agre and Balaram-Mahesh Jadhav.
